EW only has 20 minutes to chat over Zoom with legendary actor Udo Kier.
After 200-odd films, the actor was very much ready for his extended close-up.
“That was one reason why I took the film,” says Kier.
Udo Kier in ‘Swan Song’.Credit: Chris Stephens/Magnolia Pictures
“I have been in so many movies, but I wasn’t the lead.
So you couldn’t followme.
At the time of this writing,Swan Songhas a 97 percent ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
Udo Kier in ‘Swan Song’.Chris Stephens/Magnolia Pictures
“I couldn’t believe when the critics said it’s the best film I ever did.
I said, ‘What?
I did with Lars von Trier 10 movies andthat’sthe best film I ever did?'”
Udo Kier in ‘Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein’.Courtesy Everett Collection
It’s something of a miracle Kier ever made a film at all.
He was born in Cologne close to the end of the Second World War.
“I went to St Giles School on Oxford Street to learn English,” he says.
Courteney Cox and Udo Kier in ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’.Warner Brothers
“And then I was discovered by Mike Sarne for a film in the south of France.
I said, ‘I have no knowledge how to do that.’
They said, ‘Leave it up to us.'”
Udo Kier in ‘Swan Song’.Chris Stephens/Magnolia Pictures
“My first real film and first main role wasMark of the Devilwith Herbert Lom,” he says.
“I mean, he was the star, but I was his assistant.”
Kier had found his calling.
“I became an actor and then came one film after another.”
The actor is happy to admit that good fortune contributed to his success.
“I met Paul Morrissey in an airplane flying from Rome to Munich,” the actor remembers.
“He wanted to ask me what I was doing.
I said, ‘I’m an actor.’
I said, ‘Great, what do I play?’
He said, ‘Frankenstein’!
So every meeting with all the directors I worked with, most of them came by luck.
That’s why I always say I am a lucky man.
I have never asked a director, ‘Could I work with you?’
[Laughs] I would be under the table!”
And there was this young man, and we exchanged numbers.
So I looked very rough.
I got there, I got the job, and that was the beginning of our friendship.
“He says, ‘Don’t act!'”
The instruction toberather thanperformhas stayed with the German thespian.
“But in modern stories, I don’t act.”
“I met Gus Van Sant in Berlin,” says Kier.
I want you to play in it.'”
“I live here in a wonderful former library,” he says.
“I collect furniture and I collect modern art Andy Warhol to David Hockney.”
“Pat Pitsenbarger was a real-life person from my hometown,” says the filmmaker.
“But as soon as she said it, I kind of knew it was right.
I loved Udo fromMy Own Private Idahoand fromSuspiriaand from so many things.”
Kier liked the script but asked Stephens to visit him in Palm Springs before signing on.
“I wanted to meet him to see if I could work with him,” says the actor.
We got some money and then we started the movie in Sandusky."
“So I started my first day of shooting in the retirement home in the bed.
So that’s what we did.
So the whole street became a set.
“He’s really easy to work with,” says Stephens of his star.
“He’s a big motivator, like, ‘Let’s go, let’s shoot.’
I think the film finally shows what Udo can truly do.”
Over the past decade, Kier has averaged around half a dozen projects annually.
“I’m looking to get main parts, even in independent film,” he says.
“Hopefully something will come this year something really interesting, like playing William S. Burroughs.
I went to visit him in Kansas and it was amazing.
I didn’t like the movie they did withNaked Lunch.
That’s another story.
But you know what I mean?
I want to play somebody from the beginning until the end.”
Swan Songopens in limited theaters Aug. 6 and is available on demand Aug. 13.
