| Profile: Alice Krige
by Sharon Johnson It's surprising that so many moviegoers recognize Alice Krige. In real life, the actress appears infinitely more fragile than the characters she plays on the screen. But shoppers have done a double take at Los Angeles supermarkets, pointed across a shopping cart and said ''You're the ghost!'' Krige - who played the ghost determined to get revenge on the men responsible for her untimely demise in ''Ghost Story'' - gets more than recognition from devout admirers of ''Chariots of Fire.'' Once they realize that she played the operetta star who became the object of Ben Cross' affection, fans want to reminisce. ''They remember entire scenes from the movie,'' she marvels. She hopes to one day encounter a similar response to her latest film, ''See You in the Morning,'' which opened Friday at area theaters. In the new romance written and directed by Alan Pakula, Krige plays Beth, a widow raising her two children after her husband's suicide. She takes a second chance on marriage when she's introduced to recently divorced Larry Livingston (Jeff Bridges). Pakula's screenplay for this modern romance ''isn't necessarily autobiographical, but the characters are clearly close to his heart,'' she says. Krige describes Pakula as ''the most talented director I've worked with. He's really able to use the rehearsal process he requires.'' The four-week rehearsal period for ''See You in the Morning'' is the kind of luxury movie acting rarely offers. ''Every day, we worked on the set. I slept in my bedroom, I cooked in my fully functional kitchen. I did my best to get their teacher to let the kids [Drew Barrymore and Lukas Haas who play her children in the movie] camp out on the set.'' The children approved; the teacher vetoed the plan. The set was ''distressed'' to give the impression of a house that had stood the test of time. Decorative objects were selected with care. ''The books on the shelves were the ones these characters would have read. Infinite care was taken to create an environment,'' Krige says. Even the clothes the characters wore in the movie were used before filming began. ''We were encouraged to use our costumes in the rehearsal. So we sort of hung around in them.'' What does a company do with four weeks rehearsal? ''For the best part of four weeks, Jeff, Alan and I spent every day on the set. We talked about our characters and how our own lives relate to the experiences they're having.'' Improvisation also played its part in their work. ''Alan has a way of taking what the actors he's working with contribute and wrapping that around the character.'' Even after all the work, Krige says, ''There's no sense at all that you've all nailed down the characters. It's just a springboard for continued exploration.'' When she was first offered the part, Krige says, ''I was so charmed by the script. It's so full of truth and of wonder. I see it as a subject that has a bearing on us all. We're all involved in a relationship.'' ''See You in the Morning'' deals, honestly and compassionately, with the difficulties inherent in merging families. Children resent a new parent usurping the place of the old. A second wife worries about her husband's fond memories of his first marriage. The first wife wonders if the divorce was a mistake. The new husband resents living in his predecessor's house. Krige believes the movie ''just has so much to say about what I see as the only foundation on which to build a relationship - with compassion and understanding and the willingness to put yourself in the other person's shoes. You can't stop working once you get there.'' Her own marriage is just a year old. She married actor-director Paul Schoolman after shooting ended on ''See You in the Morning.'' Acting is one of the most rewarding careers, she believes. It enables her to participate in the lives of the characters she plays and to learn through her work. ''But you pay for it. I spend a lot of time away from my husband. And I don't see much of my family because I'm either working or out of work and looking for work.'' Her family still lives in Upington, South Africa where Krige was born. She studied at Rhodes University before leaving for London to study at Central School of Drama. Her work since then has been divided between England and the United States. ''I have never worked with my own dialect,'' she says. ''I'm always working in an accent - British, European or American. The issue is never merely to learn the accent. The real task is to find the character's voice.'' Krige has balanced a career that has taken her from the stage to screens large and small. At the height of her success in ''Chariots of Fire,'' she appeared in ''Arms and the Man'' in London's West End, then spent two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She played Roxanne to Derek Jacobi's ''Cyrano de Bergerac,'' Miranda to his Prospero in ''The Tempest,'' and played Cordelia in Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' as well as Edward Bond's gory modern version of the story, ''Lear''. She was the bewitching Bathsheba opposite Richard Gere's ''King David.'' She also starred in the television films ''Dream West,'' ''A Tale of Two Cities'' and 'Second Serve'' and the miniseries ''Ellis Island'' and ''Wallenberg''. Now she's traveling from West Coast to East on a three-week tour to publicize her latest film. She has learned to her sorrow that marketing a movie is also part of the job. Cable subscribers are beginning to discover her performance as the literary agent in ''Barfly,'' one of the many movies that goes to home video each year without ever going into general release. Another film she loved, Ivan Passer's ''Haunted Summer'' in which she played Mary Shelley, was shelved after a brief run during the Christmas season in Los Angeles. So Krige is on the road, and chefs at hotels where she stays scramble to find brown rice and tofu to accommodate her vegetarian diet. But they do it with a smile. They've seen ''Chariots of Fire,'' too. If they've seen ''Ghost Story,'' fear may be their motivation. There's nothing terrifying about Krige as she politely asks a waiter if he'd pour the boiling water over the tea bag in the pot, rather than delivering them separately. The waiter, who has already demonstrated a willingness to walk barefoot over hot coals for her sake, eagerly complies. Once this movie is launched, she says, she and her husband will continue work on one he's written, which they plan to film at a prison in the south of England. Inmates will be featured in the cast. Her husband has been conducting workshops to prepare for the project. Krige and her husband plan to finance the film themselves, so work has been slow. But ownership means they'll be able to control its distribution. ''I'm learning very swiftly,'' she says, ''that it's not enough just to make a good film.'' The Patriot News April 23,1989 Copyright (c) 1989, 2007 The Patriot-News Co. |
 |