Not since John Lithgow went nuts in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension" has an actor carried a character to the top of the loon mountain with authority. In Hallmark Channel's new movie, "Blackbeard", which will debut on Saturday June 17 at 8:00 PM ET, Angus Macfayden comes close to matching Lithgow's performance. His version of the notorious pirate of the sea would make a great training film for anyone who wants to learn how to be classified as insane to beat a criminal charge. Blackbeard under Macfayden's guidance is a killer, thief and self-obsessed drunk who only cares about treasure and keeping his command. He isn't really evil. He's out of his mind. Blackbeard has heard of a treasure left behind by Captain Kidd and is determined to find it, at any cost to his crew or the innocent people who get in his way. 

On the other hand, Richard Chamberlain's character, the powerful Governor Charles Eden, is the embodiment of evil. He wants his adopted daughter Charlotte's (Jessica Chastain) inheritance so much that he fights to keep her away from the one man in her life who can really make her happy and take her away from his tyrannical rule. That man is Lieutenant Robert Maynard (Mark Umbers) of the Royal Navy, who is even willing to serve on a pirate ship with Blackbeard in order to stop the madman's brutal run as king of the sea. 

As with most Hallmark Channel movies, "Blackbeard" is alive with color and on a quality level equal to big screen productions. The costumes, ships and location selections turn the three-hour film into an adventure ride that is worth taking more than once. 

I had a chance to discuss the movie and other matters with Richard Chamberlain when he called me this week from his home in Hawaii. He is a marvelous actor who still talks with such authority that some people never believe that he was born in Beverly Hills with a 90210 zip code instead of England. 
 

The Richard Chamberlain Interview with Tony Bray 

I really enjoyed your Hallmark movie. 
I played a dastardly fellow. 

He was real evil ... and that horrible wig ... 
The wig was so weird, but it's supposed to be like that. 

I know you shot in Thailand, which can be extremely hot. With that wig on, how did you stand those scenes? 
It was so hot. The air was so heavy and of course, it never moved. There was never a breath of a breeze. It was so hot. We all just laughed. It was either laugh or cry. They had to stop the scenes, especially inside, and mop everybody down and change costumes because we all sweated so much. But we got through it. It was almost funny, it was so uncomfortable. 

It must have been exciting working with Angus Macfadyen too. His portrayal of Blackbeard was way out there. Angus as the pirate was quite unpredictable. Were you ever worried he was going to attack you in a scenes? 
He was a scary guy. He's fun to work with and does improvise a lot. You never know quite what he's going to say. He changes things as he gets ideas during rehearsal. From take to take, he'll change stuff too. But I only had a few scenes with him. I enjoyed acting with Angus a lot. He's a very interesting guy. I felt a little anxious for Mark, who had many, many scenes with Angus. Mark was wonderful, don't you think? 

He was terrific. He carried the hero role and yet showed that his character was quite able to entertain evil intentions at times. 
I thought he was terrific. I thought he had a knack for underplaying that was very convincing. 

He was fun to watch. The camera seems to like him. It followed him across the scene which tells me he's going to be a star at some point. 
I think so too. 

How long was the shoot for you in Thailand? 
I was there three or four weeks. They shot all my stuff together. It was a very rough shoot because I was in scenes everyday. 

The movie has the quality of a feature film production. Most Hallmark movies do. 
They're good, aren't they? 

It's not quite "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe, but I felt like I was there with the Blackbeard sailors in every scene. Your Charles Eden was a bad guy. Keeping his daughter's letter hidden, he and his cohort getting ready to watch men be executed when they weren't guilty. Was he as bad as the Harry Powell character you played in the "Night of the Hunter" remake? 
No. That guy was just a total maniac. 

You deserved credit for doing that one. I would have been worried about matching Mitchum's intensity in the first film. It must have been a scary task. 
I was afraid. I was very afraid. 

You did a good job and you were convincing. I love to watch you in evil roles. My mother always liked you in "Dr. Kildare." Both of us appreciated your fantastic work in the movie about Raoul Wallenberg. 
That was such a wonderful show. 

Was that your most socially relevant role? 
I believe so, yes. 

You deserved an Emmy for that. 
You know, I thought that was one of the very best things I'd ever done. I would have felt okay getting an Emmy for it. 

You deserved one for "Shogun" too. 
Thank you. 

I wish that had been a movie. I believe if it had been, you would have copped an Oscar for it. 
It couldn't be a movie. They tried to make it into a movie with Robert Redford. They just couldn't condense the story into two hours. It would have been impossible. So it finally got televised with me in the lead. 

Did you enjoying playing the heavy in "The Towering Inferno?" 
He was a louse. I always thought I made a mistake in that movie of letting people see his lousy side too soon. I think I should have kept him looking like a good guy for a little longer. 

I'm glad you didn't because it was so easy to enjoy his final plunge to Earth. 
Yes, yes ... the audience cheered. 

I felt bad when Robert Wagner's character died in it. I told him that when I interviewed him. But you going out the window as that character, I didn't mind that at all. 
It was actually quite fun. We had to jump into this enormous air filled tall pillow kind of thing. It was very exciting. 

How did you get the "Dr. Kildare" series? 
OOH, interesting. A person that I knew a little bit in high school, who was student body president, helped me. I was starting to be an actor and had my picture in the Player's Guide. He noticed it there once and asked me for a general interview. From that interview I got a pilot film at MGM for a series called "The Paradise Kid," which did not sell. Westerns were on the way out at that time. They stuck this old pilot film in the vault and a year later they were looking for somebody for "Dr. Kildare." They looked all over town and couldn't find what they wanted. For some reason they pulled out the old pilot film, took a look and said, "That's him!" That is how I got it. 

It was a great kick-start for your career. 
It was an enormous break, gigantic break. I saw a number of the Lew Ayres Kildare movies. I saw them when I was very young and after I got the part. 

Have you got anything else in the works this month or next month?
I'm just off to Los Angeles to do a scene or two in "Nip and Tuck." 

You've got guts. Are you going to be a patient in that? 
No, I'm somebody who brings someone in to be changed. It's a very interesting part. I'm also going to do "The King and I" with the Hawaii Opera Company. 

Have you played the King before? 
No, I haven't, but it's only six performances. It should be great fun. We start rehearsals the last week of this month. 

Do you have a role that you remember as being the hardest one to do? 
I think the most difficult one to do was Blackthorne in "Shogun" because the work load was so heavy and Japan was so hot. So much of his dialog was exposition, which means telling the story to the audience trying to make it look like you're really conversing with people. That is always very hard for an actor to do. It was a very rough shoot, but wonderful. We did it all in Japan. The sword fighting that is always exciting, dangerous and scary all at once. 

I loved "Shogun." Maybe young folks will discover it in DVD form someday. I hope fans like the "Blackbeard" movie. It is exciting and funny at unexpected times. 
Thank you. 

I really appreciate your time today. Have a great week.
You too.