rage

What is the angriest acting performance you’ve ever seen?

Maybe it’s Joe Pesci in “Goodfellas.” (“Funny how? Do I amuse you?”) Perhaps it’s James Caan kicking the stuffing out of his ne’er-do-well brother-in-law Carlo in “The Godfather.” John Goodman enforcing the rules of bowling in “The Big Lebowski”? It’s in the conversation.

Did Ben Kingsley in “Gandhi” cross your mind? Probably not.

The 82-year-old Oscar winner thinks it should.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Don Logan or Mahatma Gandhi? The answer isn’t as plain as you might think.

Not long ago, I spoke with Kingsley just before an Emmy FYC event for “Wonder Man,” the enjoyable new Marvel TV series that finds him revisiting Trevor Slattery, the washed-up, drug-addled actor he first played in 2013’s “Iron Man 3.”

“Wonder Man” follows struggling actor Simon Williams (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), trying to land a big break in Hollywood while keeping his superpowers hidden. Trevor befriends Simon. Initially he has ulterior motives, but soon becomes Simon’s mentor, turning the series into a look at the indignities that actors face while pursuing their profession.

Taking notes while watching the show’s eight episodes, I wrote, “Ben Kingsley’s seething anger is everything.”

You may remember Kingsley’s bullying and badgering and swaggering menace playing the underworld sociopath in Jonathan Glazer’s 2000 crime-thriller “Sexy Beast,” still my favorite Kingsley performance, one that earned him a supporting actor Oscar nomination. (He lost to Jim Broadbent in “Iris.”)

Is that kind of boiling rage as fun to play as it is to watch?

“If the expression of rage or indignation is completely dramatically justified and that expression of indignation is of enormous benefit to the tribe, yes,” Kingsley answers.

(Larsen&Talbert / For The Times)

Kingsley says Itzhak Stern, Oskar Schindler’s loyal aide and factory manager in “Schindler’s List,” was, “bless him,” all about “contained rage.”

“And a colleague of mine who saw ‘Gandhi’ said, ‘That’s the angriest performance I’ve ever seen on screen,’” Kingsley continues. “That righteous indignation propelled him, and it can be expressed in many ways. Sometimes the safety valve is efficient enough to allow it to come through language and gesture, and sometimes the safety valve can’t hold it.

“That was Don Logan in ‘Sexy Beast.’ No safety valve.”

Let’s circle back to that thought of how rage can help the “tribe.” In “Wonder Man,” Trevor proclaims that “acting is not a job. It’s a calling, the single most consequential thing anyone could ever do with their life.”

“I would broaden the definition and refine it back to its origins,” Kingsley says when I ask if he shares Trevor’s view on acting. “There are images, thoughts and threads that I find nourishing and sustaining, and I treasure them. The tribal storyteller is a very consequential figure in the tribe, and if the mantle of the tribal storyteller falls upon that person’s shoulders, that is the single most consequential thing that person can do in their lives.”

“Trevor expresses it quite differently, and that’s fine,” Kingsley says. “That’s in the script. I honor the lines. But for me personally, as a rather convoluted answer, the tribal storyteller is the hand I hold and the baton I want passed on to me. Maybe it has. I hope I’m worthy, but it’s …” Kingsley widens his eyes and whispers, “Wow.”

“It is the single most consequential thing I can do with my life.”

Los Angeles — Lisa Rinna said she would return to the “Real Housewives” franchise, but to get her husband Harry Hamlin on board, it would have to involve some big numbers.

“You guys are gonna laugh and think I’m ridiculous, but I was like, ‘I might do it for $5 million,’” Rinna explained. “He’s like, ‘No, 10. $10 million, you can go back.’”

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum wasn’t afraid to throw shade on a sunny Saturday morning during her panel at The Times’ Festival of Books.

The “You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It” author sat down with Times senior television writer Yvonne Villarreal to talk about Rinna’s journey from soap star to her rise on the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” and her recent “The Traitors” fame.

As a “Real Housewife,” Rinna was known for her snappy comebacks and for sharing her candid emotions. Her memoir explores Rinna’s experience during Season 12, which was filmed shortly after the death of her mother, Lois Rinna. Rinna explained that her grief manifested into feelings of “rage.”

“Rage was the first emotion that came. I didn’t expect that. You know, you think you’re going to be in shock, and then you think you’re going to be really sad? Well, I went immediately into rage, and that’s not really very cute,” Rinna said. “But I think my being in grief triggered the housewives, and it triggered the audience.”

After Rinna’s time on “RHOBH,” she joined the cast of Season 4 of “The Traitors.” The show — loosely based on the game Mafia — selects celebrities to be faithfuls and traitors, and the faithful must attempt to discover the traitors. Wearing outfits like her viral cheetah-print ensemble, Rinna skyrocketed to fan-favorite status during her tenure as a traitor.

“So when I decided to do ‘Traitors,’ I was like, ‘Self, listen. You’re gonna go in there and just be you. No Housewives s—, no, none of that reactionary stuff, no, you’re gonna just be you,’” Rinna said.

She also joked that being a traitor was the “highlight” of her year: “I could kill people, I could lie, I could deceive, I could backstab. Heaven.”

Rinna compared the objectives of “RHOBH” to “The Traitors” and the different strategies she had to employ on the franchises.

“‘Housewives’ is not a game. ‘Traitors’ is a game,” Rinna explained. “‘Housewives,’ you just tried to literally protect yourself from the drama and the toxicity. And it’s even though it’s a television show, it’s real. I mean, no one is writing a script for you. You’re dealing with interpersonal relationships and conflict.”