Before winning a best actor Oscar for Shine, Geoffrey Rush taught physical comedy. Knowing how to trip with the best of them came in handy for his role in HBO's new biopic The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (Sunday, 9 pm/ET), in which Rush had to re-create many of the slapstick savant's most memorable characters, from Dr. Strangelove to Inspector Clouseau. Sellers' old pal Blake Edwards gushes, "It's too bad the audience didn't know Sellers the way I do, so they could appreciate how [Rush] caught the man."
TV Guide Online: Is it true you turned down the role at first?
Geoffrey Rush: I thought, "I'm Australian and he's English. He's stouter and shorter than I am. And hairier."
TVGO: The script portrays Sellers as an abusive man. Were you put off by that?
Rush: At one point, they were writing a new draft because he was so unlikable, but that never hit me. I find people most interesting if they're flawed.
TVGO: W
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