Julian Sands addressed ‘dangerous’ mountain climbing hobby in final interview before death
’You may be confronted with human remains and that can be chilling,’ actor said
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Julian Sands addressed his “dangerous” hobby of mountain climbing in his final interview, given one month before he disappeared.
The actor made the comments shortly before he vanished while hiking in the Mount Baldy area of southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains in January.
Five months later, on 28 June, the Room with a View actor was confirmed dead after his remains were found by other hikers.
Radio Times spoke to Sands in December 2022, and its latest issue features the interview, which sees Sands stating he himself made similar discoveries while climing mountains.
“I’ve found spooky things on mountains, when you know you’re in a place where many people have lost their lives, whether it be on the Eiger or in the Andes,” the actor said.
“You may be confronted with human remains and that can be chilling. It’s not necessarily supernatural, it’s possibly all too natural – what I would call hypernatural.”
He continued: “You’re in the presence of big nature and big nature is revealing itself in all its power. It can take us over a threshold of hypersensitivity into a realm of natural forces.”
Sands continued by saying that he found “solace and a sort of existentialist self-negation, but equally a self-affirmation” in his hobby. But he acknowleged that the mountains could be “dangerous”.
“If you can deal with dangerous mountains, you can certainly deal with life as an actor – the two are quite complementary,” he told the outlet.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Sands was considered an experienced and competent mountaineer by his friends, with his hiking partner and fellow actor Kevin Ryan previously telling the PA news agency that he was “the most advanced hiker I know”.
Searches by local authorities had been unsuccessful in the search for Sands, with poor weather conditions hampering efforts since March, until his remains were found by civilian hikers last month.
He was best-known for his breakout role in the 1985 romantic period drama A Room with a View, in which he starred alongside Helena Bonham Carter.
Sands later moved to the horror genre, with appearances in films including Gothic, Warlock and Arachnophobia.
Additional reporting by Agencies
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments