In the latest of new British movies, Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?, the lead character is a modest, slippers and mug-of-tea man who happens to have supernatural powers. His soft-spoken, northern English manner hides an ability to stop clocks, levitate, heal sicknesses and achieve any number of messianic feats, all with the power of his mind. Once you've met the actor who plays him, you can't help but feel there are certain similarities between the two.
Sitting in the Shelbourne Hotel, Tom Courtenay agrees there something of Harold Smith about him. "There are some similarities. We both don't like publicity," he says. Certainly he seems nervous; he is quietly dressed in green corduroy trousers and a low-key blue shirt; he would, it seems, prefer to go unnoticed once he steps from the limelight - perhaps this has something to do with that English aversion to ostentation, something he inherited growing up in Hull.
But the real similarity between Harold Smith and Tom Courtenay is the hidden power of performance. While Courtenay may appear humble and retiring, his legendary performances in movies such as Doctor Zhivago and in roles such as King Lear have earned him a reputation as a passionate and capable actor, and have brought him an award or two along the way. It is a success Courtenay appears quite passive about, and which seems to have come to him without much effort. Even at the start of his career he didn't have to go out looking for success, it came looking for him.
"I was just discovered while I was still at RADA, and it didn't stop from there," he says, referring to his training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. "I was six terms at RADA and in the fifth term I was discovered and being taken to see agents and film producers already. I had my pick of the agents in London, it's extraordinary."
From there, his stage and screen career went from one achievement to the next. He had prominent roles in a number of iconic films, including Billy Liar and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Pasha/Strelnikov in Doctor Zhivago, his part in The Dresser won him a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award as Best Actor. With a list of more than 25 films behind him and almost 40 years of work in the cinema, Tom Courtenay is perceived to be very much a screen actor, but he generally dislikes the whole filming process, preferring instead to work in the theatre.
Of the Zhivago shoot he says he "found the process a little frustrating" - mainly because it was a long shoot with a lot of hanging around, and because he felt he "did about two weeks work in six months". He preferred the Billy Liar he played in the theatre to the film version. "I thought the film was - well, to me, I'd done my best Billy in the theatre. You have lots of goes at it on the stage and one night you really get it perfectly, and you might not feel that you get any of it perfectly in a film. On the other hand, if you have a nice bit in a film, if you've done as well as you can do, then it's recorded, and there it is."
His dislike of film even stopped him working in movies for a time - a decision that may have prevented Courtenay achieving his potential to become a really big star. "I found the films I made money from, I didn't like doing. That's why I didn't do films for a decade. Then with The Dresser, that's the first time I did a film I liked I actually got well paid for. After that I did a number of films in America that I didn't like. But they enabled me to buy a house in the Lake District. And I thought, why was I so hard on myself before, why didn't I make more money?"
Now 63, when Courtenay considers the highs and lows of his life as an actor he comes down firmly on the side of his stage achievements. The pomp and glamour of film awards mean little. When he has achieved greatness in a performance he knows it, even if it doesn't attract public praise.
"The high was King Lear last year at the Royal Exchange Theatre. That was the high in the theatre by a long way. In film, I don't think there's been a high. But I enjoyed this last one very much."
WHILE he says he has "no regrets", Courtenay does appear a little melancholic as he looks out the window of the Shelbourne Hotel, thinking on his life and the decisions he has made. It is a time for reflection as he is putting the finishing touches to an autobiographical book. Dear Tom, which is due out next autumn, tells the story of his early life as an actor through letters between himself and his mother.
But as the talk turns to the new film, his mood lightens. Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? is a less-than-serious movie and it is obvious Courtenay thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. "I start to smile when I think of it," he says. "I think it's lovely and I'm delighted with it. It's simple as that really."
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith opened yesterday at selected cinemas