English actor Sir Tom Courtenay is happily married to his stage manager wife, Isabel Crossbey. But he is also being chased by a ghost from his past, a long dead girlfriend. Wait! We are not talking about a real ghost, now.
We can see that you all are getting confused with this talk about his happy married life and his past girlfriend. But we are simply talking about the knighted star’s new British drama film, “45 Years”.
Courtenay and actress Charlotte Rampling, who both starred in the movie and won the prestigious Silver Bear Awards for their roles, recently talked about the film and their characters in it.
The movie is a drama about Kate Mercer and Geoff Mercer, a couple whose happy marriage slowly begins to collapse after Geoff receives a letter mentioning that the body of a long-dead girlfriend has been recovered from an ice field in the Alps, after 50 years.
This is when the story takes the much anticipated twist. We will not spoil the fun for you, but we just want to say that Kate and Geoff are as happy as real life Courtenay and his wife. The only difference is that the on-screen couple’s relationship tumbles down after Geoff receives the letter. Meanwhile, Tom and Crossbey are still together and strong.
45 Years has premiered in several prestigious film festivals and Courtenay and Rampling have won several awards for their work. They also won Best Actor and Actress Awards at the 2015 Berlin film festival and garnered top prizes at the London Film Critics’ Circle Awards. Moreover, Courtenay’s beautiful and talented co-star has also been nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actress category for her role.
Torontosun.com caught up with Courtenay during the Toronto film festival where he was promoting his film. And according to the online magazine, the actor was debating if he should use his hearing aid or not and also said that he loves to wear them just because his beloved wife Crossley wants him to.
During the interview, the actor praised Andrew Haigh, director and the screen writer of the film.
“The story's a fragment,” Courtenay told the magazine. “I got it, thinking I’ll learn a lot, but it’s that central thing of his being sent a letter about the girl in the ice and that's it, really … so it's almost like an original screenplay. They pick up on one thing and build on that — the powerful notion of the girl in the ice.”
Despite winning several awards for this particular role of his, Courtenay is not a new name in the film industry. He has garnered rave reviews from critics for his performances in the past and also won a number of awards and nominations including an Oscar Nod.
And talking about the world wide attention and success of 45 Years, the actor replied jokingly
“Well, at my age, I mean, I’m 78 — and to be torn between two women.
“It’s a romantic lead, isn’t it?”
Though, the actor has been enjoying success over the year, he likes to give all his credit to the love and support of his dearest wife. He feels that the mutual understanding and love between them is something that has held the couple together for more than three decades.
Courtenay was formerly married to actress Cheryl Kennedy from 1973 to 1982. They separated and got divorced later. The actor married Crossley in 1988, who is a stage manager at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. The couple does not have children.