Oscar, Madonna, and Jim: British actor Jim Broadbent gives the Oscar race a one-two punch: as a steadfast caregiver in Iris and singing "Like a Virgin" in Moulin Rouge. (film).

Whatever that elusive "gay sensibility" may be, it seems to trail actor Jim Broadbent like a shadow: He played a supporting role in the gender-surprise plot of The Crying Game, became the toast of musical theater in Topsy-Turvy, and in 2001 sang and danced to Madonna's Like a Virgin"--stealing the show--in the outlandishly post-modern musical Moulin Rouge. In the biopic Iris, Broadbent plays John Bayley, devoted husband to sexually adventurous novelist--and, later, Alzheimer's patient--Iris Murdoch [played by Judi Dench; see page 50]. The Advocate recently caught up with Broadbent to ask him about his roles and his Oscar hopes.

How did you prepare for Iris?

Reading John Bayley's books and listening to a radio program he made--sort of an hour's worth or radio interview on BBC. I got his tempo and certainly his way of speaking [from that]. The show is called In the Psychiatrist's Chair; he was being asked very deep questions [by a psychiatrist]. You couldn't ask for better research!

Iris was bisexual, more so than in the film. What didn't we see?

I'm sure there's a fantastic amount we didn't see on-screen, but certainly after their marriage. Bayley claims Iris was quite faithful. [In any case] he doesn't feel any great need to be honest about these crusts. Iris was very unscrupulous on that regard.

As Iris suffers from Alzheimer's disease, John becomes her day-and-night caregiver--a situation too many of our readers know well as a a result of the AIDS epidemic. Have you ever had to be a caretaker like your character?

Yeah. My mother died of Alzheimer's, so I appreciated the whole premise of the story, really.

Did your emotions from that period surface during filming?

Yes. Bound to, really. Judi's acting of the condition is uncannily brilliant, and I'm bound to be reminded and taken back to my own experience--[but] only to the extent that it was very useful. It didn't stop us filming any day, but I was able to certainly recognize and remember my own feelings. There's a scene with Judi sort of dancing in a corridor, and that was an ingredient of my mother's condition--she did start to move in a sort of dancy way. It was very moving any touching and beautiful.

Are you feeling any pre-Oscar anxiety?

I don't listen to all that stuff, really--[I take it all with] a huge pinch of salt.

Will there be Oscar envy if Judi gets a nod on February 12 [when the nominations are announced] and you don't?

Absolutely not! I envy Judi nothing.

With Moulin Rouge an Oscar contender in its own right, 2001 was a good year for you either way, wasn't it?

Yeah! All in one calendar year! Rather unusual, I suppose.

Was that rendition of "Like a Virgin" your doing, or it was it all ideas from director Baz Luhrmann?

Some of that was me--and I'm not telling you to what degree!

Are you like a virgin?

"Touched for the very first time"? No, I'm afraid not.

Find links related to Moulin Rouge and the other films of Jim Broadbent at www.advocate.com