My Interview with Alfred Molina

The legendary Alfred Molina was in town recently as the USA Film Festival paid tribute to the man who has been in the industry for over forty years. I had a few minutes to sit with Mr. Molina and talk to him about his acting career which included “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Spider-Man 2.”

Jim Land
This is Jim Land with Irish Film Critic. I’m here with the great Alfred Molina and I have a couple questions that I’m sure you’ve heard a million times before but if I don’t ask them my editor will kill me and so will my children. So the first one’s about “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and how did it felt preparing for that role not knowing what an iconic film it would eventually become?

Alfred Molina
The truth is that was my first movie and I’d never done a movie. I actually didn’t know anything about preparing for roles. I was as green as cabbage…And I just turned up and I was learning on the job and no one really knew. I don’t think anyone really understood how iconic a movie it would become because I actually remember in the middle of shooting, having a conversation with Steven Spielberg when he was talking about sitting on a beach with George Lucas and talking about this movie he was about to shoot called “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and seriously wondering whether he made a terrible mistake.

I don’t think anybody really, I mean, it was a successful film but the way it became this incredible sort of blockbuster, I mean it practically invented the blockbuster formula, you know, the franchise and so on. So I think it’s a happy accident. A wonderful thing for me because it was my first movie so to be involved first time ever with such a hit was fantastic.

Jim Land
There were so many iconic lines throughout that film. It was so well-written. My second question is this. So you’ve done several action films including “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark” but you’ve also played one of the most iconic villains in Doc Ock from “Spider-man 2.” Now I understand that was a very physical role for you to play.

Alfred Molina
Yeah, yeah it was.

Jim Land
How did you get into a character that would be so physical but also have such a depth of emotion?

Alfred Molina
Well it was kind of a bit of a gift really because it meant that I was having to kind of work on different levels all the time and it was well-written and there was plenty to think about in terms of the character and the fact that he became a villain almost reluctantly. But, and the physicality was kind of, you know, it was, I was into it. I’ve never done a film that was quite so big. I mean I thought “Raiders” was a big movie but in comparison to, by the time “Spider-man” came along, the technology had improved. “Raiders” was state of the art in 1979, 1981, but 2003, 2002 we were doing “Spider-man,” that was a completely different beast and it was so big that you just had to kind of surrender to it. So it was hard work but it wasn’t in any way punishing, it was kind of exciting.

Jim Land
Few actors I would say, that have had such great success in so many acting fields but you’ve had success in film, TV, on stage, in drama, in musicals. What do you attribute that success to?

Alfred Molina
I don’t think I care enough. I think that the answer to that, I think other people have gotten to that one. All I do is I just try and work as much as I can. You know, my criteria is always to kind of keep busy you know. So as jobs came up, I just said yes, I was free. I’ve never had a game plan, I never kind of worked things out like, by the time I’m thirty, I want to be doing this or by the time I’m forty I want to be doing that. I just did whatever came along. And when I look back now, forty years as an actor, I look back now and there is a kind of crazy quilt of a career. It looks kind of chaotic to me but I kept busy. I mean my big thing was never being out of work. I was so terrified of not working so I always kind of, a job came up and I would always say yeah I’ll do it.

Jim Land
So how do you prepare, which you’ve probably have answered this question, how do you prepare for a role such as Doc Ock versus a role such as Tevye on Broadway?

Alfred Molina
You just do the work that’s required in the script you know. For “Fiddler on the Roof,” it’s singing lessons or dancing lessons. I learned how to, I tried to, I mean I didn’t learn how to sing but I tried to get as good a voice as I could because I’m not one of nature’s singers. You just do what’s required of the job. It’s a bit like, I always tell my students, it’s a bit like being a plumber, one day you might be working on a very delicate, antique shower-head, the next day you might be clearing a sewage drain. The two can be different jobs but all the tools command the same box. That’s my simplistic analogy.

Jim Land
Well I’ll combine the last couple of questions. Tonight is about honoring your legacy as an actor in all forms I think. What do you want your legacy as a performer to be? How do you want to be remembered?

Alfred Molina
I’m that old now.

Jim Land
It’s not at that point yet.

Alfred Molina
Getting used to the word legacy. I actually, I don’t know and I’m not sure that I really care to be perfectly honest with you. I think, you know the great thing about movies is that they’re out there and if people are curious enough to look them up one day after I’m long gone and someone says “Oh yeah I heard this guy was pretty good. Let’s go and catch this movie,” that’s great. That’s all I would ask for but anything about, I don’t know, I think legacies are what other people contribute to, it’s not something you can create.

Jim Land
Is there a particular role that you’re proud of?

Alfred Molina
Granted all of them really. I’m proud of all of them for all kinds of reasons. I’m proud of “Love is Strange” which I did a couple years ago with Ira (Sachs). I’m very proud of that movie because it was something that was very personal and meant a lot to me. I’m very proud of “Raiders” because it was the first movie, and I’m proud of some of the things that aren’t so good because they paid the bills. I wouldn’t disown or disassociate myself from any of them I’ve done because it all exists for a good reason.

Jim Land
Absolutely. Well thank you so much.

Alfred Molina
No problem, my pleasure. Nice to talk to you.

Here is the link tot he original article on Irish Film Critic:

Interview: The Legendary Alfred Molina Talks “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” & “Spider-Man 2”