He won a Best Actor Oscar as the pacifist icon in “Gandhi,’’ and his vast gallery of roles includes Meyer Lansky, Moses, Georges Méliès, Dr. Watson and the keeper of “Schindler’s List’’ — not to mention the villainous Mandarin in the billion-dollar 2013 comic book blockbuster “Iron Man 3.”
So did globe-trotting, man of a thousand voices Ben Kingsley find it challenging to play a Brooklyn cabdriver in “Learning To Drive,’’ a small indie comedy-drama premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival?
“I don’t really find acting challenging,’’ he says in a phone interview. The character, who wears a Sikh turban and daylights as a driving instructor for a newly divorced woman (Patricia Clarkson), “was a university instructor in India, so he carries himself in a certain way. I find it thrilling to discover things about a character, particularly if he has a flaw the actor can make the audience learn to love.”
Though Kingsley has a résumé as long as your arm and has worked all over the world, “Learning To Drive’’ is only the third film he’s shot in New York. (The others were the 2008 stoner comedy “The Wackness’’ and the 2010 thriller “Shutter Island,” in which he played radically different psychiatrists.)
“New York has a unique indelible identity and demands that one rises to as an actor,’’ he says. “In Morocco’’ — where he recently shot a King Tut miniseries — “you have a very different rhythm of life, with vast expanses of sky at night. I love the contrast of filming in New York and its metropolitan lifestyle.”
Based on an autobiographical story by New Yorker writer Katha Pollitt, “Learning To Drive’’ — which is seeking US distribution after its Tuesday debut in Toronto — was filmed in Tribeca, the Rockaways and Brooklyn, where Kingsley’s character is wed in an arranged marriage in an elaborate ceremony.
“We were allowed to film in a Sikh house of worship,’’ he recalled. “That community was very encouraging, because they appreciated the script and its place in their history of assimilation in America.’’
Tricky in an entirely different way was filming the driving lessons on the busy streets of Manhattan. “Some of the time we were in a towed vehicle, but sometimes we were actually driving the car,” recalls the actor. “But we did have a lot of cooperation from the police department, particularly when we had to stage an accident for the story.’’
The workaholic Kingsley has completed work on seven other projects since wrapping “Learning To Drive’’ — including voice stints in the animated “The Boxtrolls’’ (out Sept. 26) and “The Jungle Book’’ (2015), as well as roles in two big Christmas releases, “Exodus: Gods and King’’ and “Night at the Museum III.’’
“I found it absolutely delightful,’’ Kingsley says of the latter film. “Just the complete arrogance of [my character, a] member of the Egyptian royal family [who’s] rather surprised that people were addressing him without kneeling. I also got to share a scene with Robin Williams, who was a beautiful man to work with.’’
Coincidentally, Kingsley also worked with Lauren Bacall, on an episode of “The Sopranos’’ in which they played themselves — a clip of the scene generated thousands of hits on YouTube after Bacall’s death a day after Williams’ in August.
“It was great to play that wonderful scene with her,’’ Kingsley says. “And I enjoyed tremendously self-satirizing myself as an egotistical actor.’’