\n<\/p>\n
Recognizing that discomfort, it would be easy to assume that Menzies is a technical actor, an analytical one, someone who doesn\u2019t let his own emotional life seep into a character. But for Menzies, acting is a deeply personal endeavor. If he is private in his public life, he is far more open onstage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI certainly use a lot of myself in my work,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the quickest way to make it as real as possible. If you\u2019re using memories of your own or experiences of your own, you\u2019re right there. So, yeah, theater has always been quite personal for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked what memories and experiences he had used for \u201cThe Hunt,\u201d he became understandably warier. \u201cBeing outside, trying to get in,\u201d he said, finally. Then, on the south end of the promenade, looking out toward the Statue of Liberty, he elaborated. \u201cI guess on the spectrum, I\u2019m probably something of an isolate; sometimes I can be that person. So that\u2019s been relatively straightforward to access.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celebrity, of course, can provide its own isolation, particularly for those like Menzies who mistrust it. It\u2019s uncomfortable to find yourself becoming this visible, this spotlit. And that seems to have enhanced this version of \u201cThe Hunt.\u201d \u201cIn dealing with celebrity and the way that can be toxic or even ostracizing at times, his performances is even richer now,\u201d Goold said. \u201cTo be an outsider in a more profound way is what I perceive Tobias\u2019s work is now.\u201d<\/p>\n
After \u201cThe Hunt,\u201d Menzies will finish shooting a Formula 1 movie, opposite Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem, delayed by the writers\u2019 and actors\u2019 strikes. And if that sounds fairly commercial and maybe even fun (\u201cEssentially it\u2019s the action film,\u201d he said, \u201cthese pirouettes of character, and then it\u2019s more driving\u201d), he will follow it up with a new production of the Greek tragedy \u201cAntigone\u201d at the National Theater, in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the most strategic of actors, clearly,\u201d he admitted. He\u2019d made a loop of the promenade and was heading down the slope back toward St. Ann\u2019s. \u201cI very much orient to if the work is good enough, it will lead me to where I need to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n