As Alex Rich sat down for breakfast with reporters at a Budapest hotel in January, ready to discuss his first lead role in Genius: Picasso, alarm bells went off. He had no eyebrows.
“We usually put a prosthetic over it, but it stuck out too far and looked unnatural. So, we had to shave the eyebrows off,” said Rich, with a laugh.
For the 20-something American newcomer, who exudes boyish charm, it was all a part of his two-fold transformation. Not only did he have to become Pablo Picasso, but he had to become Antonio Banderas’ version of Picasso.
Banderas, who would portray the late Spanish painter in his later years, had far more in common with Picasso, including their city of origin, Malaga.
“I’ve gone to see him on set, he’s come to see me on set, and we’ve been shaping [the role] as much as we can together to really build some continuity,” said Rich.
“There’s certain things that each of us has picked up on. [Picasso] stands a certain way when he’s looking at paintings, and he does certain things with his hands, and he smokes in a certain way,” he added.
Because the actors would be portraying Picasso at different periods of his life, there were as many differences in their performances as there were similarities.
“When he’s younger, he’s a lot more excited, energetic. He’s coming up in the world, he hasn’t proven himself yet … As he gets older, he gets much sturdier, and much slower, and his voice gets lower. He really comes into his own.”
With the help of Banderas and a dedicated crew of dialect coaches, Rich was able to bury his American twang and adapt Picasso’s Malaga accent.
“It’s very intimidating when [you’re on set and] you have an actor from Malaga, who also happens to be Antonio Banderas. And you’re trying to do his people and his accent and the icon of his city and his country and the world justice,” said Rich.
(The young actor speaks conversational Spanish, but doesn’t feel it worthy enough to mention: “I would never in, like, a place with Antonio, say, ‘I speak Spanish’. I understand Spanish almost fluently.”)
Quizzed on why he was chosen for the role, Rich said: “I think that if you look at Pablo, there is a resemblance there. There’s a certain energy that Picasso had. It was that childlike view of the world.”
The actor will embody Picasso from the age of 17 to 41, bouncing around between different time periods. “I get to see myself with prosthetics and hopefully [get] a little clue into what I might look like in a couple of years, and adjust my expectations accordingly,” he quipped.
It was also intriguing for him to travel back to an era when distractions were minimal, before the advent of mobile phones or social media.
“I mean, when people interrupt Picasso in his process, he’s not always excited,” said Rich; Picasso was known for his bad temper. “And I feel the same way when I’m trying to dive into a scene, for example, and somebody is texting me. I want to throw my phone at the wall. Airplane mode is my best friend.”
“But I also think hindsight kind of covers everything in gold. So, there’s also a lot of luxuries and comforts that we have today that we that they did not have. And I think that it’s kind of a novelty.”
———————
Don’t miss it! Genius: Picasso premieres on April 22 in the UAE and April 24 around the world.
