A new role for Peter!
O'Toole Handed the Baton
(from this article at filmstew)
Back in the 1960’s in Abington, Pennsylvania, the local high school relay team was celebrated for having won a prestigious relay championship. Doesn’t really sound like the kind of material that might overlap with the talents of eight-time Oscar nominee Peter O’Toole, does it? Be that as it may, O’Toole is indeed on board as one of the co-stars of Baton, a fictitious tale taking its cue from that time period; it begins filming in Abington next week and is being associate produced by local boy Jay Staats, a 1963 graduate of Abington High. The drama leaves the Pennsylvania locales when its young protagonist Sean (Thomas Easley) travels to Montreal to live with the leader of the World Peace Organization, played by O’Toole. All against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. The now 75-year-old actor (his birthday was last week, August 2nd) has remained extremely busy since he was in the running for Best Actor with Venus. In addition to voicing the food critic in Ratatouille and playing a king in this week’s new fantasy film release Stardust, he’s got close to half a dozen things in the works or in the can, including an episode of Showtime's The Tudors and the CBC Canadian miniseries Iron Road. O’Toole’s part is no doubt a small one, but still, it is impressive that this indie production was able to score such a name. The film marks the directorial debut of Jeff January, a veteran First Assistant Director, and also co-stars James Brolin.
Religion a key part of portfolio for actor
(from this article at the Columbus dispatch - reprinted from the New York Times) August 1 2007
By Anita Gates
DUBLIN, Ireland -- On a typically drizzly Irish day, protected by a huge green umbrella, Peter O'Toole crossed a movie-studio lot.
He looked elegant in white papal robes and a red cape, with a characteristic glint in his world-famous eyes.
Spotting a new acquaintance, he called out: "Did you see Page 8 of The Irish Times?"
He proceeded to read aloud a report about Protestant leader Ian Paisley and his criticism of Pope Benedict XVI.
O'Toole, 74, had just finished filming his portrayal of a 16th-century pope, Paul III, in the much-discussed Showtime series The Tudors, to begin a second season in the spring.
Even out of character, he seemed happy to discuss religion.
"I am a retired Christian," he announced playfully, relaxing in his trailer at the end of the day.
His costume had been replaced by pants, a sweater, a jacket and an ascot.
Six decades after his altar-boy childhood and subsequent loss of faith, O'Toole said, he looked elsewhere for guidance.
"I suggest that an education and reading and facts aren't bad things on which to ponder a few notions," he said.
Yet he acknowledged a "very strong and very real" spiritual side.
"No one can take Jesus away from me," he said, having just expressed an affection for the Sermon on the Mount ("Blessed are the meek . . .").
"There's no doubt there was a historical figure of tremendous importance with enormous notions -- such as peace."
The character O'Toole plays will spend most of next season in an epistolary battle with Henry VIII (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) over the king's insistence on a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he can marry Anne Boleyn.
(Some dramatic license was taken: The real pope at the time was Clement VII, played in last season's brief papal scenes by Ian McElhinney; when O'Toole came aboard, producers made him Clement's successor, Paul III, but by that time, Boleyn was dead.)
Few of The Tudors' actors have scenes with O'Toole because the pope is in Rome, but they were on the set to be photographed with him or simply shake his hand.
"He's the only poster I've ever had on my wall," said Meyers, recalling his youthful adulation after seeing Lawrence of Arabia for the first time. "I just hope that I can hold up against him."
Michael Hirst, who has written every episode of the series so far, said he was delighted to have O'Toole speaking his dialogue.
"The pope was extremely cynical, so what I wanted was to hear the character of a man who is spiritual but also worldly," Hirst said. "He says something about, 'The French king has guns and soldiers, whereas we must make do with truth and beauty.' "
Over a glass of wine, O'Toole chatted about past roles, which have included a cardinal in the TV production Joan of Arc, angels in The Bible and a British lord who thinks he is Jesus in The Ruling Class.
He recalled also having played a pope before, onstage when he was 24, filling in at the last minute for an older actor.
Although he reluctantly accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003, O'Toole has never won a competitive Academy Award despite eight nominations.
O'Toole smiled, got up to retrieve a small spiral notebook and revealed inside a tiny, Oscar-shaped piece of golden paper: a bit of confetti, he said, from a party after this year's ceremony.
"So," he said pleasantly, "I've got my own, thank you very much indeed."