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Q: Is John Cleese still acting?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

John Cleese is doing, basically, whatever he wants. Fortunately for us all, that still includes acting.

Cleese is still best remembered as the shoutiest member of the Monty Python troupe, though of course he's had loads of other successes since (the "Fawlty Towers" series and 1988's "A Fish Called Wanda," to give just two examples).

These days, he's mostly just doing bit roles in projects he's interested in for some reason or other.

For example, he has a major role in the upcoming indie animated film "Arctic Justice," which has a star-studded cast and a pretty timely moral, making it more interesting than the average project. He voices a villainous walrus planning to melt the polar ice caps.

Indeed, he's been doing a lot of voice work lately, including two films last year alone -- "Elliot the Littlest Reindeer" and "Charming" (in which he voiced the fairy godmother, obviously).

Many don't know that Cleese has been teaching at Cornell University for several years. That experience is the subject of his new book, "Professor at Large," and the reason for another of his upcoming film projects: an appearance in the documentary "The Divided Brain."

It discusses the work of renowned psychologist Iain McGilchrist and particularly his book "The Master and His Emissary." Cleese, in announcing his role in the project, called it "the most interesting book I've ever read" and called McGilchrist "my new best friend."

That's the sort of project you can get up to when you're a world-famous comedian doing whatever you want.

 

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