“I wouldn’t feel sad on receiving an Oscar, but I don’t look forward to it” – Martin Sheen : Bollywood News

The very accomplished Hollywood actor Martin Sheen who has worked with practically every filmmaker in Hollywood worth working with, chats with Subhash K Jha about his life, cinema, career and his new role as the very evil Union Carbide top-man Warren Anderson in Ravi Kumar's Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain.

You've portrayed Warren Anderson in Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain as an out-and-out villain?
We didn't want to do a hatchet-job on him, if you'll pardon the expression. We didn't want to make him an easy target. Anderson was still very much alive when we did the film. We tried to contact him and his family to show him our script. But he never made a single move towards us.

“I wouldn’t feel sad on receiving an Oscar, but I don’t look forward to it” – Martin Sheen

It was almost as though he had shut that entire episode out?
Well, in that case he had shut his life out. He had an opportunity to become human. He chose to remain inhuman.

You have spent a major part of your life trying to be a responsible human and artiste. Amazingly enough, you've never won an Oscar?
(Laughs heartily). I am not amazed.

Why? Aren't you aware of your talent?
It's a gift from God. So it's nothing I can brag about. I'm very very happy that I've been able to make a living doing what I love most in the world. I've been able to do things that I never thought possible. I've travelled to many enchanting places, including India. I've led an amazing life and I give thanks every day that I've had such a life. I don't think I can be any happier even if I received an Oscar.

So you don't covet an Oscar in spite of your brilliant body of work?
It wouldn't make me sad if I received it. But I don't look forward to it. In life sometimes you just do what you have to do without thinking of the rewards and affect on the audience. You do it (the acting) for yourself. I do what I do because I cannot NOT do it and be myself.

You've worked with some of the best director including Francis Coppola, Richard Attenborough, Oliver Stone, Terence Mallick, Mike Nichols and Martin Scorsese. Whom did you enjoy working with the most?
All my directors have a place in my heart. Terence is an old and dear friend. I also enjoyed working with Mike Nichols and Francis Coppola. But if you're asking me which of these directors I'd like to work with again I'd say Martin Scorsese without hesitation.

Why is that?
I've never worked with a director who loved his actors more. I adore him. And I'm a huge fan of his work. When I did The Departed with him it was a great experience.