Ivor Markman
An Interview with Alice Krige
NOSTALGIC TRIP: Alice Krige hit the limelight for the first time at the Port Elizabeth Opera House in April 1969, when she was chosen, aged 14 years, from a bevy of hopeful beauties to star in Helen Mann's production of Romeo and Juliet. The production was staged at the Opera House. With her, in the photo she is holding, is Colin Stevens, who starred as Romeo. PHOTO: IVOR MARKMAN.
"The most expensive pee in movie history!"
By IVOR MARKMAN
Not only does actress Alice Krige deliver stories on the stage, on the big screen and in the little box,
but she also has a host of personal stories about her experiences - some deeply serious, some amusing and some to learn by.
And if you listen carefully, you will soon discover her wonderfully subtle sense of humour.
Alice has starred in more than 38 "theatre" movies, including Chariots of Fire, Ghost Story, Barfly, Sleepwalkers, Star Trek: First Contact, The Commissioner, Skin, The Little Vampire, Reign of Fire, Solomon Cane, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
She has also appeared in popular series including Beverley Hills 90210, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, NCIS, Partners in Crime, Waking the Dead, Napoleon, The Mystery of Natalie Wood, The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton, The Commissioner, and OA.
Alice is to the older generation what Charlene Theron is to the younger generation, only Alice grew up in Port Elizabeth and is well-known to many residents.
The daughter of a doctor and a clinical psychologist, Alice was born in Upington in 1954 and always wanted to dance but "there wasn't a ballerina within 1000 miles of Upington".
But when the family moved to Johannesburg "the first thing my Mum did was enrol me in a ballet class when I was eight," Krige said.
The family moved to Port Elizabeth in 1965 and Krige attended Erica Girls' Primary School before moving to Collegiate the following year.
YOUNG ACTRESS: In 1969 Alice Krige hit the limelight at the tender age of 14 when she starred as Juliet in Helen Mann's production of Romeo and Juliet, which was staged at the Port Elizabeth Opera House alongside Colin Stevens (right) who took the role of Romeo.
In April 1969, aged just 14, she landed the role of Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Port Elizabeth Opera House.
HER FIRST FILM HIT: Nigel Havers and Alice Krige in Chariots of Fire. Directed by Hugh Hudson, 1981.
In 1976 she landed her first major international role, in Chariots of Fire
Discussing how she researches a role, Alice says she believes in experiencing in real life what she is about to act.
That, she says, was particularly interesting when it came to her role as a drunk in Barfly.
Alice was sitting with husband Paul Schoolman, preparing for her first day's work when he turned to her and said: "You know, you've never been drunk . . . I think she gets very drunk in this scene.
"I think you should experience drinking whiskey."
So they bought a quart-bottle of whiskey, returned home and continued reading poems while Alice continued sipping.
"At the end of the quart (the) whiskey had had no effect on me so we went back and got another one.
"Paul was reading a particularly long short story and when he looked up, I had finished most of the quarter-bottle of whiskey.
"He looked at the bottle and said: `What have you done? I'm going to have to take you to hospital.'
"I said, `I'll be all right' and got up. My knees gave way and I went down. I got up again, staggered off to the bedroom and lay down on the bed."
For two days her room did not stopped spinning, she said, and every time she passed the nearly empty bottle she felt drunk all over again.
When she finally emerged from this alcohol-induced fog, her husband said: "When you get to do the scene, don't think about it, your body will do for you what it did then."
"We did the scene and that's exactly what happened," Alice said.
TRAINING GROUND: When Alice Krige visited Port Elizabeth she called in at Savages, a popular restaurant in Park Drive owned by Cindy Hoekstra (right). As a young girl, Alice visited the home many times as it was where Dorothy Sutherland conducted elocution and drama lessons. "It used to be dark and dreary," she said, "but now it is wonderful". Photo: IVOR MARKMAN.
FIRST BALLET: Alice Krige, right, took to the stage in December 1969 to perform in Merille Lane's ballet-pantomime called "Ballet-mobile" and which was staged at the Opera House. With her in the photo are Janet Mills, left, and Mary-Anne Apostolis. Before she took to the stage, Alice's first love was ballet but she took her doctor father's advice and changed to acting when he told her what was likely to happen to her feet if she carried on with ballet.
BORG QUEEN: Alice has become a cult figure with "Trekkies" (Star Trek fans) since she appeared in Star Trek: First Contact as the Borg Queen in 1996. She often appears at conventions and loves interacting with her fans.
Alice has become somewhat of a cult figure for Star Trek fans and is often called upon to appear as a guest at various conventions.
Perhaps one of the most amusing Star Trek stories is how she went to the bathroom during the first day's filming.
Alice explained that her suit was made up of a number of pieces of rubber and the "pulls" created by the hooks were actually little moulded and airbrushed pieces of gelatin stuck onto her skin.
The head consisted of three pieces.
"The first day that I wore the whole suit continuously was the first day of shooting.
"Scott (Wheeler, makeup artist) and I were in this tiny little caravan and I wasn't thinking. I was drinking water, coffee and juice, blah, blah, blah," she said.
"It took an hour to get into the suit.
“What they did was to stitch me up at the back, then there was a flap over the stitching and they glued the flap down so it appeared to be completely seamless.
“It was in one piece at this point.
"By about 4 pm I was bursting to go to the loo," Alice said.
Production was delayed for 45 expensive minutes because she could not get back into the suit.
Her hands and feet were swollen because the suit had cut off the blood flow.
"They couldn't get me back into the suit. It was the most expensive pee in the history of movies," she laughed.
Coming back to the present, she spoke about the latest season of sci-fi series OA.
"They have probably finished shooting the second season," she said.
"They released the first season at Christmas time so if they finish now I suspect they will head for the same kind of release date - December, I don't know, it's all uncertain.
"Whether or not I'm in (the second season), I can't speak about that, but I do know that if it goes to a third season I will be in it."
When asked what she thought of the ending of the first season, she replied: “When I read the script, got to the end, I thought ‘Oh my goodness! What did I miss? I better go back to the beginning.’
“I was enormously moved by the ending, I thought it was a brilliant piece of writing and it left so many possibilities in the air.
The second season will be even more surprising than the first.
In spring 2019, Alice will be treading the boards of the new Riverside Studios in southeast London for the world premiere of a play called Persona, a dramatisation of Ingmar Bergman's 1966 film.
"I play Sister Alma."
This production is an adaptation for theatre by her husband.
The artistic director is William Burdett-Coutts, with whom she studied at Rhodes.
Alice is awaiting the release of her latest movie, A Rose in Winter, a story about Edith Stein, a Jewish woman who converted to Catholicism after the disastrous Kristallnacht massacres in November 1938.
The launch will be at the Venice Film Festival which starts at the end of August.
The main character of the film is Edith Stein, the youngest of 11 children, who became Sister Teresa Benedicta.
The film begins in 1912 when Stein was a little girl.
“I play her best friend, Anna Reinach, who was a very gifted academic,” said Alice.
“She is ordained as a sister, and immediately writes to Pope Pius XI and says: ‘You have to speak out against what the Nazis are doing to the Jews!
'They say they are Christians but it is the most heathen act – you have to speak out!’
“He never answers her,” said Alice.
Copyright Ivor Markman, 2018.
