Featured Interview With Rupert Frazer
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Originally from a military family, I’ve been acting in film, TV and theatre for decades (my screen c.v. is listed on IMDB). Stories – hearing them, telling them – have always played a major part in my growing up. It was natural that acting should follow. So that my colourful family stories should not die with us I set about writing a memoir – Relative Times – which incorporates two generations worth of events – world wars, colonial adventures, personal tragedies – interspersed with film and TV versions of the same or similar in which I’ve appeared, hence the title. My wife, Janie, and I have lived in London since the early ’80s. We have three grown up kids – a boy and two girls – who between them have produced five marvellous kids of their own. We also have a seaside flat on the south-east coast in Deal. We love escaping London in all seasons to swim, bike or walk those famous cliffs.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Books have always been around – I was lucky to have a dad who set great store by world literature. My first great reading experience was coming across the books of Rider Haggard – that name alone set tingles down my spine – ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ and ‘She’, both seminal books.
But writing books, to my regret, didn’t really get underway until about ten years ago. Once my agent’s calls became less frequent I decided to tell my own stories – and, instead of just the one, get to play ALL the parts in them! I wish I’d written more earlier, but glad to have found such a rewarding occupation. Better late than never.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
A favourite author is Isabel Colegate. Her best known and most highly regarded novel is The Shooting Party which was turned into a very special film in 1984 (and in which I was lucky enough to play a major part). Another novel of hers – in my opinion perhaps even better and certainly more overlooked – is Statues in a Garden. Her style is spare, elegant, ironic and true. I am at a loss to understand why she is not much better known.
During this isolated – and isolating – year (2020) I’ve read my way through all of Jane Austen. In between each novel I’ve read commentaries on her works, life and times. It’s been quite a journey.
The books I look out for defy genre – or incorporate more than one. Although publishers must rely on such classifications I find them self-limiting.
Real life inspires my writing – write what you know – and then take off!
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Crimson Pantomime, a novel, has been seven years in the making. It was inspired by a real event. While auditioning would-be actors wanting a place at a top London drama school, one candidate showed up whose audition I considered quite remarkable. My co-panellists didn’t agree and this exceptional individual was declined a place. He’ll never know, but it’s thanks to him and his memorable audition that my book was born! We follow his fictional counterpart’s life and the people he loved and who loved him. Along the way we meet characters drawn from theatre and movies, telling their story like it is, rather than than how show business is often made out to be. I’m happy to say that already many of my colleagues have written to say how they recognise the world I’ve created in The Crimson Pantomime.
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