00:00I hope I don't sound out of a sword, but you are aging like a fine line.
00:05Thank you. That's so kind. Thank you, Nicky. I'm doing my best. One may at last.
00:09You're doing a very good job. Had you read the book before you got cast in this?
00:14No, I had no idea about the books. No. Chris Columbus is an old friend because of Mrs. Doubtfire.
00:21We made Percy Jackson together, and he said, look, I'm doing the Thursday Motor Club.
00:26I read the books. Amazing, captivating, heartwarming, and it's a great whodunits.
00:33Very, very beautifully embroidered characters.
00:37Is it fun playing a character who's a little rough around the edges?
00:41I've done rough around the edges before.
00:45I'm so entrenched in the world of the sophisticated man, the groomed man, Mr. Slick, Mr. Elegance.
00:53Sometimes you paint yourself into a corner with your own, you know, you get hoisted by your own canard, so to speak.
01:00Which is all good. It's paid the rent over the years, and it's given me the great joy of having this career that I've got.
01:08But, you know, now as I'm going into my septuagenarian years, it's very exciting, very exhilarating to play in Thursday Motor Club, to play in Mobland, to be in the company of such great actors like Payne Hallam.
01:24I mean, and Mobland's got amazing reviews. People love that show. It's a little bit of a renaissance for you. Does it feel like that way?
01:31I've been hearing that, yes. And sure, why not? If not now, when? You know, the clock is ticking.
01:39Right. Does it feel like that, like it just, it's like a rollercoaster of career, right?
01:42It feels like a wave, yeah, when you catch a wave. You know, and I've done many movies over the years. Some work, some don't.
01:49But I love being an actor. I enjoy making movies. I make them for myself, and then hopefully the audience will enjoy them.
01:57And we try to work on the craft of acting, and it's definitely a craft. But yeah, you know, one can feel the wave. And you just celebrate it and give thanks.
02:10They don't come around that often.
02:12My last question is, why don't Irish men not lose their hair? What is that?
02:16I don't know. It's all in the hair. It's the old Celtic hair. My father, dear Tom, I never knew. He had good hair. I met him once. I have no idea. Maybe it's in the potatoes or the butter or the Guinness.
02:33Something. I don't know.
02:35Had you read the book before you got off?
02:37Yes, I had. I had read the book.
02:38Did you feel like, did you want, this is my role, I really want this?
02:42You know, I did. I did. I thought, gosh, this could easily be a movie. And then immediately I thought, well, if it was a movie, I know which role I would like to play and which role I'm most suitable for.
02:55And it all came true, which was fantastic.
02:58Are you no nonsense in real life?
03:00Sorry?
03:01Are you no nonsense in real life?
03:02No, I'm not no nonsense in real life. I mean, I can be, I get on with things. I'm British, you know, it's a, you know, keep calm and carry on kind of attitude. And I do have that attitude definitely.
03:13So all the characters there is more.
03:15But I wouldn't say I was no nonsense, no, at all. I'm very full of nonsense, thankfully.
03:20I feel like you could give a masterclass on how to age gracefully.
03:25At last time I spoke to you, you were studying Italian. Are you still studying Italian?
03:29Yes. Well, I have a house, we have a house in Italy. So, yes, I do practice my Italian. Not as much as I should, but...
03:36Right. How's your way? Do you think that you're getting better? Do you, how do you...
03:40Yes, there's nothing like... With languages, I find the best thing is just to jump in and speak it really badly, but speak it.
03:47Right. Okay, thanks so much. Thank you.
03:49Had you read the book before you signed on?
03:52No. Everything was a surprise to me. Sorry, I'm standing too close to your camera.
03:57Thank you so much.
03:57So, what did you love about this role?
04:01Well, to be part of a quartet in itself is very exciting and rewarding because you have to bring a level of attention to the other three actors in order to play,
04:14if I can, you know, use the musical metaphor, in order to play in harmony with everyone else.
04:20And the harmonics, I think, paid off really well.
04:23So, that level of attention to the others rather than be a solo performer, that was a good lesson and I think a lesson that we all enjoyed participating in.
04:34Are you a true crime junkie in real life?
04:36I'm not, no. Again, this was a delightful surprise because it's not my kind of genre and it's always wonderful to enter into something new.
04:45Right.
04:45It's energising.
04:46Last question. Do you have any hobbies like jigsaw puzzles or cooking or...?
04:50No, I love to cook and I have a lovely garden and I love my home. I love the domestic nourishing things of life.
04:59Fabulous. I love it. Thanks so much.
05:01...for 20 years. You look like you just finished high school. I mean...
05:06Why have we not spoken well? This is lovely.
05:10Seriously, either there's a deal with the devil or an incredible amount of Botox. Which is it?
05:18The latter.
05:19I don't know, really. I've got lots of children so they keep me young and on my toes.
05:25Yeah, I don't know. I don't know.
05:27I think doing this job makes you feel like you're a kid constantly and I still feel like I'm a kid.
05:33And I can't believe I am the age I am. I don't know how that happens.
05:36So, yeah.
05:37What acting advice did you give Helen Mirren and Sir Ben Kingsley?
05:41What acting advice? Oh, my God.
05:44Don't blink. The old Michael Caine ones. No, I didn't give them any advice. Can you imagine?
05:48I'm teasing. Can you imagine? That would be so fabulous if you did that.
05:51I don't think you should say your line like this, David.
05:52Yeah.
05:54That'd be great.
05:55Did you cry a little bit or throw up the first day? Like, oh, my God, the four of them.
06:01I was really nervous. And my first day was with all four of them as well.
06:04But it was funny because we were shooting a scene where my character is like a celebrity
06:08and they're all like fawning over the celebrity.
06:12And it was like the complete role reversal of what was happening inside.
06:14So, yeah, it was it was it would have been overwhelming if they hadn't been so lovely.
06:19But it was so welcoming.
06:20And I heard you're going to star in a Dick Wolf show, which Dick Wolf has a pretty good track record of these shows going on forever.
06:28It's kind of like getting the acting equivalent of a post office job, I feel like.
06:32Of what?
06:33Of like a post office job.
06:34Yeah, maybe.
06:35Right?
06:36Yeah.
06:36Well, Dick Wolf always delivers. There you go.
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