MELISSA BLOCK, host:
Now a remembrance. The British actor Pete Postlethwaite died yesterday from cancer. He was 64.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
Postlethwaite became an international film star in 1993, when he appeared in the movie "In the Name of the Father." He starred with Daniel Day-Lewis, playing his father - both of them in prison, both falsely accused in IRA plots.
(Soundbite of film, "In the Name of the Father")
Mr. PETE POSTLETHWAITE (Actor): (As Giuseppe Conlon) I'm scared I'm going to die here, among strangers.
Mr. DANIEL DAY-LEWIS (Actor): (As Gerry Conlon) You're not (BEEP) dying, all right? Can I not say a thing without you (BEEP) contradicting me?
Mr. POSTLETHWAITE: Scared to leave your mother behind?
SIEGEL: That performance, as a dying father, earned Pete Postlethwaite an Academy Award nomination.
BLOCK: His rugged appearance and his quiet, commanding presence made him one of Hollywood's most distinctive character actors. He was not a household name, but his performances breathed life into each of his films.
SIEGEL: That includes "The Usual Suspects," and a turn as Friar Lawrence in Baz Luhrmann's modern take on "Romeo and Juliet."
(Soundbite of film, "Romeo and Juliet")
Mr. POSTLETHWAITE: (As Friar Lawrence) These violent delights have violent ends and in their triumph die like fire and powder, which, as they kiss, consume, the sweetest honeys, loathsome in its own deliciousness. Therefore, love moderately...
SIEGEL: Shakespeare was very familiar to Pete Postlethwaite. Before his film career, he performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Just two years ago, he got the chance to play a role he had always wanted: King Lear.
(Soundbite of play, "King Lear")
Mr. POSTLETHWAITE: (As King Lear) I would do such things. What they are yet, I know not, but they shall be the terrors of the earth. You think I'll weep. No, I'll not weep.
SIEGEL: Pete Postlethwaite also took breaks from dramatic work to appear in the occasional big-budget action blockbuster.
(Soundbite of film, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park")
(Soundbite of music)
Mr. POSTLETHWAITE: (As Roland Tembo) Let's get this movable feast under way.
BLOCK: There he is as a big-game hunter in the sequel to "Jurassic Park." And last year, he appeared in three back-to-back hits: "Inception," "Clash of the Titans" and the Boston crime drama "The Town."
SIEGEL: On WHYY's FRESH AIR, Terry Gross asked Postlethwaite where he drew his strength from, as an actor.
Mr. POSTLETHWAITE: I don't know. Sometimes, I don't know how you do these things. I mean, it's a bit like asking a centipede which leg it sets off with, do you know what I mean? I mean, I don't know. A centipede just walks, doesn't it? You know, it just goes sometimes.
BLOCK: Pete Postlethwaite is survived by his wife and two children, and a long list of memorable performances.