Malcolm McDowell was catapulted into instant fame when he starred in the 1971 Stanley Kubrick sci-fi classic “A Clockwork Orange.”
However, the actor, 82, told Page Six in a recent exclusive interview that it was a treacherous time.
“I don’t think I handled it particularly well, actually,” he shared. “It actually frightened me somewhat.”
McDowell added that he couldn’t really enjoy it.
“Everybody’s pulling on you,” he explained. “They don’t allow you really just to enjoy it.”
Instead, he was inundated with offers and pressured to accept new roles because of the money on the table or who he’d be working with.
When McDowell would say, “The script’s very bad,” he was told, “Well, who cares?”
One film the actor still regrets not doing is Alfred Hitchcock’s final film, 1972’s “Frenzy,” despite an “absolute rubbish” script.
“Now, in retrospect, I should have just done the damn movie,” he confessed. “I mean, just to work with him.”
“There are a few things I really should have done, you know,” he continued. “But you know, at the time, I think the decisions I made about my career were because I knew what I could do and I knew what my limits were, and I knew that I wouldn’t be good in certain parts.”
McDowell acknowledged that he was offered many roles because he was the “flavor of the month, every actor at some point, who’s made it, is the flavor of the month.”
“It’s a very hot period, and then it cools off.”
Despite never achieving that level of fame again, McDowell has carved out an enviable career that has included dozens of film and TV roles, including “Star Trek Generations,” “Entourage,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” and Dr. Samuel Loomis in the 2007 remake of “Halloween” as well as its 2009 sequel, “Halloween II.”
His latest film is another horror flick, “Psycho Killer,” which follows a police officer on her quest to apprehend a serial killer known as “The Satanic Slasher,” after he murdered her state trooper husband.
McDowell is refreshingly clear-sighted about his career, which transitioned into character and supporting parts.
“You’re not worried about what your persona is,” he shared. “You just do it, do the work as honestly as you can, and move on. And, you know, there’ve been a great range of parts I’ve played, you know.”
“But, I’ve always enjoyed what I do, I think.”
