Every good actor is supposed to disappear inside their role, but in new drama Iris, Hugh Bonneville has done it so well, nobody realises he's in it.
You've probably seen him in high-profile TV miniseries like The Cazalets, Armadillo or Take A Girl Like You, or you might remember him as Hugh Grant's stockbroker friend in Notting Hill, or you could have seen him on stage doing Shakespeare. In any case, you won't recognise him at all in Iris, Richard Eyre's acclaimed study of Iris Murdoch's final years. Concealed beneath a convincing scrapeover hairstyle and thick glasses, Bonneville plays the young John Bayley, stumbling suitor to Kate Winslet's Murdoch as remembered by their older counterparts, Judi Dench and Jim Broadbent. Hardly your average romantic lead, but at least he won't get stopped in the street too often.
Were you familiar with Iris Murdoch's writing at all?
No. I'm a complete Murdoch virgin, to my shame. I read John Bayley's memoir when it was serialised, and when I went back to the books I was hugely pleased that the screenplay had captured their spirit so well. And luckily John Bayley seems to think so too.
Did you meet him?
I did but only by chance when he came to the set when we were filming in Oxford. So that was a bit eerie having him listening on headphones while I was doing my terribly bad impersonation of Jim Broadbent's impersonation of him. He was very complimentary, I think he took quite a shine to Kate - he couldn't take his eyes, and hands, off her. The strangest thing was, even though I was wearing a costume from the 1950s, he was wearing identical clothes in 2001. I've got a photograph of us looking like doppelgangers.
The similarity between you and Jim Broadbent is pretty astounding.
A lot of people have said that. It's weird because in America, where we were doing some publicity recently, more than one journalist said to Jim, "How come there are two actresses playing Iris and only one actor playing John?" I've worked with Jim in the past and we'd never thought we resembled each other, so I suppose it's a credit to the make-up. I don't know who should be more insulted, me or Jim.
A lot of your role consists of being in awe of Kate Winslet - that must have been really difficult.
Yeah, no acting required. She's such a force of nature, she's quite formidable to be with on set because she's so inventive. Makes you pull your socks up and act properly for a change.
You also seem to spend a lot of time underwater.
Yeah, well we did a couple of days in a water tank at Pinewood. They warmed up the tank so it looked like the Amazon rainforest in there, but of course, Kate spends most of her life making films in water so she felt very at home. I had to get out after every take and put on a huge warm suit and stand in front of a sort of jet-propelled heater. So she christened me Nancy Boy.
Some of the camera crew had been on Titanic too, so they swapped war stories. It sounds a lot of fun for a "serious movie".
It was a very personal project for Richard (Eyre), whose own mother died of Alzheimer's. Strangely, for such a harrowing subject, it was the biggest laugh any of us had ever had. Especially for me and Kate; we just had to ride around on bicycles in pretty frocks. Particularly me.
The film is looking like a real Oscar contender as well.
Yes, and richly deserved by the other three f*****s who've all got nominated for a number of awards, because no one knows I'm in it. If Jim Broadbent wins an Oscar I'm going to cut it in half!
This article appeared in The Guardian (UK) on January 12, 2002