Rupert Everett Straps Up His Boots To Play Napoleon’s Nemesis: “He’s A Tough, Salty Old Duke”

After strategically withholding Napoleon from the festival circuit, Ridley Scott went guerilla instead, launching his controversial military epic into cinemas like a carefully-thrown hand grenade. The tactic worked, overriding critical reviews that tore apart its history, its script and even its star, Joaquin Phoenix, to give Scott a $200 million worldwide gross. Overlooked in the fallout was a terrific performance by Rupert Everett as the Duke of Wellington, the stiff-upper-lip Brit who proves to be Napoleon’s nemesis at the Battle of Waterloo. Here, the laconic British actor reflects on the influences that fed into his portrayal of the Iron Duke.

DEADLINE: How did you get involved with the Napoleon project?

RUPERT EVERETT: It just came up out of the blue. I love Ridley Scott, so I was thrilled to take part, really. I’m a fan of the Duke of Wellington too, so it was exciting.

DEADLINE: What was your take on Wellington?

EVERETT: Well, he’s a tough, salty old Duke. ‘The Iron Duke’, they called him. Tough, wry, and just a good character, really. He’s kind of humorous. There was a certain amount of that in the script, but we did a certain amount of improvisation as well. I think he’s essentially a funny character.

DEADLINE: What kind of shoot was it?

EVERETT: It was huge. The production was gigantic and like being part of… I don’t know, a war, or a hospital, or something. It was huge. It all happens very fast because he shoots every single angle of the scene all in one, so that keeps you on your toes.

DEADLINE: You were playing Napoleon’s nemesis. Did you have any interactions with Joaquin?

EVERETT: Not really, no. Only the day we did our scene together.

DEADLINE: Was that because Ridley wanted to keep you apart? But he’s not really that kind of director, is he?

EVERETT: No, he’s not really, no, it’s just the way the cookie crumbled. We only met for the scene we were in. I never really got to know anyone, to be honest. One scene I was doing, I had Covid, so I did [the lines] from my bed and then did my part on a green screen later, when we were in Malta.

DEADLINE: Ridley’s always threatening long versions of his films, and, apparently, there’s a four-hour cut of this movie. Is there more of the Duke of Wellington that we haven’t seen?

EVERETT: I don’t think there is. No. Unless we go into re-shoots.

DEADLINE: Is it true that you have an interest in British history?

EVERETT: Well, yeah. Yes, I love history. I think it’s part and parcel of being an actor, really, being interested in history, I would’ve thought.

DEADLINE: What made you want to become an actor?

EVERETT: I don’t know. I went to drama school. I always wanted to be an actor and that was the first thing I really wanted to do. It’s always been something that so fascinates me. I still enjoy it; I actually enjoy it more now than I used to enjoy it. So really, when I was a kid, I wanted to be an actor.

DEADLINE: Was there any particular actor that impressed you or influenced you?

EVERETT: Oh, lots. Yeah, all of them. When I was a kid people had a background in cinema that people don’t have so much now. I mean, we knew films from the 1920s right through to the time we were in drama school, in the ’80s. So, I was very well-versed in cinema history anyway, as a young kid. Lots of favorite actors. I like very much Claude Rains, for example. Alastair Sim, lots of actors.

DEADLINE: That shows in the performance, because, for Napoleon, it needs a strong character to stand up to him, because otherwise he’s just marauding through Europe…

EVERETT: It’s a great role. I think he’s always going to be a good role because, in Napoleon’s story, he is, like you said, the nemesis. So that’s always a good starting point.

DEADLINE: Are you drawn to genre films?

EVERETT: No, not particularly. I think you tend to get cast how you get cast, and you make the most of it. I’ve done a lot of period films, but that’s the nature of being an English actor in a certain period. That’s kind of half what I did, and I’ve really enjoyed that, actually. That’s really how I started being interested in history, because of researching characters and epochs and periods and stuff like that. That’s really how I got interested in it. But no, I’m interested in all genres. I think an actor can’t really afford to only like particular types of stuff.

DEADLINE: Which of your films has been most satisfying for you in that respect?

EVERETT: I don’t know. It’s difficult. I don’t really think about any of them anymore. The adventure of all work, I think, is exciting. Going away, starting a new life somewhere and doing something. I’ve found the adventure of almost everything I’ve done really quite exciting. Even the things I haven’t enjoyed, looking back on, they’ve been pretty exciting, really. If you can get a job, it’s a great existence working in the movies.

DEADLINE: Do you feel you had an easy time of it, or did you have to fight for what you wanted?

EVERETT: I think it’s difficult to have quite the kind of overview that you are hoping for. You stumble through things, really, on the whole, in a career in showbusiness. I think. At least in my career, everything’s happened by chance, really. You go where the work is.

DEADLINE: You’ve also had a nice sideline in memoirs. How does that work? Is that a dangerous thing to do — has that harmed your career at all?

EVERETT: I don’t think so. I think it’s great having as many strings to your bows as you possibly can, I suppose. I think writing for me has been a great thing to have worked on in the last 15 years. I’ve done quite a lot of writing, and I’m thrilled to have had that extra kind of thing to do, really.

DEADLINE: How many novels have you published now?

EVERETT: Two and I’m publishing a book of stories now next year. A new book of stories.

DEADLINE: What can we look forward to? What kind of stories will they be?

EVERETT: They’re all the stories of the ideas that I’ve pitched and been rejected for over the years as films, all my various pitches.

DEADLINE: Can you give an example?

EVERETT: Well, no, I’m going to wait until you see the book!

DEADLINE: What are you looking for in movies these days?

EVERETT: Anything really, just good work, good people. The best you can make of it. Keeping going, keeping doing things. I really like working, so I’m happy just doing whatever I can really.

DEADLINE: Are there any particular directors that you have a particular chemistry with?

EVERETT: Right. I love working with a lot of directors. I like working with P.J. Hogan a lot. I love working for Ridley. I’ve enjoyed everything really, recently, that I’ve done.

DEADLINE: Are you a very technical actor? What do you like from a set and what do you tend to enjoy from the surrounding circumstances?

EVERETT: Well, just to be able to get a good grip on a character and make the character lively and real and hopefully funny, with depth and as much research as it takes to have a good take on the character that you’ve got. I think [the trick is] to try and do as good a job as you can, really.

DEADLINE: How does theater fit into your plans? Does it still?

EVERETT: Well, same way. It’s just that there’s another thing you can do, isn’t there? Theater. That’s another great thing to have to do. [Pause] I don’t know how to answer your questions. It’s what I do. It’s what everyone does. I’m an actor — I act when I can in movies, and I act when I can in the theater. I try and have ideas for things, and that’s really it.

DEADLINE: What’s next for you?

EVERETT: Well, Napoleon was last year, and I don’t even know what I’m doing next month. I’ve just finished another job playing a witch, and I’m just waiting to see what happens next year, really. It’s called Land of Legend and it’s a kind of medieval witchy story.

DEADLINE: Who directed that?

EVERETT: A guy called Niall Johnson. We just finished it and it’s nice.

DEADLINE: Are you still based over in the U.K., or are you in LA now?

EVERETT: No. I live here [in the U.K.], in the West Country.

DEADLINE: Why there?

EVERETT: That’s where I live.

DEADLINE: People would probably imagine you living somewhere very urban, or urbane, rather.

EVERETT: Well, I live in London as well, but mostly I live in the West Country now. I live in the country; I have a dog. I spend most of my time here.

DEADLINE: Do you have a writing regime or do you only write when the mood strikes you?

EVERETT: Well, it depends. You get deals to write, so I normally have a deadline of some sort. You know what that’s like. I’m not writing anything at the moment. I’ve just finished editing my book. I just really only handed it in this last week to my publisher.

DEADLINE: Are you the sort of person that has a bucket list of things you want to do?

EVERETT: No. It’s not that easy to keep going, particularly in the world nowadays. It’s quite tough on older people. I think every day that you manage to keep going is a kind of victory. So survival, I think, is really what I’d like to achieve.