Ben Kingsley continues his adventures in acting with 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'

Ben Kingsley

Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley has played many characters in illustrious career, but he doesn’t like to see these roles in black-in-white terms, such as “good guys” or “bad guys.” Instead, he says he’d rather play his characters in shades of gray, knowing that everyone has a good side and a bad side that are shown in various degrees and circumstances. Kingsley’s undeniable talent at playing complex characters works in tandem with his interest in doing various types of acting projects.

In the action-adventure film "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time," Kingsley is Nizam, the brother of a Persian king who dies, thereby setting off a family competition for who will succeed him to the throne. One of the king’s three sons is the adopted prince Dastan (played by Jake Gyllenhaal), who is on a mission to find a dagger that can control time travel and give immeasurable power to the person who owns the dagger. While Kingsley was at the "Prince of Persia" press junket in London, he spoke with journalists about his "Prince of Persia" experience via an interactive Webcast interview.

Toby Kebbell and Ben Kingsley in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

Can you talk a little bit about your attraction to projects like “Prince of Persia,” “BloodRayne” and “Thunderbirds” that are slightly away from your usual repertoire of more realistic and often dramatic films?

I don’t think I’m doing anything a disservice, but when you are asked by the king of family entertainment [producer Jerry Bruckheimer], you can’t say no. And you know that it’s going to be so refined, it’s going to be so targeted, and it’s going to have a message. Now the message of this film is to do with the break up and disintegration of a family though sibling rivalry and the rebuilding of that family.

So for me, it was a seamless jump to go from Martin Scorsese’s set on “Shutter Island” to Jerry Bruckheimer and [director] Mike Newell’s set on [“Prince of Persia”], because this film — yes, it’s exciting; yes, it’s thrilling, yet it’s an action-packed drama but it’s character-driven. And it’s the character-driven aspect of this film that to be honest has elevated it into a dramatic realm that I’m very happy in. I love being in this film because it gives actors a great opportunity to delve into their characters and their cracks and their flaws.

Given that you’ve had such a storied career, how hard is it for you to craft new characters in new movies and always make them fresh?

Well, it’s my job to. If I can’t surprise myself, I can’t surprise my director and my fellow actors, and therefore the audience. So my quest is to surprise myself. Maybe it’s a little bit like a mountaineer always looking for a particularly dangerous mountain that maybe others have climbed before but not me. So I see myself as a bit of an explorer. A bit of a hunter. I’m always hunting for new opportunities and keep them fresh.

Ben Kingsley, Jake Gyllenhaal and Richard Coyle in "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time"

Which do you enjoy playing more: a villain or a good guy?

I believe that there’s good and bad in all of us. And I believe that there’s a light side and a dark side. What I find fascinating and enjoyable is playing the balance. And in the recent movies I’ve done, what I have to do as an actor is to be unafraid of whether the audience like me or not. I’ve got to be indifferent to that. I’ve got to tell the story.

So I know that there have been twists and turns in, in recent films I’ve done “Shutter Island,” “Elegy,” beautiful films that I’ve done recently. And this one [“Persia of Persia”], of course. I’m not afraid of whether the audience likes me or not. That’s not the point. As long as they focus on the character and see his journey through the film, that for me is thrilling. To tell that story, that unique destiny through that film.

Looking past the makeup and the costuming, did playing Nizam let you tap into some of your theatrical and stage experience?

Playing Nizam, I must be honest, allowed me to tap, and I didn’t slosh it around the film set in some grand manner. I kept it a little bit to myself, but there is — and now this is our secret, OK? But there is something Shakespearean about Nizam. And you know, I did 15 years in classic theater before I did “Gandhi,” and I did a lot of Shakespeare and the brilliant thing about his guise, his characters, is that there’s a man and then there are layers and layers of magic stuff behind that man. And as you say, behind the costume, which is magnificent and the look is a man eaten up by such destructive forces presented as the most polite and helpful man in the world. So yeah, I tapped into even Shakespeare for this film.

"Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley and "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" director Mike Newell at the film's world premiere in London

Did you always want to be in a big Walt Disney spectacle movie for Jerry Bruckheimer? If so, did you have any kind of favorite Bruckheimer films that you can remember?

It goes back further than that. When I was a child and we had Disney on our television sets in England and when I heard “When you Wish Upon a Star,” I was so choked up. I mean, it still does it for me. That signature tune and that magic castle and that whole Disney logo, I find so beautiful, so pure. So it means everything about family entertainment in my childhood being transported, so it’s like a wheel going full circle. It’s a privilege to be in the best of the best, which is that great Disney experience.

What elements did you draw on to create your Nizam character, and were there any kind of real-life historical figures or people that you knew? Or did the inspiration coming strictly from the script?

Fortunately, I don’t know anyone like Nizam. I know that there is such a thing as sibling rivalry. That brothers can be extremely jealous of other brothers. Fortunately, my children do not suffer from that. There are historical precedents where you do see people who have bizarre ambitions, dangerous ambitions to do something with the world. And when they get the equipment to do that with, the means to do that, they use it and it’s disastrous. The worst people in the world to get hold of that dagger is Nizam. And there are historical figures who’ve got hold of some technology, and they have unleashed their mad fantasies. And I’m talking quite recent history. And it’s been horrific. So I look at history and I look at the realities of history and what it teaches us and I do see Nizam’s in recent history.

What stories do you personally find appealing?

Here’s the paradox: This is a family movie. There will be families sitting down to watch this together and the great thing about families sitting down and watching this together is that it’s one of the few things that families do together anymore. They go to the movies. And as a family sitting down and watching the threat to a family and then and then the rebuilding of that family unit through trust and faith and experience is going to be a very, very interesting experience.