Actor Jeremy Irons Discusses His Controversial New Film, 'Lolita'
by Matt Lauer, co-host, The Today Show
July 31, 1998
Mr. MATT LAUER: One of the most controversial films in years can finally be seen in this country. It's "Lolita," based on the 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Every major studio had rejected the finished film, but now it will be shown on cable television Showtime and then released theatrically in September. Jeremy Irons is Humbert, the man obsessed with 12-year-old Lolita, played by newcomer Dominique Sveum.
(Clip of "Lolita" shown)
LAUER: Jeremy Irons, welcome back. Good to see you.
Mr. JEREMY IRONS ("Lolita"): Thanks.
LAUER: It--it's hard to watch that scene without getting a slight knot in the pit of your stomach, at least my stomach. Were you surprised by the controversy this film generated?
Mr. IRONS: I was. I was a little disappointed. I actually asked one studio head because, you know, they rejected it--to--to distribute it for a year, anyway, and I--I said, Why? What--what--you like this picture, I know you do, because I--I heard about the letter you sent to Adrian Line. Why did you reject it?' And he said, Washington asked us us clean up our act three years ago. This is perceived to be about--a film about pedophilia. We can't be seen to be making films or distributing films which would encourage that form of criminality.' Now, this is, of course, rubbish. It's a very moral film. It's--it does deal with a relationship between a middle-aged man and a--and a--and an underaged girl. But it's--it wouldn't encourage anybody. One of the censuses in England said If you go into this movie a pedophile, you come out a pedophile. If you go in not a pedophile, you come out not a pedophile.' It's not going to change anything. But what it will do, I think, is it--it'll show people how some people make the wrong decisions in life.
LAUER: What you're saying, then, is the studios were worried about the backlash from people in government and moral groups, they were not as concerned, do you think, that they would shock the audience?
Mr. IRONS: No. I--I think they were--they were concerned about moral backlash. And this is--this is not a shocking film. And one of the reviewers said yesterday, you know, this is quite timid, because he was expecting--there had been so much fuss about--about not showing it that he was expecting something very strong, and it's not. It's--it's a wonderful love story.
(Clip of "Lolita" shown)
Mr. IRONS: It makes you uncomfortable. And the reason it makes you uncomfortable, especially men, is that we don't paint Humbert--Humbert the protagonist as being a bad man. He's--he's--he's an ordinary guy.
LAUER: He's somewhat pathetic.
Mr. IRONS: He's pathetic, he's sometimes funny. He's sometimes charming. He's--he's like all of us. He has, you know, all those bits that we all have. But he just makes the wrong decision and behaves in a criminal way.
LAUER: I saw a clip of something you said recently that you were nervous about taking the role. And I have--and it ended there. And I think it was almost misleading, that it made sound as if you were nervous about taking the role because of possible backlash.
Mr. IRONS: No.
LAUER: There were other reasons why you didn't want to take this role.
Mr. IRONS: Sure. I--I was--I--I took a little bit of persuading to do this because I've paid a lot of guys who--who, you know, behave on the--the edge of what is acceptable. And for me, as an actor, it's interesting because they're very complicated characters. However, I just felt, well, maybe not another, you know? I'll--I'll change direction in my career a little bit. But Adrian Line, our director, was--seemed to think that I was the one who should play. He was very passionate about that, and that's always nice. And--and--and I thought, you know, "Lolita" is one of the--the top 100 books of this century. Humbert is a complicated, interesting character and Adrian Line is a good director. Why not go for it? Because there aren't many good scripts around, you know, not for me. I don't know who gets them, but there are not a lot.
LAUER: It's somewhat ironic, you mentioned that "Lolita" is ranked in the top five novels of modern times.
Mr. IRONS: Yeah.
LAUER: It was rejected when Nabokov wrote it by four major publishing houses.
Mr. IRONS: Yeah.
LAUER: So now this movie has been rejected by the studios. Do you think history might repeat itself, that people will come 10 years from now to look at this film as a masterpiece?
Mr. IRONS: I--I don't know. I'm too close to it for that. But I know that it's really affecting audiences very strongly, which is--must be a good thing.
LAUER: So if people are preparing to watch this movie, either on cable television, or when it's released in theaters, what piece of advice would you give them? Not that you should be the person to hand out advice. How--how would you like to prepare them for going in to see this movie?
Mr. IRONS: Open their minds. You know, all I would say to anybody going to see any piece of art, open up to it. See what it gives you.
LAUER: And discuss it afterward.
Mr. IRONS: Yeah, sure. Discuss it afterwards. And maybe--maybe even let your kids see it, if they're sort of 15, you know, that sort of age. It's a very interesting subject. Because it's--and it's not a subject we should put under the mat. It's a subject we should talk about. It's a very present problem in--in society. And I think this film is a way of entering them and discussing that problem amongst families.
LAUER: The film, of course, is called "Lolita." Jeremy Irons, always good to see you.
Mr. IRONS: Pleasure.
LAUER: We're back in a moment. This is TODAY on NBC.