In Memoriam: Roger Rees
“Two of my classmates at the Royal Shakespeare Academy I’m sure you know. The first is SIR Ben Kingsley, Academy Award Winner, Gandhi and so many other famous roles. Another is SIR Patrick Stewart whom everyone knows as Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise or for the younger members of the audience: Professor Xavier. And then there’s me who will occasionally be stopped in the street and asked, ‘Aren’t you that asshole from Grey’s Anatomy’” – Roger Rees from his one man show What You Will.
This was indeed Roger Rees’ life. He was unrecognized by most of the general public despite his numerous roles in film and television and several Tony Award nominations and one win. And although in his one man show he demonstrated a little jealousy towards some of his more well-known peers, by the end of the play, we understand his contentment with all of it because of his love and joy for performance. Roger was an actor’s actor. He acted as recently as Spring 2015 in the dark musical The Visit but had to back out for health reasons. He passed away on July 10, 2015.
We all have those artists, musicians, writers that we feel only we know. Who given a chance we are always happy to introduce to anyone who would listen. For me, Roger was one of those special talents. I first saw Roger at the age of three watching our family’s Christmas tradition, A Christmas Carol, with my favorite actor, George C. Scott as Scrooge. When I was young, I couldn’t see anyone in the film besides George C. Scott who stole the screen or the Ghosts in their powerful condemnation of Scrooge’s life. But as I got older, I remember when I asked the question… who’s narrating this film? I was shocked to discover it was the little character of Fred Holywell, Scrooge’s nephew, played by none other than Roger Rees. It was then I began to focus on Roger’s performance and realized it was the perfect foil to Scrooge. It was Fred’s love and joy, it was his embodiment of everything Scrooge loved about his sister that begins his transformation. Roger’s ability in that movie to express true optimism that his uncle will change is remarkable given that the part of Fred is usually overly comical and joyful. But Roger rooted his belief in a very realistic performance so much so that he is as surprised of Scrooge’s transformation as we are in the end. To this day, my family returns as a yearly tradition to this movie and to all of those I introduce to my favorite version of A Christmas Carol I make sure to point out Roger’s performance.
But for those who don’t know Roger who wish to see some of his greatness, I bring them to Lord John Marbury in The West Wing (could also put on Cheers or Grey’s Anatomy or many of his other roles). Aaron Sorkin’s writing is so lyrical and fast paced that you can tell when an actor doesn’t quite get it. One of the remarkable feats of The West Wing is how all of the principle actors on the show grew into being able to deliver his walk and talks (long stretches of exposition heavy dialogue delivered while walking at fast speeds through the White House). Most of the guest actors could deliver Sorkin’s language, but they didn’t have the practice at the rhythm or pace and when compared to the leads, you could see the difference. In my opinion, Roger Rees’ Lord John Marbury is the exception. In an incredible sequence in perhaps my favorite episode, “Dead Irish Writers”, John matches Toby wit for wit while drinking lagavulin scotch. The dialogue, some of Sorkin’s best, reaches its climax as the two hurdle famous quotations from Irish Writers at each other:
Brit. Ambassador Lord John Marbury: You're involving yourself in a centuries old conflict without sufficient regard for history. Listen to the warning of old friends. It was Kipling who warned to expect "the blame of those ye better, and the hate of those ye guard."
Toby Ziegler: And wasn't it James Joyce who said, "History is a nightmare from which I'm trying to awake."
Brit. Ambassador Lord John Marbury: Yes, but it was your own great Irish master, Eugene O'Neill, who said, "There is no present or future, only the past happening over and over again... now."
But it’s the moment after those famous lines that makes the scene work so amazingly. Lord John Marbury has been protesting the White House’s decision to invite an Irish leader who is in the IRA’s political wing to the White House for Saint Patrick’s day and during this discussion with Toby, we understand through the subtly of Rees’ performance why he switches: “Toby, despite appearances, I do have lucid… moments…” and we realize he agrees with Toby, but his job here is to protest his government’s opinions. What an incredible scene.
The true treasure for me though was seeing Roger Rees in his brilliant one man show that will forever stay with me. Given my love for his work, when I saw that What You Will was playing in San Francisco, his one man show explaining his journey through Shakespeare, I immediately bought tickets. I took a friend with me who had never experienced professional Shakespeare… to see Roger perform nine monologues from various Shakespeare plays was a master class in acting. He performed Henry’s proposal to Catherine from Henry V to a stone bust of Shakespeare. He performed the Nurses’ monologue about Juliet’s upbringing in Romeo and Juliet with such joy saying “if we were indeed in Shakespeare’s time and men played all the roles, I would have fought for this one.” And finally, he arrived at Hamlet. I am going to paraphrase what he said:
When I got the role in Hamlet I immediately called Dame Judi Dench, my dear friend, to ask what it is like to get a dream role and her response ‘getting asked to do it’. You see… so much pressure goes with being asked to fill the role that every male actor wants so desperately to play. And when I got it, I wanted my Hamlet to be bigger than every other Hamlet and smaller; I wanted him to be louder than every other Hamlet and quieter. I wanted him to be madder than any other Hamlet and yet saner… And it wasn’t until I realized that my Hamlet would be no taller than I… that my Hamlet would be no louder than I am… that I realized how I was going to play it. You see, I don’t remember much about my father. My father was a police officer and he was always busy in my youth. And so my Hamlet’s father was always too busy for him with royal or knightly things. We both never had those important conversations with our fathers… and then my father, like Hamlet’s, died… So when Hamlet hears that his father’s Ghost may be roaming the castle. He of course goes to find out and when he hears that voice he runs and follows it because… it will be the only time he would ever be able to talk to his father… the only time I would ever be able to talk to mine… ““King,” “Father,” “royal Dane.” O, answer me!” – Roger Rees, What You Will.
It is in that show that art, which I have been involved with most of my life, was made concrete to me… how we are always asked to find ourselves in the pieces we study, create, perform and in doing that… we discover something more about ourselves. It’s why I continue to watch, to study, to critique and to create.
Thanks Roger for an incredible career and your beautiful gifts of performance and insight.
