Simon Callow’s comic timing makes him welcome in a busy ensemble, especially when period manners give him something to work with. We like the flamboyance, but his dour censor in Shakespeare in Love is a useful change from the cheerfulness.
Fi1m perspective
Give Simon Callow a theatre to police and the casting already has a joke in it. In Shakespeare in Love (1998), his Tilney, Master of the Revels, is the dour censor among the theatre people who make John Madden’s comedy worth watching. An actor associated with jocularity gets to supply the disapproval, and we like that use of him. The romance is too neatly arranged, but the company gives us a reason to stay.
For Amadeus (1984), he moved from playing Mozart in the 1979 National Theatre production to Emanuel Schikaneder in Miloš Forman’s film. It was his film debut, and the shift from leading role to supporting player points towards the screen career that followed. We felt for Salieri because F. Murray Abraham made his envy painfully understandable. That central rivalry holds the film even when Mozart’s childishness wears thin, and Callow has his place in the surrounding company. We value him in that setting, with other actors and a substantial story to accommodate.
James Ivory was an important collaborator as Callow established himself in cinema, casting him in three films. Reverend Mr Beebe in A Room with a View (1985) is one of the early period parts that made such casting seem natural. Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) gave his comic timing another ensemble setting, with room for poignancy too. We would not reduce that contribution to being good company: a comic supporting character can matter emotionally without having to become the centre of the film.
His one-man stage shows about Charles Dickens and Shakespeare offer a more concentrated dose of that theatricality. On screen, we prefer it when the part gives his flamboyance a clear purpose; being pleased to see an actor is not reason enough to forgive every flourish. Tilney’s job supplies just such a purpose, with Callow working against the cheerfulness so often associated with him. Try Shakespeare in Love for an entertainer employed to keep the entertainment in check.
Biography
Simon Callow is an English actor. Born in Streatham, London, in 1949, he started his career as a box-office assistant at the Old Vic Theatre in London.
He originated the title role in the stage production of Amadeus and appeared in the 1984 film adaptation as Emanuel Schikaneder. On screen he is known for roles including the Reverend Beebe in A Room with a View (1985), Gareth in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Tilney in Shakespeare in Love (1998). He has also appeared in The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and television series including Doctor Who and Outlander.
Callow has directed for stage and screen, written biographies and was appointed CBE in 1999 for services to acting.
