Jeff Goldblum admits Adam Resurrected role was 'painful'

18 November 2024

Jeff Goldblum found his role in 'Adam Resurrected' "painful" because of his religion.

Jeff Goldblum says playing Adam Stein in Adam Resurrected was painful

The 'Wicked' actor - who is Jewish - played a Holocaust survivor in Paul Schrader’s 2008 drama and though he found it hard visiting concentration camps while researching the role, it was also satisfying and had a profound impact on him.

He told The Sunday Times' Culture magazine: [It was] painful in an enjoyable way, and in a creative way.

“That’s what I’ve always had a hankering for. I did all sorts of research, and I visited Majdanek, one of the most intact concentration camps. I went to Yad Vashem [the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre].

"I’d never been to Israel before. I went to Jerusalem.

“It changes you. But that’s what you’re looking for. You want to be transformed, and enhanced, and deepened by everything you do, and more connected to yourself, and more connected to the world, and history, and your own history, and the possibility of the human species.”

The 72-year-old actor feels lucky to have played a wide range of characters over the years and though he insisted he isn't as "brave and funny and smart" as his alter egos, he's enjoyed giving his whole self to his work.

He said: "I’m not a chaotician. I’m not a scientist. I’m not even a doctor, like my dad. I made good grades at school.

"But I immediately went to pursue acting, and I tried to apply my intelligence, such as it is, and heart and soul, to all of that.

"Acting demands that you use all of yourself. I like science. I like poetry and passion and romance and culture, and all aspects of the human experience and engagement.

"And you know, with my devotion to the unseen and the miraculous and the magical and the fantastical — that’s a part of me.

"But I certainly feel lucky to play these characters that are more brave and funny and smart than I ever could be.”

Jeff has never had a career plan in mind beyond "hope".

He said: “It’s hoping against hope, and just casting my fate to the wind, and going on this madcap adventure of creative ambition and delight and aspiration and appetite.

“I have no career plan. But things right now are peachy.”