‘24’ actor finds playing Mandela a ‘daunting’ task

Mike Collett-White

BERLIN — Ask a black actor which person he would be most nervous about playing, and he may well say Nelson Mandela.

That was the task facing actor Dennis Haysbert, best known for portraying President David Palmer on the hit FOX TV series “24,” when he accepted the role in “Goodbye Bafana,” a film describing the effect Mandela had on a prison warden who guarded him for over 20 years.

The movie, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival last Sunday, is based on the memoirs of James Gregory, posted to watch over Mandela from the late 1960s to Mandela’s release in 1990 after 27 years in jail.

“For me, I think the word is ‘daunting,’ I would use ‘intimidating,’” an emotional Haysbert told reporters after the press screening of the film. “To play a man whose love for his country outweighed his love for himself ... was profoundly sad to me.”

The sheer weight of that sadness often overwhelmed Haysbert.

“I’ll say now to you what I have not said to my colleagues,” he continued, fighting back tears. “Every night I went home [during filming] I would have a glass of wine and just cry.”

Although he does not try to mimic Mandela exactly, Haysbert does seek to replicate his accent and intonation, and worked hard to make sure he was as convincing as possible.

“I read everything that I could read, I saw every DVD of his experiences that I could see, I listened to every speech that I could find,” Haysbert said.

While the actor’s attention to detail has not been debated, director Bille August has sought to play down questions over the accuracy of the guard’s account of his relationship with the legendary anti-apartheid leader and towering statesman.

Anthony Sampson said in his authorized biography of Mandela that Gregory rarely had contact with Mandela, but gleaned details from letters he censored to fabricate a friendship.

When asked about the accuracy of his film, August replied that he did not use Gregory’s more controversial claims.

“This is something we have totally avoided in our story,” August said. “It’s only natural in a country like South Africa [that] there would be a lot of different points of view of reality.”

And Joseph Fiennes, who played Gregory, sought to distance himself from the guard’s account.

“To me, the book is something to be slightly interpreted,” Fiennes said. “It’s hard to absolutely know where the truth is in it, but it’s a great starting point as a reference.”

While Gregory, who died in 2003, had no involvement in “Goodbye Bafana,” his wife Gloria visited the set and helped actress Diane Kruger, who portrayed her, with her performance.

At the start of the film, when Gregory and his wife are sent to Robben Island where Mandela and other political prisoners were kept, the couple shares the view of many white South Africans at the time that God had made them superior to blacks.

But gradually Gregory’s prejudices are challenged by Mandela’s courage and love, even for those who hate him. The historical context is given through real news footage of riots and speeches from the period.

The press reception to the film, one of 22 competing for the coveted Golden Bear award for best motion picture at the 2007 Berlin festival, was warm. But the biggest test will come with its release in South Africa, as yet unscheduled.

(Reuters)