New ‘Game of Thrones’ cast member Jim Broadbent has a way of sinking himself into any role

Reporting from London —  Two businessmen are staring at Jim Broadbent. They’re trying not to be obvious, sneaking glances at the tall 67-year-old British actor as he sips a glass of orange juice at the Soho Hotel here. but they clearly know his face. After Broadbent leaves, the men lean over and ask, “What’s he called again?”

And that’s the thing about Jim Broadbent: You know his face, certainly, but he’s not the sort of actor who gets by on the celebrity of his name.

Even when he’s leading a film, as he does in the new movie “The Sense of an Ending,” the actor sinks himself into the role so deeply that it’s not so much about Broadbent the man as it is about his character. He’s always been that way, whether it’s starring in the British drama “Longford” or as the devious Harold Zidler in “Moulin Rouge!” or the nervous Professor Horace Slughorn in the “Harry Potter” films. Among his acting honors is a supporting actor Oscar for the 2001 film “Iris.”

“The initial idea, when I left college and started out, was that I didn’t fall into any particular category,” Broadbent reflects in a recent interview. “Which, in some ways, was difficult because people couldn’t understand where to put me. There wasn’t an easy casting choice for me. So I consciously made a career being as varied as possible.”

The range of his work is startling, even for a British character actor. After “Sense of an Ending,” for example, he’ll be in a children’s film (“Paddington 2”) and in the upcoming season of HBO’s mega-hit “Game of Thrones” (he can’t say much about that).

Notes Broadbent: “I’m from a middle-class background and went to private school. I made a conscious decision that I could also be happy playing working-class characters and investigators, and I could do a Northern accent or a London one. I became concentrated on character acting, being able to do a range of things. That put me in good stead later on.”

Broadbent has been working as a professional thespian since he graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972. He exited with one major goal in mind: “One of my criteria for myself when leaving drama school was, ‘I’ll do any job where I’ll learn something I haven’t learned before.’ In whatever aspect that is – working with different people, doing different kinds of theater, working in front of a television camera or a film camera. If it was going to be a new experience I would do it. That still stands. You want to get as many strings to your bow as possible.”

That sensibility comes through in “The Sense of an Ending,” which is adapted from Julian Barnes’ 2011 novel of the same name and which opened Friday. The slim tome is a beautifully wrought exercise in late-life existentialism. It asks whether our perception of history is right, and grapples with what we should do if it turns out to be wrong.

Broadbent was offered the lead role of Anthony Webster before the script, penned by Nick Payne, was even finished. He was sold on the description of the story and the prospect of working with director Ritesh Batra, who was then best-known for his 2013 film “The Lunchbox,” a comedy about Mumbai’s elaborate lunch delivery systems.

“He was someone I didn’t know at all, but then I saw his film and thought, ‘Yeah, I’d love to work with him,’” Broadbent says. “I read the novel before I read the script. I’m not sure if it was the right way to do it, but I think it worked out. You have to accept the script for what it is anyway. It does stand alone. I think it was useful reading the book and really getting insight into the character and the whole world.”

×

The film, which also stars Charlotte Rampling, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Dockery, is largely faithful to the novel. It follows an aging, self-righteous Anthony as he paces slowly through his life. He’s divorced and struggles to connect with his pregnant daughter. Everything is shaken up when he receives a letter stating that his ex-girlfriend’s mother has bequeathed him some documents.

These bring about startling revelations about his youth and urges Anthony to reconsider the way certain events may have played out, flashing between his solitary adulthood and boyhood years in school in the 1960s. It was a narrative to which Broadbent immediately felt connected.

“I just understood him,” the actor says of Anthony. “Julian Barnes’ writing is so impeccable and it conjured up that world. And I think I was contemporaneous with the character. I knew and understood that dynamic. I understood the character, really, and his vulnerabilities and his arrogance. I knew him. That’s something I looked forward to getting into.” He adds, “I get more and more picky. It was so lovely to get something that was absolutely something I haven’t done before and that was of this quality and grown-up.”

It’s the sort of movie that’s quiet and introspective. It moves slowly and carefully, allowing Anthony space to consider how his life has played out. What if one action, which you believed happened in a certain way, wasn’t at all what it had seemed? How do you reconcile that now?

Broadbent’s subtle performance stood out to his director, who said the actor’s work as Anthony allows the eventual revelations of the film to resonate more strongly.

“When I was working with Jim I was really struck by how every beat of every scene we worked on felt like a pebble in clear water – simple, honest, unaffected and true,” Batra says. “Jim is not there to perform; he is there with his craft and alluring presence to tell the truth in the simplest of ways.”

Since completing “The Sense of an Ending” in 2015, Broadbent has been busy, as usual. He filmed a movie called “Black 47,” as well as scenes for the upcoming “Paddington 2” last year. He also shot a mysterious role for the new season of “Game of Thrones.”

“I don’t think I’m allowed to say anything,” the actor says with a laugh. “Being on the show hadn’t occurred to me. I haven’t been watching. [But] it seemed like a good thing to be part of, a bit like when I was asked to be in ‘Harry Potter.’ You’re like, ‘Oh, that’s something good to get ticked off.’”

Next up Broadbent is in talks to star alongside Michael Caine, Michael Gambon and Ray Winstone in a film based on the so-called “Diamond Geezers,” about a gang of elderly London robbers who caused a lot of news commotion in 2015. “When the story came out originally I thought, ‘Oh, that sounds like a nice job! I can imagine they’ll make a film of that. I wonder if it will come my way,’” Broadbent notes. “And then it has.”

[email protected]