Rylance, Shakespearean Maverick, Catches Spielberg's Eye

[...] there's a larger point, too: that movies have always been a part of Rylance, arguably the most acclaimed stage actor in the world, a legendary interpreter of Shakespeare. Yet now, at 55, Rylance is taking his most significant step into cinema, starring in not one but two films by Steven Spielberg: "Bridge of Spies," in which he plays the Soviet spy Rudolph Abel, and next year's "The BFG," in which he plays the titular giant. Nearly 30 years ago, Spielberg offered the then little-known Rylance a part in his 1987 World War drama "Empire of the Sun." Hanks stars as James Donovan, an insurance attorney enlisted to give the accused spy a legal defense. "Seldom has an actor been around for so many distinguished years on the stage and yet had not been fully discovered for the screen," Spielberg said in an email. [...] once Rylance let go of being a movie star, film directors started calling. Maybe that was partly the problem — that I was giving it too much forced value. Because I grew up in America, so I grew up with some theater. The task for me is to not be distracted by the technology of the theater or the film, or the illusionary objectives that people attach to any industry but particularly to acting.