Veteran English actor Simon Callow has revealed he’s never set foot in a rock concert — an admission that might come as a surprise given his latest role as a washed-up rock musician in the forthcoming comedy horror film Murder Ballads: How To Make It In Rock ‘N’ Roll.
The 75-year-old, best known for playing the exuberant Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral, will take on the role of Richard O’Keefe, an ageing rock star clinging to the faded glories of his youth. The film follows a fictional band desperate for fame, willing to go to extreme and murderous lengths to make it big in the world of rock music.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Callow admitted the character took him into entirely unfamiliar territory. “He’s obviously been quite a player and all the rest of it,” he explained. “He’s reminiscing about his past and his advice to the rock world about how to succeed is completely incoherent.”
“I couldn’t resist playing it,” he said. “I’ve never played anything remotely like this. I’ve never been to a rock concert in my life, but the movie presents this crazy world. I don’t know, is it true or not? I don’t know — it sounds credible to me.”
Callow, who has spent most of his distinguished career steeped in classical theatre and film, described the experience as “virgin territory”. Despite his lack of real-life rock experience, he said the script made it all fall into place. “It’s brilliantly written. You just look at it as an actor and you just know how to do it and where to take it.”
This isn’t the first time Callow has explored the music world on stage. In 1979, he played the role of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus at the National Theatre, a role that further established his status as one of Britain’s finest actors.
“That was an incredible sort of a role to have,” he recalled. “To play Mozart, because I don’t think there’d ever been a stage presentation of Mozart before. He was an extraordinary, hyped figure, and he wasn’t unlike a rock musician, I suppose, in that sense.”
He added with a chuckle, “On the other hand, he wasn’t getting stoned every night and losing parts of his brain.”
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Throughout his career, Callow has built a reputation for playing flamboyant, larger-than-life characters, while also enjoying success behind the scenes. He won an Olivier Award in 1992 for Best Director of a Musical for Carmen Jones, and he has earned two BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor.
Callow has also starred alongside some of the greats, including the late Dame Maggie Smith. Reflecting on his time working with her in A Room With A View, in which he portrayed The Reverend Mr Beebe, Callow was full of admiration.
“She’s one of the most gracious and exquisite actresses who ever lived,” he said. “I then later directed her, which was pretty daring of me. Very terrifying indeed. But she was the greatest artist.”
As for his role in Murder Ballads: How To Make It In Rock ‘N’ Roll, Callow appears genuinely thrilled to have taken on something so offbeat. While he may have never headbanged in a mosh pit or held a lighter aloft during a power ballad, audiences can expect a memorable and eccentric performance from a man who has spent a lifetime bringing characters to vivid life — even those he’s never met in real life.
Murder Ballads: How To Make It In Rock ‘N’ Roll is set to hit UK cinemas later this year.
