Ben Kingsley’s The Walk role inspired by his mentors

New Delhi: Ben Kingsley plays a stern but affectionate mentor, Papa Rudy, to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Phillippe Petit in The Walk and the Gandhi star says his character is an amalgamation of the directors who inspired and shaped him as an actor. The Robert Zemeckis-directed film, which is being released in India by Sony Pictures on October 9, recreates Petit’s unauthorised <g data-gr-id="16">high wire</g> walk between the Twin Towers of New York in 1974.

Considered a coup of sorts at that time, the 45-minute walk brought a lot of publicity to Petit and the newly constructed towers.

“When one is molded and shaped by these great mentors, men and women, <g data-gr-id="22">hopefully</g> a few molecules are changed forever, and a bit rubs off... I immediately felt that there was a patriarchal side to him, a paternal side to him. But patriarchal doesn’t mean only fondness. There’s sternness there are rigid limits laid down.

“There’s a seriousness about his approach to teaching and that I also got from the people, the men and women that I’ve worked with as directors. So, he is an amalgam of the people I’ve been fortunate to be shaped by and then I narrowed it down to about five <g data-gr-id="20">directors,</g> and modelled him on one director, whom I shall not mention. But whom I love,” he told reporters at a media event in Cancun, Mexico, while promoting the movie.