Sir Ben Kingsley is an actor with an acting career that has spanned over four decades. Born Krishna Pandt Bhanji in 1943, Kingsley grew up in Pendlebury near Manchester and ended up making his West End debut in 1967. Since then his career has flourished with a 15 year stint in Royal Shakespeare Company and during the 1970s he started transitioning into film and television roles. He’s known for being in many films including Sexy Beast, Schindler’s List, Iron Man 3, Shutter Island and most notably Gandhi where he played the titular Mohandas Gandhi.
Whilst discussing the role with the moderator, it’s very clear that Kingsley holds a lot of knowledge about his character and holds a lot of interest in the art of storytelling and the power of stories. He describes his acting method as being forensic because he enjoys the scientific study of behaviour and the things that motivate the character. It’s the psychology of the character - the why as opposed to the how - that will hold interest. As well as his acting work, Kingsley runs a production company called Bipolar Pictures. He explained during the Q&A that he enjoys a free collaborative environment between everyone involved in the process of filmmaking which may have had something to do with his decision to start producing films.
It was a fascinating session from an actor whose accomplished a lot and there was a feeling of encouragement coming out of the session. Robot Overlords is out in cinemas Friday 27th March 2015.