After his role in the star-studded Death On the Nile, Simon MacCorkindale, twenty-six, gets his biggest solo break as Arthur Davies. “He is a fascinating character to play,” he says. “He’s a meek gentleman on land, but as soon as he gets afloat he becomes strong and confident as a brilliant sailor. I enjoyed it all enormously, but felt a bit panicky at times since there was so much to be learnt about sailing in such a short time. There was no way I could learn in a week what Davies had learned over several years. I had only done a very little sailing previously, but by the end of filming aboard the ‘Dulcibella’ I was a much more experienced sailor!
“I naturally want to play a wide variety of other parts in the future,” says MacCorkindale, “but I suppose the thing to do is establish oneself as far as possible and get some kind of respected name and reputation, then begin to ring the changes. I’m not very good at relaxing, but I’m ambitious and I thrive on hard work and challenges. There are very few real stars today, people who pull audiences into the cinemas. As far as I’m concerned, the only thing that can be useful if you achieve any kind of name in the business is that it puts the actor in a better bargaining position to get worthwhile parts in good productions.