Cold Call - With Jeremy Irons
by Alan Jackson, The Times (London)
February 24, 2001
Jeremy Irons, 52, lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, the actress Sinead Cusack and their children Sam, 22, and Max, 16. He has just embarked on the Wellington-Sydney leg of the BT Global Challenge round-the-world yacht race. He also stars in Dungeons and Dragons, currently on release, and is the face of the Donna Karan spring/summer advertising campaign.
Alan Jackson: No surprise that you're a sailing man, given that you were born and brought up on the Isle of Wight. But this is no mere messing around in a boat. How did you get involved?
Jeremy Irons: A friend, Babs Powell (former Pan's Person, and married to the actor Robert Powell) is doing the whole race, and drew my attention to it. Then she suggested me to the organisers, I think. Which was fantastic. I love to experience new things. To test myself. And I was able to keep the time free to do it.
AJ: Twelve identical yachts, each with a professional skipper and 17 amateur crew members. You're on LG Flatron, a brilliant piece of one-upmanship for them. Any other celebrities lurking beneath sou'westers on the rival boats?
JI: I believe there's a footballer on Babs's boat, but I couldn't tell you which one. My hope is to be seen as part of the team, not as a celeb. Anyway, they can't afford to take anyone along just for the ride. The Flatron won the second and third legs of the race, so is in overall lead as we go into this fourth one. And I don't want to be a liability, the one who loses it for the rest of the crew.
AJ: I understand that someone has to be on Mother Watch each day, cooking and washing up and making tea. Will you be taking your turn?
JI: Certainly! I mustn't lie -I don't cook much in real life. But I'm happy to try. Whether the others will be happy to eat my food is another matter, of course. The food is mostly freeze-dried, I believe, so it should just be a matter of adding water and, hopefully, hey presto!
AJ: It's clear that this is going to be no picnic. Four hours on, four hours off. No changes of clothes. Showering in sea water. No personal space. Will a well-cosseted Oscar-winner like you be able to cope?
JI: I get very spoiled in some areas of my work, but generally I don't mind roughing it. In my private time, I like to live as basic a life as I can. There is this project that I've been involved in over the past two years, renovating a castle in Ireland. It's seen me out at eight every morning; in torrential rains and gale-force winds. I strongly believe it's an actor's duty to live life to its deepest, and not just to skate comfortably over the surface.
AJ: Sailing the seven seas. Restoring Celtic ruins. Acting in the odd film along the way. And still you find time to maintain this marvellous Internet site.
JI: Internet site? I don't have an Internet site.
AJ: But I've just visited it. "The Incomparable Jeremy Irons" . Naturally, I assumed you were the webmaster?
JI: (laughing) Who does run these things, I wonder?
AJ: Oh, rabid fans. Anyway, it's very informative. It updated me on all the Jeremy product. You've been on location filming. Now you're off on a glorified boat trip. Isn't your wife exasperated beyond belief?
JI: Not at all! Completely thrilled to have me out the way for yet another week, I imagine. But, no. She knows my predilection for grabbing life's challenges when they come along, and she puts up with it. I'm lucky. She's a very understanding woman.