Julian Sands' unlikely friendship with John Malkovich - and he became his nanny

19 January 2023 , 14:14

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Julian Sands' unlikely friendship with John Malkovich - and he became his nanny

Julian Sands has an incredible friendship yet unlikely friendship with John Malkovich.

The British actor, who has been confirmed as one of the two hikers missing for five days at Gabriel Mountains in California, even temporarily lived with the Hollywood legend.

The story of how they met is a strange one - and actually started out with some crushing news for Sands.

He was offered the titular role in offered the lead in 1984 movie Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, which would have been his first major film of his career.

Sands studied primate primate physiology with monkey movement specialists and spent hours climbing up ropes.

Julian Sands search continues 'intermittently’ three weeks after he vanished

But it was all for nothing as the movie was delayed and the lead role was given to Christopher Lambert, so producers sent Sands over to Thailand to work on biographical drama The Killing Fields.

It was here that he first met a Chicago stage actor - John Malkovich.

Julian Sands and John Malkovich on the set of The Killing Fields (Enigma/Goldcrest/Kobal/Shutterstock)

"I remember the director giving me a long speech, basically telling me that Jules was too sensitive for the likes of me to hang around with," Malkovich told The Guardian in 2018.

But when he walked into a food hall to meet the cast, as the other actors stood up to shake hands, Sands grabbed the croissants from two of their plates and shoved them in his mouth.

"Oh, this is the person who’s too sensitive for me?" Malkovich laughed. "We've been great friends ever since – that's now 35 years."

Helena Bonham Carter appeared with Sands in 1985 movie A Room with A View - and revealed that Malkovich was there on set to support his pal.

The Harry Potter actress revealed the second kiss between the pair was even harder as Helena's mother arrived on set, which Julian found "really off-putting".

In 2015, she explained: "And then my mum came, that was really off-putting to Julian, so he had to kiss me again in the bushes somewhere and mum was bang in his eyeline – that was putting him off, he had to say 'excuse me could you erm...'

"And John Malkovich for some reason – he was knitting because he was a good friend of Julian's. There were lots of weird memories."

Helena Bonham Carter and Julian Sands in A Room with a View

From 1984 to 1987, Sands was married to journalist Sarah Harvey, who is now the editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, and had their son Henry.

Julian Sands search continues five weeks after actor's disappearance

When they temporarily split up, Sands moved in with Malkovich - and the Of Mice and Men actor volunteered to be Henry's nanny.

Malkovich's nanny role only lasted six weeks due to a dispute over a broken washing machine, but neither can exactly remember what happened now.

The Hollywood actor then introduced Sands to his current wife, author Evgenia Citkowitz, who he married in 1990.

In August 2011, Sands appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in A Celebration of Harold Pinter, which was directed by his pal Malkovich.

Then in 2018 they both appeared in Radio 4 production Me, Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood, with Sands portraying Tarzan and Malkovich as Cheeta the chimp.

"He is a Tarzan," said Malkovich. "He's a physical entity of a physical force."

In 2021, both actors starred in American action thriller The Survivalist along with Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

Julian Sands is missing in California

Julian is also known for his roles in Leaving Las Vegas, Arachnophobia, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Armageddon.

He has also featured on TV shows such as 24, The L Word, Dexter, Gotham, The Blacklist and played the role of Superman's biological father Jor-El, on Smallville.

Sadly, Sands has been confirmed as one of the two missing hikers in the San Gabriel Mountains in California - with police urging fellow hikers to avoid the 'extremely dangerous' mountain.

He was last seen on Friday in the Mount Baldy area of the range and his family haven't been in contact with him since then.

A spokesperson for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s department said in a statement with PA news agency: "On Friday, January 13, at about 7:30 pm, a hiker, identified as 65-year-old Julian Sands of North Hollywood was reported missing in the Baldy Bowl area.

"Sheriff’s Department Search and Rescue crews responded and began a search. Because of avalanche risks and trail conditions, the ground crews were pulled off the mountain on Saturday evening.

"However, we continue to search by helicopter and drones when the weather permits."

Kyle O'Sullivan