The role Michael Caine called a turning point in his career: “It was a big character change for me”
British cinema boomed in the 1960s, welcoming some fresh new faces into the industry. One of these was Michael Caine, who began his career with several minor parts on screen and in the theatre before rising to prominence in the 1964 film Zulu.
He continued to star in various acclaimed British films like The Ipcress File, Alfie, and The Italian Job, establishing himself as one of the country’s most premium actors. Caine had a signature look going for him, instantly recognisable for his horn-rimmed glasses. Paired with his thick Cockney accent, Caine gained a reputation for playing strong gangster types.
Throughout the 1970s, Caine continued playing quintessential ‘Michael Caine’ roles, appearing in Get Carter, Sleuth, and The Eagle Has Landed. However, as the following decade rolled around, he started to switch things up a bit, playing characters that differed from the ones he had become known for.
Caine knew that to sustain a long and impressive career, he couldn’t just keep playing the same characters. Thus, he welcomed new opportunities, like the role of the alcoholic professor in 1983’s Educating Rita, a movie which would prove to be a turning point for the actor.
The film was directed by Lewis Gilbert, who previously worked with Caine on Alfie in the ‘60s. Based on a play of the same name by Willy Russell, the film gave Julie Walters her first film role, although she had previously played the role on stage. While she played the titular Rita, Caine played her professor, Frank Bryant, who teaches her English after she decides to enrol in an Open University course.
Both characters come to greatly benefit from each other, despite being incredibly different, with the pair learning more about life over the course of the movie. For one of the first times, Caine was playing a role so far removed from what he was known for, and in an interview with Venice Magazine, he explained how “It was a big character change for me because up until that point, I’d been playing ‘Michael Caine-ish’ in everything.”
He continued: “The most extraordinary thing about that role for me was the fact that it was a character in which I could find nothing of myself. He was the farthest away from myself I’d even been with a character, which is the ideal place for an actor to be.”
Caine and Walters would both receive nominations from the Academy Awards for their outstanding performances. They were highly praised, with Caine proving that he had more range that he had often been given credit for. He ended up winning a Golden Globe and a Bafta for the part, helping him to maintain a successful career through the decade.
Caine added, “But Julie Walters really helped to make me look good in Rita,” as well as gushing about working with the same director who helped make him a star several years before. “I got to work with Lewis Gilbert again, who directed Alfie. Lewis was something of a good luck charm for me: both times I worked with him, I got nominated!”
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