大象传媒

Robert Powell is one of our best-known actors, with a career that began in the late sixties and exploded into almost instant fame; since then, there have been some fifty films, including 鈥淭he Thirty-Nine Steps鈥� and 鈥淭he Italian Job鈥�, numerous theatre roles, and television appearances which have included six years on Holby City. For many people, though, he will always be Gustav Mahler thanks to Ken Russell鈥檚 1973 biopic; for some, he became a memorable representation of Jesus Christ, thanks to his starring role in Zeffirelli鈥檚 six-hour epic.

Robert Powell begins by choosing Mahler鈥檚 famous Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony. He listened to Mahler non-stop when rehearsing for the role, but was still surprised by some of the eccentric things Ken Russell asked him to do: he will never forget floating for hours in a freezing lake. He talks about the impact of early fame, conjuring up the excitement of the King鈥檚 Road in the 鈥渟winging sixties鈥�, and meeting his wife, Babs, who danced with Pan鈥檚 People. And he tells the story of how, when he was playing Jesus, he delivered the Sermon on the Mount and 鈥渟omething really extraordinary happened鈥�. These days he is a devoted grandfather, making up for the time he couldn鈥檛 spend with his family when he was away filming. Other music choices include Stravinsky, Bach, Janacek, and his hero Bob Dylan.

A Loftus Media production for 大象传媒 Radio 3
Produced by Elizabeth Burke