‘I’m too shy’: Rupert Everett admits he thinks he should never have become an actor because he’s ‘not very good’ at his job
He has received two Golden Globe nominations for his leading roles in My Best Friend’s Wedding and An Ideal Husband.
But after almost four decades in the film industry, Rupert Everett has confessed that he thinks he was never cut out for the acting world.
The English actor, 61, admitted in an interview with The Times on Tuesday, that he’s ‘too shy’ to be an actor and thinks he’s ‘not very good’ at his job.
‘I’m too shy’: Rupert Everett has admitted he thinks he should never have become an actor as he’s ‘not very good’ at his job despite his huge success
Looking back on his career, the award-winning actor expressed his regrets, saying: ‘I’ve realised too late that I’m too shy.
‘I should never have done the job I’m doing. I’m not very good, and I kind of buckle under scrutiny.’
Rupert, who found fame playing a gay public school pupil in the 1984 drama Another Country, went on to star alongside Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and Madonna in The Next Best Thing (2000).
Iconic: The English actor, 61, who starred alongside Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) confessed that he’s ‘too shy’ to be an actor and thinks he’s ‘not very good’ at his job
In the interview, Rupert, who once said he was born ‘illegal’ – because homosexuality was not legalised in the UK until 1967 – weighed in on the recent debate about straight actors playing gay roles.
It surfaced recently after Russell T Davies, the creator of hit Channel 4 drama It’s a Sin, called for an end to casting straight actors in gay roles.
The critically-acclaimed screenwriter, 57, said every gay character in his TV show was played by gay actors, because it is the only way to ensure an authentic portrayal.
However, Rupert who has acted in both gay and straight roles, believes the opposite saying, ‘acting is acting’.
Career: Rupert, who found fame playing a gay public school boy in Another Country (1984), weighed in on the recent debate about straight actors playing gay roles saying ‘acting is acting’
Passion project: He wrote, directed and starred in The Happy Prince, a biographical drama film about Oscar Wilde, which was released in 2018
He said: ‘I don’t think that’s right at all. My feeling has always been that I wouldn’t have missed the movie Behind the Candelabra [where straight actors Matt Damon and Michael Douglas play gay characters] for anything.
‘As a gay man I was touched by both of their performances. Because acting is acting, and it’s great for gay people to play straight roles too.’
More recently in his career, he wrote, directed and starred in his own passion project, The Happy Prince, a biographical drama film about Oscar Wilde, which was released in 2018.
Piers Morgan’s Life Stories with Rupert Everett airs on ITV on Thursday, March 4 at 9pm
Confessional: Piers Morgan’s Life Stories with Rupert Everett airs on ITV on Thursday, March 4 at 9pm