it was alwaj likely that Ronnie and Regie Kray would become the subject of a movie. Seltstled celebrity desperadoes whose flash spigion rack eteering'ade them folk heroes offEBSt End London igithe "60s, they were identical twins locked in bizarre symbiotic relationship-iRon was gayand Reg straight, Ron a grandstanding sociopalhiand Reg a violent businessman=that twisted them together into a single flamboyant entity, The Krays were not master criminals; they ran a feW protection rackets and gambling clubs, and, sent down in 1969 for a murder apiece they have been incarcerated for longer than they tuled\the London underworld. Mention them in you'l probebly hear “The craze2But e Krays are legendary, less forthe ic crimes than the relentlessly the In which they carried on fer to pley Ronnie and Reggie in The by etemMedak from Philip i Gary Bnd Martin Kemp, ce ‘Spandau Ballet's guitarist and,bass ‘efperienced chid actors fimore to the point, know all about im: “members of a seminal group in the New Roman: ticsymovement of the early "80s. They taki Kay image and play iygeithe hilt: their twins are vicious dandies, affected bad men who owe less to.Al Capone than to George Raft, whom the real js admired as kids and befriended as adults. Both performances—mannered and ominous— fe electrifying INTERVIEW: How did you decide who would play which twin? ‘magn new: | read the script and said, “The only way lean do ths is if| play Reggie-iiore was ee knew | could only play Ronnie. In a ‘way it was natural. I'm the older brother and Ronnie, though he was actually the younger of the twins by a few minutes, was the dominant moodier, darker than Marti down, his go up. Who's to say that’s Indicator of character? Or maybe it's ‘me and Ronnie are both shortsighted, ‘s0 We squinted a lot as kids. Rock stars often have trouble making the en- sition to acting.«It's a shame, isn’t it? Others didn’t cut it, so we alt ‘suffer. In our case it helps that neither of us isthe lead singer. We didn't have that kind of image to shake before getting to the characters. In addition, Ronnie and Regie wore larger than lie. They pattemed themselves ‘on American gangsters—not real ones, but angsters in movies. Sharp custom house calls from the barber, ‘all an intricate performan it with total conviction Krays carted on like pop ‘charisma, they wanted fed a look. So it madk cast us. look is what draws you to ‘are plenty of criminals, plenty 15, But the twins had a selfconsei ‘Was iresisible. We spent a lot of time on the ‘clothes. For example, there's only one pleture of Ronnie in a waistcoat, but | felt it gave me the look of “the Colonel”—which was Ronnie's nick- re buliipns and litle chains, the of the film our elothes a8 the twins begin to de- Ronnie's get stiffer and ‘become looser, more fer Reggie's wife dies, they're a one =: back; all clean-cut. Black and aa Se ee Te AMSTENGE Forse 1 ee ke eran ral Di yu het Ba mETGaM want to moet Rees. fle Ronnie, but that was because Gary wanted to. Ib rset te tac Cot ie oe ets cou ct wets ener Sidi in cae core een sae Hee: vos repeat econ tea | Appreciated: 2 Was the least useful thing | did, in terms Fay case toe ablative. epee ive very many clues as to the kind must have been on the outside, all ‘ago. He did say, though, that Heould all the questions | wanted. Sol asked It felt to kill George Comell. Ronnie did ‘ay he wanted It torbe in a film. Walked ‘man between the eyes, cool as can in We dren OO CON Daca 1: How vowie youssurh ‘ok: Inthertontvetetiéns! ld able ahd:they could be completely trol. Charming and generous or brutal They Were these vicious gangsters who aed ‘thetnselves the Firm, but they weren't some ‘greanéiiminal syndicate. J ‘xia thing you have to remember about both of thenmwas the pure viciousness that animated theniePedple talk about Reggie as being the moresfeasonable of the two, but what did that meafi? That maybe you could talk to fim for minute before he did you? Ultimately people dealt with them as though they'd found a pit bull tertiehin the house. Oohing and aahing,