`I am not retiring from films yet`, says Sean Connery

Sir Sean Connery insisted yesterday that reports of his retirement had been greatly exaggerated - and that, at 74, he was still open to new projects, reports The Scotsman (UK).

The James Bond star, wearing a medal of honour awarded by Prince Moulay Rachid at the 4th Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco, said he would be back on screen once he has written his autobiography.


Sean Connery and his French-Moroccan wife Micheline

Sir Sean also revealed that his memoirs had been an extremely tiring and difficult project. He said: "I always said I would never write my own biography and now I am in the process of doing it, I realise why I said it. It is much more difficult than I anticipated.

"But it has a therapeutic side. You see things that go way back and there is a pattern evolving. I discovered that there have been ten books about me, and now there will be another one you will have to buy. I am doing other stuff at the same time, but it is time-consuming. It is like a double-edged sword and it is quite wearing."

Sir Sean, who made one of his biggest successes The Man Who Would Be King, directed by John Huston, in Morocco, said he had also been busy developing a history of Scotland in 14 volumes which he will narrate for a BBC Scotland series to tie in to their publication. As for films, he said: "If I get an offer I cannot refuse, then yes I’ll do it."

His last outing was in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, shot two years ago in Prague. He was to have made another film about a heist, Josiah’s Canon, but claims the timing did not work out: "We were twixt and between and we were trying to arrange a deal but we failed to do it. By February this year I was involved in writing the book."

Although the publication date of the autobiography has not been revealed by Harper Collins, Sir Sean’s contract with them is said to be worth £2 million. He is due to finish his manuscript by June.

Although his production company Fountainbridge Films has closed, he still has films in development. But he said: "The scripts are only 70 per cent there and while they are being worked on, I decided to write this book and set the record straight. I have the worst press in the world in Scotland and that’s because ultimately the people in control of the media in Scotland are not Scottish."

Sir Sean said he had found putting his thoughts and memories on paper to be far more difficult than he imagined: "I have never kept a record of anything. I gave away everything - all the posters and memorabilia that would have been helpful and now even financially rewarding. I have no diaries or manuscripts, and when Boston University asked me recently to donate things to them I had to tell them that I don’t actually have anything."

But he added: "If you are a reasonably intelligent being, you expect that you will have learned some things, and when I look back in retrospect it appears I did not. I did learn some things when I got done out of money or whatever, but I think that you maintain an enthusiasm for this kind of work by keeping a certain part of yourself as playful as possible.

"Acting should be like a kind of game, analysing the character you are portraying in whatever subject or mess he is in. You are forever postponing or addressing yourself or your mistakes or your experiences. And when you start to put it down on paper and reading where you have been, you feel kind of stupid and naive and trusting; that’s what is disconcerting."

Sir Sean feels a sense of frustration about the kind of creative values that prevail in Hollywood. He compares the critical panning of Oliver Stone’s Alexander to the reception he received with The Name of the Rose in 1986.

He said: "There is a strange gung-ho attitude about the United States today, and it does not leave any room for movies about issues. I adored Alexander, but it was hammered by the critics in America, which I can understand in part because I think it is heavily-layered and there is a lot to understand. It is still a terrific effort as a movie."

While in Morocco, Sir Sean and his French-Moroccan wife Micheline - who have become firm friends with the Moroccan Royal Family - will play on the same golf course where they met 35 years ago. He finds the game (his handicap is 16 but for 30 years it was seven) provides a suitable metaphor for life: "You have to accept that its an unfair game, like life. And that is it in a nutshell. Everyone who plays, even if they get a great score, wants to play better than they did. And then they only remember the shots that were bad or were missed."

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

Discuss this news here...