‘If the devil did exist, he’d be just such a gentleman’: Neil Jordan remembers Terence Stamp

The Company of Wolves director on casting the late actor and an unforgettable hour on set involving Stamp, a Rolls-Royce and a shrivelled skullObituary of Terence StampTerence Stamp: a life in picturesWe were making The Company of Wolves. And we had a problem. With Angela Carter, I had written a sce

The Company of Wolves director on casting the late actor and an unforgettable hour on set involving Stamp, a Rolls-Royce and a shrivelled skull

We were making The Company of Wolves. And we had a problem. With Angela Carter, I had written a scene where the devil drives a cream-coloured Rolls-Royce through an imaginary forest, chauffeured by the young dreamer Rosaleen, played by Sarah Patterson.

My initial thought was for Andy Warhol to play the devil. Those pale-blue eyes and that blank expression framed by the blond wig. Andy read the script and liked it. Stephen Woolley, the producer, flew to New York to talk to him, but he was recovering from being shot by Valerie Solanas, who seemed to think he was the actual devil. He said he would play the part, if we shot his scenes in New York.