EP 253: Malcolm McDowell on Mozart, Movies, and Never Looking Back

Malcolm McDowell has starred in over 260 films and television shows from classics like Clockwork Orange to his latest role as an egotistical conductor on Mozart in the Jungle. He shares stories about "mostly drunken gambling and whoring" at the Royal Shakespeare Company, how he came up with the infamous Singin' in the Rain scene for Clockwork Orange, and how he got stiffed by the film’s notoriously cheap director Stanley Kubrick. The maestro discusses his strategy for conducting the symphony on Mozart in the Jungle and how the show bravely rebels against agism and Hollywood's conventional idea's about romance. Plus he recalls working with greats like Peter O’Toole, Laurence Olivier, and John Gielgud, he reveals why he turned down a chance to be knighted, and he talks about the role that made him public enemy number one for trekkies.

Season 4 of Mozart in the Jungle is now available with a subscription to Amazon Prime. Today's episode was sponsored by Squarespace, Google Cloud Platform Weekly Podcast, and Grasshopper.