Jonathan Rhys Meyers grew up in Ireland and, at the age of 19, won the role of Michael Collins’ assassin in Neil Jordan’s film. He has since starred in Bend It Like Beckham, played Elvis on US TV, seduced Scarlett Johansson for Woody Allen in Match Point and been a sexy Henry VIII in BBC drama The Tudors. His new film, August Rush, is out this week.
You play a musician in your new film. Aren’t your father and brothers all musicians?
Yes, but I don’t quite have their musical talents. I don’t think I’d ever be anywhere near as good a musician as I am an actor. Just because you’re good at one thing, it doesn’t mean you’re good at everything. I’d never want to be mediocre at something.
Match Point was your big break in the US. Was it an ambition to work with Woody Allen?
He was great to work with because it was a very straightforward process. I love his films but I didn’t feel like other actors do: ‘Omigod! A Woody Allen movie!’ I think Match Point is the best film he’s made in the last 15 years.
Didn’t you have a less happy time with Oliver Stone while making Alexander?
I did have a difficult time with Oliver. You have to have a very strong sense of yourself to do a film with Oliver.
You seem like you do.
I have now. Alexander gave me that. I wouldn’t change my experience on that film for anything. I really grew up an awful lot on that film. I became responsible for myself as an actor and also realised that nobody really has the answers.
Did you get to know Tom Cruise when you made Mission: Impossible 3?
A bit. Not too much. I don’t spend time hanging out when I’m working. But he’s very professional and focused. He’s a very easy-going fellow who loves his job. He’s also the boss so he has a lot of pressure.
You live in LA now. What’s your life like there?
I’m quite insular when I’m working. I live very healthily – I have done for a while now. My big thing is going to the gym. It’s very LA. And I don’t drink alcohol any more, under any circumstances. [This interview was conducted before Jonathan was arrested this week for public drunkenness and breach of the peace in Dublin.]
Why did you stop?
I got bored. It’s not a way to live. I stopped. I wanted different things.
Such as?
Better work. My health. If you go out and party six nights a week in your twenties, you think you’re invincible. Then you find at 35 you’re not getting good roles any more because you’re a fat ugly f***, because you’ve been out hitting the booze for years, doing drugs and screwing different girls. Growing up in Ireland, I saw many a handsome young man walk into the bar with great dreams. Then I saw the same man sitting there 15 years later, still nursing the pint.
Don’t you miss drinking?
Sometimes it would be nice to go out and go on a bender but no, not really. I don’t like hangovers. It’s just not my deal any more.
Did you want to act from an early age?
No, I just knew I wanted to be rich and do as little work as possible. I’m in the right business for a little work and great reward. But then I’ve never been paid huge money for my job.
What drives you crazy about Hollywood life?
I can’t stand actresses who won’t take their clothes off. It drives me nuts. I want to cut their ears off. If it says in the script you’re naked, be naked, instead of moaning and saying: ‘I really don’t want to show my tits, I don’t want to show my arse.’
Who’s the best actress you’ve worked with?
Scarlett Johansson is very good, very talented. She’s extraordinary because she’s very beautiful, wealthy, talented and is in all the magazines. Everything that a young movie star is – except Scarlett gets major awards. Other actresses her age don’t.
What male stars do you rate?
Loads. Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy are gorgeous. Orlando Bloom, as a movie star, is very hard to beat. He puts bums on seats. I’d go to see an Orlando film, no problem. I know Joaquin Phoenix quite well. There are an awful lot of actors that I respect. There are some very good guys out there.
Do you worry about becoming more famous?
No. I don’t care about it. I couldn’t give a toss. I just want to do the work I do and get paid better money. Fame is just part of it but it’s not something I dwell on. It’s not like I wake up in the morning and try to get more famous.
So we won’t hear you moaning about the price of fame in a couple of years’ time?
I’m not going to bitch and moan about it, no. I find it very hard when those guys sitting in their 20,000 acre estates go, “Yeah, the fame thing really gets to me”. Fame is part of the deal.
You’ve never been romantically linked with any of your co-stars. How come?
I don’t think I’d ever date an actress. There’s only room for one in my life, and I’m it.
Are you vain?
I used to be more vain than I am now. I’d go out and party with my friends and I’d be on set, constantly looking at myself thinking: ‘Oh f***.’ Now I do all the things in my life to avoid that. When I go to bed, I know I’ve gone to the gym, slept well, eaten well and drunk a lot of water. I do everything to present the best person I can be. Now I don’t even look in the mirror. If you take care of yourself, physically, spiritually and mentally, that’s all you can do and everything else is down to other people’s perception of you.
