The actor Rupert Everett (53) was honoured in a handprint ceremony outside Dublin's Gaiety Theatre today.
His bronze handprints will now find a home alongside names such as John B Keane, Ronnie Drew, Milo O’Shea and Maureen Potter.
“Well, I’m immortal,” Everett said. “Everyday it rains on Dublin, I’ll be able to think about it raining onto my little hands, and the sun will shine on my hands and everyone going to the theatre will walk on my hands. It’s amazing.”
Tomorrow will be the last performance in Dublin of The Judas Kiss at the theatre, where Everett plays the role of Oscar Wilde. The drama by David Hare tells the story of Wilde’s infamous downfall after the success of his play The Importance of Being Earnest.
“It’s where it all kind of started,” said Everett, who spoke of being able to see the windows of Wilde’s nursery when going in to his hotel. “It’s just an extraordinary feeling of walking on graves, kind of thing, that you get a lot in Dublin.”
Of course, this is not the first time Everett has been connected with the Irish writer and poet. He has played several of Wilde’s creations, as well as the man himself.
Speaking of what attracts him to the writer, Everett said: “To me, he’s one of the great punctuation points between my century, the 20th century, and the 19th century.
“Mostly because he was so famous, and then he was so infamous, then he was so rich and then so poor, and he ended up on the streets. I think it’s just the most romantic story that you can possibly imagine, really.”
Everett will continue with the play until March of next year. Afterward he plans to act in and direct a film he has written - being made next September - about the last years of Wilde.