Actor Jim Broadbent, 72, was born in Lincolnshire and studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda). He was initially known for theatre and TV work before getting his film breakthrough in Mike Leigh’s Life Is Sweet. He won an Oscar for Iris, and Baftas for both Longford and Moulin Rouge. He now stars in crime caper The Duke – the true story of taxi driver Kempton Bunton, who reputedly stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in 1961.
The Duke is director Roger Michell’s final film [Michell died last September]. Was he a colleague who became a friend?
Yes, Roger was delightful. Everyone in front or behind the camera, on stage or backstage, wanted to carry on working with him – that’s a measure of how lovely he was. In a way, it’s a pleasure and privilege to be in his final film, so we can show his story to the world and celebrate him.
It’s sad he never got to see the The Duke released.
No, but we premiered it at Venice [film festival in September 2020]. It went down very well and got five-star reviews, so he knew it was going to be well received. That made Roger very happy, which was fantastic because it wasn’t long before he died. The loss is immense. I still can’t quite come to terms with it.
Were you familiar with the true story behind The Duke?
I was a schoolboy when the theft happened, so it rang a distant bell. You couldn’t invent such a ridiculous tale. If you presented it as fiction, you’d never get away with it. Kempton Bunton is a delicious character. I wanted to play him from the first page.
He’s a Robin Hoodesque revolutionary. Did you admire that?
I like the idea of actors being anti-establishment, so I identified with that. I found him inspiring, especially his ability to keep his good humour in the face of disaster. He finds light even in the darkest moments.
Helen Mirren plays his wife, Dorothy. How was working with her for the first time?
Well, we’d been in the same film before [2008’s Inkheart] but not in the same scene. Helen’s terrific and we were completely on the same wavelength. I loved the scenes with us bickering and teasing each other.
You have a dance scene together and reprised it at the premiere last week…
We were on the red carpet and Helen suddenly said, “Let’s dance!”. Luckily, we had some steps up our sleeve.
You might get a call from Strictly soon…
I’ve already had that call. It was the easiest “no” I’ve ever given.
Kempton Bunton didn’t watch the BBC on principle, instead campaigning vociferously for free TV licences for over-75s. Where do you stand?
He got his wish 40 years later. Now the government have withdrawn it again, in their devious way. Ironically, now Kempton would be defending the BBC to the hilt against these wicked people trying to dismantle it by foul means. He’d have switched sides.
If you could get away with it, what painting would you steal?
I’d have a long list, but in my current mood, probably a Bruegel. The Peasant Wedding or Hunters in the Snow. Not one of the more Bosch-like Bruegels but one of real people enjoying themselves.
Next up, you’re in Ten Percent, the UK version of Call My Agent!. How was that?
I die very early, but I set up the storyline, so it’s not all bad. I’m currently watching the second series of the French original and loving it. You can’t quite imagine how the British one will compare but it felt very good. I enjoyed doing it enormously.
Is it an accurate satire of what goes on behind the scenes?
[Laughs] It’s not my experience. I’m not the sort of actor who goes in and creates havoc, but I’m sure it happens.
You’ve made nearly 100 films. Of which are you most proud?
The Duke, Topsy-Turvy, Iris and Moulin Rouge. Those last two came out the same year and I think that’s why I got an Oscar. People realised that one of them must have been acting.
You played DCI Roy Slater in Only Fools and Horses, but were originally offered the lead role of Del Boy Trotter. What would have happened if you’d accepted?
Either it wouldn’t have succeeded without David Jason or, if it had, I wouldn’t have wanted to stay beyond three series. I always say my greatest contribution to British culture is not doing Del Boy.
Would you like to do more comedy?
I always thought it would be the basis of my career. My childhood passion was watching Benny Hill, Dave King, Ted Ray, Charlie Drake, all those 1950s comics. But latterly, there hasn’t been so much comedy. The Duke feels like an old-fashioned caper. I laughed out loud reading it, which is very rare. The last time I did that was with Hot Fuzz. I’d missed out on [Edgar Wright’s previous film] Shaun of the Dead, then saw him at the Baftas and said, “I made a huge mistake”. He was kind enough to give me a part in Hot Fuzz instead.
You’re president of the Broadbent theatre in your native Lincolnshire – a 100-seat venue co-founded by your father. Did it survive the pandemic?
Some performances had to be cancelled, but it’s rolling on and thriving. The way it started is one of those family stories you take for granted [conscientious objectors formed an amateur acting troupe during the second world war], then you step back and realise how extraordinary it was. Theatre has taken a battering these past two years, but it will recover. People are desperate for shared experiences again.
If you had your time again, would you still be an actor?
Probably, yes. I gave myself until I was 30 and if it wasn’t working, I’d chuck it in. Here I am, 40 years later, so something must have gone right.
Will you ever retire?
I don’t think that happens. You either stop getting offers or find you can’t do it any more. I’ve become increasingly picky about things I do. Maybe I’ll choose my way into retirement [laughs].
We all have careers or paths untaken. What’s yours?
An art teacher. I went to art college for a year before drama school. Some people say [adopts Cockney accent]: “If I hadn’t gone into acting, I’d be banged up by now. It was either that or crime.” With me, it was that or art.
You wrote a graphic novel a few years ago. Do you still write?
Not so much. For a while, it was my creative outlet when I wasn’t acting. I wrote a short film called A Sense of History. It’s the only time Mike Leigh’s directed a script written by someone else, which is an honour. Then I wrote this screenplay called Dull Margaret. I couldn’t get anyone to make it into a film, so I had the idea of contacting my favourite cartoonist, Dix, who I’d first spotted in the Guardian, and we created a graphic novel together. Lately, my creative hobby has been sculpture – carved or modelled figures in mixed media. I’m getting a website together so I can show them to people.
What projects are in the pipeline?
My next film is The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, from the Rachel Joyce novel. Funnily enough, I did The Winter’s Tale in Sheffield with Rachel, back in 1987 when she was an actress. She was Perdita to my Leontes, so it’s lovely to be working together again many years later.
You declined an OBE 20 years ago. Would you still turn it down it today?
Yes. When Richard Eyre accepted his knighthood and I asked why, he said “vanity”. If somebody asks me why I turned down an OBE, I’d say “vanity” too. It wouldn’t suit me, like wearing a bobble hat or something.
The Duke is released in UK cinemas on Friday 25 February
