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Aug 21, 2023

Ben Kingsley crafts his own fable for 'Jules'

The little alien in “Jules” parks its spaceship in the backyard of the aged, quiet Milton (Ben Kingsley). Surprisingly human-like — imagine a rope dancer in Cirque du Soleil – it’s a benign presence.

The little alien in “Jules” parks its spaceship in the backyard of the aged, quiet Milton (Ben Kingsley).

Surprisingly human-like — imagine a rope dancer in Cirque du Soleil – it’s a benign presence. At least at first.

For Kingsley, 79, retiree Milton may be slipping into Alzheimer’s. He’s certainly the flipside of the actor’s flamboyantly eccentric Salvador Dali last spring. “I loved portraying Salvador Dali who was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time,” the Oscar winner began in a Zoom interview prior to the current actors’ strike.

“Milton is the opposite of Dali — the invisible man who’s neither seen nor heard. A man of very little significance. A man who can stand up and speak to the council but can only get their intention by saying something extraordinary. And even then they don’t believe him! They think he’s delusional.

“So it was a tremendous leap from one trapeze to another. But also a leap away from myself into Milton. Because actors tend to crave visibility while Milton is honestly the invisible man to whom nothing happens. Then suddenly, on page 10 of the screenplay when I first read it, I jumped out of my chair.

“Milton is visited by the universe. He is seen and heard by the stars. That is such an astonishing and wonderful thing for an actor, to read in the screenplay how suddenly it does many gentle pirouettes and swerves into other areas of life.

“But although it embraces some 70 different possibilities it remains a very cohesive film, telling the same story from beginning to end.”

There’s something almost romantic about this backyard resident. Unlike ET who looks like a creature from another world, this alien might have stepped out of an enchanted garden. Is this, perhaps, a fable or fairy tale?

“I do think that everyone will take something slightly different away from the film. It’s been described as a drama, a comedy, a sci-fi movie. But it is a fable. I believe it is.

“Very simply put, I like to wrap a film into a fable, put it in my pocket as I walk on the film set. And my favorite is: ‘Once upon a time there was a man guided into the afterlife by the hands of an angel.’ That’s how I approached it privately.

“I can share it now,” Kingsley explained, “because my work on the film is finished. My personal relationship with the fable is exactly that. That is my fable.

“But I don’t want to interfere with anyone else’s reaction to the film.”

“Jules” opens Friday

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