James Wilby found his career stalled for a while – so thank God for Poldark!

 

• James Wilby talks about a career resurgence after he appeared in BBC’s Poldark
• He first earned acclaim for his role in the taboo-breaking film Maurice in 1987

Kissing Hugh Grant changed James Wilby’s life. The sight of the two handsome young actors locked in a passionate embrace in Merchant Ivory’s taboo-breaking film Maurice in 1987 launched the careers of the unknown Hugh and James, who played the lead, 31 years ago.

‘We didn’t throw ourselves into it – we hurled ourselves into it!’ says James. ‘When Hugh later became very famous with Four Weddings And A Funeral, he was asked who was the best kisser he’d had – he said “James Wilby”!’

Hugh and James got hundreds of letters from people saying the film had changed their lives, and they jointly won Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. ‘We drank most of a bottle of Scotch that night on Hugh’s balcony,’ recalls James.

‘We talked more that night than we ever did while filming. I took myself very seriously, but Hugh was lighthearted. I’ve come round to Hugh’s way of thinking. You have to take it all with a pinch of salt – and I was too earnest.’

 

Maurice was set in an implacably homophobic Edwardian society, and it was a role for which James is well-known. He’s resisted being typecast, veering from Howards End and Gosford Park to Casualty and Midsomer Murders, but he couldn’t turn down this latest role of Lord Falmouth in Poldark.

Based on a real figure in late 18th-century Cornish politics, Falmouth was the one who spotted maverick Ross Poldark’s potential and persuaded him to stand for election following the shock death of his nephew and heir Hugh Armitage, who was Demelza Poldark’s secret lover.

Tomorrow night’s episode is the last of this series – and it ends on a particularly heart-wrenching note.

‘The show is so well written,’ says James. ‘Actors get the plaudits, but I’m only as good as the script.’

He felt the same about ITV’s Victoria, in which he played Sir Piers Gifford, ‘a rather revolting reactionary character’. But there’s a mutual respect between Falmouth and Poldark.

‘Falmouth constantly gives Ross rollockings – he needs them! I think there’s a father-son thing going on there,’ says James.

From 12 September, James will be directing a stage version of Maurice in a purpose-built theatre called Above The Stag in London’s Vauxhall. ‘I’ll depict Edwardian society as even more repressed than in the film, you’ve got to get the audience imagining the fear,’ he says.

‘Practising homosexuals could be sent to jail with hard labour, as Oscar Wilde was.’

 

There are telling parallels between Maurice and A Very English Scandal, Hugh Grant’s recent series about Jeremy Thorpe, despite the two being set 50 years apart. ‘It was a wonderful performance by Hugh – it’s the first time I’ve seen him completely transform himself. I was so proud of him,’ says James.

A generous man who doesn’t begrudge another’s luck, James has impressed as everything from Don Juan to Lord Mountbatten and the Queen’s father George VI without achieving Hugh’s level of stardom. He admits he would have loved to have played Lord Grantham in Downton Abbey, the role taken by Hugh Bonneville, after James had worked with its writer Julian Fellowes on Gosford Park.

‘But Hugh was brilliant,’ says James. ‘I’d been sent the script, but he was cast before I could meet the makers.

‘You have to take so many knocks in this business. In my late 40s and early 50s, my career wasn’t going as well, and it got to me.

‘But I thought, “What will happen will happen.” Someone said my problem was that I refused to pigeonhole myself, because you have to be known for something.

‘But acting is all about playing different parts. And I’ll do anything, I’m a complete tart! I’d like to play leading-man roles, but if I don’t, so what?’

His family are his strength. He and wife Shana have four children – Barney, 29, Florrie, 26, Nathaniel, 22, and Jesse Jack, 17.

 

For 18 years they lived in Camilla Parker Bowles’s childhood home in East Sussex, a Grade II-listed rectory called The Laines, which they sold in 2014 for £3.5 million.

‘I’ve seen actors spend a lot of time away and it’s only a matter of time until home isn’t important to them any more,’ says James. ‘If you miss important stages of your children’s life, you never get them back.

‘My wife has been behind me all the way, pulling up the slack when I was away – which was a lot. There was a point when I wasn’t a very good father because of it, but I’ve made up for it.

‘Playing guitar with all of my kids and two of my best friends till 5am for my birthday this year was one of the most joyous evenings of my life.’

For all the ups and downs of his profession, he is content. ‘You think filming is glamorous, but the only glamour is the awards ceremonies and premieres.

‘I don’t give a monkey’s about materialism; I love nature and beauty so I’ll pay a bit for that. We have a long view to the South Downs where we live and it’s so beautiful here, really special.’

James was known for baring his body, so does Aidan Turner’s Poldark have competition? ‘You saw my buttocks a lot in my early career,’ he laughs. ‘But there’s no flesh shown by me in Poldark!’

 

Resource: Daily Mail

Actor James Wilby’s home  is clearly one people don’t like to leave. James, best known for his aristocratic roles in Maurice, Gosford Park and  A Handful Of Dust, has lived here for 18 years.

He and his wife Shana brought up their four children in the one-time rectory set in five acres at the foot of the South Downs in East Sussex.

And they are not the only long-term residents in the Grade II listed house’s history. They bought it from Camilla Parker Bowles’s father Major Bruce Shand, then a widower, whose home it was for 45 years.

amilla has described her childhood here  as ‘perfect in every way’. It’s easy to imagine a perfect childhood here.

The Laines, on the edge of Plumpton village near Lewes, has a paddock, wide lawns for playing games, a secret garden, a swimming pool and tennis court.

It is a rambling, quirky home built on a slope and spread over  three floors. Partly 18th Century and partly 19th, it manages to look different from all four sides.

The main rooms have high ceilings and large Georgian windows with wonderful views of the garden and Downs.

Now that all but the youngest of their children – three boys and a girl aged between 25 and 13 – are flying the nest, James, 56, and Shana, 55, have decided it’s time to downsize.

The seven-bedroom house, which also has a three/four-bedroom cottage, is on the market for £3.25 million.

The only alterations the Wilbys made since the Major’s day were to the kitchen and the room above, the oldest part of the house.

Although the kitchen is on the lower ground floor, it’s still light, with a row of windows on one side. It’s a lovely, long, farmhouse-style family kitchen with an Aga, a table in the middle and a cosy  sitting area.

Every room has its own character. ‘They’re all full of light, with gorgeous views. Even the downstairs loo has a view,’ says Shana.

It was a case of one extreme to another when James and Shana moved here from London with three small children, looking for more space.

Neither had particular connections with Sussex but Shana knew someone in the area who gave them the brochure for The Laines. They fell for it straight away.

‘We went from a flat in Notting Hill to this,’ says James. ‘We didn’t know much about gardening when we arrived.’

The gardens are fabulous, a series of  ‘rooms’ divided by yew hedges with clipped doorways leading from one to the other.

‘As an actor you get time between jobs so I’ve been able to do quite  a lot in the garden,’  says James.

He also built a little wooden house at the bottom of the garden.

‘I made it for the kids but they didn’t use it much when they were younger,’ he says. ‘Once they became teenagers they disappeared down there to drink beer.’

Laines Cottage, once lived in by staff, has been let by James and Shana as a useful source of income.

There’s no doubt they will miss both house and garden, but there’s no shortage of happy memories. ‘We’ve had some great parties here,’ says James.

 

Source: Daily Mail