Rush: Peter Sellers story 'like a fable'
Actor stars in 'Life and Death of Peter Sellers'
(CNN) -- Peter Sellers has been called a comic genius -- which makes him a difficult person to play in a biographical movie.
Actor Geoffrey Rush knew doing Sellers would be difficult -- even turned down the role initially -- but eventually signed on to play the actor. The Sellers film, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," debuts on HBO in early December.
CNN anchor Daryn Kagan spoke to the Oscar-winning Rush about Sellers and the film.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get to the good stuff behind you accepting this part, because As I've heard, when they came to you the first time and suggested it, you said, thank you but no.
GEOFFREY RUSH, ACTOR, "THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PETER SELLERS": Yes. Through fear, I think, and a bit of vanity, I read the script, which I thought was extraordinary, because it has got so many playful imaginative levels to it. It's like a fable about a guy who's very famous for being in the movies, who photographed his own life. And it's like reading Chinese boxes or something.
But when I was reading it, I felt very torn, very thin, and very old and very Australian.
KAGAN: And not British.
RUSH: Yes. Which seemed to be all the wrong things for what Peter Sellers should have been. So I reluctantly said, no, I can't do this. And then they fortunately came back to me and I was shooting "Pirates of the Caribbean" at the time. And I think I felt a little more foolhardy and brave when I had that feather in my hat.
KAGAN: Taking on the courage of a pirate there. Now we should explain that this isn't your typical biopic. That when they decided to do this life of Peter Sellers, he was a rather different type of man. They're trying to tell it as if he was telling his own life, which means that you not only do Peter Sellers, but as many as 40 different voices -- and you take on different characters as well?
RUSH: Yes. Well, I think the writers picked up on the fact that Sellers is very famous in a majority of his own films for playing just for virtuosic display, I think, particularly in films like "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Mouse that Roared." He would play multiple characters.
And they picked up on this element because his own life seemed to be filled with multiple aspects of his own very interchangeable personality. Because away from the celebrity and the legendary status that he has as a film performer, behind the scenes there was a very turbulent and troubled and rather sad kind of existence.
 Rush as Peter Sellers in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers." |  |
KAGAN: As is the case with a lot of people who are funny for a living. Peter Sellers, when he was asked about if someone should do a movie of his life, said to see him on the screen would be a rather dull experience.
RUSH: Yes. I know a lot of actors who feel like that. It's a strange sort of job to be in, to be able to sit at the end of the day and watch objectively what you've been involved in. It's a little bit like most people's reaction when they hear themselves on tape.
KAGAN: For the first time.
RUSH: For the first time. They go, do I sound like that? I go well, yes, you do. That's what we love about you.
KAGAN: Some of the women you get to work with in this movie -- we see Emily Watson on the screen there, Charlize Theron -- [there are] no shortage of Academy Award winners.
RUSH: Well, it was a cast from heaven. And just by the logistical [scheduling] of it, we had the Emily Watson block and then we had the Charlize Theron block and John Lithgow. And for me it was really like participating in some extraordinary international master class because they were all so extraordinary, you know, just great talent.
KAGAN: Not a bad day at the office. And I'm sure they would say the same for having the chance to work with you. Geoffrey Rush, thanks for stopping by.
RUSH: Thank you.
KAGAN: Good luck. It debuts Sunday, December 5, 9 p.m., "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers." Thank you.
RUSH: Thanks so much.
HBO is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.
