Thrawn: How did you get the role in if....?
Rupert: They were having a hard time casting Bobby Phillips and the casting agent on if.... talked to Ross Chattot, another casting agent who was the mom of one of my friends at Hill House Primary School, who thought I would be right for the part. So I went and auditioned with Lindsay straight away, it was the smoking in the Armory scene and Lindsay was positive about it immediately.
T: What was it like working with Malcolm McDowell on the set?
R: Malcolm was pretty friendly and encouraging, although very self confident and slightly aloof, and as I remember the older lads stuck more together as filming progressed. He was always sure of himself, quite like the character in if...., I think you could tell he was very determined and ambitious.
T: What was it like working with Lindsay Anderson?
R: Lindsay was also very in control, but in a fatherly kind of way and I felt I could trust him. I always had faith that he was making a great film. I spoke to him when I came back from America in about 90/91 and we always meant to have tea and meet up so it was very sad to hear he had gone. One sort of thinks of him as a mentor in some ways.
T: Do you have any good stories from the set?
R: There is one story from one of the sets of if... in Elstreee. I think it's supposed to be under the stage with all the babies in formaldehyde and brick-a-brack like stuffed crocodiles etc. When I went onto the set it looked really cool, a bit dark and mysterious, no one was really about and I saw this stuffed gorilla in the back so I went to have a look and I couldn't believe there was another stuffed gorilla behind it, but as I went closer it suddenly jumped out and ran towards me! I nearly had a heart attack. Apparently the crew had been playing this practical joke on everyone that had been looking at the set!
T: What other acting did you do?
R: I did some English television after if...., a Play for Today BBC 2 with Ian
Carmichael called Ama Mata which was also about public schools for some strange
reason. In it I played the antithesis of my character in if.... - the school
bully as I was a bit older in it. Also I did something on Channel 4
that was for the Victoria and Albert Museum to do with design. I was working on
it to help out, doing a bit of everything, but ended up quite a bit in front of
the camera. This was in about 1974. I never saw it and I don't know what
happened with it, other than it was shown and people said
they liked it.
T: Why didn't you stay with acting, was music a bigger draw?
R: The main reason for not staying with acting is at the time I was pursuing school and later Art school and then I fell in love with playing the guitar which began taking over my main mean of artistic expression. Also my mum was a very good actress herself and I wanted to be in a unique form of media, although later I often wished and wondered whether I might have pursued it further. I think I quite idealized acting when I was younger.
T: Do you collect if... memorabilia?
R: I would be interested in all if... memorabilia, particularly an original poster (or facsmilie). I have an original screenplay in paperback book form and original Japanese program sent to me by a female Japanese fan! I would also be interested in an uncut version of the film.
This entire page © 2002-08 Alex D. Thrawn for www.MalcolmMcDowell.net