NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel met like their characters in do, with a knock on the door.
Coel, taking a break from writing her upcoming BBC-HBO series 鈥淔irst Day on Earth鈥� in Ghana, turned up at McKellen鈥檚 house in London to go over the script with him and screenwriter Ed Solomon.
鈥淚 walked into your house,鈥� Coel recalls in an interview alongside 鈥淚 knew who you were. You were like, 鈥楬ello! What are you? What are you then?鈥欌��
鈥淵ou looked interesting and beautiful,鈥� says McKellen, smiling. 鈥淎nd you are.鈥�
On-screen chemistry can be elusive, especially when two characters are intended to be diametric opposites. In McKellen stars as the artist Julian Sklar, a David Hockney-like star who hasn鈥檛 painted in years and now spends much of his days grousing in his disheveled townhouse while filming personalized videos that trade on his celebrity. Coel, the creative force behind plays Lori Butler, an art restorer hired to be Julian鈥檚 assistant with the tacit task, while she鈥檚 there, of forging additional paintings of 鈥渢he Christophers,鈥� Julian鈥檚 most famous and highly lucrative series.
The movie, crafty and charming, is almost entirely a two-hander. It belongs to McKellen and Coel and the charged interplay between them. They are bitter foes, scheming co-conspirators and fellow artists weighing the erratic value of their work.
As screen presences and cultural figures, McKellen, 86, and Coel, 38, could hardly be more different. McKellen, a titan of Shakespeare, Gandalf of the big screen, is more than twice the age of Coel, the multihyphenate whose autobiography-tinged work has made her a voice of a much different generation.
Yet in 鈥淭he Christophers,鈥� they make one of the more memorable on-screen pairs in years, matching McKellen’s warm grandiosity with Coel’s cool cunning. (The difference in cheekbones, alone, is vast.) And as they showed on a recent day in downtown New York, they are also now great chums. If 鈥淭he Christophers鈥� is about two artists from wildly different backgrounds finding an understanding, its stars have gone a few steps further.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a bit silly about each other,鈥� grants McKellen.
鈥淵es, we are,鈥� agrees Coel. 鈥淚t鈥檚 morning kisses. It鈥檚 cuddles. It鈥檚 鈥極h should we have a nap?鈥� We buddied up very much.鈥�
Soderbergh on 鈥榳here life starts鈥�
, the restless, mercurial director of 鈥淥ut of Sight,鈥� 鈥淥cean鈥檚 Eleven鈥� and has found himself increasingly focused, he says, on distilling something to its absolute essence. 鈥淭he Christophers,鈥� which Soderbergh kick-started by throwing a few ideas at Solomon, was conceived with an old-fashioned set up.
鈥淭wo people in a room together is where life starts,鈥� says Soderbergh.
His guiding principle in shooting 鈥淭he Christophers鈥� was not to interfere with the magnetism of his lead performers. Soderbergh serves as his own cameraman, making him essentially the third player in every scene.
鈥淭here鈥檚 something about the two of them together that adds up to more than the two of them,鈥� the director says. 鈥淢y job was to be sure I鈥檓 in the right place, always, to capture it and not indulge in any kind of trickery that would distract or diminish what they鈥檙e doing. So you have to be secure in the material and the performers and not try to tart it up because you鈥檙e worried about boring people.鈥�
While McKellen and Coel’s differences might be glaring, the two quickly found common ground.
鈥淕uess what we鈥檝e got in common,鈥� McKellen says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e neighbors.鈥�
Both McKellen and Coel live in East London, about a 15 minute walk from each other. McKellen remembers being curious about the nearby Catholic school Coel attended as a girl.
鈥淚 promise you I鈥檝e longed to look inside there,鈥� McKellen says. 鈥淚 wonder who those kids are?鈥�
鈥淢aybe I鈥檝e been on the bus when you鈥檝e been walking past,鈥� says Coel, smiling.
Unanswered questions
They are also both, in their own way, novices when it comes to film acting. Coel has only appeared in a handful of movies; her last one was 鈥淏lack Panther: Wakanda Forever,鈥� a big-budget experience she鈥檚 said she wasn鈥檛 ready for. McKellen, of course, has acted in many more films 鈥� among them 鈥淕ods and Monsters,鈥� the 鈥淴-Men鈥� films and 鈥淢r. Holmes.鈥� But he begins every movie by asking his directors how to act in front of a camera.
鈥淎nd they鈥檝e never given me an answer,鈥� says McKellen. 鈥淢artin Mann, John Schlesinger, Bill Condon, Peter Jackson, now Soderbergh.鈥�
Coel is confused. 鈥淎re you tricking them with this question?鈥�
鈥淣o, it鈥檚 a genuine question,鈥� McKellen replies. 鈥淭here must be a technique for acting in front of the camera. All I know is what I鈥檝e heard Michael Caine say in chat show interviews.鈥�
Caine鈥檚 advice was technical; in close-up, talk to the eye closer to the camera. And Kenneth Branagh once gave him a note: 鈥淒on鈥檛 move your head so much.鈥� But as an actor most home on the stage, the camera remains mystifying to McKellen.
鈥淗aving done so much theater where the audience is present, you can hear the audience. You can detect when they鈥檙e bored, when they鈥檙e excited,鈥� McKellen says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e controlling them in a sense. You鈥檙e the master of ceremonies. They鈥檙e there. Making a film, they鈥檙e not there. The real audience doesn鈥檛 get there until the actors have gone on to the next job or died.鈥�
Coel offers that she was once told not to blink.
鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you tell me before?鈥� McKellen says with mock offense.
鈥楾he cheekiest artistry鈥�
The life of an artist 鈥� the craft, the compensation, the legacy 鈥� is at the forefront of 鈥淭he Christophers.鈥� Julian, nearing the end of his life, is pondering what he鈥檚 leaving behind. The subject of the Christophers paintings relates to a long-ago relationship that prompts Julian to remark: 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the thing, isn鈥檛 it? To linger in the minds of others.鈥� For a performer whose presence has loomed so large for so many, it鈥檚 a poignant line.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been the greatest delight of my life to know that there are people in whose minds my work has lingered,鈥� says McKellen. 鈥淪ometimes at the stage door you鈥檒l meet a couple of my age and they鈥檒l say, 鈥橶e just wanted to let you know we had our first date when we saw you play Romeo at Stratford in 1976. And I said, 鈥楢re you still together?鈥� 鈥榊es.鈥� (McKellen sighs with great relief.) But to be part of people鈥檚 lives who you鈥檝e never met, what a feeling.鈥�
Coel is at a different point in her career, still awakening to the thrill of acting. She loves it, she says. 鈥淭his is the cheekiest artistry,鈥� Coel says, grinning.
McKellen leans back and reconsiders.
鈥淚 just had a thought that you鈥檇 be very good at playing Julian Sklar, my part in the film. And I鈥檇 have a crack at playing your part.鈥�
Coel laughs. 鈥淚 love that. Swap? Well it kind of happens in a way, doesn鈥檛 it?
鈥淚t does, actually,鈥� McKellen agrees. 鈥淭hey do overlap.鈥�
鈥淗ow fab,鈥� says Coel.
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