Lovely day for a Guinness

To Zeb Soanes, Sir Alec Guinness wasn't only George Smiley — he was the reason the writer, presenter and actor sought out the spotlight...

This year marks both the 25th anniversary of Sir Alec Guinness's death and my 50th birthday, so I'm returning to the stage, where began my career, with Two Halves of Guinness, a one-man show, which celebrates his talents and addresses his struggles, among them the fact he had both a retiring nature and a desire for stardom — John Le Carré admired his ability to 'back into the limelight.

I spent a nerve-racking morning summoning the courage to telephone Sir Alec's son Matthew to inform him I would be playing his father. The refined voice that answered had all the cadences of Guinness Snr. I explained that, as a shy young man who paradoxically wanted to be an actor, I was drawn to his father's ability to inhabit a vast array of characters, exploring the many faces of himself.

I was encouraged to watch his films by my father, who circled the Radio Times each week. Sir Alec was exactly the sort of actor I aspired to be. I wrote to him when I was 17 and, within the week, received a neatly handwritten reply, offering encouragement. Boys from Lowestoft didn't write to Hollywood stars and the fact that he troubled to put fountain pen to paper still means the world to me.

My research into portraying my boyhood hero has involved meeting his close circle. Piers Paul-Read, his biographer, told me it was Sir Alec's lifelong tussle with his weaknesses and contradictions that made him such a great actor. 'He had a surprising vulnerability, Dame Eileen Atkins told me. She was also helpful with his physicality: "He hated his hands and said: "These are the hands of a butcher!" His make-up artist for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Elizabeth Rowell, said he lamented losing his hair so young and ordered his own wigs for the part of George Smiley.

Dame Siân Phillips highlighted the beautiful musicality of the actor's voice, for which he credited his tutor, Martita Hunt, who encouraged him to always stress a noun before a verb. I asked Dame Siân what she thought Sir Alec would make of me playing him on stage. "I think he might be relieved,” she said, “to be wholly known.” Asked the same question, Dame Eileen paused, and with an arch look replied: "I think he would like you…"

(This is an excerpt from an article that first appeared in the December 10 issue of Country Life magazine.)