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Christopher Plummer relishes a good death scene.

He has a haunting one in his latest film, “The Last Station,” in which he plays seminal Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. Plummer perfectly captures the labored breaths of a dying person, the falling in and out of consciousness, and even offers a little smile of peace within himself as the writer of “War and Peace” bids adieu to the world.

“They are all different,” he says of death scenes. “I have died with my eyes open, which is more interesting than dying with your eyes shut. I can’t remember how I died as Tolstoy, but I have done Cyrano de Bergerac on stage and I died with my eyes opened. I think that’s marvelous, because in the theater the lights hold to your open eyes and it’s kind of marvelously frightening for a second. Cyrano dies happy because he’s found love, so there is an ecstasy to his death.”

But death is only the beginning these days for Plummer, whose career continues to evolve, decades after his most famous role as the regal Capt. Von Trapp in the 1965 musical “The Sound of Music.”

Trim and still handsome just shy of his 80th birthday, Plummer is all old-school charm and puckish sense of humor this recent morning at the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. He’s in town from Connecticut, where he lives with his third wife, Elaine, for the Los Angeles premieres of “The Last Station” and Terry Gilliam’s latest fantasy, “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.”

Though the actor has won two Tonys (“Cyrano,” “Barrymore”) and an Emmy for the miniseries “The Moneychangers,” Plummer has never won a major film award. But that may change with “The Last Station,” which opens on Friday. On Tuesday, the film earned five Spirit Award nominations, including a supporting actor nod for Plummer, fueling the Oscar buzz surrounding his performance.

Plummer, whose well-received autobiography, “In Spite of Myself,” was published last year, seems surprised he’s in such demand these days. Besides his acting roles, Plummer also did voice-over work this year in two animated films, playing mad genius explorer Charles Muntz in Pixar’s blockbuster hit “Up” and No. 1 in the apocalyptic “9.”

He’s also about to start a new film, “Beginners,” written and directed by Mike Mills, that is based on the filmmaker’s life.

“Ewan McGregor plays Mike Mills,” says Plummer. “I play his father, who waits until he’s about 79 to come out of the closet.”

Plummer erupts into a hearty laugh. “I thought this is a great change for me,” he says. “It’s charmingly written. He’s dying of cancer, but there is a lot of spirit and fun and humor because he dies happily, because he’s found someone that he loves.”

Despite Plummer’s recent successes, Gilliam believes the actor has gotten less full of himself as he’s aged.

“The years have worn him down very pleasantly,” says Gilliam. “I think he’s gotten a bit cuddlier as he has gotten older.”

Written and directed by Michael Hoffman, the romantically lyrical “The Last Station” explores the final year in the life of Tolstoy and his relationship with his wife of 48 years, Sofya (Helen Mirren). Sofya finds herself locked in a ruthless battle with Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who is the defender of the writer’s legacy and believes that the great man should sign over the copyrights to his books to the Russian people.

“It just struck me it was such a remarkably good idea to cast somebody who was the same age as Tolstoy was at the time,” says Hoffman.

“If you cast a younger actor, they would spend time showing you or convincing you they are 80. So with Chris you get somebody who is 79 and so full of life and full of energy. His sexuality is so alive, and he is spending his time on screen just doing what Tolstoy was doing, being an energetic man in the late years of his life.”

Hoffman says Plummer “comes in with very clear emotions of what he wants to do, and then he’s really willing to change and experiment. He is really a movie star. The first couple of days of rehearsal, he kept saying, ‘How does anyone play an icon?’ I said, ‘Chris, you are an icon.’ ”

Though Plummer knew Mirren, this marks the first time they have worked together. They share a similar impish side. “She has a great naughty sense of humor,” he says.

In Gilliam’s “Parnassus,” Plummer plays the title role: a traveling magician who invites audiences to step through his magic mirror and enter a fantasy world of limitless imagination and sometimes nightmares.

But Parnassus’s magic comes with a heavy price. Centuries earlier he had made a deal with the devil (Tom Waits) — he would get immortality if he allowed the devil to take his daughter (Lily Cole) on her 16th birthday.

The late Heath Ledger was playing the role of a mysterious, charming outsider who casts a spell over the daughter when the actor died in January of last year. The role was completed by Ledger’s good friends Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell.

“He was such a sweet guy,” says Plummer of Ledger. “He was adorable, a guy with immense charm. … Here was an actor who was not great yet but had such an enormous range at his command, you know the potential for greatness was very close.”

“Parnassus” is the second time Plummer has worked with Gilliam. They previously teamed on 1995’s “12 Monkeys.”

After he finishes “Beginners,” Plummer plans to return to the stage as Prospero in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.”

“I will do it at the Stratford festival in Ontario (Canada), and if it works we’ll be doing it in New York and London. And after Prospero, then what? Usually after Prospero everyone retires. But I ain’t going to retire!”

Los Angeles Times