DUBAI: For English actors Will Sharpe and Paul Bettany, their latest work, “Amadeus,” exploring the imagined rivalry between 18th-century composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salierirespectively, has been a journey of musical and personal discovery.
When Arab News spoke to the two stars, it quickly became apparent that their relationship with classical music before this project was modest at best.
“I knew as much about classical music as my golden retriever, Wallace,” said Bettany, who is perhaps best known for playing Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Will Sharpe in 'Amadeus.' (Supplied)
Sharpe, whose work in season two of “The White Lotus” earned him an Emmy nomination, shared a similar sentiment. “I was aware of Mozart, knew his most famous pieces, but didn't have any in-depth knowledge,” he said.
But their limited understanding soon transformed into an exploration of musical heritage and performance as the project became an immersive learning experience.
“In the making of the show, we both learned a little bit about playing the piano, learned about conducting in the period style, but also kind of mixing that with a slightly more modern expressiveness,” said Sharpe.
The five-episode series, created by the UK’s Sky Atlantic, but streaming on OSN+ regionally, is based on Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play of the same name, which was itself inspired by Russian writer Alexander Pushkin’s poetic 1830 drama, “Mozart and Salieri.” The story is based on the rumor that Mozart was driven to an early grave, at the age of 35, by the obsessively jealous court composer Salieri. Milos Forman’s 1984 film based on the play, adapted by Shaffer himself, went on to win eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
The two leads’ fascination with Mozart went beyond mere musical technicality.
Paul Bettany in 'Amadeus.' (Supplied)
“What was interesting about him was that he seemed to absolutely be in his own lane and wasn't easily influenced by tradition or by what was fashionable at the time. So, I felt like there'sprobably something maverick, or kind of single-minded, about him,” said Sharpe. “And that is appealing in any era. There are always those artists or thinkers who shun the way that the world is thinking around them and try to carve their own way through it. So maybe that's something that kind of carries through time.”
For Bettany, the decision to join the cast was made partly because it was “a great part” and partly because it was simultaneously “exciting and slightly frightening.”
He explained: “I was frightened of playing Salieri because there have been so many great performances of him. Paul Scofield and, of course, F. Murray Abraham, on film. So, I was sort of drawnto the terror of not being good enough to do it — which is probably quite revealing about me.”
Sharpe was also intrigued by the mythology surrounding Mozart. “I feel like one of the first things I found myself thinking about was the story of ‘Amadeus.’ There’s this idea with Mozart that music just fell into his lap, that it was so easy and effortless for him. And I thought it would be interesting to try and imagine, what that actually looks or feels like in everyday life. What does itactually mean? So, there was that part of it too.”
Bettany described the duo’s working styles as different but complementary.
“I think that Will and I both worked on this particular piece in very different ways. Will is a writer, and has a very firm grasp of the macro story and was incredibly playful within the scenes that we were shooting. I was pretty fastidious in my planning of what I wanted to do,” he said.
“And it happened to work out really well together, because he had a beautiful, controlled chaos in playing the scenes and I loved it. And, actually, by the end of the shooting — where we got to some really difficult stuff that I didn't have plans for — we were just really free with each other, and seemed to have adequately got to a place where we knew enough about each other and trusted each other.”
That freedom, he added, came from a foundation of mutual trust and respect that developed organically through the work.
Sharpe concurred, emphasizing the importance of feeling “safe” in their professional relationship.
“He’s very generous as an actor,” he said of Bettany. “I never felt like we were competing for the scene.”
