“Movie-star politics on the international stage” is how Peter Morgan describes the milieu of “The Special Relationship,” his Tony-nominated HBO movie about the close ties between British Prime Minster Tony Blair and U.S. President Bill Clinton. The third installment in a de facto Blair trilogy that began with the British television film “The Deal” and continued with the Oscar-winning feature “The Queen,” the film traces the decline in the fortunes of Blair (played in all three films by Michael Sheen), who was swept into office in a wave of enthusiasm but left a decade later irreparably damaged by his support for the war in Iraq.
Morgan, a two-time Oscar nominee whose other scripts include “Frost/Nixon” and “The Damned United,” received one of five Emmy nominations for the film; the others went to lead actors Sheen and Dennis Quaid (who plays Bill Clinton), actress Hope Davis (Hilary Clinton), and the film itself in the category of Outstanding Made for Television Movie. (Below: Morgan, center, with Sheen and Quaid; photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
You’ve now written three movies about Tony Blair movies, all for different platforms. One was made for British TV, one was a theatrical release, and one was for HBO.
And I’m working on an opera, and a radio play. We’re going through the whole cycle. [laughs] I don’t know how it’s worked out that way. For different reasons, you end up in different places. And it’s been so piecemeal because after I wrote the first one, I never thought I’d write the second one. After I wrote the second one, I never thought I’d write the third one. Every time I think it’s over, it isn’t.
How far can you go with Blair?
Oh, I fully intend to make as many Blairs as Harry Potters. He can carry on forever and ever. He’s the story that never stops giving. Even as we speak, the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq is unearthing more and more skeletons, while he jets around the world on Gulfstreams and has earned 30 million pounds since leaving office. It’s right up there with African dictator levels of extravagant wealth and shamelessness.
So do you follow Blair’s exploits avidly, with an eye to your future?
No, no, no. In between projects, I hopefully get back to having a normal life, and not thinking about Tony Blair. And then every now and then I read the newspaper and think, oh God, there is actually still juice in this. And then I get people like ["Special Relationship" executive producer] Kathy Kennedy ringing me up and saying, [American accent] “Peter, you have a moral obligation as an artist to continue this.” And then I think, I suppose she’s right.
Is she?
Well, I’m not paid well for any of these. They take a lot of time to research, and a long time to write, and it’s very difficult to write material where you have an army of people ready to shoot you down, because there are so many interest groups involved.
