Matthew Goode's first starring role in a Hollywood production was as Mandy Moore's love interest in the romantic comedy, Chasing Liberty. From there he leapt into major roles in Imagine Me & You and Woody Allen's Match Point opposite Allen's latest muse, Scarlett Johansson. But it was his portrayal of a despicable thief who takes advantage of a head-injury victim in the award-winning indie drama The Lookout that earned Goode rave reviews.
Goode followed up The Lookout with the lead role of Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited, directed by Julian Jarrold and based on the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. Charles Ryder is an aspiring artist and a member of the underclass who becomes involved in the lives of the wealthy Flyte family. Charles is thrust into the world of the upper-crust Flytes when he becomes involved in intense and complicated relationships with his Oxford classmate, Sebastian (Ben Whishaw of Perfume), and Sebastian's beautiful sister, Julia (Hayley Atwell).
Matthew Goode Interview
There's real chemistry between you, Ben Whishaw and Hayley Atwell on the screen. How did you get that chemistry?
"I think we got on very well. I think Emma [Thompson] really helped because before we went she cooked a couple of family meals for us all. We had some wine and laughed, and a mere two weeks of talking through characters with Julian Jarrold and rehearsing and reading around the table, which was great. I suppose it's really easy when you like the other people you're working with. And we learned our lines - I really never know what chemistry is when we read the lines."
You don't know if you have chemistry with another actor when you're doing the part?
"Not really. I mean, I recall watching them and thinking they're doing a great job. I sensed very early on that we were making something that could be very good, which is sort of like a play within a play because Charles is the observational center. And I was literally just watching them thinking, 'You're all f**king brilliant.' So I suppose in a sense you kind of know. But you never do because good scripts and good actors doesn't necessarily mean good final project. You've got to trust the director. It's his vision."
And you trusted this director. Why?
"Just from talking about the characters to him. He was like, 'What do you think? I think this…' It's thematically so rich and there's so many ambiguities. So yeah, I just felt empowered that my choices were going to be right."
Did he allow you much room to grow within the character?
"What we did agree was, you know, as in life you know it's not black and white. There's a lot of gray areas and there's ambiguities, and you explore them and feel them out as you go. Honestly, you have to kind of know your parameters, but up and down and side to side you're allowed to have a go."
Did you know the source material?
"Yes I did. I read it for the first time when I was about 12. I don't think I fully understood it, but I was a real bookworm."
You read it when you were 12? That's pretty advanced for a 12 year old. Is that the type of reading material you drifted toward as a preteen?
"I just picked up books off shelves at home."
Do you remember what you thought of it at the time?
"I remember thinking it was a little sad. I never fully understood it all, but enough to think it was a ripping good yarn. But then I got given the series from my agent five or six years ago, which was quite prophetic really. He was like, 'This is the best thing that's ever been on television. You should watch it and you should learn from it.' I was like, 'Okay…' So yeah, I knew it pretty well."
When you were picking up books like this when you were 12, were you picking them up thinking that later on you were going to be acting in this type of material - or did that never even enter your mind?
"No, never entered my mind."
When did you decide acting was it?
"When I finished drama school and I had an agent."
But you went through drama school knowing you were going to be an actor, right?
"No, I didn't know. I was never sure if I was any good at it, quite honestly."
But you stuck with it.
"I think that was due to laziness. I just never saw myself in an office so I thought I might as well give it a crack. I've always loved the people. [Laughing] And it beats working for a living. That sounds really facetious, because it is hard work."
How do you make a period piece like this reach and connect with contemporary audiences?
"Well, I think you stick really good actors in it, like Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon and Greta Scacchi. You know, you see the trailer and you're like, 'Okay, these are very good actors,' and so if they don't know the book, there's an appeal for those reasons. I think it's a book that a lot of people know the name of and hopefully they'll be drawn in by wanting to know more.
It's beautifully shot. The trailer, in a way, doesn't really reflect what the nature of the book is. That gets some people in in modern audiences because it looks like a thriller. There's a huge sea of fans of the original who will be sharpening their daggers and I think they'll want to come see it just so they can say it's not as good as the original. And hopefully some of them will come out and say we did a good job. It's quite hard."
You can't compare the two. Even comparing a book to a movie is not necessarily fair because they are two different animals.
"Yes. And as we say, we weren't trying to remake the TV series. We were doing an adaptation of one of the 20th century's great novels. But we're expecting [the comparison]. Maybe it's just a healthy amount of cynicism from us. But otherwise it's got fairly universal themes that people can identify with, with Fundamentalist religion and love and loneliness."
