John Malkovich is one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood. And that voice, which has been described by The Guardian as “a reedy, faintly orgasmic drawl,” is one of the best. But can he carry a tune?
That is one of the big questions that will be answered when in a new Toronto production of The Giacomo Variations, based on the life of Giacomo Casanova, running June 7 to 9 at the Elgin Theatre.
We recently spoke with Malkovich, who stars in the production.
You were last in Toronto performing The Infernal Comedy. What were your impressions of the city and how were the crowds?
I like Toronto very much. The first Red movie [Red 2, starring Malkovich and Bruce Willis is out this summer] was shot almost exclusively in Toronto and a little bit outside. It is a great city; I like it very much. I slightly prefer spring, summer, fall … but I doubt I’m alone in that. We did The Infernal Comedy at Massey Hall. It was a very good crowd. They were interested, maybe a little more reserved than the crowd in Quebec. But no one threw anything at me that at least got close enough I can remember it. So that’s a good sign.
You have a fashion label, and it is now close to Father's Day. What would be a good fashionable gift choice for the discerning gentlemen — other than a tie?
Anything from my line, if anyone sold it. But that seems unlikely…. If I want to look presentable, I always wear a suit.
There is more to Casanova than his success with women, but that seems to be all he is known for. Why is that?
It is partially a reflection of our times, and partially something that comes from his time and his reputation, and probably in part from his journals. But there was a lot more to Casanova than just that. He seduced a lot of women, but he was also an alchemist, a Kabbalist, occultist, freemason. He did so many things in his life. A good handful of them [were] pretty shameful by any kind of reasonable standard, maybe even of the times. But others that were thought to be shameful probably weren't so appalling.
What are your thoughts on life, philosophically speaking?
[I’m] probably more of a carpe diem person, because we don’t really know what will happen tomorrow and we don’t really know that anything at all happens after this life. I assume not. We return to the earth. So I try to spend my life with people I like, doing what interests me.
Apparently you hold your own on the singing side. Were you worried at all about this aspect of the production?
I sang in choirs and all that stuff…. It was a childhood dream of mine to be in the Vienna Boys Choir…. In Mozart’s time, those were actors and not singers on the stage. I don’t sing all that much in the piece, perhaps blessedly for the paying public. It is mostly harmonies and fill-ins, but I love to sing. And I love this music. It is fantastic.
The Giacomo Variations, Elgin Theatre, June 7-9