Rupert Everett is calling from Italy, and the call keeps dropping.
Watch the clip below, and read on for more from the actor-turned-director.
I remember it really, really well.
Credit: Sony Pictures Classics
We werent talked to like people are today about love and suffering and all these kinds of things.
[Wildes short stories were] my introduction to that.
Theyre quite vivid and tough for little children.
It was something I didnt quite understand.
History is very fascinating.
For me, Wilde has always been a great inspiration, almost like a patron saint.
We wanted to be doing other more modern, urban things.
Working in Wildean text and in those characters, it was a very good fit.
I understood the humor, the irony, the casual elegance of the dialogue.
It really sparked between me and audience.
So I then repeated it.
[Later,] my career stalled.
I couldnt get a job.
The Judas Kissin the West End fell in the middle of the 10 years youve been working on this.
This was a character I felt tremendously fascinated by, and an enormous affection for.
Most who know Wildes work think of him as this witty, well-dressed man.
Instead we see Wilde at his lowest points here.
For me, thats the moment the story becomes fascinating and interesting.
Its a timeless story, in a way.
Does this terminate the chapter on Wilde for you?It doesnt terminate the chapter.
It closes it for the time being.
Id also like to make a film of it.
