You were recently knighted, so how does it feel to be known as Sir Christopher Lee? Well, I was surprised, to say the least. Obviously, very pleased, particularly for my fam- ily. But I was surprised because I didn’t expect somebody of my age to receive this ho- nour. Otherwise, I haven’t changed in any way.
At 87, you’re more in demand now than ever it seems, and I’ve read that you’re the most prolific actor of all time, with the most screen credits – well over 300 of them. I don’t think the comment about being the most prolific actor of all time with the most screen credits is entirely correct. I remember the late John Carradine, with whom I worked, once telling me he had over 400. But I think that when he started, early on, they were doing very short films. I don’t know what you’d call them – “two-reelers,” I think. I can only say that that’s what he told me.
As mentioned in your autobiographies, you’re actually a very unlikely movie star in many ways. How did you break into the business? I started as an actor at the end of ’46 and I didn’t know anything at all. Absolutely noth- ing about acting. I guess that happens with everyone when they do their first job. I wanted to learn very much and I did everything I could, even sweeping the floor of the stage and acting as the assistant stage manager, which was good training. It took me about ten years before I was really aware of what to do in front of the camera. And I’m still learning today because there are different, new methods of making a film: new lenses, new lights, CGI, all sorts of things which didn’t exist when I started. But origi- nally I was told that I was much too tall to be an actor, which I think is an odd thing to say. If I had been an American, I don’t think my height would have been a drawback, but it certainly was here [in England] for quite a long time because I was taller than just about every British actor, including some of the stars. So, I thought, “Well, I’m not going to let this kind of comment get me down.” I’m a very determined sort of person, and so I just did everything I could, everywhere I could. I was working in amateur produc- tions – with sometimes just one line, sometimes two – until I gradually built, and built, and built my resume. It wasn’t until about 1956 or ’57 that my name and face became familiar to the filmgoing public.
So you weren’t “a natural?” When I first started, I was not at all a good actor. In fact, at times I was terrible. I got a contract with the Rank Organisation starting at ten pounds a week. Not exactly what you would call a mountain of gold. And if I could get to a studio and watch, I did my best to watch the very good actors and, if given the chance, the very good directors, too. I was learning, learning, learning all the time. That’s one of the secrets of being a very good actor: learning, so that you have experience and knowledge behind you when the opportunity comes.
How would you compare your career now with the one you envisioned for your- self when you first started out? Well, I never thought I would make my name playing villainous characters. It just hap- pened. I never dreamed about being a juvenile lead or a romantic lead – that’s just not me. I just took every opportunity that came along. And those first ten years were the making of me as an actor, one who really knew what was going on behind the camera as well as in front of it.
Let’s talk about your return to Hammer. You recently completed The Resident, with Hilary Swank – your first film for the reborn studio in approximately 35 years. How does it feel to be back on a Hammer film? Well, it was something that I never expected would happen. I congratulate the people who are running Hammer now for having the name restarted and for making motion pictures again. It’s a strange feeling in a way; it’s like coming full circle. And what I did with Hilary Swank wasn’t a very great deal, but I think that she’s a very fine actress, and I think that [co-star] Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a very fine actor. So, it was a pleas- ant surprise, really. I had to travel a long way to do it, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. I think it will be a very good film, slightly along the lines of – but not in terms of devilish possession or anything like that – Rosemary’s Baby. I’m not saying it’s the same, be- cause it isn’t. But it’s a very strange, unsettling film, and was very demanding for the leading players. My part was a short part, but a very meaningful one.
Was this Hammer experience like slipping on an old glove, so to speak, or was it something completely different?
The Looks of Lee: (top to bottom) As Dracula (with Caroline Munro) in Dracula A.D. 1972, as August (with Jeffery Dean Morgan) in The Resident, as Duc de Richleau (with Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington and Patrick Mower) in The Devil Rides Out, and (opposite) as the Creature from The Curse of Frankenstein.
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