FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TOM CONTI
What are you working on?
Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre. It’s a very good piece – the kind of play that people will really like.
When are you at your happiest?
When I’m at home with the grandchildren, watching movies with my elder grandson.
What is your greatest fear?
That this country will carry along this same tragic path.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting in a room at home and taking the icing off a recently iced cake, then suddenly hearing laughter and turning to see my mother with my nanny laughing at me. They had thought it was a mouse that was doing this to the cakes but they discovered it was me.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
The fact that I haven’t worked harder at music. To have a talent and not to have used it properly is a dreadful thing.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My wife has been a huge influence on me. And John Groves when I was at drama college – he taught me the value of technical ability in the theatre. It’s no good having a talent if you don’t know how to use it. You have to know technically what you’re doing or it doesn’t work.
What is your most treasured possession?
My piano.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Selfishness.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My nose, my middle and my legs.
What is your favourite book?
I don’t have one. There’s no book that I can read and reread.
And your favourite film?
The Graduate and a film called Amarcord, which is slang for ‘I remember’. It’s Italian.
What is your favourite piece of music?
If I was asked to take something to the desert I suppose it would be Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues. They’re absolutely fascinating.
Your favourite meal?
I like steaks in America, but not here. I’ve never had good steak in this country.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Puccini and Caruso. Evelyn Waugh would be interesting, and the writer John le Carré. They could have a good chat. And Sophia Loren to spice it up. She’s probably quite a good cook, too.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
She didn’t mean it nastily but it could have been interpreted that way. At drama school when we were doing Chekhov’s The Seagull, I was playing Pjotr. One day at rehearsal she said to me, ‘Tom, you’re absolutely marvellous. Until you speak.’ There was a lot of speaking in that role.
Do you believe in aliens?
No, but I think probably other creatures exist. The universe is far too big for it not to have happened twice.
What is your secret vice?
I don’t have secret vices – all of my vices are public. I don’t think I can say my favourite. It’s not all that hard to guess, really.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes. I often use email now.
Which phrase do you most over-use?
Be careful.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Energy – more energy.
Can you tell us one thing people might not know about you?
I think everybody knows everything about me really. When you’re in the public eye everything gets out in some way or other. I’m rather boring really.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
You probably can’t print this, but my wife and I often joke about a phrase I use and have used when something has happened in the business and you’ve been made a fool of: ‘They never cease to make a **** of you’.
Tom Conti is appearing in Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre, London WC2: 0844-482 9673, www.nimaxtheatres.com/garrick-theatre
Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre. It’s a very good piece – the kind of play that people will really like.
When are you at your happiest?
When I’m at home with the grandchildren, watching movies with my elder grandson.
What is your greatest fear?
That this country will carry along this same tragic path.
What is your earliest memory?
Sitting in a room at home and taking the icing off a recently iced cake, then suddenly hearing laughter and turning to see my mother with my nanny laughing at me. They had thought it was a mouse that was doing this to the cakes but they discovered it was me.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
The fact that I haven’t worked harder at music. To have a talent and not to have used it properly is a dreadful thing.
Who has been your greatest influence?
My wife has been a huge influence on me. And John Groves when I was at drama college – he taught me the value of technical ability in the theatre. It’s no good having a talent if you don’t know how to use it. You have to know technically what you’re doing or it doesn’t work.
What is your most treasured possession?
My piano.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Selfishness.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My nose, my middle and my legs.
What is your favourite book?
I don’t have one. There’s no book that I can read and reread.
And your favourite film?
The Graduate and a film called Amarcord, which is slang for ‘I remember’. It’s Italian.
What is your favourite piece of music?
If I was asked to take something to the desert I suppose it would be Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues. They’re absolutely fascinating.
Your favourite meal?
I like steaks in America, but not here. I’ve never had good steak in this country.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
Puccini and Caruso. Evelyn Waugh would be interesting, and the writer John le Carré. They could have a good chat. And Sophia Loren to spice it up. She’s probably quite a good cook, too.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
She didn’t mean it nastily but it could have been interpreted that way. At drama school when we were doing Chekhov’s The Seagull, I was playing Pjotr. One day at rehearsal she said to me, ‘Tom, you’re absolutely marvellous. Until you speak.’ There was a lot of speaking in that role.
Do you believe in aliens?
No, but I think probably other creatures exist. The universe is far too big for it not to have happened twice.
What is your secret vice?
I don’t have secret vices – all of my vices are public. I don’t think I can say my favourite. It’s not all that hard to guess, really.
Do you write thank-you notes?
Yes. I often use email now.
Which phrase do you most over-use?
Be careful.
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Energy – more energy.
Can you tell us one thing people might not know about you?
I think everybody knows everything about me really. When you’re in the public eye everything gets out in some way or other. I’m rather boring really.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
You probably can’t print this, but my wife and I often joke about a phrase I use and have used when something has happened in the business and you’ve been made a fool of: ‘They never cease to make a **** of you’.
Tom Conti is appearing in Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre, London WC2: 0844-482 9673, www.nimaxtheatres.com/garrick-theatre