Here it is – the first official image from Mike Flanagan‘s horror-movie Oculus, which is currently in post-production. It’s a pretty good look at the leading lady Karen Gillan aka Kaylie Russell, who will have to prove that a terrible crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon and not by her brother Tim, played by Brenton Thwaites. Check out the rest of this report to find more details about the whole thing, and to take a better look at this image!
Writer and director of micro-budget horror pic Absentia, Mike Flanagan, directs Oculus from a script he co-wrote with Jeff Howard which centers on:
…a murder that left two children orphans with authorities
charging the brother while his sister believed that the true culprit
was a haunted antique mirror. Now completely rehabilitated and in his
20s, the brother is ready to move on but his sister is determined to
prove that the haunted mirror was responsible for destroying their
family.
Beside Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites, the movie also stars Katee Sackhoff, Rory Cochrane, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan.
Mystery thriller "Labyrinth" on DVD and Blu-ray, and as a Special Edition
The
series follows two women, modern-day archeologist Alice Tanner and
medieval Alais Pelletier du Mas who lives through the Crusades and
Cathar massacres in medieval France—and their quest to find the Holy
Grail. Alice, a volunteer at a French archaeological excavation,
discovers the skeletal remains of two people in a cave, as well as a
labyrinth-engraved ring, which attracts the attention of unscrupulous
individuals. In 1209, newly married Alais is living in Carcassonne, a
stronghold of Cathars who have been declared heretical by the Church.
Alais and her father are protecting three sacred books that reveal the
secret of the Holy Grail from the Crusaders.
Brian Cox: Playing the man who betrayed Rob Roy was more uncomfortable than Hannibal Lecter
The Dundee-born star admits he felt more at home playing the famous movie psychopath than he did in the part as Killearn in 1996 film Rob Roy.
Brian Cox
He's played some of the scariest psychos on the big screen.
But veteran actor Brian Cox has revealed the role which has haunted him for life – the man who betrayed Rob Roy.
In an interview in Australia, Cox said he had been able to shrug off playing psychos like Hannibal Lecter.
But
the Dundonian admitted his small part as Killearn in the 1996 film Rob
Roy with Liam Neeson still sent shivers down his spine.
He said: “There are characters that have made me uncomfortable.
“In
Rob Roy, I played Killearn, who was this sort of greasy, fallen-angel
character, who was voyeuristic and sleazy and really unpleasant.
“It was a great role but I didn’t especially enjoy living with this awful man for the length of time it took to make the movie.
“Lecter is just psychotic. He didn’t leave a bad taste in my mouth like Killearn.”
Killearn was a factor for Rob Roy’s rival the Marquis of Montrose and plotted against him.
Cox won critical acclaim for the role but went on to much bigger things in The Bourne Supremacy and the Deadwood TV series.
The actor plays a lighter role in BBC Four’s new comic series, Bob Servant Independent, to be shown next month.
It’s based on the books by Neil Forsyth about a man, played by Cox, who delights in answering spam emails.
Set in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, it charts his bid to get elected following the sudden death of the sitting MP.
Source (including photo): Daily Record
Bloody Disgusting has landed the trailer for Menhaj Huda’s UK horror-thriller Comedown, an urban horror film set against a contemporary London backdrop of abandonment and decay.
Arriving on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Download on January 28, Martin Compston, Geoff Bell, Adam Deacon, Red Madrell and Charleene Rena will all star.
Penned by Steven Kendall, “Six friends, who’ve known each other
from childhood, break into the tower block they lived in as kids, now
deserted and condemned, to rig-up a pirate radio station, get high and
party. When one of the group goes missing, her friends begin to search
the dark interior of the tower and soon realize that they are not alone:
a resident psychopath lurks in the shadows and is hunting them down,
taking them out, one-by-one.“
We originally saw part of the Snowpiercer poster months ago but it was in low-resolution and was missing a tag line. Also, listen to two actors, John Hurt ("Contact") and Ewen Bremner ("Trainspotting"), as they discuss the film.
"In Snowpiercer
I play kind of a... because there is kind of a microcosm of humanity
all on a train, which is going all around the globe. You know, in a
small ice age. Um it all sounds a bit preposterous, but the fact is that
it's based on a graphic novel, which is a French graphic novel from
round about the 80's. So, it is... kind of not real in that sense. It
creates it's own reality, you'll see what I mean. And I'm playing an
erstwhile leader, of revolutions, that is held in great regard by the
young man who is leading the revolution at the moment. Because all the
rift raft is at the back of the train and all the good ones live in the
front of the train. So the revolution seizes through the train. And he
(Joon-ho Bong) is a remarkable director. So, that is what I do there,
but it turns out he is not as admirable as he might have been
considered." - John Hurt
Snow Piercer is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews.
Snow Piercer is directed by Joon-ho Bong. The cast includes Chris Evans, Ed Harris, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Alison Pill and Song-Kang-ho. The film will hit theaters Summer 2013.
Source: Comic Book Movies
Paul Brannigan chats about working with Scarlett Johansson in Under The
Skin, being nominated for a BIFA for Ken Loach's The Angels' Share &
upcoming film with Dexter Fletcher Sunshine on Leith.
Paul Brannigan has also appeared in documentaries Born To Lose, on Polmont Prison & Scottish drama River City.
Source: YouTube
Comic Jonathan Watson does Donald Trump take-off in Only an Excuse's Hogmanay special
Jonathan Watson said mastering the billionaire's ridiculous hairstyle was harder than getting the voice right.
Jonathan Watson as US tycoon Donald Trump
Controversial business tycoon Donald Trump has been trumped…by Only an Excuse.
The
American billionaire is taken off by Jonathan Watson in the annual BBC
Scotland Hogmanay comedy which pokes fun at the biggest names in sport.
Trump comes into focus through his contentious golf development on the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.
Jonathan
said: “With Donald, it’s not so much about getting the voice right, it
is the fun of getting the ridiculous hairstyle right. It is quite a
funny wig.
“The sketch is a quickie, about his involvement with Aberdeen. Hopefully, he won’t be suing us.”
The show also has guest stars in the shape of Olympic cycling hero Sir Chris Hoy and Gaelic broadcaster Cathy MacDonald.
Jonathan said: “We couldn’t not touch on the Olympics and Sir Chris was delighted to be involved.
“We
wanted to do something about Gaelic football coverage. It is funny when
they break off and speak in English to some guy who has played for
Rangers.
“We thought we’d have Chick Young as the roving reporter
and we needed somebody to represent the Gaelic nation and asked Cathy,
who was happy to take part.
“She was great. She kept me right on the pronunciation. I had to actually speak Gaelic, it was a nightmare.”
After another incredible year on and off the field for Scottish football, there is no shortage of material for the show.
Highlights
include Celtic’s 125th anniversary as seen through the eyes of founder
Brother Walfrid and Scotland’s dismal World Cup campaign. The trials of
Rangers will also be touched on with both Craig Whyte and Charles Green
being lampooned. Only an Excuse? is on BBC1 on Hogmanay at 11pm.
Source (including photo): Daily Record
Mo 12/31: Craig visits Scotland with Mila Kunis, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rashida Jones, David Sedaris, Ariel Tweto, the Imagineers (R 5/14/12)
Tu 1/1: Craig visits Arbroath with Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond, Rashida Jones, the Imagineers (R 5/15/12)
We 1/2: Craig visits his hometown of Cumbernauld with Michael Clarke Duncan, the Imagineers (R 5/16/12)
Th 1/3: Craig visits Glasgow & Edinburgh with Mila Kunis, the Imagineers (R 5/17/12)
Fr 1/4: Craig visits Glamis Castle with David Sedaris, Ariel Tweto, the Imagineers (R 5/18/12)
On Friday 21st December, David Tennant co-hosted the Absolute Radio Breakfast Show with Christian O'Connell from 6am. At 8am they performed the Nativity play in which David played the Virgin Mary.
Also in the play were football presenter Ian Wright, Absolute Radio presenters Richie Firth as 'the star', travel presenter Maggie Doyle as 'Queen Herod', newsreader Andrew Bailey as 'Narrator' and DJ Russ Williams as 'Shepherd'. Christian played Joseph and live music was supplied by singer songwriter Newton Faulkner.
The show streamed live on the internet so was heard worldwide at this link.
MP3s of all four hours of David Tennant on Absolute Radio are here
The BBC Media Centre has confirmed that, as expected, episode 2 of Spies Of Warsaw will premiere on BBC Four on Wednesday 16th January 2013 between 9pm and 10.30pm.
A new clip of David Tennant in Spies Of Warsaw was shown on a news programme on Polish Television. More information here
The first BBC trailer for Spies Of Warsaw was broadcast on BBC Four on 20 December, and has been posted onto Tumblr
Some videos of David Tennant and Billie Piper from the Midnight Fan Convention have been posted onto YouTube.
The videos are: David Tennant and Billie Piper talking about the parallel universe Rose and Doctor 10.5. David Tennant and Billie Piper talking about the Doctor Who monster the Zygons. David Tennant and Billie Piper talking about possible future collaborations. David Tennant and Billie Piper saying goodbye and David says Allons-y as a fan had requested.
Source:David Tennant on Twitter
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!
The DVD of Nativity 2 Danger in The Manger! will be released on Monday 18th November 2013. It can be pre-ordered on Amazon.
The Guardian has reported that Nativity 2 Danger In The Manger! has gone up two places back to #3 at the UK Box Office. This week it took £938,309 from 508 sites and has taken £5,582,224 in total so far.
Source: David Tennant on Twitter
Doctor Who
Two of David Tennant's episodes of Doctor Who (Blink and Midnight) will be featured in the Cine Lumière Doctor Who Night on 19th January in London.
The television station Watch will have a David Tennant / Doctor Who afternoon on 1st January 2013. More info here
Stuff.co.nz reports that UKTV in New Zealand will focus on one Doctor a month in 2013 with one Doctor Who story each Sunday afternoon, with each month devoted to a different incarnation of The Doctor.
Source: David Tennant on Twitter
The Guardian lists an app from Digital Theatre where you can stream Much Ado About Nothing onto your phone in its list of 40 Best iPhone and iPad Apps.
Source: David Tennant on Twitter
The Jonathan Ross Show
David Tennant will be on The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV on Saturday 5th January at 9.45pm. The show records on Friday 4th and this is the link to apply for tickets to watch the recording.
Source: David Tennant on Twitter
Taggart star Alex Norton signs up for BBC kids' show Woolly & Tig
The Scots actor will be seen on the CBeebies show in spring next year with Norton starring in three episodes of the series that's been nominated for a Broadcast Award.
Alex Norton with Tig and her mum
They're best known for solving ‘murdur’ in the streets of Glasgow,
but Taggart stars Colin McCredie and Alex Norton are joining forces once
again- this time they are swapping criminals for furry creatures.
Hollywood
actor Norton has joined the cast of popular kids’ series Woolly &
Tig, playing the grandfather of the show’s four year old star - Betsy
McCredie, daughter of his former Taggart co-star, who also stars as
‘dad’. Pirates of the Caribbean star Norton is the latest Scottish star
to sign up for a cameo after Still Game actors Mark Cox and Sanjeev
Kohli appeared in the first run, made by Tattiemoon Productions creators
of Balamory. It also stars River City's Jenny Ryan.
Colin said: “The producers wanted Alex to be in it and he was delighted to. He appears in three episodes from spring next year.
“It’s a bit of an homage to Taggart in some ways with us both being in the series now. It’s a nice wee in-joke for us.” Woolly
& Tig, shown on CBeebies, follows the everyday adventures of four
year old Tig, played by Betsy McCredie, and her spider friend Woolly.
It
has become a monster-hit with pre-schoolers, with a staggering 11
million hits on the BBC iplayer catch up wesbite as parents turn to it
to keep their children entertained.
“It’s hilarious. Betsy’s being
asked for an autographs and she can’t even write yet. She said the
other day that she quite enjoyed being in the supermarket and nobody
bothered her for a change,” said Colin.
Woolly & Tig has
become such a hit that Chinese toy manufacturers have flooded online
websites with cheap versions of the show’s characters.
Colin said:
“The producers have struck their own toy deal and there will be a
magazine out too. It’s a bit worrying, because who knows how safe these
Chinese toys are.”
The show has been nominated for a Broadcast
Award along with Rastamouse and Peppa Pig at a major industry awards
bash to be held in London’s Grosvenor House next month.
Colin added: “It’s great that a Scottish company are making a show that has been so well received all across the UK.”
Loosely
based on Jules Verne's story "Mr Ray Sharp and Miss Me Flat", "The
Pythagorean Comma" is a music drama with text by Blake Morrison and
music by Gavin Bryars. It's about one of the oldest mysteries in the
science of sound. The story says Bryars, "has wit, whimsy, fantasy and
magic and is also about scientific experiment".
Verne's story
takes place in a 19th century Swiss village. This contemporary take on
the original is set on a remote fictional Scottish island but the
essential story is unchanged.
A village organist gets old and
deaf and stops playing and the organ falls silent. A mysterious stranger
arrives who not only plays the organ beautifully but also declares that
he will develop a new organ registration with the voices of the
children in the school. Each will have his or her own note that has a
special resonance.
Though the children are musically untrained,
the stranger rehearses them with an iron discipline and prepares them
for a Christmas concert. It's at this concert that he demonstrates his
phenomenon of a "human organ". He tells the children that he will make
them famous and that they are a choir like no other choir.
A boy
and girl who are arch rivals are given their special notes. They're
angry because this strange music maestro seems to have given them the
same note. However he explains that there is a tiny beating sound
between them - and this difference is the Pythagorean Comma. The two
children are relieved that they have their own notes but strangely, once
they start to sing, their old rivalry disappears and it is as if a new
harmony has come to them and to the village in general.
The
stranger seems to have a power over the choir and they outperform
everyone's expectations in a Christmas concert for the island community.
Composer
Gavin Bryars and author Blake Morrison have collaborated before on a
Jules Verne story, 'Doctor Ox's Experiment' - also about Verne's
interest in music and science.
Gerda Stevenson stars as the
narrator, Anna. She's the church warden and mother of a child she
christened Ian but who now has the new name of Ray because his special
note is Ray sharp. She sees at first hand how the stranger brings his
gift of music.
Anna ..... Gerda Stevenson
Irvine ..... Gerard McDermott
Kubiak ..... Renny Krupinski
Ray ..... Daniel Kerr
Mimi ..... Olivia Cosgrove
Oakham School Jerwoods Choir
Soloist, Dominic Hill
Conductor, Peter Davis
Organist, Thomas Chatterton
Sound Design, Mike Thornton
Producer and Director, Judith Kampfner
A Corporation for Independent Media Production
Availability: 6 days left to listen
Duration: 1 hour
First broadcast: Saturday 22 December 2012
Listen to the play here
Radio Times Review by Laurence Joyce
On
a remote Scottish island a mysterious stranger is rehearsing the
children’s choir for a Christmas concert. Sounds spooky enough, but this
music drama from composer Gavin Bryars and writer Blake Morrison (after
a tale by Jules Verne) also explores one of the oldest mysteries in
sound.
And when you hear that two of the children are called Ray and Mimi you might guess what that is. (Clue: think Julie Andrews.)
Bearsden actor rubs shoulders with Hollywood stars
Published on Monday 15 October 2012 13:00
A talented young actor from Bearsden is going to appear in a Disney film next year with Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie. Daniel Kerr (12) was on set with the star in London
recently to shoot Disney’s ‘Maleficent’, a re-telling of the classic
‘Sleeping Beauty’ story from the perspective of the princess’s evil
nemesis, Malificent.
The Bearsden Academy pupil also appeared in the popular BBC school drama seriesWaterloo Road last Thursday as a young boy called Ewan.
He
is represented by Scream Management Kids agency and since joining them
two years ago he has also landed a major role in a film called ‘The Wee
Man’ about former Glasgow gangland figure Paul Ferris - Daniel plays him
as a young man.
Directed by the Silver Rose award-winning director Ray Burdis, the sixties-based film will be screened next January.
Brought
up in the notorious area of Blackhill, Glasgow, Ferris, the son of
decent, hardworking, parents he learns that life on the street is tough.
With a cast boasting names such as Martin Compston, Denis Lawson,
John Hannah, and Patrick Bergin, this Carnaby International Feature
Film follows Paul Ferris’s journey from childhood to manhood.
Daniel
has also been working on Hat Trick Production’s Great Night Out which
will air next January and he played the role of Decky in Touchpaper
West’s series 5 of Being Human.
LEADING ROLE . . . Daniel Kerr on the set (above) of The Wee man - he plays the part of a young Paul Ferris.
Source (including photo): Milngavie & Bearsden Herald
Ian Rankin on the TV adaptation of ‘Doors Open’
Ian Rankin is a happy man. We are in one of his favourite pubs. From
our position in the snug of Bennets Bar in Tollcross we are watching the
filming of Doors Open, ITV’s adaptation of his bestseller of the same
name, which stars Douglas Henshall and Stephen Fry.
It’s a hugely atmospheric boozer – all
warming log fires, giant gilded mirrors, elegant wooden tracery,
extensive single-malt whisky menus and tables inlaid with maps of
Edinburgh. We are stationed next to a bookcase, where the first novel to
catch my eye is – you’ve guessed it – Doors Open.
Looking
dreamily into the middle distance, Rankin remembers how he found this
place. “This was the first Edinburgh pub I drank in. I was sharing a
flat with a mate from school who was studying architecture. His first
project was about this pub. So we’d move in here every night and do
research.”
As content as he is today, Rankin, 52, won’t be rushing
to spend a lot more time on film sets. He is used to the solitary, but
fairly straightforward process of writing – where it’s just one man and
his word processor. So he has been taken aback by the sheer complexity
of a big film production – which is more like a hundred people and a
million gadgets.
Rankin, best known for his Rebus novels, says the
filming process is a mystery to him. “Writing a book, I get no sense of
just how difficult it is to organise a shoot. I did my first individual
cameo yesterday. I played a man at an auction house chatting to Stephen
Fry. I had to wear a suit. Luckily I have one that I wear to weddings
and funerals, but it was still odd.
“Initially, the filming was
quite exciting. But we ended up doing my scene about 15 times – and they
never told us why we had to redo it. It was like being Charlie Watts
who once said that being in the Rolling Stones was a case of playing for
five years and hanging around for 45 years.”
Hanging around
aside, Rankin is delighted that ITV have turned his novel into a TV
drama, which will be broadcast on Boxing Day. His Rebus novels have
already been made into a series of memorable TV films, starring John
Hannah and then Ken Stott. So what is it about Rankin’s writing that
lends itself so well to the small screen? Gina Carter, the executive
producer of Doors Open, says plot has a lot to do with it. “Ian writes
incredibly entertaining books. They’re real page-turners. You get
completely engrossed in them. Also, Doors Open is about a victimless
crime that doesn’t require any blood or death, which is a great part of
its charm.”
Jon Finn, the producer of Doors Open, which is
scripted by James Mavor and Sandi Toksvig, chimes in, “Ian’s work is a
gift for any screenwriter. He has that quality that all great thriller
writers have: you endlessly want to keep turning the pages. Reading his
novels is like visiting an old friend.” Doors Open tells the story
of Mike Mackenzie (Henshall), a self-made millionaire who is bored by
his cosseted lifestyle. When he learns that the love of his life, Laura
Stanton (Lenora Critchlow from Being Human) – an art expert who ditched him five years ago - has returned to Edinburgh, he hatches a plot to win her back.
After
a night drinking in their local – stand up Bennets Bar – Mike and his
close friends, disgruntled art academic Professor Gissing (Fry) and
disillusioned banker Allan Cruickshank (Kenneth Collard, The Borgias),
plot and scheme how they will pull off an audacious crime.
They
aim to con one of the most high-value targets in the country – a
national bank’s priceless art collection which is hidden away from
public view in a high-security vault.
The idea is to replace the
invaluable works of art with undetectably exact forgeries. They intend
to execute this fiendishly clever conceit on the one day of the year
Edinburgh’s buildings of special interest are open, thanks to the “Doors
Open” scheme. What could possibly go wrong?
Finn reveals that the
production created its own counterfeit paintings for the drama. “In
making the fakes, we stole bits from all over the place – in the style
of Picasso. He had a saying that good art is a copy, great art is a
steal. So we knocked off a genius.”
The conspirators in Doors Open
view their act as “freeing” timeless works from their private
seclusion. In the pub, Gissing rationalises their plan to his
collaborators: “We’re not stealing. We’d be liberating them.”
“You mean like a heist?” Allan ripostes. “Like The Italian Job?”
“Yes, sort of,” Gissing rejoins. “But less Italian. And less jobby.”
Finn
explains, “Most national galleries only display three per cent of their
collection at any one time. They have so many spare Warhols lying
around. The depositories are in inconspicuous suburban areas, so no one
knows this stuff is just lying around there.”
So is there some
moral justification for the plan? Rankin adds, “Gissing is exasperated
by the way in which art is treated as a commodity by these institutions.
They do not display these great works of art, but keep them as
collateral.
“Banks own huge collections that are kept locked away
out of public view. And the National Galleries north and south of the
Border have more art than they can ever show. It’s very frustrating
because it’s ours!”
It is not an entirely black and white issue,
though. As Rankin says, “It’s quite complex. Are they freeing these
works or are they greedy sods who just want to hold onto these works for
themselves?”
Joining our table at Bennets Bar, Henshall takes up the theme.
“There’s
not a great deal of logic to Mike’s plan. In a sober moment, you would
say that it is illogical and stupid, but at that moment in the pub, it
makes complete sense.
“It may be stupid, but there’s also a lot of
nobility in his quest. So much of the best art is hidden away in
cellars and not shown to the public. It’s not bought by people who love
art – it’s merely purchased as an investment. But great art should be
for the people and seen by the people. I hope that viewers will be
rooting for Mike. He’s a very sympathetic character.”
Henshall says the cast had a great time getting dressed up for the heist.
“We
went for retro disguises. So I looked like someone from a 1970s
Norwegian rock band, and Kenneth looked like the Portuguese rep for
Nandos.”
Of course the other major character in Doors Open is
Edinburgh. 47-year-old Henshall, dapper with his swept-back blond hair,
white shirt and immaculately cut black overcoat, says, “The producers
were determined to shoot here – they didn’t want to film anywhere else.
“Edinburgh
is so specific looking, and it’s such a photogenic place. 2000 years of
history have gone into this city. If you’re a director of photography,
Edinburgh is a dream because the light is amazing and everywhere you
look, there is a great shot. I’m not nationalistic in any way, shape or
form, but I’m absolutely delighted it’s being filmed here. I can’t
imagine it being shot anywhere else.”
The actor, well-known for
his roles in Primeval, Collision, The Silence and The Secret of Crickley
Hall, adds that Bennets Bar is the ideal location for the drama’s
crucial planning scene. “There are so few bars like this nowadays.
Everything is an O’B*llocks fake Irish pub. It’s nice to find somewhere
like this with genuine character.”
Finn agrees, “Edinburgh is the most distinctive city in the UK.
“You
can’t fling a camera at it without it looking fantastic. It’s a city
built around monuments. The buildings are spectacular, and the hills
give it layers. In places, it’s like an Escher drawing – one road going
this way and one road going that way.”
Carter adds, “Edinburgh is
so filmic. It’s a very rare combination of elements. You have both a
massive castle and rolling hills in the city centre. You don’t get that
in Oxford Street in London. Also, Ian writes about Edinburgh so
beautifully.”
In his novels, Rankin has certainly always been
fascinated by the duality of Edinburgh, and Doors Open gives him another
chance to explore that. “In the crime novels, I’m always talking about
the underbelly of Edinburgh,” he says. “This book allowed me to talk
about the other Edinburgh, the Edinburgh in which self-made millionaires
go to auction houses for something to do. There are not many self-made
millionaires in my crime novels.”
Expanding on the concept of the
city’s ambiguity, he says, “Structurally, Edinburgh is Jekyll and Hyde.
It’s a city of haves and have-nots. Are the tourists seeing the real
Edinburgh or what the city fathers want them to see?”
He believes
that Edinburgh is a constant source of inspiration to writers, “The city
continues to surprise. So many authors are writing about it because it
shows so many different facets to us all. If I’d made sense of
Edinburgh, I’d have stopped writing about it by now.
“But I’m
always finding new things to talk about. Every time you think you’ve
done it, something else comes along like the Parliament, the financial
crisis or the trams. I have a love-hate thing with Edinburgh. But I
have no interest in writing about London. I’ve never found a place I
want to write about more than Edinburgh.”
Another element that
makes Doors Open so watchable is that it pivots on a heist. Carter says,
“There is a certain caper-ish element to a heist that we all enjoy.
Look at films like The Italian Job, Ocean’s Eleven or The Ladykillers.
“Also, you can’t do a heist on your own because that’s just robbery.
So
a heist will inevitably involve lots of different people. That makes it
engaging because you’re following all these different characters. It’s a
terrific ensemble vehicle. Heist dramas are thrillers, chases, ‘will
they, won’t they?’s and big set pieces all rolled into one. They tick
all the boxes for great entertainment.”
Finn says that the
characters have gelled so well in Doors Open that he could envisage a
further life for them. “I’d love to do another drama with these
characters. It would be great fun. What could they do next? How about
breaking into Fort Knox like Goldfinger?”
Henshall lives in London
these days, but he has relished working in Scotland on Doors Open. It
has also given him the chance to catch up with his beloved St Mirren.
“We’re
the only team that have ever sacked Sir Alex Ferguson,” he says. “That
sums up our history in one easy sentence. Our victories are always hard
won, and therefore much more enjoyed. It’s usually us and someone else
very bad fighting relegation – which adds a certain drama to the season.
That’s better than mid-table mediocrity. Who wants that?” Doors
Open used a real-life Glasgow repository to film the key heist sequence,
a factor that invests the production with extra verisimilitude. Carter
recalls, “We shot in the Museums Resource Centre, where three national
collections are stored. Everything is there, from 19th century
masterpieces to modern sculptures and African art. There are also racks
and racks of great Scottish paintings. It’s stunning. But as you can
imagine, there were a lot of security guards keeping their eyes on us
all the time when we were filming there.”
Henshall says with
genuine awe, “I didn’t know places like that existed. But great
collections can’t show all their work all the time, and it has to be
kept somewhere. These wonderful paintings just appeared from drawers.
There was a wee Renoir in there that I was particularly fond of.”
A pause and a wry grin. “But I think they might have missed it.”
Douglas Henshall to judge The Frank Deasy Award to develop Scottish drama-writing talent
Acclaimed Scottish actor Douglas Henshall will join
the judging panel on this year’s Frank Deasy Award 2012-13, an
initiative to develop television writing talent in Scotland in
conjunction with BBC Scotland, BBC Writersroom and Creative Scotland.
Henshall,
who will star in BBC Scotland’s new two-part crime drama Shetland later
this year, will be joined on the judging panel by Edinburgh playwright
and director Zinnie Harris alongside Christopher Aird, Head of Drama,
BBC Scotland; Kate Rowland, BBC Creative Director, New Writing; and
Laura Mackenzie Stuart, Portfolio Manager, Creative Scotland.
Designed
to inspire, develop and celebrate writing talent in Scotland, the Frank
Deasy Award was named in honour of the Emmy-award winning writer whose
credits include Prime Suspect – The Final Act, Looking After Jo-Jo, Real
Men and The Passion. Deasy died in 2009.
Douglas Henshall
(Shetland, The Secret of Crickley Hall, The Kidnap Diaries) says:
“Writers are so crucial to drama – without them people like me are out
of work – so to be involved in this award is an honour. After all,
writers are the past, present and future for drama.”
Defiance - April 2013 "This shot was taken during the shooting of the Pilot of Defiance.com April
2013, Datak and Stahma Tarr,a couple not to be trifled with, if you know
whats good for you. Myself and my lovely co star Jaime Murray."
League of Extraordinary Gentleman "It
has been 10 yrs since we shot LXG, 6 months shooting in Prague, was an
amazing time, shame it was Sean Connerys last Film but what a fun time.
Myself and my friend Jason Flemyng coined the new phrase Prosthetic
Depression, being in Latex for to long can drive you a wee bit mad, not
to mention tight blue spandex.
"
Underworld: Evolution "First
Scene I shot in Underworld was when Marcus rises from his coven, 7
hours in make up and we shot it in two shakes of a lambs tale,
Prosthetic Depression was about to envelope my soul, happy daze....."
Boardwalk Empire "When
I went for a wardrobe fitting for Boardwalk in Williamsburg Brooklyn it
was 105 outside and the old jewish tailor that had been there since the
early nineteen hundreds had no AC inside, wow that was some hot
scratchy wool man, met Steve Buscemi and discussed the character, I said
I dont get whacked maybe Eamon can return? He gave me a wry smile and
walked off in to the heat."
Doctor Who "It
was a great role to play and Vincent Van Gogh was an incredible man but
most importantly I felt was the reaction from people who have
experienced depression and mental health, it is such a stigma in areas
of society and it should not be the case, when people say they watched
this episode and it moved them, made them feel they were not alone and
went on to get help, Its why I became an actor in the first place."
Martin Compston stars in this uneven crime drama that glamourises its real-life subject
Source: The List
Date: 19 December 2012
Written by: Hannah McGill
Based on the memoirs of Glasgow gangland figure Paul Ferris,
this chronicle of a bloody underworld feud runs from the early 1970s,
when a young Ferris and his friends are menaced by the ruthless Welsh
family, to the 80s, when Ferris is married and expecting a child, but
still engaging in increasingly high-stakes tit-for-tat attacks with his
old nemeses. Oh, and getting into the odd sticky situation while working
as a debt collector for a notorious crime boss.
The film makes
impressive work of its shifts through time, with diligent production
design and authentically heinous 70s and 80s fashions and interiors
creating a highly persuasive physical environment. It starts well, with
exceptional work from child actor Daniel Kerr as the young Ferris and Denis Lawson
as the father who tries to guide him into the understanding that their
world has real-life 'monsters' in it. However, the tale of Ferris’
ensuing adult struggle against these bad elements is told with scant
recourse to subtlety, and with a partiality that leaves an unpleasant
taste in the mouth. While the crimes of the Welshes – which escalate
from dog abuse to child rape to old lady murder – are shored up
relentlessly enough for us to conclude that they are indeed as close as
people come to being the fairytale monsters of Ferris Sr’s construction,
Paul himself as played by Martin Compston
is persistently painted as a good guy in a bad situation, and his
eye-for-an-eye approach to justice as simply the only route available.
It’s
of course the filmmakers’ prerogative to paint Ferris’s life story as
they choose, and the performers here all share a commitment to their
work that elevates the whole – but the script’s struggle to flatter its
unprepossessing vigilante protagonist (he’s prone to coming out with
poetic self-justifying speeches, too) is unconvincing, if not arguably
irresponsible. Selected release from Fri 18 Jan.
Source (including photo): The List
Fancarpet has some stills from the film here
Q&A: Brian Cox on The Straits and Villains By Eric Spitznagel
Brian Cox in The Straits. "With most characters, no
matter how vile they are, it's just about remembering that they're human
beings, ultimately. Hitler was a human being."
Name a contemptible human being, and Brian Cox has
probably played him in a movie. Socialist dictator? Check. Nazi military
leader? Check. Pedophile? Check. Charming cannibal? Check. From his
pre-Anthony Hopkins take on Hannibal Lector in the 1986 cult classic Manhunter to his love-to-hate-'em super-villains in films like X2, Troy, and The Bourne Supremacy, Cox has cornered the market on bad guys with furry furrowed brows and booming Shakespearian baritones.
Cox proves his villainous expertise yet again in the ABC1 series The Straits, now in its second season (available exclusively on Hulu and Hulu Plus,
with new episodes every Saturday), on which he plays the head of a
drug-smuggling family in Australia. I called Cox to talk about his
latest goateed baddie, and we ended up discussing carnivorous
crocodiles, cinematic facial hair, why children are smarter than method
actors, and how even the monster who went on a murderous rampage in a
Connecticut elementary school is still a human being. ERIC SPITZNAGEL:The Straits was shot in Queensland, Australia. Isn't that part of the country lousy with man-eating crocs? BRIAN COX: Oh, yes, they're everywhere. Queensland
has the most incredible beaches, but you can't swim in them because of
the crocodiles. You can swim in the water holes. ES: Water holes? BC: There are these water holes up on the hillsides.
Unless it's been a particularly bad monsoon season, the crocodiles
don't get up there. I remember on the first day of our read-through [for
The Straits], we were sitting in the production office, which is
next to a little stream, and I looked out a window and there was a baby
crocodile. It was like twenty-five feet away from where we were. ES: At least it was just a baby. BC: Yeah, but they're bold. They've been known to
walk down the main street of Cairns [a city in Queensland]. And when
they get big, they get really big. Unlike New Zealand, which has nothing
especially predatory, Australia is full of spiders and crocodiles and
all kinds of animals that will eat you and sting you. ES: Yikes. BC: Oh, and the most incredible collection of snakes. The brown snake in particular is quite deadly. ES: You've convinced me to never, ever visit Australia. BC: Oh, no, no. It is actually a beautiful country.
Even the Australians don't know how beautiful their own country is.
Particularly where we were shooting The Straits. Most of my stuff
was done on an aboriginal settlement on the south shore, opposite
Cairns, which I believe was the site where the last person was eaten in
Australia. ES: By a crocodile? BC: By a cannibal. He was eaten by a warrior foe, I believe. ES: That's kind of poetic. Your breakout role was
Hannibal Lector, and, now, here you are twenty-five years later, making a
TV show in the land of the cannibals. BC: Huh. [Laughs.] I never thought of that, actually. ES: Your career has come full-circle. BC: I guess it has. ES: You're playing a villain in The Straits, which really isn't new terrain for you. BC: Not at all. ES: The majority of your career has been playing bad
people. Are they bad to you? Or do you have to sympathize with a
character to really get inside their skin? BC: You empathize rather than sympathize. Like the
guy in this show, Harry. He's a gangster, and they have these kinds of
curiously spurious moral codes. For instance, he won't touch child
prostitution, but he has no problem dealing in drugs and stuff like
that. ES: Have you ever had to play somebody where you thought, "This guy's an asshole. I can't identify with him at all." BC: There are characters that have made me uncomfortable. I did a film called Rob Roy,
and I played Killearn, who was this sort of greasy fallen-angel
character who was voyeuristic and sleazy and really unpleasant. It was a
great role, but I didn't especially enjoy living with this awful man
for the length of time it took to make the movie. ES: If I had a thousand guesses, I never would have guessed Killearn. BC: Really? ES: I would've said Hermann Göring. Or Stalin. Or Hannibal Lecter. BC: Lector is just psychotic. He didn't leave a bad
taste in my mouth like Killearn. With most characters, no matter how
vile they are, it's just about remembering that they're human beings,
ultimately. Hitler was a human being. Stalin was a human being. We have
this terrible tragedy that just happened in Connecticut. ES: The school shooting. BC: The boy who did those horrible things, walked
into that school with all those guns — he was clearly an outsider and
clearly had personality disorders of a very deep kind. But he was still a
human being. He was alienated and sad and very damaged, which is a
uniquely human condition. That's what's interesting about these roles,
playing somebody who seems so one-dimensionally evil. How does somebody
get to that point? ES: I've heard that you don't subscribe to method acting. BC: No. I find that all nonsense. ES: So you were never like, "To truly understand how Hannibal Lecter ticks, I have to taste human flesh"?
BC: Goodness no. There are actors who do that. I
don't know if they'd go as far as tasting human flesh, but they might
walk up to that line. For me, it's just acting. It's pretending. The
best actors are children, and children don't do research. You never see a
child going, "I'm wondering about my motivation here. How can I do this
toy? How can I do this train? I don't feel train." I did a video — you
can look this up on YouTube — called "Brian Cox Masterclass with Theo" [above]. ES: I've seen it. BC: Where I teach the Hamlet soliloquy to a two-and-a-half-year-old? ES: It's freaking brilliant. I would pay Broadway prices to see that Theo kid do Hamlet. BC: I would, too. That's the lesson there, I think.
You can give children the germ of an idea, and they'll run with it.
They'll take it. Their imaginations are untrammeled. I trust the child
in me. I'll always go back to that. All these dark people I've played,
if I think about them too much, if I try to identify with them, they'd
carry me away in a straightjacket and load me into a funny-farm van. ES: What's the most ridiculous thing you've done to prepare for a role? BC: I try not to do anything unless a director asks
me. And most of what they ask me is ridiculous. I once had a director
send me a questionnaire about my character. I just replied, "Too old,
too tired, and too talented." If we're going to sit down and answer
these questions, then you don't know what you're doing, and I think by
this time I should have a good idea what I'm doing. Do you think I just
fell off the turnip truck? ES: Have you seen the Hitchcock biopic with Anthony Hopkins? BC: Not yet, no. ES: Some critics have claimed the prosthetics look
too obviously fake. Do you think Hopkins made the right choice, rather
than gain a lot of weight, which is the usual method-acting way? BC: From a health perspective, yes, it's certainly
better to use prosthetics than gain the weight. I've just been working
with Tony — we did the sequel to Red. I think Tony is a magnificent actor, but I don't think he looks very much like Alfred Hitchcock. ES: Even with the prosthetic jowls? BC: Hitchcock was round in the face. I've only seen
pictures of Tony as Hitchcock — I haven't seen the film, so I don't want
to judge him. It's a fantastic makeup job, but he looks... rather
square. Physically, he's square. You know what I mean? Hitchcock had
this rather round, baby look about him. ES: The best movie magic can't change an actor's facial structure? BC: It can't, no. But this happens. I'm old enough to remember King George VI. When I saw The King's Speech,
I had to suspend my disbelief. I thought it was a very good performance
by Colin Firth, but he didn't look anything like George the VI. George
was very skinny, with a nervous disposition, and kind of
etiolated-looking. It's very hard to recreate that. ES: That may be a tall order even for CGI. BC: I do have a fondness for the prosthetic element
of this profession. I once did a role and told the director, "Just tell
me what to do." I wasn't interested in the script. I didn't have a lot
of lines and didn't want to argue with him about character. I was like,
"I'll do whatever you tell me. The only thing I want to be in charge of
is how the character looks." I wanted to look like a cross between John
Carpenter and Jerry Garcia. ES: And that felt like enough creative involvement for you? BC: It's very liberating as an actor to sacrifice
control. The director says, "Come through here, look at that, turn on
that, go there, look under the bed, take out a gun, load it." And you
just go through that series of actions. And by doing that, you're
letting the character take over. You're not overthinking it. You're not
going over the script and making notes and creating backstory. ES: Your only responsibility is to grow a really awesome Jerry Garcia beard. BC: Exactly, yes. ES: It's funny you mention that. Whenever I look at
your films, I always notice the facial hair. There have been a few
goatees, a few mustaches, a few full-on beards. Does the facial hair
help you define what a character is? BC: It does to a certain extent. The beard makes a
great statement, especially as I've gotten older. I've got a beard at
the moment, and I'm actually toying with the idea of shaving it off.
Part of the reason I've kept it for so long is I'm lazy and I don't like
to shave. ES: That really is the raison d'être of any great beard. BC: I like to play with color as well. If I kept my
natural hair color, it would be incredibly white. But I find that white
onscreen is kind of dead and translucent. You want something that has
life to it. And that's why I've sometimes gone dark or gray with my
beards. People think I dye my hair because I want to look younger. It's
not about that at all. ES: You were part of a golden age of British theater
during the '70s and '80s. You've done Shakespearian plays with legends
like Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson. BC: Those were wonderful times. I was very lucky. ES: Everything I've heard about that era — it seems
like everyone was drunk all the time and there were constant onstage
shenanigans. BC: We had some laughs. I remember one time — probably my favorite memory — Gielgud was playing Caesar in a production of Julius Caesar,
and we had one of these mobile sets, where they could change scenery
and different set pieces would come on and off the stage. So one night
it didn't come on as planned, for the scene when Caesar is murdered.
Gielgud felt that since we were all inexperienced — and we were,
relatively, although I think I was thirty at the time — he was worried
that we wouldn't find him to kill him. He was like, "These poor boys,
they won't know where to go because the set isn't right. I better help
them." So he sort of obliged by almost committing harakiri on our
daggers. ES: He threw himself on your blades? BC: He did. They were stage daggers, but they were still sharp. It's a miracle he wasn't impaled. ES: Do you miss doing live theater? BC: I do, I do. All the time. I still try to make
time to do it, occasionally. It's very close to my heart. I can still
remember the first day I entered the theater as a kid, literally walked
into a theater for the first time, to get a job. I was a working-class
kid from Dundee, Scotland, very unaccustomed to the ways of actors. I
walked into the theater, and there was a fight going on. ES: A staged fight? BC: No, an actual fight. With fists being thrown. It was Nicol Williamson,
and he was punching the hell out of the stage manager. They were both
drunk. This was ten o'clock in the morning, and they'd been there all
night. I'm fifteen years old, and I walk in and there's these two grown
adults fighting on the stairs. ES: Did you try to stop them? BC: No, no. Another actor pulled me aside. He was
the first actor I ever spoke to, and he said to me, "It's alright,
darling. A night on the tiles. You'll want to go this way." That was my
initial impression of the theater: Two people beating the hell out of
one another, and a man calling me darling. So I thought, "I'm home! This
is the life for me, obviously."
Source: Esquire
Bob Servant Independent, a new comedy for BBC Four
BBC
Four’s new comedy series, Bob Servant Independent, follows the trials
and tribulations of Bob Servant (Brian Cox) as he endeavours to sell
himself, relentlessly, to the good people of Broughty Ferry.
The
series stars Brian Cox with Jonathan Watson, Pollyanna McIntosh, and
Rufus Jones and will transmit on BBC Four from early January.
The
Scottish town of Broughty Ferry doesn’t know what’s hit it. The sudden
death of the sitting MP has resulted in a by-election that could change
the political map of the UK. Bob Servant (Brian Cox) has been waiting
his whole life for this level of attention and he’s willing to do
anything to keep it.
Bob sells himself as a man of the people but
doesn’t really like people. He also has absolutely no understanding of
the political process and uses the by-election campaign as a heaven sent
opportunity for self-promotion.
His campaign manager is Frank
(Jonathan Watson), Bob’s long-suffering best friend and neighbour, and
their love-hate relationship is a central aspect of Bob Servant
Independent.
Brian Cox said: “As a Dundee man I am very excited to
be in this comedy set in Broughty Ferry. With the comic writing skills
of fellow Dundonian, Neil Forsyth, and the audacious spirit of Bob
Servant it captures the very essence of the unique East Coast humour.”
As
the series progresses, Bob has an increasingly fractious relationship
with the favourite to win the seat, a slick professional politician
called Nick Edwards (Rufus Jones). Bob also struggles to deal with
Edwards’ campaign manager (and wife), Philippa Edwards (Pollyanna
McIntosh), a smart, no-nonsense woman, always two steps ahead of Frank.
The two campaigns jar markedly while the series builds to the natural climax of election night.
Writer
and creator of Bob Servant Independent, Neil Forsyth, added: “It’s
hugely exciting that Bob is making it onto the telly, and that Brian is
once again involved and leading a brilliant cast. He’s been a supporter
of the Bob Servant cause for a long time. To be honest, Bob would
probably be disappointed that he’s been overlooked to play himself, but
even he would reluctantly accept Brian taking up the challenge."
Bob Servant Independent is written by Neil Forsyth and produced by Owen Bell.
It
was commissioned by BBC Four and Cheryl Taylor, former Controller,
Comedy Commissioning, and Mark Freeland (BBC Four) and Ewan Angus (BBC
Scotland) are the co-executive producers.
In
2006 I read about scam-baiters, people so frustrated with spam that
they reply offering similar frustration to the spammers. I opened an
email account in the name of Bob Servant, choosing the name so I could
sign off emails “Your Servant, Bob Servant.”
That was the
beginning of a seven year journey to Bob Servant Independent being
broadcast by the BBC in January 2013. It’s been a process that has
stuttered and apparently ended on a few occasions but, one way or
another and often down to blind luck, has led to this six-part BBC Four
series that will introduce Bob Servant to the nation.
I wrote
three Bob Servant books (including his autobiography Hero Of Dundee) and
a radio series (The Bob Servant Emails) which transmitted on BBC Radio
Scotland and Radio 4. However, the television adaptation was itself a
four year quest for me and producer Owen Bell. Owen had been given one
of the books by a friend’s girlfriend and contacted me asking if I’d
considered adapting the character for radio or TV.
We completed
the radio series first and managed to persuade Brian Cox to play Bob
after I met a mutual friend in a pub. The fact that both he and Bob are
Dundonians undoubtedly helped.
Getting Brian on board was the
first step, the next was finding a premise that allowed Bob’s pompous,
self-regarding character to be given free reign without taking him out
of the confines of his hometown, the Dundee suburb of Broughty Ferry.
I
decided a by-election, with Bob standing as an independent candidate,
would give us what we needed. A lot of writing and re-writing from me
and skilful script development by Owen eventually led to BBC Four
commissioning this series with BBC Scotland.
We shot in Scotland
in 2012, with Brian padding about Broughty Ferry in Bob’s distinctive
leather jacket and bunnet combo, ably assisted by his sidekick Frank
(the hilarious Jonathan Watson). Watching it unfold was a thrilling
conclusion to a long journey.
Ten things you didn’t know about Bob Servant
1.
Bob Servant is a business tycoon. Many in Scotland remember his
victorious role in Dundee’s notorious Cheeseburger Wars, when his
“Armada” of cheeseburger vans scoured the city to sell their
questionable products to a delirious public. His enemies point out
Servant singlehandedly brought back scurvy to the city’s hospitals, a
claim Servant dismisses as “typical boo boy material.”
2. Before
the cheeseburgers came a window-cleaning round described by Bob as being
“the largest in Western Europe”. In both endeavours he was eagerly
assisted by right hand man Frank. On the vans Frank was Director of
Sauces, with the window-cleaning he was Bucket Chairman. Frank was also
briefly Manager of Sponges but lost the role within days in a situation
for which Frank readily admits he “only had himself to blame”.
3.
Bob’s house bears an extension that is testament to both his success
and ambition. A large glass extravaganza, described by the Council
planning committee as a “carbuncle dripping in arrogance”, Bob refers to
it more warmly as the “Anything Goes Annex”, an area where he
encourages people to “be themselves and let their worries drift away
like geese”.
4. Bob’s age is a matter for some debate. He claims,
with fool-proof logic, that he “can’t fully remember” the day he was
born and therefore doesn’t know his date of birth.
5. Bob is a
respected man of letters. The three Bob Servant books have been
published in the UK, North America and, most impressively of all, in
Dundee where they famously outsell the Bible. They have been called “a
Dundonian Lord of the Rings” (by Bob) and “absolutely terrific” (by
Frank).
6. Bob has also worked as an Agony Uncle. In the two
years that he answered readers’ problems for a Scottish magazine he
advised over 20 men to divorce their wives “with immediate effect” for
crimes including winking and having arrogant walks.
7. The
arrival into politics isn’t something that Bob decided on a whim.
Absolutely not. As long as he can remember he has walked around Broughty
Ferry looking at the punters, and their “sad little faces” and
wondering what he can do to help them. This is his chance.
8.
Frank is extremely proud of his role as Bob’s campaign manager. More
than anything, he is proud of his special notebook which he currently
sleeps with, cradling it like a baby. He’s also invested in a new suit
and the shortest back and sides in Broughty Ferry.
9. Bob is
currently single despite extensive efforts to the contrary. His
autobiography contains a chapter entitled The Great Skirt Hunt which
shows both the depth of his attempts at gaining a girlfriend, while also
hinting at the attitude that has perhaps handicapped them.
10.
Bob is greatly looking forward to the transmission of the TV show. He
believes it will be “permanent Beatlemania” for him in Broughty Ferry.
He has printed off a thousand close-up photos of his face that he will
be offering for signature (for a fair price) and is also planning to
market “Bob cameos” where he will attend social events for five minutes
during which time he will tell “a couple of belters and have the punters
laughing like penguins”. He is targeting birthdays, retirements and
funerals.
Digital Spy Exclusive: 'Quartet': Billy Connolly hits on Sheridan Smith in new clip
Dustin Hoffman's Quartet has debuted a new clip exclusively on Digital Spy.
The footage has Billy Connolly's former opera singer Wilfred Bond hitting on Sheridan Smith's character without success.
Quartet stars Dame Maggie Smith as famed opera singer Jean
Horton, whose appearance at the Beecham House home for retired musicians
is not entirely welcomed by her former singing partners and ex-husband
Reginald Paget (Tom Courtenay).
She insists on claiming all the
attention by playing the diva, all the while refusing to perform in the
annual concert in celebration of Verdi's birthday.
Hoffman, who
makes his directorial debut with the film, was honoured with the
'Hollywood Breakthrough Director Achievement Award' at the 16th annual
Hollywood Film Awards in October for his work on the movie.
Quartet received a standing ovation when it debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
The film will release on January 1, 2013 in the UK and January 4, 2013 in the US.
Billy Connolly: My family values The actor and comedian talks about coming to terms with his children growing up and the joy of being a grandparent Elaine Lipworth, The Guardian, Saturday 22 December 2012
Billy Connolly: 'All my kids are quite funny.' Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian
I am a kind of Victorian father. I haven't caught up with the mood of the age yet, although I look and speak as though I have. I still care about all my children
[he has four girls and a boy], and worry about my girls and always make
sure they are on the right lines. When we're crossing the road, I go,
"Righto, here we go!" as if they're six years of age. Amy, who is 24,
has her own apartment. But the other night she was going out from our
house and she said, "See you later," and I said, "Oh, when will you be
back?" She said: "I'm going to my apartment." I said: "Yes, but when'll
you be back?" She said: "I won't be back, I've got an apartment." I
went: "Oh, yeah." Pamela [Stephenson] is a much better parent than me
because she knows what's right and wrong, being a psychologist. She
knows a great deal more about behaviour than I do. I panic and get
worried about the girls and think: "Ahhh, something is wrong, she's out
too late!" Pamela just says: "Oh, at this stage she should be doing
that." But I think I'm also a product of my generation. As a family,
we are all very loving. We still kiss each other. Jamie's 42 and he
still kisses me good night. We've just got back from fishing in Mexico.
We were staying in two rooms, in a fishing lodge and at night we would
have a cigar and at the end of the evening, we'd say: "OK, you going to
bed? Good night, give us a kiss." It's very difficult bringing up the girls without
spoiling them because you sound like an old bore when you start saying:
"Oh, I had to finish every brussels sprout on the plate when I was a
boy." It's true though, I used to go to the movies and put my sprouts in
my pocket and pretend I had eaten them. I've stayed away from that kind
of behaviour towards them, but obviously we have lived well on my
earnings and I try my best to show them the value of things. But you
can't be too strict with them, because you just sound like a whinge-bag.
Anyway, spoiling them is buying them things in place of love, and
they've never been in that position. I'm a great family guy,
I'm all for keeping them all together and it's getting sad now because
the girls have got boyfriends and they don't want to come home for
Christmas. All that kind of stuff is sad, but you just have to get used
to it and grow up a wee bit. My children and I are pals and
allies, they're lovely. We all get on great. But I never carry
photographs of my wife and kids because they make me sad. I'm not one of
those guys who gets to the hotel room and puts the framed pictures up. I
really can't do it. Photos make you miss them more. Always tell the kids the truth.
When they ask where they come from, don't give them that gooseberry
bush nonsense, just tell them – they'll appreciate it much more. If they
say, "Did you take drugs?", if you did, say yes because they'll find
you out. And if you say, "I tried marijuana and I hated it, it was
horrible," and then they try it and it isn't horrible, they'll think you
were lying about marijuana and wonder whether you were lying about
heroin and could try that as well. I am totally open with my children. All my kids are quite funny.
They all really enjoy making me laugh. Scarlett works in an art gallery
in Soho here in New York, Cara is making documentary films and Amy is
studying to be an undertaker. She was working as a dress designer in Los
Angeles and she got fed up with it. She saw an advert for an intern in a
cemetery and she loved it the second she did it. It's the truth! She loves it. Pamela saved me without
being ruthless with me when I was drinking and smoking, by saying:
"Look, if you don't give up the way you're living, you're gonna die. And
I don't want to be there watching it when it happens." I haven't had a
drink for 28 years. With Pam, I discovered that you could not get away
with anything. When I married her I had to own up to everything, which
no one had ever asked me to do before. I learned to be honest with
myself, which was great. The character I play in Brave
– the dad – does a lot of shouting and thumping around and the mother
does the heavy work. And I've found that in my own life, I do a lot of
"this must be done and that must be done" but most of "it" is done by
Pamela. My marriage to her has lasted because she knows how to do
things. She knows much more than I do about technical stuff and how to
do practical things, who to phone when you need to get something done in
the house. I know bugger all. I swim along dreaming through life and
she allows me to do that. She has taken on the male role and I have
taken on what people used to think was the female role. It's brilliant being a grandfather.
My grandchildren – Walter is 12 and Barbara is 10 – are the best. When
you have children in the first place and you can see the genetics, you
see who they look like and it changes all the time. One day your son
looks like your wife, one day he looks like you. It's the same with
grandchildren. Cara burst out laughing the other day. I said, "What's
wrong?" She said, "Look at your feet." I was standing next to Walter and
I looked down and realised that our feet are identical. You'd think
they'd just been moulded in a shop. With grandchildren you understand
that the generations go on and on and on.
Lucy Kellaway talks to Billy Connolly
He has had Britain howling with laughter for decades. Now 70 and showing no signs of slowing down, the comedian opens up about getting old, forgiving his father – and the beauty of swear words
Billy
Connolly is standing with his back to the door, singing raucously to
himself. From behind, he looks slightly frightening – a mane of wild
white hair, a black T-shirt, black jeans and a big tattoo on his left
biceps – but then he turns and eyes me benignly through round
tortoiseshell glasses. I’m not sure who he reminds me of most: King
Lear, David Hockney or Ozzy Osbourne.
He invites me to sit, while he paces restlessly, checking the thermostat of the Soho hotel room.
Tell me about your hair, I say.
It is not the most obvious place to start with Scotland’s most famous
comic, film star, abused child, artist, former alcoholic and all-round
icon, but I’ve been taking lessons in how to interview him from a world
authority – Connolly’s wife, Pamela Stephenson.
I started by watching a clip of the couple’s first meeting on the set of Not the Nine O’Clock News
in 1979. Stephenson is wearing false teeth and pretending to be Janet
Street-Porter. She talks broad cockney; he talks broad Glaswegian. The
gag is that they can’t understand each other.
I
then watch a clip from just two years ago; this time Stephenson doesn’t
have false teeth, though she has false everything else: boobs, face
etc. No longer a comedian, she is a sex therapist and has installed her
husband on the couch to analyse him for her viewers’ entertainment.
She starts like this: “It seems to me that hirsuteness is quite important to you. Help me to understand why.”
This elicits a long answer about his need to hide, about being
himself, about being attractive, about the classlessness of hippies. But
when I ask him the same thing, he says: “It comes from an inability to
decide what to do with it between films, so I leave it alone.”
I point out that he didn’t say that to his wife.
“Didn’t I?” he says. “Ach, it depends what day of the week it is.”
The previous night Connolly was at the London premier of Quartet, a light comedy directed by Dustin Hoffman
set in a home for retired opera singers. He plays Wilf, an amiably
lecherous old geezer with short hair and clad in a tweed jacket. I say
the look suits him.
As retired singer Wilf in 'Quartet'
“Ach,” he says. “A lot of women said that last night, that I looked handsome. But I felt like a big Tory.”
The film is all about the indignities of ageing. But Connolly, who
turned 70 in November, tells me that he’s spent his life looking forward
to growing old (which sets him apart from Stephenson, who has paid
frequent visits to the cosmetic surgeon “because I want to be a babe”).
“I always wanted to be old as a wee boy,” he says, swinging his
cowboy-booted feet on to the coffee table. “We used to go to a swing
park and there were always loads of old men in the shed playing
dominoes. They always had knives – that’s what I liked about them. I
like old men very much.”
I protest that old men are surely no nicer than anyone else.
“Aye,” he says, changing tack. “I think young arseholes tend to become old arseholes.”
One of the difficulties with interviewing Billy Connolly is that he
says one thing one moment and another the next, his thoughts following a
curious pattern of their own.
So his mention of knives leads him to cigarette cards and from there
to self-defence and the body language of giving directions.
This ability to free-associate is part of his comic genius. Since he
started amusing his fellow welders in Clyde shipyards nearly 50 years
ago – he has never planned his performances, or written down a single
word. Instead, he meanders all over the place, laughing at his own jokes
as he does so, giving marathon performances that last up to four hours.
I wonder if he fears for his ability to go on doing it as he gets
older. In the film, his co-star Maggie Smith (“Oh God I love her, she
makes me scream with laughter”) plays a retired diva who is so upset at
no longer being able to reach the high notes she has renounced singing
altogether. Connolly says that when it comes to making people laugh, age
doesn’t matter.
“It’s nothing to do with ageing,” he says. “I remember in my
twenties, saying: f*** I hope it turns up tonight. If you look at Doddy –
Ken Dodd – he’s busier than most people I’ve ever known. Some people
accept that styles have changed and move along. Others say, f*** it I’m
out there, this is my trade and I’m going to practise it.”
But then he tells me that despite recent accolades – he’s been voted
the most influential British comedian of all time and has just been
given a Bafta lifetime achievement award – he finds the idea of
performing more alarming as he gets older. “Maybe I see the pitfalls and
threats more than I used to.” But when I ask what they are, he says
there aren’t any.
“I get great adoration, sometimes guys shake when they’re talking to
me. A man cried last night. I just put my hand on him and stroked him a
bit. He’d seen me in newspapers and films and on the stage and all that
and there he is talking to me and I’m talking back to him and he got
overwhelmed and his lip started to go. It’s weird, it’s lovely.” . . .
Not everyone, however, was so awed. Later on he says: “Last night a
guy got a bit iffy with me, you know, smart-arse about my performance.
He said I was less than good. You know how the British do that British
put-down thing that they think is funny?”
The Scottish comedian was not amused.
“I just turned and walked away in the middle of his sentence.”
This, it seems, is a trick he is getting into the habit of. Twice
during his last tour of Britain he stormed off stage in response to
heckling from the audience. When I mention this, Connolly waves his
hands dismissively.
“Generally it’s made into something it isn’t, it’s no big deal. I
wish journalists would just f***ing ask what it is and I would tell
them. Once I’ve done my two hours it’s my time. After [that] I don’t
want to be shouted at because I’m in a funny mental place.”
What is shocking – and almost sweet – about this is not that Connolly
is so sensitive to both his detractors and his fans – it’s that he’s so
unashamedly open about it. Suddenly I think of Wilf, who also lacks any
sense of propriety – though in his case it’s as a result of a stroke.
Connolly, it seems, never had one to lose, or if he did he quickly
figured out that a great living could be made by dispensing with it.
“I speak the way I think. I give it a voice. And other people will think one way and speak another.”
And what he thinks about, often, is the body.
“I blame myself for that,” he says. “About bums and willies and going
to the bathroom and venereal disease and all those things. That was the
level I came in ... I broke a lot of ground there.”
Since he went on Parkinson
in 1975 and told the joke about the man who killed his wife and buried
her with her bum sticking out of the ground so that he had somewhere to
park his bike – Britain has been howling with mirth at Connolly’s body
parts.
While he’s been delighting audiences with tales of his prostate exam,
Stephenson has been making a living telling tales of his emotions – and
has written two bestselling books chronicling them.
Doesn’t he mind, I ask, when she starts describing to everyone just
how he felt when his first wife – a recluse and an alcoholic – died? He
shakes his head. “Who better to tell it? Some f***ing journalist?”
Stephenson’s interpretation of Connolly is not always flattering: I
read something recently in which she said he was slightly autistic as
well as suffering from an attention deficit disorder.
“Did she?” He laughs fondly. “She’ll accuse me of anything. I don’t
think I’m autistic, but I do have attention deficit disorder.”
And then his mind is off on another excursion: he tells me that
Stephenson has just emailed him a list of all the different words for
depression, as he is planning to write a song in which the word “blues”
is replaced by synonyms. He laughs for a long time, delighted by the
idea. When he has stopped I ask if he suffers from the blues himself.
“Sometimes I plunge into it, headlong, but the clown with a tear is a
myth – that comedians are really dark and tortured and troubled.”
It’s odd that he says this, as he seems to fit the mould of damaged
comedian so perfectly. His mother walked out when he was four, he was
brought up by two wicked aunts, who used to hit him and rub his nose in
his soiled underpants, and he was later abused by his father.
“Well I come from a dark place but it doesn’t make me dark”, he says.
“My ambition was always to be as funny as ordinary people are; as the
regular working guys are.”
Yet for all of his admiration for the common man, Connolly has left
them long behind. He is a friend of Prince Edward and countless
celebrities, and owns three huge properties as well as a yacht. People
are always complaining that his swanking around is a betrayal of his
working-class roots.
“They’re just wankers,” he says. “That’s the press talking; they’re
talking shite as they usually do. I have deep, deep distrust of them. I
see them as my enemy. I’ve had years of experience of the vile f***ing
vitriol.”
It strikes me as strange that Connolly is so full of rage at
journalists (who as far as I can see have been more nice than nasty over
the years), but when you get him on to the subject of people who he has
real reason to hate – his father and mother for a start – he is all
mildness.
“Well I loved my father. I didn’t know my mother very well. I didn’t
meet her from when I was four until I was in my twenties,” he says
evenly, as if it was of no matter.
The reason he forgives them is partly thanks to a “wee book”.
“I think maybe Pam gave it to me. It said there’s no such thing as
hate, there’s only love and fear. I forgave my father for all that had
gone on and it took a huge load off me. It was like having a rucksack
taken off your back.”
This sounds like psychobabble to me. History shows that there is such a thing as hate.
“Well it manifests itself as hate but I think it’s based on fear and sometimes it’s encouraged by the f***ing Daily Mail.” . . .
Thus far in the interview he has said the f-word 27 times, but
instead of finding it repetitive or limiting, I like it. On his lips the
word is both funny and melodic.
“It’s also rather beautiful,” he says. “In sport, you say he whacked
it into the top right, it was f***ing beautiful. There’s no English word
to replace that.”
So why do people go on being shocked by the f-word?
“Because they’re middle-class wankers.”
And then he says: “In America they seem to have just discovered Kant.”
This strikes me as a strange turn for the conversation to have taken.
But then I realise he didn’t say that: we are still on obscenities.
“I went to see a movie the other night, Seven Psychopaths, which you must see, it’s f***ing great, and they use it brilliantly, you c***. They’ve got it right at last.”
He then starts on an inspired rant about
how the c-word never appears on its own. “Usually it’s a something c***. Like, she’s a nasty c*** that one.”
My time is nearly up, but before it is I want to ask him about his
newest accomplishment – drawing. Earlier this year there was an
exhibition of his work, including a rather nice picture of a mummified
woman in a belted dress with two heads.
I ask what I’d have to pay to own it.
“I’m not talking about that. I don’t talk about money. It’s vulgar.”
But isn’t that rather middle class?
“Money’s a boundary because it makes people feel inadequate when they shouldn’t.”
Yet for all that Connolly isn’t scared of flaunting it. As well as
the yacht and the houses in New York and in Malta, he owns a castle in
Scotland called Candacraig. This is now available for hire to corporate
groups, who for nearly £4,000 a night can enjoy an orgy of tartan and
try to imagine the presence of the many Hollywood celebrities that the
website promises are regular visitors.
I can just about see the attraction from the guests’ point of view.
But I struggle to see why the owner would want corporate fat cats
sleeping in his bed and going through his bathroom cupboard.
“I don’t care about that,” he says. “I’ve told everybody all my secrets.” ‘Quartet’ is released in cinemas on January 4
Source (including photos): Financial Times
