The actor Emily Watson described as a “troubled genius”
There’s something very special about Emily Watson in the way that she has been able to play a wide range of characters in troubled mental states. The London-born actor is an icon of the stage and screen in her own right, and she has never stopped short of offering her opinion on her fellow actors that she felt possessed genuine brilliance, including those who also struggled with their mental health as many of her characters have.
It was in the theatre that Watson first made a name for herself, particularly in productions of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. However, in 1996, the cinematic world gained a new icon when she played a deeply troubled Catholic woman in Lars von Trier’s psychological romantic melodrama Breaking the Waves and was subsequently nominated for an Academy Award for ‘Best Actress’.
Over the years, Watson continued to impress, particularly in roles where she had to go to the limits of human strength. In Hilary and Jackie, she played the prodigious British cellist Jacqueline Mary du Pré, whose career was cut short at the age of 27 by multiple sclerosis, while Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love saw a portrayal of a rather awkward woman who falls in love with an equally anxious man played by Adam Sandler.
Undoubtedly, Watson possesses a genius level of acting talent, and she once spoke of a fellow actor who she considers in the equal highest of terms. In 2004, Watson played Anne Howe, the first wife of English actor Peter Sellers, in the Stephen Hopkins biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.
The film saw Geoffrey Rush play Sellers, Miriam Margolyes, his mother Peg Sellers, Charlize Theron, his second wife Britt Ekland, and Stanley Tucci, the director Stanley Kubrick. Speaking with the BBC, Watson once explained the impression of Sellers that she gained from performing in the movie.
“I think I have an insight that is based on the film,” she said. “Somebody who’s that brilliant and that prolific and that dedicated to total transformation, and that addicted to the octane high of being funny and being at the centre of everything, and the fall out around him – I think it’s fascinating territory to explore. It’s a classic tale of troubled genius.”
Sellers had an excellent career and became known for comedic songs, as well as his role as Chief Inspector Clousseau in The Pink Panther movie series and a number of efforts in the likes of Lolita, Dr. Strangelove, Casino Royale and Being There. However, despite his acclaim, Seller suffered from depression and alcohol and drug issues. He clashed with his directors and fellow actors on a number of occasions and personally felt that he had little personal identity outside of the roles that he played.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers was based on Roger Lewis’ biography of the same name, and he once noted, “It was the melancholia of Sellers I was drawn to; all those shuffling little ghostly figures he used to play in Boulting brothers films, or Clouseau, with those soulful, mournful brown eyes. For all the success and the women, he is rather a lonely and melancholic figure. And that is what redeems him.”
For Watson, the chance to play Sellers’ first wife allowed her to get closer to the actor’s genius and better understand the inner issues that affected his life. For that, she will always hold the English acting icon close to her heart.
