Jeremy Irons often wonders what people were thinking when he reads scripts supposedly written for him.
The British actor portrays Macon Ravenwood in Beautiful Creatures, which is based on the first in a series of books called Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. When they were penning the tome, the authors imagined Jeremy would play Macon if it was ever adapted for the big screen.
Jeremy was honoured when he heard that, although not every role which has been created with him in mind has been so appealing.
“Yes [they thought of me] long before I knew anything about it. I suppose that’s good. Often I get scripts like that, people say, ‘I wrote this for you,’ and you think, ‘Jesus what are they thinking'!’” he laughed on British TV show Daybreak.
The story follows two young people as they fall in love and explore their families’ histories. The film also stars Emma Thompson, Emmy Rossum and Viola Davis and Jeremy had a great deal of fun on set.
“You could call it a supernatural romance. I play the supernatural father, Emma Thompson plays the supernatural mother,” he explained. “It’s about two kids in Virginia and the pressures of how it is having a relationship at that age.
You have pressures from society, pressures from school, pressures from your parents, but it’s sort of supernatural. It’s a lovely film.”
Jeremy relies on a “gut reaction” when it comes to picking his movies and always makes sure he reads the script before agreeing to a part.
His son Max has followed in his father’s footsteps and can soon be seen in the film The Host, which is about a woman who has an alien soul injected into her. Jeremy is thrilled with how well his child is doing.
“I am very, very proud of him. I’m glad to see that he’s happy and he seems to be doing quite well,” he said. “It’s a tough road because there are a lot of boys his age who are working in the business but he’s doing extremely well and loving it, which is the main thing.”
