‘Articulate, charming, villain’: John Lithgow on playing Roald Dahl
The 79-year-old has been Winston Churchill and King Lear in a busy late career, but becoming the controversial children’s author proved particularly fraught.
John Lithgow as Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant. Manuel Harlan
“Good morning from darkest California – well, darkest America,” says John Lithgow, popping up on Zoom from his study in Los Angeles, in a blue jacket and thick black Hockney-esque glasses. A shadow briefly falls across his features before he remembers that he needn’t discuss Donald Trump straight away. “Oh Lord, let’s not get off on that,” he says, avuncular charm restored.
Luckily there is much else to discuss. At 79, Lithgow is capping off a remarkable career with an extraordinary late career. Not for him the beach or the golf course. As he approaches his ninth decade, he has a mix of stage and screen parts that would force actors half his age to double their agents’ fees.
