PRYCE IS RIGHT FOR BRADBURY'S INCARNATION OF EVIL IN SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES

10.26.09 - Actor Jonathan Pryce does not look like an evil man. But fit him in a turn-of-the century undertaker's suit, give him a beard and a scornful smile, make him proprietor of a carnival traveling on a steam train whose whistle is the scream of a thousand dead souls, and suddenly he is not so tame. Suddenly he is Mr. Dark, owner of Dark's Pandemonium Carnival, the heart of evil in the screen adaptation of Ray Bradbury's spine-tingling fantasy, Something Wicked This Way Comes.

EVIL CLUTCHES – Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce) searches for two boys whose innocence is needed to fuel his carnival of evil in Ray Bradbury's spine-tingling fantasy.

Based on Ray Bradbury's internationally best-selling novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes asks: "How much would you be willing to pay to have your deepest darkest desires come true?" When Mr. Dark brings his mysterious traveling carnival to Green Town, Ill., the task of saving family and friends from its deadly and destructive clutches falls on the unlikely shoulders of Charles Halloway, the town's librarian, played by Academy Award®-winner Jason Robards.

As a classically trained English stage actor, a Tony Award® winner and star of several prestigious BBC telefilms, Jonathan Pryce is the perfect choice for Mr. Dark. In his American film debut, Pryce has found a role that is both worthy of his considerable talents and satisfying in a theatrical sense. His stylish interpretation of Bradbury's poetic dialogue lends a quality to the production that other actors might have had difficulty achieving.

"The character of 'Mr. Dark' retains the poetic aspect and imagery of Bradbury's book which is what really appealed to me," said Pryce. "I had read the book and was hopeful that the script could capture the poetic language Bradbury uses. And it did.

"Dark is not a one-dimensional evil character," continues the Tony Award®-winning actor. "I found many things in the part that I could approach. For example, Dark is all powerful yet he needs to possess the innocence of the two boys to fuel his carousel and must learn the secret of when a lightning storm is coming. This vulnerability makes the part interesting.

"Most sinister and evil people," observes Pryce, "aren't immediately recognizable. That's how most politicians get elected," he adds with a grin.

Pryce was born in 1947 in North Wales. Following high school he studied art for 5 years before a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts launched him on an acting career. In 1972, he began an 18-month stint with the Liverpool Everyman Company where he had leading roles in several Shakespearean plays as well as a wide range of other parts in new plays. Several years later, he returned to Everyman as Artistic Director where he helmed a production of The Taming of the Shrew.

In 1975, Pryce played the part of Gethin Price in Trevor Griffith's The Comedians. Pryce went on to win a Tony Award® for this same role in 1977 in the Broadway production directed by Mike Nichols, Pryce's credits also include productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London and Stratford, a starring role opposite Glenda Jackson in White Devil at the Old Vic, and another award-winning performance for his role in The Royal Court Theatre's production of Hamlet. English film credits include Breaking Glass (for which he was named "Most Promising Newcomer" at the British Film Awards in 1980) and Loophole.

The talented actor has starred in numerous telefilms for BBC-TV and was seen by American audiences last year in the PBS broadcast of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.

Pryce's recent credits include an English stage production of Talley's Folly (with Hayley Mills), a BBC telefilm about unrest in Poland, and an upcoming feature film called The Ploughman's Lunch.

Jason Robards. Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd and Pam Grier star in Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, a Walt Disney Productions' presentation of a Jack Clayton film from a screenplay by Ray Bradbury based on his novel. In color by Technicolor®, the film was directed by Jack Clayton for producer Peter Vincent Douglas with music by James Horner. Lenses and Panaflex Camera by Panavision®, Buena Vista releases.






From the original Something Wicked This Way Comes press materials.