Rupert Friend is riding high on the success of his latest crowd-pulling release “Anatomy of a Scandal.”
His oeuvre shows he has diversified into a wide range from historical period films to action anti-hero roles.
“I didn’t have a realization of wanting to be an actor,” he admitted toW Magazine.
It set the ball rolling!
As per Friend, one can see iterations of his Whitehouse character in people holding powerful positions.
The series, which also stars Sienna Miller and Michelle Dockery, is not based on real people.
But Sarah Vaughn’s book, on which it is based, does draw inspiration from real life.
The British actor has often touched upon past experiences of being bullied as a young boy.
On occasion, Friend has even elaborated in disturbing detail what peers did to him.
Friend was bullied for his appearance haircut and glasses, in particular.
Also, “sharing names with a cartoon bear didn’t help,” he wrote forOxford Mail.
Standing tallest among them is Daniel Day-Lewis.
To Friend, he is his ultimate hero.
It was apparently Day-Lewis' work that galvanized Friend to take the acting route.
I still look for that transformative quality in actors," he toldW Magazine.
“Indiana Jones more than Harrison Ford himself wasand still isquite a big man-crush of mine.
But Harrison is a big man-crush, too.
He’s a very cool guy,” he said.
Depp, too, is regarded by Friend as “one of the greatest screen actors ever.”
He is a talented writer
Rupert Friend is a man of many trades!
His talents aren’t restricted to acting he also doubles as a writer.
As told toLittle Black Book, one of the musicians was friends with Friend and approached him.
But it was something he had never done before.
During an interview withEsquire, Friend hinted that he was initially hesitant in wearing the lyricist hat.
They loved what I did."
PerDeadline, Friend is also the writer on the upcoming boxing biopic “Cornerman” starring Bruce Willis.
“That routine thing is not comforting to me.
It’s the opposite to that.
… You didn’t have to be a lawyer or an astronaut.
You could be both.”
“I don’t love plays.
“New day, next thing!”
Can you believe it?
“It went from being potentially a pop-up role to something more substantial.”
Attractive as he may have been, Friend’s Peter Quinn spoiler alert!
ultimately met his end in the Season 6 finale an event that prompted a dramatically frenzied response from fans.
In my eyes, he died a hero.”
For the British actor, this meant a new experience.
I didn’t have to do anything."
Or it may very well have come from him bumping his head around too much.
“There’s a lot of nicks and scars on it,” he added.
“Today is the one-month anniversary of being happily married to @AimeeMullins!
It was such a deep-end baptism by fire,” Friend toldW Magazine, talking about his experience.
Miller, in fact, awarded him the honor of being “irreverent,” as quoted byInterview.
He revealed he was “frightened” about accessing the darker aspects of his character.
“How would you do that?”
he said, talking toRTE.
For Friend, slipping into the Nazi uniform alone had an ominous quality to it.
“It’s a bit like, I suppose, the Batsuit or something.
You immediately do feel a sense of, sort of, menace.
“He [Kotler] came out and then went away.
It’s also why he doesn’t watch too much television.
“I get bored quickly.
Short attention span,” he explained toThe Observer.
“I didn’t like the idea of doing one thing for three years.”
For the same reason, Friend doesn’t prefer theatre, despite being an accomplished stage performer.
“I’d do it once … for one night only,” he toldIndependent.
Well, perhaps this very itch to never settle is what makes Friend so great.
