SOUTH AFRICA: Actors Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine hold press conference to promote their new film, "One Man One Vote"

Record ID: 457892

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Actors Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine hold press conference to promote their new film, "One Man One Vote"
  • Date: 3rd May 1996
  • Summary: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA (MAY 3, 1996) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE MOUNT NELSON HOTEL ELECTION POSTER OF SIDNEY POITIER IN ROLE AS SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA ELECTION POSTER OF MICHAEL CAINE AS SOUTH AFRICAN DEPUTY PRESIDENT F.W. DE KLERK ANC (AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS) ELECTION POSTER INTERIOR PRESS CONFERENCE POITIER AND CAINE SEATED TOGETHER IN CENTRE POITIER SAYING THE THRILL WAS TO BE OFFERED THE ROLE. AND ACCEPTING IT WAS NEVER A QUESTION. FOR ME IT WAS HOW THE CHARACTER FASHIONED FROM THIS EXTRAORDINARY LIFE, WHETHER IT COMPLEMENTED THE DIMENSIONS OF THIS PHENOMENON WE KNOW AS NELSON MANDELA. HOW CLOSE IT CAME TO REFLECTING THE ESSENCE OF THE MAN, THAT WAS THE ONLY CONSIDERATION FOR ME. NEVER THE QUESTION OF WHETHER I WOULD ACCEPT (ENGLISH) CAINE SAYING HE (DE KLERK) WAS HELPING ME ALONG. A COUPLE OF TIMES HE SAID HERE A COUPLE OF THINGS I DO THAT I HAVEN'T DONE ALL EVENING. I'LL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE, HE SAID I DO THIS WITH MY NOSE A LOT. BECAUSE IT WAS BROKEN AND I HAVE HAD FOUR OPERATIONS ON IT. BUT I NOTICED, I STUDIED A GREAT DEAL OF FOOTAGE ON HIM OBVIOUSLY, MASSES OF TELEVISION FOOTAGE AND I'VE SEEN LOTS OF PICTURES AND PHOTOGRAPHS. AND OF COURSE HE SMOKES, HE CHAINS SMOKES. BUT HE WILL NEVER BE PHOTOGRAPHED SMOKING, SO I HAD NO IDEA THAT HE SMOKED WHEN IN ACTUAL FACT THE MAN WAS A CHAIN SMOKER. AND THEN I DIDN'T KNOW HOW HE SMOKED AND HE SMOKES LIKE THAT AND HE HIDES THE CIGARETTE. SO IT HELPS, AS ALSO I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS LEFT HANDED, BUT I'M RIGHT HANDED. SO WHEN I SIGN THINGS IT'S GOING TO LOOK VERY STRANGE (ENGLISH) POITIER SAYING WHEN I CAME BACK A FEW WEEKS AGO, FROM THE AIRPORT I BEGAN TO FEEL A DIFFERENCE, TO SEE A DIFFERENCE. AND EVERYWHERE I WENT IT WAS ALMOST TO THE OPPOSITE FACE OF WHAT I HAD EXPERIENCED MANY YEARS AGO. AND I WAS VERY, VERY PLEASED, EXHILARATED AS A MATTER OF FACT TO EXPERIENCE THAT FEELING IN THE AIR IN THIS CITY. AND I SUSPECT THAT I AM GOING TO HAVE THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE IN THE COUNTRY. THAT IS THE THE WAY IT WAS FOR ME ON MY RETURN TO SOUTH AFRICA (ENGLISH)
  • Embargoed: 18th May 1996 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVALRZ9NRPF4ON9LTP78Q9ETPRR
  • Story Text: Actors Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine gave a press conference in Cape Town on May 3 to promote the film "One Man One Vote" currently under production in South Africa and gave some interesting insights into the private foibles of the two main characters President Nelson Mandela and Deputy President F.W. de Klerk.
    Poitier, whose choice to play Nelson Mandela provoked some controversy among the South African acting fraternity, said he was "thrilled" to be offered the role.
    "How close it (the part) came to reflecting the essence of the man (Nelson Mandela), that was the only consideration for me, never the question of whether I would accept".
    Poitier, who filmed in South Africa in the 1950s for the film "Cry, the Beloved Country", was moved by the changes he sees in the country today.
    "I began to feel a difference, to see a difference. And everywhere I went it was almost to the opposite face of what I had experienced many years ago. And I was very, very pleased, exhilerated as a matter of fact" he added.
    Caine, who plays Deputy President F.W. de Klerk, met the former President as part of his research for the part and said the meeting proved invaluable.
    De Klerk demonstrated some of his habits. Caine explained"he said here are a couple of things I do that I haven't done all evening. I do this with my nose, for example" rubbing his nose. And Caine discovered De Klerk chain smoked through out his presidency, something he never did in front of cameras.
    "One Man One Vote", an American television movie with a budget of 5 million U.S. dollars, deals with the historic 1994 all-race elections in South Africa.
    The film will be filmed over 25 days on location in Cape Town and will be syndicated on American television.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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