Why Chief Inspector Taverner From Agatha Christie's Crooked House Looks So Familiar
There's just something about a good whodunnit that gets the blood moving. The best mystery flicks put you in the shoes of the detective, scanning every room a character walks into to see if you can stumble upon a clue. Even if you don't end up solving the mystery before the investigator does, you feel like you gave your brain a workout.
That's certainly the case with the film currently making waves on Netflix — "Crooked House." If it feels like an expert crafted this mystery, that's because it's based on a novel written by Agatha Christie, arguably the greatest mystery writer of all time. She invented many of the standards seen across the genre to this day, and "Crooked House" uses many of these principles to great effect.
Charles Hayward (Max Irons) may be the detective in the center of the case, but he answers to his superior, Chief Inspector Taverner, played by the incomparable Terence Stamp. If he looks familiar, it's because he's probably starred in some of your favorite movies of all time.
He was the original General Zod in Superman: The Movie
Long before Michael Shannon sported a goatee and wreaked havoc on Metropolis in "Man of Steel," you had Terence Stamp playing the other Kryptonian giving Kal-El trouble. Terence Stamp's resume dates back to 1960, but most people were probably first introduced to the actor when he stepped onto the big screen as Zod. He would return to reprise the character in "Superman II."
Stamp didn't hold back when it came to his thoughts on "Man of Steel" when it came out in 2013. He did an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where he said, "Big movies have become computer generated. They've become unemotional, and so I was sad. I thought it would be diluted, in other words ... But the truth is, I'm sure it's vastly different ... But, hey, you know, they wanted to pull on the Kryptonite boots? Good luck to them. They're big!"
It wouldn't be the last time Stamp paid a visit to the DC universe. He provided the voice of Jor-El on "Smallville" throughout its run all the way to the finale.
Terence Stamp went to a galaxy far, far away as Chancellor Valorum
Superhero and "Star Wars" movies are the biggest properties in Hollywood right now, and Terence Stamp has been in both franchises. After starring as Zod, he went on to appear as Chancellor Valorum in "Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace." At the beginning of the film, he's the Supreme Chancellor who initially dispatches Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) to negotiate with the Trade Federation. Naturally, things don't go as planned, and the two Jedi end up taking Queen Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) and a young Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd) along with them.
Later in the film, Senator Palpatine persuades Amidala to hold a vote of no confidence in Valorum, ultimately ousting him of his power. It's an essential character in the overall mythos of "Star Wars," but if you were to ask Stamp about the experience, he didn't exactly have the best of time filming. In an interview with Empire, the performer described the incident as "boring" and mentioned how it seemed like director George Lucas was more interested in special effects than actors (via Cinema Blend). It's an opinion that Lucas himself would go on to share later down the road.
You could most recently find him on an episode of His Dark Materials
Terence Stamp has remained busy over the years, appearing in numerous films and TV shows. His credits include projects like "Wanted," "Big Eyes," and "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children." The good news for fans of his work is that it doesn't seem like he plans to slow down any time soon. You could most recently find him on the Season 2 episode "Tower of the Angels" of "His Dark Materials," which is available to watch on HBO Max.
Stamp played Giacomo Paradisi, who begins the episode as the owner of the subtle knife, which he won in a fight with the previous owner. It's not long until Will (Amir Wilson) wins the blade off of Giacomo, and after showing him how to use it briefly, Will and Lyra (Dafne Keen) escape while Giacomo awaits the specters. But before they reach him, he takes some poison to take his own life.
Stamp likely won't come back to "His Dark Materials," but he has plenty on the way for fans to look forward to.