Geoffrey Rush is back. But don’t call it a comeback
For Geoffrey Rush, this was an optimistic experience. The 74-year-old actor had just watched the 30th anniversary screening. ShineThe Australian film that won him an Oscar and launched his Hollywood film career on the Gold Coast.
Even better, Rush shared the stage with his longtime friend, director Scott Hicks, and David Helfgott, the colorful pianist he plays in the film, during a Saturday night Q&A session.
This was an event organized by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, of which Rush was once president. Or “prez,” as he joked about wanting to be called at the time.
But a lot has changed, with the “prez” regularly receiving rave reviews for their critically acclaimed performances; it also received three more Oscar nominations. Shakespeare in Love, feathers And The King’s Speech – and had a recurring role as Barbossa. Pirates of the Caribbean movies.
In a rare interview following the screening at the AACTA Festival, Rush wanted to make it clear that he would not be making a comeback before the first question was asked.
“There were a few lost years,” he said. “Not a lot. Not as much as people think.
“I hear rumors of people saying, ‘Oh, a comeback.’ No, no, no, [I] It didn’t happen [away].”
Instead, Rush said, “the tabloid probably put me in a reflective state for three or four years.”
That outpouring came while in Sydney Daily Telegraph “King Leer” headlined a 2017 article in which Rush made allegations of “inappropriate behavior” against an unnamed lead actor during the Sydney Theater Company’s 2015–16 season. King Lear.
Rush sued Nationwide News for defamation, earning a record $2.87 million in 2019 after claiming the paper portrayed him as a “pervert” and “sexual predator.”
His accuser was not named in the stories, but was later revealed to be Eryn Jean Norvill, who played the role of Lear’s daughter Cordelia alongside Rush.
Norvill did not speak Telegram but she later testified in court that the actor sexually assaulted her, including fondling the side of her right breast down to her hip, during a preview performance of the play in late 2015.
Separately, Yael Stone claimed Rush danced naked in front of her in a dressing room in 2018 and used a mirror to watch her while she showered during the Belvoir St Theatre’s 2010-11 season. Diary of a Madman.
Rush denied Stone’s allegations, and a Federal Court judge did not allow them to be heard in court during the hearing.
“It hurt,” he said, reflecting on the incident. “I was heartbroken because of the environment in which the incident took place. I talked to a writer friend of mine who is a journalist, and he said I wouldn’t be surprised if they did it. [the Telegraph] ‘We really want this pun to be on the front page of the newspaper, even if it costs us a few million,’ he said. But that’s what happened. I continued on my way.”
When asked what he had been through in the years since, he said: “I think I’m becoming more honest with myself about the choices I make. I want to do things that excite me…
“Maybe I’ll go back to the stage [but] “I don’t know if I have the same enthusiasm.”
Rush said he appreciates the support of his family, friends and colleagues, but is reluctant to give in to his feelings about Norvill and Stone.
“I was surprised by the variety of end-of-year ‘words of the year’ from different dictionaries,” he said. “Now, I say ‘six, seven’ to any of these questions. My birthday is July 6, so the kids think I’m mystically blessed.”
He was less cautious about moving into a new phase of his career.
“After the case, when I sat back a little bit and looked at what I really wanted to do,” he said.
This meant working only on “very specific projects” and a tempting offer came soon after the court win.
American-Canadian director Des McAnuff offered him a role in a movie. King Lear, Starring Christopher Plummer.
“I read the script and it was a great squeeze,” Rush said. “Just because of the circumstances I was in, I said, ‘look, I’m going to think hard about this.'”
When Plummer died in 2021 at the age of 91, McAnuff asked Rush to play Lear. “I went, ‘Wow, good part, wrong time,'” he said.
There were also “stupid offers”. Comey RuleA miniseries about FBI director James Comey during the 2016 election and the early years of Donald Trump’s first presidency.
“’Would you play President Trump?’ “they said,” he said. “Look, I’d like to think I’m a well-rounded character actor, but he’s a potato and I’m a piece of asparagus… I just said I was the wrong guy. Luckily, Brendan Gleeson got the part and he was sensational.”
Director Oren Moverman asked him to play Groucho Marx. Raised Eyebrows – The movie is currently in the background.
“It turned out to be the most fantastical script that wasn’t a biopic,” Rush said. “I call it a tragi-comedy about mortality.”
One of the films he shot was with his long-time friend John Lithgow in James Ashcroft’s 2024 New Zealand psychological thriller. Jenny Pen’s RuleIt takes place in a nursing home.
This film and other screenings of the restored 4K version Shine, took him to festivals around the world, which he said was “a great anchor point for me to stay on top of the agenda.”
Rush heads to New Zealand again in two weeks to film Tom Hern’s comedy Clipping the Love.
And he has a movie he can’t talk about yet, “by a master filmmaker” that’s expected to be released later this year.
More comfortable ground for Rush speaks to impact Shine he had in his life.
“My career is now 55 years old,” he said. “ShineMy second feature film, I just opened the door The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I entered from one side and exited from the other. “It was quite transformative and quite adventurous.”
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