Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus Blog — Understanding the “Boys and Guns” Mentality With Dragan Micanovic and Ashraf Barhom

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Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus Blog — Understanding the “Boys and Guns” Mentality With Dragan Micanovic and Ashraf Barhom

07-07-10 by Andreas Wiseman
This is the first in a series of posts in which Coriolanus actors will be talking about their characters and the production.

Yesterday I caught up with Dragan Micanovic (RocknRolla, Layer Cake) and Ashraf Barhom (Clash Of The Titans, The Kingdom), who portray characters on opposite sides of the film’s central conflict. I asked them to describe their characters and what they found most challenging about the role and the production?

Dragan Micanovic as Titus LartiusAndreas Wiseman: How would you describe your character? What makes him tick?

Dragan Micanovic: Titus Lartius is a soldier, a fighter dedicated to his country. He’s worked hard for everything he’s achieved and he’s from a good background like Coriolanus – so in some ways they are not dissimilar. Coriolanus is what Lartius wants to be. He really admires him both as a man and as a soldier. Coriolanus is his mentor, almost an idol to Lartius. They are comrades-in-arms and importantly, they are trusted friends. He understands Coriolanus’ dedication to Rome but he also understands his inability to compromise himself as a politician, which is why Coriolanus’ treatment at the hands of the people and his defection to the enemy has a very real and emotional effect on Lartius.

AW: What have you found most challenging about your role and the production?

DM: I’m Serbian and because we are filming in Serbia I am very aware of our recent history of war and civil unrest. I really don’t like uniforms and, at first, I had a very hard time when we did our military training for the battle scenes because it brought it all back to me. Strangely though, after a few days of being a soldier, I totally understood the ‘boys and guns’ mentality – and it helped me to understand some things about myself and the men who fought in the wars. It means a lot to me to be filming in Serbia – it feels like we are joining the outside world again, it feels really good.

Filming war scenes for four days was physically the hardest thing, but the most challenging scene as an actor was the Roman war rooms. Lartius has been to see Coriolanus to try and persuade him not to attack Rome. He’s not only failed in his mission, but he sees frightening changes in his friend. He then has to explain what has happened to the Generals and Senators – and it’s very emotional for him. The rest of the cast gave me such positive energy and encouragement while we were filming and Ralph is so motivational as a director, it may have been my toughest scene, but I think it was a success!

Ashraf Barhom as CassiusI also spoke to the equally fantastic Ashraf Barhom about his character, Cassius. Cassius was leading the angry mob on the first day I visited set.

Scriptwriter John Logan and Ralph re-jigged the lines of the First and Second Citizens in order to create the fiery agitators Cassius and his accomplice, Tamora. The two revolutionaries got their names from characters in other Shakespeare plays.

AW: Who is Cassius? What is his motivation?

Ashraf Barhom: For me, Cassius was very interesting, When I read the part for the first time I felt that Cassius was a manipulator. That was my first intuition. He is somebody who uses the situation to achieve his own goals. But after I had thought about it more and more and after talking to Ralph and coming to set and rehearsing I started to find that Cassius is actually someone else. I became connected to the idea that Cassius is an idealist; a person who cares a lot for the people, who cares a lot for Rome as a state. He wants Rome to be managed well and for people to have good lives. He is against corruption.

This puts my character in a very difficult situation. On the one hand I am fighting against Coriolanus, but I am also working with the manipulative characters Brutus and Sicinius. So, it’s not obvious where I stand. The tribunes Brutus and Sicinius aren’t better than Coriolanus in the end. They are even more dangerous.

So, my character is a little confused. He needs a lot of energy and effort to find what is morally right. Cassius is initially full of energy, full of belief. But he ends up like a dead person, his spirit is finished. When Coriolanus dies he is devastated that the state is not in a better situation.

Check in soon for more thoughts from Coriolanus’ actors…

What a great name: Dragan.