Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
David Jarvis

Actor Mark Rylance trained as Savile Row tailor for latest gangster flick role

Suits you, Sir! Actor Mark Rylance swotted up for his latest role by ­training as a Savile Row tailor.

The Oscar-winning screen legend learned how to hand-stitch men’s clobber for his part in new gangster flick, The Outfit.

He plays a Chicago suit maker called Leonard in the film, which will be in cinemas next month.

Sir Mark, 62, who is renowned for the intense preparation he does for his roles, was put through his paces at gentlemen’s outfitter Huntsman.

Director Graham Moore said: “Mark is such a consummate researcher. He spent time ­learning to make clothes himself on Savile Row.

Sir Mark’s character is an English tailor whose main customers are vicious gangsters (Courtesy of Nick Wall / Focus Features)

“He apprenticed at Huntsman, learning to cut, learning to sew.

“If he’s doing it on screen, then he’s really doing it.”

In The Outfit, Sir Mark’s character is an English tailor whose main customers are vicious gangsters.

He used to work in London’s Savile Row before moving to Chicago to make beautiful suits – but the only people who can afford them are criminals.

Every scene takes place in his tailor’s shop and the action unfolds as Leonard measures up and makes suits.

Speaking in the April edition of Total Film ­magazine, Moore added: “It’s a character study into this very interesting and mysterious man.

“We pull back the layers on Leonard in the way one would remove layers of clothing.”

Sir Mark, 62, won an Oscar for his portrayal of Newcastle-born Russian spy Rudolph Abel in Bridge of Spies.

Mark Rylance at the world premiere of 'The Phantom of the Open' (PA)
The star at the Dunkirk premiere in 2017 (Getty Images Europe)

He is not the only actor who likes going to extreme lengths to research their roles.

Demi Moore underwent tough Navy Seal training to play G.I. Jane and Halle Berry didn’t wash for ten days when playing a drug addict in Jungle Fever.

Robert De Niro worked as a cabbie for his role in Taxi Driver and Val Kilmer became so immersed in playing The Doors frontman Jim Morrison that he needed therapy to get back to normal.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.