British actor Timothy Spall received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Transilvania IFF.22 Opening Gala. The audience then watched the Icelandic comedy Nordic Comfort on the big screen in Piața Unirii. Directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson, the film, starring Timothy Spall, tells the story of a diverse group of people with a chronic fear of flying.
On Saturday, June 10, Timothy Spall took part in a Q&A with the festival's artistic director, Mihai Chirilov, where he spoke humorously about the opening gala film, the immoral characters he has played throughout his career, the serious illness he went through and how it has changed his outlook on life.
“I was in Germany working on Spencer when I got the offer for Nordic Comfort”. Spall was drawn to the script that was both “stupidly funny and very profound”. Thus began the actor's journey to the northern realm. Nordic Comfort is a necessary investigation of modern fears. “We live in an age that is rife with paranoia and anxiety”.
Timothy Spall also spoke about how he chose his artistic path, although he was initially drawn to the idea of a military career. “The military was a fantasy. I wanted to drive a tank and dress up as a soldier. Now I can dress up as anyone. I played soldiers and I even became a painter. Life imitates art”.
As for the immoral characters he has portrayed, Spall confesses that he tries to understand them in all their complexity, uncovering the underpinnings and motivations behind their actions. “A lot of immoral characters aren't aware that they're immoral. A lot of bad things have been done in the name of religion. Ego in relation to the good deeds we think we do is to blame”.
The conversation also touched on topics such as the unique approach of his constant collaborator, director Mike Leigh, and his deeper understanding of grief following his battle with leukaemia. He recounted a funny story of how he ended up in a boat next to the biggest unexploded bomb of the war and the BAFTA-nominated TV show Timothy Spall: Somewhere at Sea.
Directors he would like to work with in the future include Paul Thomas Anderson, the Cohen Brothers, Martin Scorsese and Ruben Östlund.