In all of the Cumbermadness in the past few weeks, I’ve been neglecting Matthew Goode, Benedict Cumberbatch’s attractive costar in The Imitation Game. I remember when Goode was on track to become a pretty decent leading man. He did rom-coms, he worked with Woody Allen, he did a superhero movie. But something interesting happened with Goode – all of a sudden, he just seemed to find contentment in character work. And ever since, he’s been working a lot. It’s an interesting development. I also remember a time when people considered Goode to be somewhat bitchy and crabby, but since he switched over to character work, he’s been decidedly nicer with the press. Goode has a new interview with The Daily Beast – go here to read the full piece. He talks about TIG, Benedict and his role in The Good Wife (I love him on The Good Wife, just FYI).
His TIG character, Hugh Alexander, and the real man: “He was extremely charming and urbane…I was slightly concerned about his being portrayed so much as a cad—though it was fun to do—because he was married to a lovely lady called Edith. And one thing you do when you have to portray a real person is you’re sitting there going, f–k, I really hope this isn’t going to upset the family.”
Cumberbatch called him & offered him the role in TIG: He was juggling bags of groceries from Sansbury’s and trying to escort his “quite heavily pregnant” wife (his words) inside their home in the pouring rain when Cumberbatch himself called to offer him the role. “I said, ‘Yeah. Absolutely. Can I phone you back in a sec? I’m thrilled. But can I just get my family inside?”
His friendship with Bendy: “I could lie! ‘Bloody awful! Smells a bit funny! Awful teeth.’ But it’s just not true.”
He never wanted to play Turing: “I would never expect to be in the running in the first place. At the same time, I’m the first person to recast myself out of any role. If you speak to my agent, it happens continually.”
Whether TIG should have included a gay-sex scene: “You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. I’m glad that we didn’t. There’s many things we tried to get right, and I think it would’ve been too far, in the first film. I’m sure there will be other films about Turing that are ‘braver.’ But for bringing this story to a greater audience around the world, I think we gave him a film that he deserved.”
On whether we should demand actors come out: “I think we need to stop demanding it and get over it.”
Whether he’ll ever get romantic with Alicia in The Good Wife: “I’m as in the dark as the audience, which in some ways is frustrating, occasionally, but is also quite exciting. I couldn’t give a definitive answer if I wanted to….It’s an impossible thing to try and replace, covertly or uncovertly, the kind of relationship that she used to have with Josh Charles’s character…I’m just excited to see where it goes.”
In some ways, Goode got the “too posh” complaints years before Benedict Cumberbatch, you know? Goode has a voice like money, and he can play those posh, haughty characters very well. It’s weird that someone conventionally handsome like Goode couldn’t/wouldn’t make it as a leading man where posh, haughty Benedict has managed a major career. As for Goode on The Good Wife… I sort of agree, I don’t need to see him in a sexual relationship with Alicia. They’re friends and they like each other a lot, and she needs that.
Oh, and Goode is scheduled to appear in new episodes of Downton Abbey as one of Lady Mary’s potential suitors. He plays those posh parts very well, but I’m not jazzed about the way he and Lady Mary would look together – it’s too brother-sister.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
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