Sir Ben Kingsley offers more than just the bare necessities as the voice of wise panther Bagheera in Disney’s new adaptation of The Jungle Book. Keeley Bolger catches up with the Academy Award-winning actor to discover what he thinks about critics branding the film too scary for children

EVEN as a child, Sir Ben Kingsley had a clear vision of the path he wanted to take in life. "I decided to become an actor when I was about four or five," recalls the 72-year-old. "I watched a film (Never Take No For An Answer, 1951) about an orphan whose closest friend, associate and pal was a donkey called Violetta, and I cried my heart out during the film because I was that little boy.

"And when the film ended, something had changed inside of me. I realised then, quite clearly, although I couldn't translate it into adult terms ... but, I wanted to be that little boy."

Born to a doctor father and a model and actress mother, and brought up in Salford, he spent roughly the first 15 years of his career on stage working with Sir Trevor Nunn and acting alongside esteemed thespians such as Sir John Gielgud and Dame Peggy Ashcroft, before moving to the small and big screens. After starring in a number of adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, and landing a role in ITV soap Coronation Street, Kingsley found fame when he starred in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi in 1982. His performance as the Indian leader netted him a Best Actor Academy Award.

Since then, he has sailed between independent films and Hollywood blockbusters, including roles in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island and Iron Man 3, and scored Oscar nominations for his portrayals in Bugsy, Sexy Beast and House Of Sand And Fog.

The father of four was also knighted in the 2002 New Year's Honours, something which the actor, who has settled in the leafy Oxfordshire countryside with his fourth wife Daniela, says brought him a sense of acceptance (and flack too, after allegations emerged that he demands his co-stars call him, 'Sir Ben', something he's denied).

Kinsgley's lending his voice to the animated panther Bagheera in the new live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, which was memorably brought to the big screen by Disney as an animated musical in 1967.

This time around, 12-year-old newcomer Neel Sethi is playing 'man cub' Mowgli - the only person to physically appear in the film - who's found by Bagheera after being abandoned in the jungle as a baby.

"Bagheera is Mowgli's adoptive parent," explains Kingsley. "His role in Mowgli's life is to educate, to protect and to guide."

The film is directed by Jon Favreau, who acted with Kingsley in Iron Man 3 and was keen to involve his former co-star from the outset. "He's incredibly disciplined," says the American director, who's also behind films Elf, Chef and Swingers. "He has complete clarity."

"He's very intellectual in his approach to a role. He always understands. He thinks like an academic and Bagheera is someone who brings forward the rules and the law and history, but with love, and I think that's what makes Sir Ben such an endearing person, because the underpinning of all of it is passion and a big heart."

Joining Kingsley are Bill Murray as Baloo the bear, Idris Elba, who voices terrifying tiger Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as entrancing snake Kaa, Lupita Nyong'o as Mowgli's adoptive mother wolf Raksha and Christopher Walken as the ape, King Louie.

Recently, the censor board in India, the birthplace of Kipling, was criticised for deeming the film unsuitable for children aged 12 and under to see without parental supervision, calling the animals, which are rendered in life-like detail using computer graphics, "scary".

On this point, Kingsley is firm.

"There are moments in the film which are tremendous gifts to children. Jon Favreau, as a wonderful guy, realises that when you are telling a story to a child you cannot eliminate the dark side - it's not fair," says the actor, who's currently working on a film adaptation of A Doll's House and Collide, a thriller with Nicholas Hoult and Felicity Jones.

"You're not preparing that child for the future. You're not telling that child anything if everything is sugar-coated and pink. It does get dark out there. The child will be challenged as a child as well as an adult.

"There are things in schools that will isolate the child. That may bully the child. That may intimidate the child, and any child watching Jungle Book safely next to a parent will say, 'That's me, I can do that and I can overcome terrific adversities.' I think that's an essential part of a child's story."

  • The Jungle Book is in cinemas now