WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.920 What I do naturally is just try and enjoy myself on set. 2 00:00:03.920 --> 00:00:06.560 I'm a bit of a joke, I suppose, and a bit of a piss-taker. 3 00:00:06.560 --> 00:00:08.560 Well, I think that's the way I would cope with movie nerves, 4 00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:10.960 because I'm terrified, ultimately, all the time. 5 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.400 Other than action, and then I'm just sort of in a weird sort of blissful state, 6 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:17.680 and then they go caught, and then I'm back to being a bit of an obad, I think. 7 00:00:26.400 --> 00:00:28.960 Hello, Michael. Welcome to Afterpicture. How you doing today, sir? 8 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:31.520 Yeah, Remor, I thank you. Can you really ice cream van? 9 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:34.880 I can't. You know what? I can't air a little bit of an ice cream van. 10 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.480 Give us a second. I'm going to go and get an ice cream. 11 00:00:39.040 --> 00:00:41.920 Yeah, I'm good, mate. I'm good. I'm really good. How are you doing? 12 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.480 I'm doing very well. It's a real pleasure to have you on the show, 13 00:00:44.480 --> 00:00:48.240 because I've been aware of your work and I've found of your work for years. 14 00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:50.800 I mean, going back to the Shea Meadows, this is England days. 15 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:52.400 So, yeah, such a pleasure. 16 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:54.720 Oh, nice one. Well, thank you for having me. Cheers. 17 00:00:54.720 --> 00:00:57.760 No worries. So, I mean, to give people the idea of the stuff you've done, 18 00:00:57.760 --> 00:01:00.560 I mean, you've worked with so many people. I mean, I just mentioned Shane there, 19 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.680 but the breadth of work you've done across your career is fantastic. 20 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:06.240 You know, this is England being human as well. 21 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:09.440 Another fantastic show. You know, once by the time of Wonderland, 22 00:01:09.440 --> 00:01:14.080 Chernobyl, the toxic town, Gallows Pole. I mean, like, you know, your work is fantastic. 23 00:01:14.080 --> 00:01:16.320 And of course, you've got the cage coming out with Sheridan Smith. 24 00:01:16.320 --> 00:01:19.680 I guess that's your next big thing you've got coming out, is that right? 25 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:21.760 Yeah, I'll be out soon, I think. 26 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.520 Yeah, end of the month, I want to say. 27 00:01:23.520 --> 00:01:26.240 Yeah, is it the 20th? Are we allowed to say 26th? 28 00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:27.520 I don't know. That's it. 29 00:01:27.520 --> 00:01:29.760 That's what Lydia said. So, I think we're good. 30 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:31.520 We're all right with that one. Cool. Yeah, 26th, then. 31 00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:32.720 26th of April. 32 00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:33.840 We're all good. Yeah. 33 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:35.920 So, yeah, I mean, you're an actor who seems to, you know, 34 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.840 know very much what they're doing and is, you know, 35 00:01:37.840 --> 00:01:39.120 is obviously greater what you do. 36 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:41.280 And I guess there's a kickoff question. 37 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:42.640 Quite, I guess quite a broad question. 38 00:01:42.640 --> 00:01:45.280 But like, what would you say makes a good actor? 39 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:46.720 What would you say makes a good actor? 40 00:01:47.440 --> 00:01:50.160 Well, I mean, I can only say what I think, 41 00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:53.680 what I enjoy when I watch an actor is basically, 42 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:54.720 I've got to believe him. 43 00:01:55.440 --> 00:01:59.280 I think what makes a good actor is somebody that an audience will believe 44 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:05.520 in sometimes very bizarre, odd, unrealistic circumstances sometimes. 45 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:07.520 I mean, that's just me. 46 00:02:07.520 --> 00:02:11.120 That's what, when I look at actors and I make a judgment, 47 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:13.840 I suppose it's always about whether I believe them or not. 48 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:14.720 That's the key thing. 49 00:02:14.720 --> 00:02:17.440 So, if believability and kind of authenticity is the key. 50 00:02:17.440 --> 00:02:19.120 I think so. Yeah. 51 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.000 And is that what you strive for across like all the work you've done? 52 00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:29.040 100% I think I always try and make it as believable as a can. 53 00:02:29.040 --> 00:02:32.240 But I suppose when I approach a role, 54 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:37.520 I always try and believe what's being said to that character 55 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:40.720 or myself or whatever I want to do to him. 56 00:02:41.440 --> 00:02:45.040 So, I think a lot of the time, 57 00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:49.680 if I'm working with a really good actor and I can really believe what they're saying 58 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:54.960 and I'll try and respond adequately and appropriately to the situation. 59 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.520 And that's how I've always tried to do things. 60 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:04.320 And I think that was sort of taught to me when I went to the ITV workshop years ago. 61 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:07.840 It was all about believing what's going on. 62 00:03:08.880 --> 00:03:11.120 And there's the old saying acting is reacting. 63 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:12.880 But I think a lot of the time it's true. 64 00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:14.800 If you can just really figure out, 65 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:23.600 I'll create a way to believe that you're in the same situation as you character 66 00:03:23.600 --> 00:03:25.520 than I could be audience do believe you. 67 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:27.760 Yeah, because you started acting for quite an early age, I want to say. 68 00:03:27.760 --> 00:03:32.080 Because you brought up in Derby and then you discovered acting quite an early age. 69 00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:33.760 I mean, how did you discover it? 70 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:36.720 So it's a really long story. 71 00:03:36.720 --> 00:03:44.080 But there was a school production of books in my life when I was in 72 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:45.680 year six, I remember it. 73 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.680 And I really wanted to play Bugsy. 74 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:49.360 But I didn't get the part of Bugsy. 75 00:03:49.920 --> 00:03:52.240 I got a part of Knuckles, but I enjoyed that. 76 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.880 I had a great time and it was something that I'd never done before. 77 00:03:54.880 --> 00:04:02.800 And I'm not from like an acting background or it wasn't anything that I'd even thought about. 78 00:04:02.800 --> 00:04:07.360 Until I saw the Bugsy Milo musical and they were doing it at a school and I was like, 79 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:12.480 I wanted to, I remember watching the film at school. 80 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:15.200 The teacher was like, right, we're doing this this year. 81 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:16.800 Watch this film. 82 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:21.680 And I remember me and my best mate at the time were just, that's so cool, 83 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.360 just bloody gangsters and guns. 84 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.000 And then I auditioned for it, I didn't get it. 85 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:27.760 And I was really disappointed actually. 86 00:04:27.760 --> 00:04:31.520 And I couldn't wrap quite a grip on why I was so disappointed. 87 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:36.720 But me mum, then she looked at the Derby even in telegraph and saw that there was a 88 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:42.240 an amateur dramatic production of Bugsy Milo and I should go for it. 89 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.000 It just wasn't really my world when I was 11, 12. 90 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:53.600 It just wasn't, I think that I don't know, considered or thought. 91 00:04:54.880 --> 00:04:57.920 It just went really like cool, I don't think, when I was that age. 92 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:02.480 But I auditioned for it anyway and I got the part of Bugsy and then that was it. 93 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:04.720 And I just, I started doing plays. 94 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:08.800 I started, I did a couple for the Derby Youth Theatre. 95 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:14.560 And then when I was 14, I auditioned for the, it was then called The Carlton Workshop. 96 00:05:16.640 --> 00:05:17.680 And eventually I'd got in. 97 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:18.960 I didn't get in the first time. 98 00:05:18.960 --> 00:05:21.280 They put me in the reserve group whatever it was. 99 00:05:21.280 --> 00:05:23.760 And then I remember getting the information. 100 00:05:23.760 --> 00:05:26.400 I think it was like new years one day, one year. 101 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:29.760 And they told me that I was in the group when I was just, I was buzzing. 102 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:36.720 And then from there, I learned so much and worked so many amazing actors. 103 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:42.000 But a lot of casting directors and directors would use the workshop to get the kids. 104 00:05:42.000 --> 00:05:46.320 And I think I was really lucky at that time there was a lot of independent films 105 00:05:46.320 --> 00:05:55.680 knocking about in short films and I'd done enough by 18 to get an agent who I've been with ever since. 106 00:05:56.640 --> 00:05:58.960 And would you say acting became a kind of escape for you? 107 00:05:58.960 --> 00:06:03.600 Because reading about how you started and where you came from in Derby, 108 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:05.520 quite a very working class environment. 109 00:06:05.520 --> 00:06:08.160 Sometimes could be quite a tough environment for what I understand. 110 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:11.600 Did acting kind of provide a kind of escape from that sometimes? 111 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:12.960 Or 100%. 112 00:06:12.960 --> 00:06:19.280 Like I said, I was quite, I was embarrassed when I first started acting. 113 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.800 Because I mean there was sort of football or boxing or 114 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:27.440 other sort of things that you do outside of school that were considered normal. 115 00:06:27.440 --> 00:06:29.680 But I quite enjoyed acting. 116 00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:33.920 And between the sort of group of friends that I had, it wasn't normal. 117 00:06:33.920 --> 00:06:36.640 And I was quite embarrassed to begin with. 118 00:06:36.640 --> 00:06:40.320 But eventually it was just like who I was and what I like doing. 119 00:06:40.320 --> 00:06:45.840 And there isn't very many opportunities for that sort of stuff in Derby. 120 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:50.000 I mean there is acting classes, but you have to pay for them. 121 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.440 And I'm always under the impression that 122 00:06:55.520 --> 00:06:58.560 especially when you're young you say sort of kids that have got a bit of die, 123 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:00.880 we've got a bit of money behind them who's found me can sort of 124 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:07.680 afford a spot in a, you know, I don't know, a theatre school or whatever you 125 00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:08.240 want to call it. 126 00:07:10.640 --> 00:07:16.160 I just, yeah, I was just a little bit, it was a bit hard. 127 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:19.840 It was another thing to do and people never really got it until I got 128 00:07:19.840 --> 00:07:23.520 a bit older and it was just like I said, it became part of who I was. 129 00:07:24.640 --> 00:07:27.280 And you mentioned there the workshops you did because I know that you went to, 130 00:07:27.280 --> 00:07:30.400 so I think when you were 14 you eventually went down to Nottingham 131 00:07:30.400 --> 00:07:34.240 and joined the television workshop there which was kind of quite famous. 132 00:07:34.240 --> 00:07:37.600 I mean a lot of actors came for there like Samantha Morton and Vicki McClure. 133 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:39.120 I mean, what did you learn there? 134 00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:40.240 What did that teach you about acting? 135 00:07:41.440 --> 00:07:45.120 Again, it was the truth behind acting. 136 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:49.200 But also it was the fun and being around like-minded people and people with 137 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:52.320 the sort of similar, with the similar backgrounds of yourself. 138 00:07:53.440 --> 00:07:59.760 But we do, you do plays, you do, you really sort of get to the bottom of every intention, 139 00:07:59.760 --> 00:08:00.640 of every scene. 140 00:08:00.640 --> 00:08:04.960 You do the work a lot at the time, but also you know, you'd be taking on weird camps, 141 00:08:04.960 --> 00:08:09.280 not weird camps, but like, you've been taking on trips to go and see this play or 142 00:08:11.440 --> 00:08:15.280 you know, a musical group come in and teach out and play drums. 143 00:08:15.280 --> 00:08:19.040 It was just, there was all sorts of activities going on at workshop and it was all 144 00:08:19.520 --> 00:08:21.360 for free, you didn't have to pay for it. 145 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.960 But I think at the bare bones of it, it was just learning how to 146 00:08:24.960 --> 00:08:28.400 how to put yourself in that situation. 147 00:08:30.240 --> 00:08:33.040 But you tried different techniques, you never go with different things, 148 00:08:33.040 --> 00:08:38.240 but at the core of it all, it was just sort of putting your own personality in the scene. 149 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:43.280 And it was only when you were, it wasn't that long after that that you landed your first, 150 00:08:43.280 --> 00:08:45.920 I guess you could say, major role in this is England, right? 151 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.040 As Harvey, I want to say you were about 18 when you did that? 152 00:08:49.040 --> 00:08:50.640 Well, when I did the film. 153 00:08:50.640 --> 00:08:51.280 Yeah. 154 00:08:51.280 --> 00:08:56.320 Yeah, I think I was 16, 17, 16, 17, which is, yeah, which is amazing. 155 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:00.240 I mean, am I right in thinking that Shane, that you didn't even have to audition for Shane 156 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.080 for that role? It just kind of came together. 157 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:05.600 I didn't have to audition. 158 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:10.880 I remember Ian Smith at the workshop was saying, oh, you've got a part in the film. 159 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:12.800 So this is the other thing. 160 00:09:12.800 --> 00:09:15.040 I think when I went to workshop, there was no real, 161 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:21.520 it wasn't like something you'd go to and think I'm going to be in films. 162 00:09:21.520 --> 00:09:24.480 It was sort of then you went to for a, for a fall. 163 00:09:25.040 --> 00:09:27.760 It was something you went to because it was, it wasn't escape. 164 00:09:27.760 --> 00:09:32.000 It was somewhere to go, somewhere to have a laugh with, with friends, 165 00:09:32.880 --> 00:09:34.960 alongside doing something that you really love. 166 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.640 So there was no real expectation for getting roles. 167 00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:41.120 It was just something you did for purely for fun, with 168 00:09:43.280 --> 00:09:46.400 there was no real risk to not immediately. 169 00:09:46.400 --> 00:09:47.280 It had nothing to lose. 170 00:09:47.280 --> 00:09:49.200 It was all just, you go there, have some fun. 171 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.200 You might get cast, although I just keep going. 172 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:51.920 You love fun anyway. 173 00:09:52.560 --> 00:09:55.680 And Ian Smith, I think that word with Shane, 174 00:09:55.680 --> 00:10:00.160 and was like, I'm after, like Shane said, it was after a certain role. 175 00:10:00.160 --> 00:10:02.240 And Ian was probably like, I've got the guy for you. 176 00:10:03.040 --> 00:10:04.800 And then they ended up on, on, this is England. 177 00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:06.720 But that was the first set I'd ever been on. 178 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:08.720 And I had no idea what to expect. 179 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:09.440 What to expect. 180 00:10:09.760 --> 00:10:12.080 I've been, I didn't know me where around the set. 181 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:16.800 I really remember once I'm handing me coats to like a focus puller or something. 182 00:10:16.800 --> 00:10:17.680 They're like a warm coat. 183 00:10:17.680 --> 00:10:18.560 I didn't know what to do with it. 184 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:20.320 I knew that I couldn't wear it for the scenes. 185 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:21.840 I was like, can you take that? 186 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:22.880 I don't know what to do with it. 187 00:10:23.760 --> 00:10:26.080 And just not known. 188 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:31.120 I didn't realise that people did it for work. 189 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.360 I didn't realise that all these people, all the crew did it as a job. 190 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:37.920 I thought it was just a hobby that everyone quite enjoyed. 191 00:10:37.920 --> 00:10:39.520 That everyone did in their spare time. 192 00:10:39.520 --> 00:10:40.480 They've got a few weeks off. 193 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:41.680 So let's make a film. 194 00:10:41.680 --> 00:10:43.520 I didn't know the people really got paid for it. 195 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:51.040 But it was, I mean, I did, I think, three days on the film, this is England. 196 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:53.120 And it was just fun. 197 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:58.080 But also, it was a, what I've eventually learned was it was a different environment. 198 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:02.640 It wasn't, I was lucky that I learned a lot of sort of script work with a workshop. 199 00:11:02.640 --> 00:11:07.440 But on this is England, there wasn't no script. 200 00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:10.000 But again, that was what workshop taught. 201 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:11.600 It was improvisation. 202 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:12.960 One of the first things I ever did, 203 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.760 where I mean, even the audition process for workshop was all improv. 204 00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:19.680 We'd just go into a circle and you'd try and persuade someone to get out of a chair. 205 00:11:19.680 --> 00:11:21.120 Or you just have a laugh. 206 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.240 You learn to have quite thick skin, I think, in that environment. 207 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:28.320 Because being that sort of young kids in an improvisational setting, 208 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:30.000 you're going to start taking a piss out of people. 209 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:36.480 You're going to sort of dig up people's locks, I suppose, and whatever. 210 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:42.800 Well, you learn to have quite thick skin and be able to take one for the team for the sake of art. 211 00:11:43.680 --> 00:11:46.560 Because what's interesting to me, one of the main interesting things to me about 212 00:11:46.560 --> 00:11:50.880 like your work on this is England and with Shane, is that as I understand, Shane's sets are very, 213 00:11:50.880 --> 00:11:53.520 they're interesting because there's a lot of improvisation, as you say on set. 214 00:11:53.520 --> 00:11:56.400 There's a, they're famous for kind of the improvisational qualities and, 215 00:11:56.400 --> 00:11:57.760 and the work he does with his actors. 216 00:11:57.760 --> 00:11:59.360 I mean, what did you learn from Shane? 217 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:01.600 Like, I mean, across all the work you've done together because you've, 218 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.120 you obviously went on and had a great, you know, partnership beyond the film. 219 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:08.080 But what would you say you've learned the biggest thing you've learned from him? 220 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:10.720 Welcome. So actually, Shane gives you a lot of time. 221 00:12:11.760 --> 00:12:19.440 Shane, what I learned, I suppose more recently, Shane, I don't think he wants you to do something 222 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.360 that you're not capable of doing in your normal life. 223 00:12:24.160 --> 00:12:25.920 It doesn't really expect you to act. 224 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:31.680 As obvious as this may sound, he sort of wants you to beat. 225 00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:36.880 So he'll, he'll want, he'll either work from taught you sort of, you'll draw from who you are 226 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:43.600 and whether you're able to sort of beat who you are on camera as opposed to be, 227 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.920 as opposed to being somebody, somebody else. 228 00:12:49.040 --> 00:12:56.400 And when I watch Shane's work, you just see the truth that aren't every film who's ever done. 229 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.360 You always see just cracking performances. 230 00:13:00.880 --> 00:13:06.800 I suppose the, the madness in the ordinary as a viewer, and that's what I find for 231 00:13:06.800 --> 00:13:13.200 and I really enjoy watching. I can watch people, I don't care about storyline, 232 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:17.200 if the people that are in it are brilliant or I believe the people that are in something, 233 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.680 I don't need a brilliant storyline. 234 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.000 So would you say that kind of authenticity that we talked about at the start, 235 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:27.680 what you wish you were striving for as an actor, would you say that Shane shares that 236 00:13:27.680 --> 00:13:29.920 and that's where you kind of maybe learned about that? 237 00:13:29.920 --> 00:13:34.400 Yeah, 100%. I mean, through both the workshop and Shane, yeah. 238 00:13:35.680 --> 00:13:39.520 And it's sort of like if, if I was to ever direct something, 239 00:13:39.520 --> 00:13:40.960 I'd like to do it the way Shane does it. 240 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:49.920 But Shane, like, when I did this in England, both a film and the TV show, 241 00:13:49.920 --> 00:13:55.600 I didn't really pay much attention to the sort of direct and aspect of things. 242 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:59.280 But when I worked with him most recently in the Gallows poll on the prep for it, 243 00:14:00.640 --> 00:14:05.040 I realized how much Shane knows about everything when it comes to film. 244 00:14:05.040 --> 00:14:11.520 Do you know what I mean? He's an expert in all things related to film. 245 00:14:11.520 --> 00:14:13.520 I think he's just got a real keen interest. 246 00:14:13.520 --> 00:14:17.840 And like, I remember that, I remember Shane and the D.O. Pete just getting out all these 247 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:20.880 lenses and it sounded like lighting because I didn't have a clue what they were talking about. 248 00:14:20.880 --> 00:14:25.680 But Shane knows everything, like, you know, in all the lenses, he knew what sort of light he was 249 00:14:25.680 --> 00:14:29.600 after. And I never really considered it up until when I did the Gallows poll and I was like, 250 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:36.160 this man knows his stuff. But every intricate part of film in this man knows about. 251 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:42.880 But I suppose when I was younger, it was more, I just, I turned up on set, I did me acting 252 00:14:42.880 --> 00:14:47.600 in a no-one home. I didn't really consider the other departments as selfish as that reason. 253 00:14:48.960 --> 00:14:53.120 But then like, you're an actor who also, I mean, when I was sort of digging into the, 254 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:56.400 you know, the interviews you've given about your process over the years, like, I know that you're 255 00:14:56.400 --> 00:15:00.640 a big fan of like research, like you talk about Shane knows his stuff. And for what I understand, 256 00:15:00.640 --> 00:15:04.960 you also like to know your stuff. Like, I think Gallows poll was six months of research in prep 257 00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:10.880 before you started shooting. Is that right? Yeah. So when it came to, because I wanted it, 258 00:15:10.880 --> 00:15:17.760 as I wanted David Hartley to be, I needed to know about what it was like living at that time. 259 00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:22.560 I needed to, if we're living on a farmstead, I don't want to be scared of a chicken. I wanted 260 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:28.800 to be able to, if the occasion ever arose that I needed to pick up a chicken, I wanted to 261 00:15:28.800 --> 00:15:38.480 competently pick up a chicken. So I ended up working on a farm for a little bit, sharing sheep. 262 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:44.080 And sometimes the old school where shit like scissors are big scissors. 263 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:50.720 I'm about to, but as a, as a whole cast, we had to learn about the sort of history of the time, 264 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:57.280 which I love history anyway. I had to get bigger. I needed to sort of look a little bit more 265 00:15:57.280 --> 00:16:04.400 imposing. So I was picking the gym and drinking loads of protein shakes. And also, I started 266 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:11.920 getting into long distance, walking because David, the story, as he walked from Birmingham to 267 00:16:11.920 --> 00:16:17.920 Halifax, that's a long old young. So I started doing a bit of that just to sort of get an idea 268 00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:24.080 of what that would be like. And then it became a real passion of mine. But, but Shane's really 269 00:16:24.080 --> 00:16:27.840 accommodating. He was like, yeah, that's a great idea. Let's do it. And Shane had come on walks, 270 00:16:27.920 --> 00:16:34.240 with me. And yeah, there was quite a lot. There's quite a lot of prep for that. But it was 271 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.880 all just fun. Do you know what I mean? It's everything. All the prep that came with Gallows' 272 00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:44.640 pole, I just really enjoyed. Farmer's so very lucky that I just got to a load of stuff that 273 00:16:44.640 --> 00:16:51.680 was dead into it, history, looking after myself and walking far. Yeah. And is it always a fun 274 00:16:51.680 --> 00:16:58.560 process for you? Is it research always something that you enjoy? Yeah, it is. I mean, 275 00:16:58.560 --> 00:17:07.840 there is times when I get scared still. I get very nervous before a project. Like, I start my 276 00:17:07.840 --> 00:17:13.440 first day on this job now as I'm Monday. And we're prepping at the moment. I'm doing vocal coaching 277 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:21.040 and sort of looking into the history that I'm on doing. At this point now, I've got a couple of 278 00:17:21.040 --> 00:17:27.760 days in a week and then I start, but I'm always terrified. Apart before I go on set, I can't sleep. 279 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:36.160 It takes me a few weeks to get into a project and feel at home. If that ever happens at all, 280 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:40.800 I'm always quite scared. But I think the research sort of dulls that pain a little bit of, 281 00:17:40.800 --> 00:17:48.240 not necessarily pain, but sort of eases the anxiety a little bit. And at least I know, 282 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:51.760 it's a certain degree where the character's coming from. And what else do you sort of do, 283 00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:57.120 the sort of, I guess, the fear and the nerves? Do you have any kind of beyond research? 284 00:17:57.120 --> 00:18:00.640 Do you have any other kind of strategies, I guess, or any kind of things that you've developed 285 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:07.360 over the years to deal with that? I think what I do naturally is just try and enjoy myself on set. 286 00:18:07.360 --> 00:18:14.640 And I mean, I'm a bit of a joke, I suppose, and a bit of a piss taker. It's sort of in between 287 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:20.880 these, in between the set ups or whatever it is. I don't know, I'm taking the piss a bit. 288 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:26.400 I try and enjoy myself, but hopefully I'm not a distraction to other people's work, but I try 289 00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:34.960 and remember that this is and always should be fun. And I'm blessed to do a job that I don't hate. 290 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:43.200 So I think naturally I'll find myself quite distracted and maybe a bit distracting. 291 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.880 But I can act as the way I'm coping with my nerves, because I'm terrified, ultimately all the time, 292 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.800 other than when the camera, other than action, and then I'm just sort of, 293 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:58.480 and then I'm at peace, and then I'm in a weird sort of blissful state, and then they go caught, 294 00:18:58.480 --> 00:19:00.560 and then I'm back to being a bit of an odd bed, I think. 295 00:19:02.240 --> 00:19:06.560 Well, that kind of energy, that kind of camaraderie, is something that you really feel on things 296 00:19:06.560 --> 00:19:10.640 that you've done like this is England, like the whole cast of this is England, even though there's 297 00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:14.640 tension and drama in there as well. I mean, it feels watching that, there's such 298 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.320 camaraderie between you all. I mean, what would the cast like to, and people like Thomas 299 00:19:18.320 --> 00:19:21.360 Turgus and Joseph Gilbert, I mean, what would the cast like to work with on that? 300 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:26.320 I mean, I think that might be me. Problem you say I've worked with on them sort of environments where 301 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:33.120 it was just one big laugh, it was a big giggle. I mean, obviously there's a lot of drama, but 302 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:40.560 we had so much fun, and everybody in this is Englander, a really good mix of mine. 303 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:47.440 Well, I still keep in contact with now. Tom O'Tear, I speak to all the time, 304 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:52.000 we meet up at Meadow Hall often for a coffee or whatever, because that's the sort of halfway 305 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:57.520 spot between Derby and Grimm's Beat. Shimi, I spoke to Vixie the other day. 306 00:19:57.600 --> 00:20:04.400 We're all just friends, and there was a real bond there, there was a real tightness, 307 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:10.320 because we're all children, really. We're all children, and we sort of grew up together 308 00:20:10.320 --> 00:20:17.760 in this sort of mad environment. So yeah, it was, it was maybe, maybe I took a little bit of a, 309 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:24.880 I maybe I'm sort of acquired something, this is England set that just never disappeared, 310 00:20:24.960 --> 00:20:28.160 and that being sort of having a laugh on set a lot. 311 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:34.480 And how important do you think it is to have a laugh on set when you're working, or when you're 312 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:41.120 on set? I mean, I'm only speaking for myself really, but I have to, I have to, because 313 00:20:42.880 --> 00:20:48.720 there's some really, sometimes you have to do some quite dark stuff, and a for me to deal with it, 314 00:20:49.760 --> 00:20:54.720 I have to sort of do the dark stuff and then just go back to being myself. I can't sort of 315 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:03.600 linger in that darkness, but it's, I do, like the either side of the work itself, which comes 316 00:21:03.600 --> 00:21:09.840 quite a lot, I mean, you'll do a take, call them reset, then you do a take, and then I'm in a 317 00:21:09.840 --> 00:21:14.400 flow, but then there'll be a reset, and then it's like, okay, we've got 30 minutes, maybe, 318 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:22.640 up, 5 to 30 minutes of sort of normality, which I enjoy, I have to go, I have to go away from 319 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:27.760 the work, be Michael again, and then I can add a quickly go back and be whatever character I 320 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:36.720 can't linger in a character, I think I get eddake, I've tried to, I'm about eddake. 321 00:21:38.080 --> 00:21:42.560 So the whole kind of method acting school, it doesn't really appeal to you in that sense of 322 00:21:42.560 --> 00:21:45.680 staying in character, the way that people think of method acting when you're staying character, 323 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:47.760 when the camera's not rolling, that doesn't appeal to you. 324 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:55.520 So I can't knock actors who do it, I think fair play, if that's what you want to do, 325 00:21:56.960 --> 00:22:01.840 but I did have a conversation with an actor very recently, and he was, I was talking about 326 00:22:01.840 --> 00:22:05.360 the method acting, and I said, it's not really from me, and then he asked me, he goes, well, 327 00:22:05.360 --> 00:22:08.800 when you're learning your lines, you're in character, I said, oh yeah, you said, when you're 328 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:14.400 just about to do a take, you get an inter character, I said, yeah, right, I'm, and then he says, 329 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:20.000 well, what are you doing there? And I thought, oh wow, okay, and my method acting, he goes, well, 330 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.800 maybe, but you're not doing it all day, for then brief little moments, you are a method. 331 00:22:25.360 --> 00:22:32.160 So I thought, oh, okay, that's quite interesting. So I mean, I remember on the, on the 332 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:40.320 gallows pole, remember we were doing workshops for, for the show, I was, I was, I was getting 333 00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:44.080 myself into a bit of a state, and I was sort of deliberately keeping myself away from the cast, 334 00:22:44.080 --> 00:22:49.680 and I was deliberately locking myself up, and we were working in this, um, my office space, 335 00:22:49.680 --> 00:22:53.600 and I, a lot of the door, and I didn't like the door, but the door, and just got myself into it. 336 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:59.360 I don't know, that's an act of state. And it honestly gave me a day. Do you know what I mean, 337 00:22:59.360 --> 00:23:06.720 I went home feeling like shit, and I, I'm not sure that it necessarily helped, but I'm not, 338 00:23:06.720 --> 00:23:12.400 I'm, I wouldn't know an alternative because I can't, I can't turn back time, but, 339 00:23:13.760 --> 00:23:18.480 yeah, I don't know, I, I love me acting, I love playing a character, but then I also 340 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:24.800 quite enjoy being me again after. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know when to switch it off and then 341 00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:30.480 go back into it. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's, but again, I can't knock any, I can't knock 342 00:23:30.560 --> 00:23:33.920 another person's method. They've got to, and that's something I've, I've sort of, 343 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:41.440 as a, as I've worked on more jobs, I've realized that just because I don't do it that way, 344 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:46.000 it doesn't mean that that's a bad way of doing it. It's just not the way I do it. Um, so yeah, 345 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:51.360 each of their own is just maybe not necessarily for me. For sure. And then around the time of 346 00:23:51.360 --> 00:23:56.160 this is England, when it went from movie to series, I mean, another, you know, great role that 347 00:23:56.160 --> 00:24:00.320 you took on was Tom in being human. Of course, Tom the werewolf. I mean, how did that 348 00:24:00.320 --> 00:24:04.800 role come about? I can't really remember to be honest with you. I know that I got that job 349 00:24:04.800 --> 00:24:13.760 during, I don't know if this is in England 86 or, or 88, I think it was 86, but it was like, 350 00:24:14.560 --> 00:24:20.000 because they're not really done much. I've done like the odd episode here and there of something, 351 00:24:20.080 --> 00:24:27.280 but I'd never really had like a, like a semi-regular part. So when I got the part, it's sort of like, 352 00:24:27.280 --> 00:24:33.600 am I an actor now? Is that what I'm doing? Am I, am I, is this how I'm paying bills? 353 00:24:34.800 --> 00:24:39.040 I mean, I was buzzing to get it. And it was good because the character was so different to, 354 00:24:39.600 --> 00:24:46.800 to, um, Harvey. I just, it was, it came at a time that was just sort of perfect for me because 355 00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:51.680 I went from sort of one extreme to the other. Yeah. And of course, you know, another great writer, 356 00:24:51.680 --> 00:24:55.440 who was the showrunner on that with Toby Witthouse. I mean, you've worked with so many great writers 357 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:59.760 and directors of your career. And then he's no exception. I mean, what was it like sort of 358 00:24:59.760 --> 00:25:05.200 speaking his words and playing that part, you know, under his, the umbrella of him being the showrunner? 359 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.760 I mean, I guess compared to someone like Shane. What was that like? 360 00:25:08.800 --> 00:25:14.640 So yeah, it was completely different because I'm on a set now where I'm surrounded by vampires, 361 00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:21.360 ghosts and werewolves and prosthetics and, and special effects. It really was one extreme to 362 00:25:21.360 --> 00:25:27.280 the other, but it was, and also it was just because there was a script, which you know, I mean, 363 00:25:27.280 --> 00:25:36.560 I'm working up it up a script and then I had to sort of tackle, um, hey, fun. Like it always is, 364 00:25:36.560 --> 00:25:43.840 it was just a load of fun. I got to run around as a, as an aware puppy. And again, I mean, 365 00:25:43.840 --> 00:25:49.840 even though it was a completely different character to Harvey, it was still sort of trying 366 00:25:49.840 --> 00:25:55.120 to draw a draw on a vulnerability that was probably within me anyway. You're not a meme. 367 00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:59.360 And because you mentioned genre, I mean, because you've worked again, like so many different 368 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:02.880 writers you've worked, if you also worked across so many different genres, like with Shane, 369 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:07.520 kind of social realism and then being human, it's, you know, it's horror and comedy and fantasy. 370 00:26:07.520 --> 00:26:11.280 It's such a mishmash and then obviously things like, you know, once put a time, you know, again, 371 00:26:11.280 --> 00:26:15.200 like kind of fantastical. I mean, do you enjoy the kind of genre hopping that you've done? 372 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.120 I mean, do you have any favorite genres that you've worked in? 373 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:24.080 No, I really don't. I don't have a, I don't have a fate. I mean, I'm lucky to have jumped 374 00:26:24.080 --> 00:26:31.360 between genres, I suppose. But it's never something where, um, sort of made a conscious choice or said 375 00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:36.640 to me, agent, okay, it's time for fantasy or let's get back into some sort of gritty stuff. 376 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:40.880 It's, it's a matter of reading and going up, wow, okay, yeah, I want to do this. 377 00:26:40.880 --> 00:26:46.560 And it's audition for that one. I enjoy all aspects of, um, of acting, I suppose. I enjoy 378 00:26:46.560 --> 00:26:52.240 playing comedy. But I tell you what happens with me is that I enjoy to say if I've done a comedy, 379 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:56.480 I think right, it's time to do a bit of, I won't, I won't go right. It's time to do a bit of drama. 380 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:02.400 I sometimes go, it's not up to me. I don't get the choice. But I'd like to do a bit of drama. It 381 00:27:02.480 --> 00:27:08.240 seems that once I've done a certain drama, I want to move on and try something else. But I'm happy, 382 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:12.880 sort of mixing and jumping in. Yeah, I enjoy all genres, I think. 383 00:27:14.080 --> 00:27:18.640 And then the cast of being human. I mean, you again, another fantastic cast. I mean, what was it 384 00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.400 like bonding with them? I mean, like the setup being, you know, you guys were all basically 385 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:26.160 housemates and living together. I mean, what was it? Does that, how it felt when you were making that 386 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:33.040 show, that closeness? So I was scared before I joined a bit being human because it was a well-established 387 00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:39.680 show with a well-established cast. And I'd just come from this as England where even before you start 388 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:43.280 filming, you're having mad bonding days and you're going out and you're sort of doing a little bit 389 00:27:43.280 --> 00:27:48.960 of character work and just, you know, I mean, we're all in the sort of same boat. And I was a little 390 00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.720 bit nervous to go on that set because I just thought these are a bunch of people who have been 391 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:58.480 doing the show for a couple of years. I'm just, I don't know how I'm going to fit into this, 392 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.720 but they were all absolutely beautiful. They sort of welcomed me with open arms and I had 393 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:08.720 loads of fun with them. And they let me do you feel welcome? 100%. Yeah. Yeah, they were brilliant. 394 00:28:09.520 --> 00:28:13.520 And really bloody good as well, really good actors because that's the thing in it. It's 395 00:28:14.160 --> 00:28:24.480 had you be how in that sort of environment, in that world, to say those sort of lines with conviction 396 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:33.920 and truth, that was the hard part, I suppose. And that's the, yeah, I think to be able to 397 00:28:35.760 --> 00:28:41.600 sort of be truthful in that environment because it's, you can sort of put yourself in certain 398 00:28:41.600 --> 00:28:46.560 environments and sort of say, I've sort of been there. I've done that, but I've never been a 399 00:28:46.560 --> 00:28:51.840 vampire chasing werewolf before. So bringing that kind of authenticity, like we were saying, to 400 00:28:51.840 --> 00:28:57.120 the kind of fantastical and kind of preposterous, like vampires and werewolves was that that was 401 00:28:57.120 --> 00:29:01.200 the challenge. That was the challenge. Yeah, but then you just got a, as an act of belief, 402 00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:08.640 do you, you're a vampire hate in werewolf? And then, and then sticking with the kind of fantastical 403 00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:12.400 genres you worked in because it was, I want to say it was shortly not too long after then that you 404 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:17.440 went across the, you know, the seas to America to Canada to do once upon a time. That was, 405 00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:20.320 that was not too long after. I mean, what was your experience like working on that? I mean, 406 00:29:20.320 --> 00:29:24.880 going from kind of British homegrown projects like this is England being human to kind of big, 407 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:29.120 you know, American, Canadian, you know, shoot and production. What was that like? 408 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:34.800 I remember getting that I remember putting myself on tape for at first. 409 00:29:35.520 --> 00:29:41.200 And then the manager going, oh, the really into you, you need to put yourself on tape again, 410 00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:45.440 but at the office because I think I was using my phone or something like that with my friends, 411 00:29:46.080 --> 00:29:52.640 a flattened clap them and then do like, right, we just make a better tape for a, for a pilot. 412 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:57.600 I didn't even know what pilot was. I didn't, I didn't know the clue what I was doing. So they flew 413 00:29:57.600 --> 00:30:01.920 me over and then we did a, we shot a pilot for I think about 11 days or whatever it was. 414 00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:08.640 And it was the first time working in a, like a green screen studio. 415 00:30:09.840 --> 00:30:15.120 And then I learned with a pilot, it might not go ahead. And even if it does go ahead, 416 00:30:15.120 --> 00:30:21.200 it might not use you. So I was like, okay, call whatever that was fun. And it was the first 417 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:26.480 time I'd flown business class on a plane and it was all just, wow, this is fantastic. It 418 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:32.320 gave me a knots on a plane. And then I got back to England and sort of forgot about it. 419 00:30:32.320 --> 00:30:39.520 And then I was working on a job called Silent Witnesses and Silent Witness. And then the agent was 420 00:30:39.520 --> 00:30:46.640 calling me about three in the morning. I was in a hotel room and I had a group call with me, 421 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:50.880 agent, me manager and the like, they're going ahead with the series and you're going to have to 422 00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:57.840 relocate to Vancouver, which were all sort of new foreign terms to me. I never, I didn't know 423 00:30:57.840 --> 00:31:06.720 what relocating meant. I didn't know what, what, what, what it entailed. So then I went over and 424 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:13.600 yeah, stayed in my group of two years doing an ABC show. Incredible. And then like the press 425 00:31:13.600 --> 00:31:19.680 aspect of it was just something I never experienced before that going to a Comic-Con in Sunday A 426 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:27.920 going to New York and seeing, I don't know, all sorts of posters and it was, yeah, crazy. 427 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:32.880 I really, my time in my life. Would you say it was a bit kind of overwhelming? 428 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:38.480 100% yeah, because it sounds like a lot. Yeah, I didn't, I didn't have a clue. I didn't, 429 00:31:39.680 --> 00:31:48.480 and I think the, I loved the character. The character I played was just incredible. I really felt 430 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:53.600 from I thought it was funny. I understood where he was at. I loved playing that character. 431 00:31:53.600 --> 00:31:58.320 But the either side of it again is like an aspect that I was a bit unfamiliar with. 432 00:31:59.360 --> 00:32:05.920 I like to be on my own in a, in a city and understanding a set properly, understanding that 433 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:10.720 this is what could happen. You could be a, you could be an actor and then be taken away from everything 434 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:20.480 that you've known and drive yourself into work and this is a way of life. I think it was sort of 435 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:27.360 like a slow progression from this is England to being human to once upon a time. It was like wow, 436 00:32:27.360 --> 00:32:33.600 okay, so if you want this, if you want this career, this is what could happen. You could end up sort 437 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:38.080 having to deal with your own, having to deal with isolation and being on your own 438 00:32:40.480 --> 00:32:45.280 alongside doing the stuff that you really love. And was that isolation, did that sort of give you 439 00:32:45.280 --> 00:32:49.760 paused, whoever you would continue down that road? Because, you know, as you say, like, because you 440 00:32:49.760 --> 00:32:53.440 would, being human in this England was so much like British homegrown projects. And then once 441 00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:58.480 about time was this massive American kind of, you know, show. I mean, did it kind of give you 442 00:32:58.560 --> 00:33:05.200 pause that kind of, some of those sort of challenges? It's sort of reflecting that I understood it 443 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:10.800 to be honest with you. At the time, I just, I just, I didn't really understand why I was feeling 444 00:33:10.800 --> 00:33:21.520 sometimes a bit sad. And I was young as well. I was, I was, I know, 24, 23, 24 when I got the job. 445 00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:27.200 And I was just, it was all quite overwhelming. It really was overwhelming. 446 00:33:27.760 --> 00:33:32.560 Yeah, it's sometimes a little bit difficult to deal with, but if I learned from it, I learned, 447 00:33:33.760 --> 00:33:37.840 I learned some hard to deal with the way I am alongside the work. 448 00:33:38.880 --> 00:33:42.880 But you didn't feel like it was maybe for you as well at the same time. That kind of, 449 00:33:44.800 --> 00:33:48.960 I loved the work. But maybe I didn't realise how 450 00:33:49.760 --> 00:33:55.200 lucky I was to be able to do the work. I just, I just, it was a really sort of 451 00:33:56.320 --> 00:34:01.280 odd time for me, I think, being over there. There was so many things that I loved, but then 452 00:34:01.280 --> 00:34:07.360 a few things that I struggled with. But I think as of grown older, and I've worked on 453 00:34:07.360 --> 00:34:12.560 other productions, I sort of get it a bit more now. I sort, I understand. But also, I think, 454 00:34:12.560 --> 00:34:16.800 kind of, who I am now, where I don't think I did back then, sort of grown up a little bit, 455 00:34:17.760 --> 00:34:23.280 I figured out who I am, which I think it's 24, 23, 24, I don't think I did. 456 00:34:26.160 --> 00:34:29.520 Well, I mean, I've got to ask you, but another project that I've yours, that I'm a big fan of, 457 00:34:29.520 --> 00:34:34.480 one of the one more recent projects he did was Toxic Town with Jody Whitaker, another brilliant 458 00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:38.480 piece of work. I mean, as I say, you've carved out your career working with some amazing writers, 459 00:34:38.480 --> 00:34:42.480 and Jack Form was the writer on that who obviously then went on to do adolescence, another brilliant 460 00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:46.160 show. I mean, and he had worked with you on this as England, you know, written this as England. 461 00:34:46.160 --> 00:34:51.040 I mean, what is it about Jack that makes him such a special writer as an actor to work with? 462 00:34:51.600 --> 00:34:58.240 I think Jack is a, a grafter. I think Jack puts a lot of time into whatever project he's working on. 463 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:07.120 He knows the stuff. I remember, like, Jack with, when I first met Jack on this as England, he was just 464 00:35:07.680 --> 00:35:13.520 fully immersed in the projects. To the point where he wanted a little part in it, he played 465 00:35:13.520 --> 00:35:22.000 carrotball in the, in my party scene, but Jack, he writes some, but I've never seen anything that 466 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:30.320 Jack's written that I'm not enjoyed, but I don't know. It's just maybe a magical gift for Jack. 467 00:35:31.120 --> 00:35:37.280 I always find being attached to anything that Jack's written, and you're very fortunate. 468 00:35:37.280 --> 00:35:39.120 You're lucky, and you know you're in something special. 469 00:35:40.720 --> 00:35:44.160 And if you followed on his career, I mean, I'm guessing you've seen adolescence, right? 470 00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:48.320 Yeah, of course. Incredible piece of work. I mean, what did you make of that? 471 00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:52.560 Yeah, I loved it. I texted because I'm good friends with Steven, and I texted him and 472 00:35:52.560 --> 00:35:57.040 made it after. I think I watched it with my mom, because this is exactly what happened with me, 473 00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:00.560 once we'd watched it, me and my mom had a really long conversation. And I said, 474 00:36:00.560 --> 00:36:05.680 that's Steven. I was walking around Liverpool, actually. I was at a museum, and I saw a picture 475 00:36:05.680 --> 00:36:09.600 Steven, and I was like, I'm going to talk to him about a lesson to the set. I was showing the picture 476 00:36:09.600 --> 00:36:13.600 that I've just seen in the museum, and I talked to him about a lesson. And he said, that's exactly 477 00:36:13.600 --> 00:36:19.200 what we want. We want people to talk about it. It's, that was a piece of genius. I loved 478 00:36:19.200 --> 00:36:23.920 other lessons. It was no surprise, wasn't it, when it just swept all the Emmys and like, 479 00:36:23.920 --> 00:36:27.680 you know, Steven Graham getting all this, you know, as he should, you know, all this, all this 480 00:36:27.680 --> 00:36:30.880 attention and accolades. I mean, you know, because, yeah, as you say, you worked with him on 481 00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.480 this as England. What kind of sort of working relationship does you guys have, or like, you know, 482 00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:41.760 have happened over the years? So I didn't have any scenes with Steven in 86, or any of 483 00:36:41.760 --> 00:36:48.720 that this is England, but it was a round. But I didn't really see much of him. And I knew 484 00:36:48.800 --> 00:36:54.880 of Steven. I know of his work and we had a lot of mutual friends. And then he cast me in a thing 485 00:36:54.880 --> 00:37:00.320 called, uh, what like a pamphot years ago, which was a sentimental wrestling movie, 486 00:37:01.040 --> 00:37:08.320 which was just a whole heap of fun. Um, and then he also, he, he ran, because I had a little 487 00:37:08.320 --> 00:37:13.680 part in time, which was amazing. But he rang me up to ask if I'd do this little part in, 488 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:20.960 I was like 100%. But I think Steady is one of those sort of people that, that is a, a 489 00:37:20.960 --> 00:37:26.080 brilliant, brilliant act of course, with brilliant person. He's so kind. He's somebody that I look 490 00:37:26.080 --> 00:37:34.160 up to in many levels and I look up to his, his work and, and that who he is as a person. 491 00:37:35.360 --> 00:37:42.720 He's just a really generous, kind, beautiful mouth, um, and puts our people first all the time. 492 00:37:44.560 --> 00:37:48.960 But yeah, he's a, he's special that man. Just on watch is, is a very special man. 493 00:37:49.920 --> 00:37:53.520 Truly. I mean, it's funny, because we had Eddie Marzan on the pod recently, you know, 494 00:37:53.520 --> 00:37:58.160 another fantastic actor, his work to Steven. And he was telling me that, uh, when him and Steven 495 00:37:58.160 --> 00:38:01.440 had scenes together and stuff like gangs in New York, they couldn't look at each other in the eye 496 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:04.880 because they would just start cracking up. Like, there's, he seems like it's got a very great 497 00:38:04.880 --> 00:38:09.040 sense of humor as well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, he's somebody who enjoys it. 498 00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:13.920 Do you know what I mean? It's, there's no airs and graces with Steven. He's not an actor 499 00:38:13.920 --> 00:38:18.160 pretending to be an actor. He's an actor as a good time and he's also grateful for being an actor. 500 00:38:19.200 --> 00:38:25.920 He's, and I think he can't, I, I, I just think he has fun. I think he has great fun on sets. 501 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:29.680 He understands the work. He's bloody good at it, but he has a good laugh and all, which I think 502 00:38:29.680 --> 00:38:35.680 is so important. Yeah. He can feel that in his performances and the energy. And, and then go 503 00:38:35.680 --> 00:38:39.200 about to Tox Town though. I mean, were you aware of that story when you signed on to the project 504 00:38:39.200 --> 00:38:44.800 or was it? No, it was a news to you. I didn't have a clue now. I didn't, but then I did 505 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:53.600 me research and find it all sort of disgusting. But I think with that one as well working with 506 00:38:53.600 --> 00:39:00.640 Jolie Whitaker, who is another person who's just an amazing actor, but also understand of this, 507 00:39:00.640 --> 00:39:07.600 it's, it's something where it should, that should be enjoyed. I became friends with Jolie as well. 508 00:39:07.600 --> 00:39:12.400 But yeah, Toxie Town was brilliant. And I love working with Minke as well. The direct, she was 509 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:18.880 incredible. And Amy Lee Wood, again, just another fantastic cast. Yeah, it really was and Dempsey was 510 00:39:18.880 --> 00:39:24.560 in it as well. Of course, I've got to be Carlisle. Yeah, he, you go back quite away with Robert 511 00:39:24.560 --> 00:39:28.320 Carlisle, right? Back to when you were, you know, just starting out in summer, right? That was 512 00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:36.800 the movie you guys made. Yeah, I can believe it. I think Bobby was the, was the sort of most 513 00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:42.880 high profile actor I'd ever worked with on summer. And he was just, I think I always sort of assumed 514 00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:49.760 that high profile actors or successful actors or whatever it is were just a bit arrogant and 515 00:39:49.840 --> 00:39:54.960 up themselves, but he weren't. He was just, he was lovely. He was lovely. I remember he signed me, 516 00:39:57.040 --> 00:40:01.520 besides, because I didn't want to disturb him, but I'm not telling his trailer one day, and I 517 00:40:01.520 --> 00:40:05.520 just said, probably, do you mind me? We just signed this for him on the reality. It's like they 518 00:40:05.520 --> 00:40:10.800 probably only got me into his trailer every night. It was what I remember. There was a scene that I 519 00:40:10.800 --> 00:40:17.440 had to do, where I couldn't, you know, when you're asleep, when you're trying to be asleep, 520 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:24.560 put your eyes at, like, moving. You know, I wanted to be asleep in the scene, but I was aware that 521 00:40:24.560 --> 00:40:30.000 my eyelids were doing the movie thing. I said, Bobby, I don't know how to stop doing this 522 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.640 weird twitching with my eyes, and he was like, calm down, just focus on one bit of your, you know, 523 00:40:34.640 --> 00:40:40.640 that sort of calmed me down. I think I got into a bit of a, a bit of a state about my eyeballs, 524 00:40:40.640 --> 00:40:46.320 moving. I was asleep. He's a beautiful man. Yeah, he's got, he's got it down, hasn't he? 525 00:40:46.320 --> 00:40:50.560 Everything from the eye acting to, you know, just acting. He's bloody good at that, bloody. 526 00:40:50.560 --> 00:40:52.480 Even his eyes are closed, he's bloody good at hip. 527 00:40:55.040 --> 00:40:59.280 And then another thing that sort of is fascinating to me, like, going back and looking at your 528 00:40:59.280 --> 00:41:02.240 career, I mean, because you're not only, you know, the amount of stuff you've done on 529 00:41:02.240 --> 00:41:05.920 screens big and small, but also, I mean, the music videos that you've, that you've done for 530 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:10.000 bands over the years, I mean, you've worked with artists like Cassabian and, you know, like, 531 00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:12.800 Jake Bug, you know, these great artists and you've paid in their music videos. I mean, 532 00:41:12.800 --> 00:41:15.280 are you a big music man yourself? Do you love your music? 533 00:41:16.640 --> 00:41:21.680 Yeah, I do, but there's always like a, so would do with the, the Cassabian thing. 534 00:41:21.680 --> 00:41:27.440 I worked with Dan Cadant, and he just asked me to do it. He sent me the song, was like, 535 00:41:27.440 --> 00:41:31.760 do you fancy this? I was like 100%. I think it's the only time I'll ever get to play 536 00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:38.480 Richard III. So yeah, it gives a go. But Jake Borg, I was a massive fan. I saw Jake book for 537 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:44.400 the first time. It was Shane's 40th birthday party. I think it was. And Jake was, was there doing 538 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:54.000 a little set. I was like, this is incredible. And then I did the, the, the, oh, God, the rudimental 539 00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:59.600 thing. That was sent to me as a brief. And it was a brief that I was fully on board with. 540 00:42:00.160 --> 00:42:04.320 And to be honest with you, I couldn't care less about the song. I was just like, whatever, whatever 541 00:42:05.120 --> 00:42:10.080 the director wants to say here, I'm, I'm going to latch onto it because the idea was great. 542 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:17.920 I mean, I'm not really a dancer. I think that kind of shows in the music video. But 543 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:22.880 yeah, I just like the message I enjoyed what, what, what Luke was trying to sort of portray. 544 00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:28.000 It's a great video. I mean, like that sort of stripping away of the kind of, because it's all 545 00:42:28.000 --> 00:42:31.920 about these men in a circle, basically, and the set up being that they, you know, they're kind of, 546 00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:34.960 they're going to talk about their issues. Instead of talking, they just start dancing and they kind 547 00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:39.760 of start peeling back their kind of vulnerability. Yeah. Yeah. It looks like, it's a great idea. 548 00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:43.520 And it looks like it was good fun to film as well, because the dancers you guys do, you know, 549 00:42:44.320 --> 00:42:48.160 great. I mean, we had one day, we had one day rehearsals. And then we had one day to shoot it. 550 00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:53.520 And by the end of the rehearsal day, I was like, got this fine. It's absolutely fine. And then 551 00:42:53.520 --> 00:42:57.840 the following day, we had to shoot it. And I was, I was messing up a lot. I couldn't get my feet 552 00:42:57.840 --> 00:43:02.960 right. I think the way they've done it, the most sort of salvage, whatever bits I did remember 553 00:43:02.960 --> 00:43:07.920 from the actual dance. And then the Cassabian video. I mean, like you, it just looks like the most 554 00:43:07.920 --> 00:43:12.800 fun ever, like you and Lena Heady just like running around town drinking, eating curry and, you know, 555 00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:16.800 and getting drunk and you dress as rich as the third. I mean, that must have been a lot of fun too. 556 00:43:16.800 --> 00:43:24.000 100% and such was there. Yeah, it was, it was a beautiful day. I mean, I'm fortunate that I've 557 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:31.440 worked with so many directors that I just, I just like, you know what I mean, it's like, 558 00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:37.840 even with the cage without, I just like him. I think he's passionate. And I just like the man. 559 00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:40.640 So I know that when I'm working with somebody like with the, with the 560 00:43:40.640 --> 00:43:50.640 Cassabian music, I'm working with the director that I get on with that trust. So I'm just willing 561 00:43:50.640 --> 00:43:56.240 to up on that. And how important do you think trust is where you as an actor, like an director 562 00:43:56.240 --> 00:44:02.080 between an actor and director? So important. This, I think there's sort of a mutual sort of trust 563 00:44:02.080 --> 00:44:11.680 and understanding that, um, like working without from the cage, it's like, I trust him to make 564 00:44:11.680 --> 00:44:18.560 the right choice, but I also trust him to listen to me if I've got an idea. I think some directors 565 00:44:18.560 --> 00:44:27.200 have got an idea that can't be messed with. There's no room for sort of compromise, 566 00:44:28.160 --> 00:44:32.160 but the certain actors, the certain directors that I've worked with over the years that are just, 567 00:44:32.160 --> 00:44:38.080 it's a mutual, it's a mutual endeavor. You're having, you're having conversations and you sort of 568 00:44:38.080 --> 00:44:44.880 meeting in the middle sometimes or, or because I trust them, I'm willing to sort of go to a place 569 00:44:44.880 --> 00:44:50.400 that I didn't expect or anticipate, but I love a guy because I trust you. You know what I mean? 570 00:44:51.040 --> 00:44:57.200 Hmm. Yeah, you'll go the extra mile in a sense. Well, more than I'll try a different way 571 00:44:57.200 --> 00:45:02.240 of doing it, even though at the time it might not have seemed, it might not have seemed, um, 572 00:45:04.160 --> 00:45:09.120 like consistent with the actors' journey or the way the things have got. And in my mind, 573 00:45:09.120 --> 00:45:12.720 I've sort of gone through the scene and I've gone, this is the way it should be done, 574 00:45:14.080 --> 00:45:17.360 character-wise. And the director will go, have you thought about this? 575 00:45:18.160 --> 00:45:23.680 And if I trust the director and I rate the director, then I'll go, I'll have a go, 576 00:45:23.680 --> 00:45:29.520 and sometimes an op-buck sort of morpher than the nodding, I'll go, wow, okay, I didn't consider 577 00:45:29.520 --> 00:45:32.480 that and I'm actually really glad you asked me to do it that way. 578 00:45:33.520 --> 00:45:38.560 Hmm. They'll give an idea in a direction that will just be completely kind of new and fresh. 579 00:45:38.560 --> 00:45:44.400 I haven't thought about it. Yeah. Which is why I love auditions, because if you go for, 580 00:45:44.480 --> 00:45:52.800 you get sent a few scenes, you maybe get sent the script, but you'll learn it, you'll put your 581 00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:57.920 import and you made your decisions. You go into your audition and the director will go, 582 00:45:57.920 --> 00:46:03.200 right, well, that's not how I saw it, try this. And then I'll try something and I'll be like, 583 00:46:03.200 --> 00:46:08.240 oh, wow, yeah, I didn't consider that. But that felt really nice. And that's what happened in the, 584 00:46:09.040 --> 00:46:14.400 in the cage audition with Owen and Shaheen. There's a few times I was like, I'd be thought about 585 00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:20.720 this and I was like, no, I hadn't. And it worked. 586 00:46:22.400 --> 00:46:26.320 And with the cage then, because we're, yeah, we're touching on it because that's the next 587 00:46:26.320 --> 00:46:29.520 project you've got coming out. What can we expect from it? I mean, because the premise alone is 588 00:46:29.520 --> 00:46:32.720 just, you know, it's quite exciting premise. What can we expect from the show? 589 00:46:32.720 --> 00:46:38.000 Well, just it is very exciting. It's a thrilling crime story. 590 00:46:41.600 --> 00:46:46.400 I remember reading the scripts and being like, oh, God, no, that's not going to happen. That's 591 00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:51.680 happening. That's happening. That's happening. And I was sort of, there's so many ups and 592 00:46:51.680 --> 00:46:58.400 downs. There's so many twists and unexpected highs and lows throughout. It's just a really exciting, 593 00:46:58.400 --> 00:47:02.720 it was a really exciting reading into film. It was really exciting because one day you'd sort of 594 00:47:03.520 --> 00:47:10.240 you down one avenue and then actually rock one hill. It was, I think it is one of them. 595 00:47:11.600 --> 00:47:17.360 Here we go. Sort of buckle up sort of projects. A bit of a roller coaster. Yeah. 596 00:47:17.360 --> 00:47:20.960 And of course, you're working your co-star and we've shared in Smith, who's just another 597 00:47:20.960 --> 00:47:24.640 fantastic actor. I mean, what was that experience like working with it before? Because I want to say, 598 00:47:24.640 --> 00:47:28.000 it's your first time working with her or Mike, have I got that wrong? No, it is the first time 599 00:47:28.000 --> 00:47:35.760 working with that. Yeah, that's just incredible. She's a British icon. And every project that she's 600 00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:40.880 ever done has always been amazing. And it was just nothing but fun working with Smith. 601 00:47:42.720 --> 00:47:46.560 She's another one of those actors that is really good at what she does and 602 00:47:47.280 --> 00:47:52.320 and just enjoys it and I can have a laugh with. Thank God. 603 00:47:54.080 --> 00:47:59.440 She doesn't take herself too seriously. No, you feel that in her performances. The energy, 604 00:47:59.440 --> 00:48:04.160 she can balance so many different tones so well. The comedy and humor, but also the drama. 605 00:48:04.160 --> 00:48:09.680 She can do, when I watch her, I think she can do anything. Well, she can. But then also, 606 00:48:09.680 --> 00:48:13.600 she's very graceful in allowing me to be a bit of my bed on set. 607 00:48:14.160 --> 00:48:18.800 Yeah, she's wicked Smithers. She's incredible, incredible. 608 00:48:19.760 --> 00:48:23.920 Because also the two of you being Northern. I'm not sure exactly which part of the 609 00:48:23.920 --> 00:48:29.040 north she's from, but she is from the north. Don't cast. Yeah, I mean, you know, so close to, 610 00:48:29.040 --> 00:48:32.800 you know, because I'm from Sheffield so close to where I'm from. I mean, and I did want to ask 611 00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:36.400 what this actually because being like a Northern actor yourself and coming from a working class 612 00:48:36.400 --> 00:48:41.760 background, do you think it's harder for for Northern actors? Yeah, it's from the regions, 613 00:48:41.760 --> 00:48:45.280 maybe from a working class background. Do you think it's harder for them today still to break 614 00:48:45.280 --> 00:48:53.360 into the industry and get taken seriously? I mean, I've been really lucky that I've sort of 615 00:48:53.360 --> 00:48:58.000 maintained the career that I've been able to work. But what I do know that there's 616 00:48:58.720 --> 00:49:04.640 the rent, all that many opportunities, acting wise, where I'm from, or if there are, then it's 617 00:49:06.480 --> 00:49:11.680 maybe something that's quite expensive. The workshop that I went to, the one in Notting 618 00:49:11.680 --> 00:49:19.600 was free when I joined, and because ITV funded it, which ITV pulled that years ago. I think 619 00:49:19.600 --> 00:49:26.800 just as I was leaving it, they pulled the funded. But for those sort of places, those, I mean, 620 00:49:26.800 --> 00:49:30.320 especially workshops, you're involved between, in fact, I don't know anywhere that's quite like it. 621 00:49:31.280 --> 00:49:36.160 So I just think the opportunities aren't necessarily there, especially in Derby. 622 00:49:37.120 --> 00:49:42.480 Do you think the kind of the received sort of idea is that people need to move to London and 623 00:49:42.480 --> 00:49:48.480 move to like the big cities to like, to get work? So I don't know anymore, because I think when I first 624 00:49:48.480 --> 00:49:53.760 started acting, it seemed like the dumb thing. I remember moving to London when I was 19 and thinking 625 00:49:53.760 --> 00:49:59.040 this is where I've got to be. And I was up in the world with the DOP day before, yesterday, 626 00:49:59.040 --> 00:50:05.760 and he moved to London when he first left junior, whatever it was. And it was the place you had to 627 00:50:05.760 --> 00:50:11.680 be to work. But it seems like that it's not there anymore. The work isn't in London. 628 00:50:13.680 --> 00:50:17.920 Maybe the creators of worker in London, but the actual jobs themselves aren't necessarily in London. 629 00:50:19.680 --> 00:50:22.880 And so do you think there should be more opportunities for like, yeah, because if the resources 630 00:50:22.880 --> 00:50:28.480 aren't up in Derby or, you know, or donkaster or wherever, for young actors to get like experience 631 00:50:28.480 --> 00:50:33.200 and to get the training that they that they need and deserve, do you think there should be more 632 00:50:33.200 --> 00:50:39.760 opportunities for those areas? I think this should just be more support for the arts in general. 633 00:50:40.640 --> 00:50:48.240 It's sort of, it's not promoted enough, I don't think. Even at my school, I could only do one 634 00:50:48.240 --> 00:50:55.040 subject of art, which was drama, but I enjoyed all the arts. And if it maybe had about access to more 635 00:50:56.000 --> 00:51:05.040 sort of curriculum based art, I might have got a few more GCSEs, but it just seems that it's not 636 00:51:05.040 --> 00:51:10.080 really taken that seriously, but I find art so beneficial enough that I think I'm not the only one 637 00:51:10.080 --> 00:51:16.480 who feels that way. It's just not really backed. It's not really backed financially by the government. 638 00:51:17.680 --> 00:51:21.040 Do you see that changing? I mean, do you feel like things are changing for the better at all, 639 00:51:21.040 --> 00:51:26.160 or do you think it's still kind of, it's a slow process? I don't know. From what I gather, 640 00:51:26.160 --> 00:51:34.240 not much has changed. I still see sort of people crying out for art, or just access to art, 641 00:51:34.240 --> 00:51:40.320 or just a promotion of all the arts. It's just not within my ear shot, I don't think. 642 00:51:41.200 --> 00:51:45.520 And how important do you think art is just for, I mean, here's the big question, 643 00:51:45.520 --> 00:51:50.160 how important do you think it is generally? I mean, what do you think it does for people and 644 00:51:50.160 --> 00:52:01.120 helps them? I mean, speaking for myself, I find all art, whether it be music, 645 00:52:02.000 --> 00:52:13.520 drama, painting, poetry, whatever it is, I think to be able to express yourself artistically, 646 00:52:13.520 --> 00:52:19.680 I think it's just so good for your mental health. It can go to the gym, not my, 647 00:52:19.680 --> 00:52:24.320 what you read out a little bit, but if you can just sort of express yourself in, 648 00:52:24.320 --> 00:52:29.520 what I like to do with me and my friends, one in particular, I would just send it to the 649 00:52:29.520 --> 00:52:34.080 poetry and it can be as light or as dark or wet. It seems that if I'm feeling a certain way, 650 00:52:34.080 --> 00:52:41.440 if you're having a sad being between, to write it down in a sort of cryptic way, I find fun 651 00:52:41.520 --> 00:52:46.160 and sort of therapeutic. And again, I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way. 652 00:52:47.760 --> 00:52:50.960 Does it kind of like you were saying, Erno, about how when you started acting, it was kind of an 653 00:52:50.960 --> 00:52:56.640 escape. There's an escape as an aspect, but that which actually helps you deal with maybe what's 654 00:52:56.640 --> 00:53:02.080 going on around you and what you're feeling. Well, it's expression in it. It's actually been able to 655 00:53:02.800 --> 00:53:13.520 not necessarily voice, but express a certain emotion or feeling or whatever it is and put it 656 00:53:13.520 --> 00:53:21.760 out there. With acting, I'm able to play out emotions and get paid for it, where I think maybe 657 00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:26.880 sometimes if, well, most definitely, if I have to play certain emotions that I play on the screen, 658 00:53:26.960 --> 00:53:31.600 I might be locked up. Do you know what I mean? But that is my escape, that is my therapy, 659 00:53:31.600 --> 00:53:37.040 as cliche and as over said, as that statement is, it's just, it's the truth for me. 660 00:53:38.240 --> 00:53:41.280 And do you have a favourite out of interest? Do you have a favourite of all the performances 661 00:53:41.280 --> 00:53:44.560 you've given and all those expressions that you've just been describing? Do you have a favourite 662 00:53:44.560 --> 00:53:48.640 performance that you've given or maybe a favourite film that you've made? Do you look back 663 00:53:48.640 --> 00:53:56.640 on particularly fondly? Okay, so I think my favourite experience film is the most fun I've 664 00:53:56.640 --> 00:54:06.160 had to film and I say is this isn't 100%. But I did a job show trial where I played a murderer, 665 00:54:06.160 --> 00:54:15.840 I played a murderer, but I think that was the most fun playing that character. I enjoyed playing 666 00:54:15.840 --> 00:54:25.200 that character the most, I think, and show trial too. I think it was a character that, 667 00:54:26.080 --> 00:54:30.800 even though it was a real arrogant sod, just real fun playing him. 668 00:54:30.800 --> 00:54:35.520 And what, how, why was he so fun to play? Okay, so he was an arrogant thought, 669 00:54:36.080 --> 00:54:40.960 but it was all a front really for his massive insecurities and I like playing that aspect. 670 00:54:40.960 --> 00:54:45.760 Also, we had a reason, there's no reason for murder, there's no good reason for murder, but 671 00:54:46.560 --> 00:54:56.960 he murdered someone for a sort of morally ambiguous sort of reasons. If that isn't his 672 00:54:56.960 --> 00:55:05.200 own, the right thing to say morally ambiguous. It was a wrong, but he had his reasons for being 673 00:55:06.000 --> 00:55:10.240 a wrong guy, which I find really interesting. I mean, I don't mind playing a baddie as long as 674 00:55:10.240 --> 00:55:15.040 that baddie's got a reason for being a baddie and that reason sort of qualifies. 675 00:55:17.680 --> 00:55:24.720 Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant, but I mean with that choice, but to play is so 676 00:55:24.720 --> 00:55:30.720 much fun. Going into those characters and finding, I mean, not to keep saying authenticity, 677 00:55:30.720 --> 00:55:36.080 but finding the reasons why the wise and the wherefores. Yeah, on that job, it was just, 678 00:55:37.040 --> 00:55:44.080 there was a lot of performance. So it's sort of, you get your rewards on them sort of jobs, 679 00:55:44.080 --> 00:55:53.440 you get, so you're being performative, but then when there's little moments of real vulnerability 680 00:55:53.440 --> 00:56:01.680 and insecurity. So I love that. I love the behavior and then the cause and vice versa. 681 00:56:02.880 --> 00:56:05.680 And is there anyone that you'd like to work with if you could get the chance? 682 00:56:05.680 --> 00:56:09.360 Because you've worked with so many amazing people as we say, like Shane and Jack, 683 00:56:09.360 --> 00:56:11.600 is there anyone out there that you'd love to work with if you could? 684 00:56:15.360 --> 00:56:18.240 I do can't be so very lucky that I've managed to work with the people that I have. 685 00:56:18.720 --> 00:56:22.320 And there are so many directors that I'd love to work with. 686 00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:29.920 And directors that I'd love to work with again, I've had so many brilliant times work on certain 687 00:56:29.920 --> 00:56:36.480 sets because of certain directors. So yeah, I mean, there's plenty that there really is. 688 00:56:36.480 --> 00:56:39.520 And there's also these directors that I want to work with again. 689 00:56:41.280 --> 00:56:42.560 And actors as well, I'm guessing. 690 00:56:43.200 --> 00:56:44.400 No, no, not at all. 691 00:56:45.440 --> 00:56:46.400 They're convolics. 692 00:56:46.400 --> 00:56:48.880 Yeah, of course, I've worked with some amazing actors over the years. 693 00:56:50.080 --> 00:56:55.040 And also there is there's there's actors that the same actors that I've worked with that I've 694 00:56:55.040 --> 00:57:00.080 never really, there's actors that I've worked on projects with but I've never got the opportunity 695 00:57:00.080 --> 00:57:09.280 to work directly with them. Like the actor Johnny Harris is even though like me and Johnny 696 00:57:09.280 --> 00:57:11.360 are friends, we've never actually acted together. 697 00:57:12.080 --> 00:57:15.600 I'd love to do something with Johnny Harris. I think he's incredible. He's only favorite actors. 698 00:57:15.600 --> 00:57:21.440 I first watched Johnny Harris in London to Brighton. 699 00:57:22.320 --> 00:57:28.080 And I watched an act to be like menacing and horrible but then also within a fucking heartbeat, 700 00:57:28.800 --> 00:57:34.320 going back to that vulnerable and almost childlike. 701 00:57:35.280 --> 00:57:38.480 And I just remember watching that and just thinking, that's incredible. 702 00:57:38.480 --> 00:57:41.600 Whatever he's doing is just incredible. I want to work with him on day. 703 00:57:42.800 --> 00:57:44.000 Well, I hope that fingers crossed. 704 00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:46.480 fingers crossed. Yeah, that'll be amazing. 705 00:57:46.480 --> 00:57:49.280 Well, as I say, like, you know, thanks so much, Michael, for coming on half the picture. 706 00:57:49.280 --> 00:57:52.640 This was such a pleasure. I mean, it's just been great just to listen to you chat about your 707 00:57:52.640 --> 00:57:56.880 process and about your memories of making the great things you've worked on. 708 00:57:56.880 --> 00:57:59.440 I mean, it really has been such a pleasure. So thank you so much. 709 00:57:59.440 --> 00:58:00.800 Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. 710 00:58:04.960 --> 00:58:13.840 Hey, everyone. Thanks so much for listening to my chat with Michael Soaker. 711 00:58:13.840 --> 00:58:17.040 Remember to like and subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. 712 00:58:17.040 --> 00:58:24.720 And stay tuned for more exciting interviews and guests coming soon on half the picture.