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Alex Kingston interview 2004 - Radio Times, June 2004 |
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Chrissy Iley finds out why Alex Kingston was given the boot by ER.
On what leaving ER means to her
"ER is coming to an end for me, which was
scary initially, although I'm actually very excited
about making a movie in England. It's been a
little bit crazy because I was fortunate enough to
be working ten months of the year, but there's this
pressure in television that when you get your
hiatus, you should be doing something else, not
just relaxing.
"But
now I've got other priorities and think I should
wait to pick and choose projects. I'm in an
extremely fortunate position financially. If
I didn't get a job at all, it wouldn't matter."
Why she thinks the producers decided to let her go
"I don't think any of the American networks knew how phenomenally successful Friends
and ER would ever be and the power that those
actors could command. I'm sure there
must have been some financial feelings behind
the decision not to renew my contract. I earned
$150,000 an episode. Not at the beginning,
but I was by the end."
On the direction the show's taking
"I suddenly felt very old surrounded
by these young 20-somethings. Does it mean
that I'm the geriatric that's being pushed out
because she's too old? It definitely seems to be
taking a different tone. I understand it needs to
keep reinventing itself in order to keep going,
and apparently I, according to the producers,
the writers, am part of the old fogeys who are no
longer interesting.
"In that respect it's a shame. It's
fine to have young med students, but you need to
have figures of authority, people of different ages,
races, shapes and sizes. The classics are all on
their way out. And what happens when they've
gone, which will be very soon?"
On her reaction to the news
"It was a shock and obviously upsetting,
but it's just your ego that's upset. Then I got over it. Once I knew what their
intentions were, it was easier to
deal with it, because two years of
not knowing what was going on
was not very nice, and I wouldn't
wish it on anyone."
On ER
"ER changed my
life. It's been extraordinary. I don't
think any of us who've been in the
show will be in something that was
such a phenomenal success ever
again. Aside from the past few years
I've had the most fantastic time."
Her plans for the future
"Scariness comes from
not knowing whether I can do it
any more, because I've been
playing one role for so long.
Admittedly, I've done little bits and
pieces, but I'm very excited about
getting back to the UK."
"I've gained a huge
amount of experience and
confidence in myself and
I know that when I do
something now, I will go into
a project feeling that I have
a right to it, whereas
before I always had
the feeling I might
be found out and
soon they'd realise
they'd made a
huge mistake by
casting me."
**
Read our 1999 interview with Alex Kingston - or take a look at our full ER guide.
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