'My actors are stars': Tinseltown gets in on Geoffrey Rush defamation case

Straight-talking agent Fred Specktor knows his way around Tinseltown. The gold earring-wearing 85-year-old has Hollywood legends Morgan Freeman, Jeremy Irons, Danny de Vito, Dan Aykroyd and Helen Mirren on his books, and has represented Geoffrey Rush for the past 22 years.

And he had no hesitation in telling the Federal Court on Thursday that in his opinion, Mr Rush firmly belonged in the same pantheon. Indeed much of the day centred on expert evidence from three leading US film industry figures who did not always agree with each other on Mr Rush’s place in the Hollywood pecking order, or how the actor’s future might be affected by the outcome of his current defamation action against The Daily Telegraph.

Fred Specktor submitted an expert report on Geoffrey Rush's anticipated longevity in the industry before the articles were published.Credit:AAP

Asked by senior counsel whether the Academy Award-winning movie The King’s Speech could have been made without Mr Rush, Mr Specktor replied firmly, "No".

And questioned on the work prospects of older actors, Mr Specktor suggested that under normal circumstances, Mr Rush, now 67, could have expected his marketability to extend well into the decades to come. "All of my actors are stars, all are older, they work as much as they want and they are all well paid," he said, with more than a touch of pride. Gene Hackman was still getting offers at the age of 88, he proffered, adding that he feared Mr Rush would find it hard to return to his previous prominence as "[this has] been very destructive to him in terms of his psyche".

But long-time Hollywood lawyer Richard Marks took a different tack, asserting that "there is no one actor that can’t be replaced" and arguing that remuneration for older actors and the roles open to them would lessen as they aged.

Geoffrey Rush arrives at court on Thursday flanked by Fred Specktor.Credit:AAP

There was more spirited to-ing and fro-ing over whether Mr Rush was seen as a "character" actor, and if so what that signified. Did it mean he ranked the same as lead actors like Bruce Willis, Jackie Chan, Al Pacino or Robert de Niro?

Or were character actors down a rung or two? "There are no small parts, only small actors," Mr Specktor parried, as the Telegraph’s counsel Tom Blackburn SC steered the questioning to suggest that Mr Rush might not be in the same league as some of the other A-listers on the veteran agent’s books.

"With due respect, sir, you don’t understand the movie business," Mr Specktor snapped at one point, saying Mr Rush liked to pick and choose his roles so that he played "complicated" characters.

Asked whether Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean was a complicated character, Mr Specktor shot back: "Yes, he is. If you knew anything about acting, you would know that."

Long-time major studio lawyer, Robin Russell, told the court that being in a supporting role did not mean being regarded as in the minor league. "If I was hiring someone to [play] my father I’d rather him [Rush] than you," she told Mr Blackburn, to laughter from the room. Turning to the judge, she added, "Or even you!"

Deborah Snow is a senior writer with The Sydney Morning Herald and a former federal political reporter for the Australian Financial Review. She has also served as foreign correspondent for ABC-TV in Moscow and London, and as a reporter on Four Corners.

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