Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Woody Allen has made a few changes to the patented Allen formula, which may be why his latest film, Match Point, is better than anything he’s done in ages. For one thing, he’s replaced New York with London, albeit for financial, rather than creative, reasons. For another, there is no neurotic Jew shambling through scenes of painful self-absorption and improbable romance. Instead, there’s Chris Wilton, a sleek and calculating Irishman who slips greedily between two women who offer very different attractions. One promises money and a lavish lifestyle, the other offers steamy and illicit sex, and Wilton wants them both. Played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, this anti-Woody (or uber-Woody, as wry observers of Allen’s own most recent romantic machinations might say) cuts a shocking and sinister figure. It turns out Rhys Meyers, whose work ranges from a glam rock chameleon in Velvet Goldmine to an amiable coach in Bend It Like Beckham, is quite comfortable playing sinister.

You seem to play a lot of rather dark leading men. Why?
It has to do with my physicality. There is a certain darkness to the way I look; I look slightly morally ambiguous. Also, my life experiences position me well to play characters with a lot of depth to them. For instance, I had an opportunity to be in an interesting film about a young man who has never had sex. But I couldn’t really convincingly play that role, because there’s a look in my eyes. I clearly know what it’s like to be in bed with a woman.

So you bring a lot of yourself to your roles.
Yes, of course. I’ve seen very few of the films that I’ve acted in. Unless I have to go to a premiere, I won’t watch them. See, I live with this actor every day, and I’m kind of bored with him. I’m a different person in every film, but it’s still me.

In Match Point, you’re a murderer. Was that a difficult part of yourself to bring out?
Well, in the confines of the script, I don’t have any moralistic values. So, no, I just called on a different facet of myself. It’s all in there somewhere, in all good actors. You just have to be willing to share everything for a role, and not everyone will do that. For instance, I really get annoyed with actors who won’t strip off their clothes to do a film. If the script says, “naked walking past the room,” do it. But people are like, “I don’t want to show this, or I don’t want to show that,” and usually it’s a financial thing, because they can get an extra two or three hundred thousand dollars showing their tits in Playboy.

Was it a thrill to work with Woody Allen?
I like Woody Allen, but I don’t idolize him the way other people do. I couldn’t work with him if I did—I had to equalize myself with him. He was very good and easy to work with.

Are you easy to work with?
Some people find me maddening. For instance, I didn’t have the greatest experience with Oliver Stone [in Alexander], but I’d work with him again. I don’t have to like everyone I work with, just respect them. And I do.

Most of your films have been rather art-house in nature. Do you shy away from commercial films?
No, I love commercial films! I love seeing things like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, because they’re fantastic. My DVD collection is filled with popcorn films. I don’t sit down and watch Francois Truffaut or Pier Paolo Pasolini movies. Too heavy for me. I like Jerry Maguire, things I don’t have to invest too much intellectual property into.

Speaking of Jerry Maguire, you’ve just spent five months in China with Tom Cruise, working on the sequel to Mission Impossible. How much of the strange scuttlebutt we hear about this guy is true?
I haven’t read one single word of truth about the man yet. No one has any idea what he is really like.

So give us an idea.
No. He’s my boss.