Full Transcript for From Blacksmith to Dragon Rider: Kieran Bew on Taming Vermithor

i digest that and of course, 00:02:06.834 --> 00:02:11.994 as actors we we sort of shapeshift ourselves hopefully and pull out aspects 00:02:11.994 --> 00:02:16.404 of our own character that suit the part and and the way he was framed in the 00:02:16.404 --> 00:02:20.144 show it yeah it's helpful that I'm a dad. 00:02:20.144 --> 00:02:24.820 It's helpful that I'm in a marriage for him in particular. 00:02:25.285 --> 00:02:28.863 One of the reasons I feel so lucky is that in Britain alone, 00:02:29.397 --> 00:02:35.380 we have such a deep pool of excellent talent and excellent actors, 00:02:36.541 --> 00:02:39.310 many of whom I'm lucky enough to have trained with at Lambda. 00:02:40.768 --> 00:02:42.314 Either in my year. 00:02:42.834 --> 00:02:45.844 I had a really great year at Lambda. I spent three years training there. 00:02:45.844 --> 00:02:50.814 So when you go and you see the talent that people have and everyone in the year 00:02:50.814 --> 00:02:53.560 always does something that you think, God, that's incredible. 00:02:54.773 --> 00:02:58.084 And then there's a year above you and there's a year below you and there's another day below you. 00:02:58.084 --> 00:03:00.264 And there's like, and then after you're in the business a while, 00:03:00.264 --> 00:03:05.574 you realize you're in a casting bracket that's broad. It's not just 10 years 00:03:05.574 --> 00:03:09.966 worth of people. It's 20 years of actors above and below you that you're auditioning with. 00:03:10.140 --> 00:03:14.523 I'm delighted whenever I get a job because I can't believe I get to do the job. 00:03:15.156 --> 00:03:19.374 So when I audition for Hugh Hammer and it says that he's this tall and he's 00:03:19.374 --> 00:03:20.845 this big and he's this formidable. 00:03:21.744 --> 00:03:24.674 And you think, okay, I've got to pour myself into this. you do start thinking 00:03:24.674 --> 00:03:28.536 about the limitations that you bring as a character and an actor, but also, 00:03:29.336 --> 00:03:33.152 I've seen plenty of other actors like Mark Rylance and people over the years, 00:03:33.152 --> 00:03:38.142 people I admire who are maybe diminutive or shorter or not what that, 00:03:38.142 --> 00:03:41.582 you know, make themselves look like giants and make, 00:03:42.242 --> 00:03:46.432 and have the ability to transform and sell an illusion. 00:03:46.432 --> 00:03:49.482 And really, that's what we do. We sell an illusion. So, yes, 00:03:49.482 --> 00:03:53.362 I was born to play him, but also I know I'm very well aware that there is a 00:03:53.702 --> 00:04:00.195 huge roster of talent in our country waiting to step in. so I don't take it for granted at all. 00:04:01.602 --> 00:04:07.052 Well you you play him excellently I must say it's such it's incredible to watch you on screen every time 00:04:07.458 --> 00:04:12.082 and so you are the dragon rider of Dernothor I bet that is one of the most cool 00:04:12.082 --> 00:04:15.772 experiences to be able to say that you're

playing this character and as you've 00:04:15.772 --> 00:04:20.742 said you were already familiar with the franchise with everything and with the books so 00:04:21.182 --> 00:04:24.682 what did it feel like when you got this call to let you know that you were taking 00:04:24.682 --> 00:04:30.000 on this role as a dragon rider anything if anybody does an adrenaline sport like, 00:04:30.691 --> 00:04:34.832 surfing or or jumping out of plane or even if you just like roller coasters 00:04:34.832 --> 00:04:38.439 and what like getting a call where you're going to get to do something that, 00:04:39.522 --> 00:04:42.594 it's it's a big big adrenaline rush all in one go, 00:04:43.602 --> 00:04:48.852 and i i get really attached when i get an audition i get as soon as i get the 00:04:48.852 --> 00:04:52.660 sides through and i start looking at the text I start working and I start, 00:04:53.442 --> 00:04:58.142 imagining and that comes with a whole load of drugs that your body releases 00:04:58.142 --> 00:05:01.222 and you're working on it and I get I get addicted to that kind of work and that 00:05:01.222 --> 00:05:05.382 kind of scrutinizing of a text so that's one thing but then the idea that you're 00:05:05.382 --> 00:05:07.002 going to get to drive like ride, 00:05:07.622 --> 00:05:13.602 the angriest dragon in the whole of the Game of Thrones universe is is just it's ridiculous. 00:05:13.602 --> 00:05:17.322 It's like, it's so stupid. 00:05:19.062 --> 00:05:23.802 The job at best, you sort of go to work and feel childlike, you know, 00:05:24.242 --> 00:05:28.822 like you're in awe of kind of what you get to do. And we do get to do fun things, 00:05:28.822 --> 00:05:33.526 whether you're a cowboy or a spaceman or a doctor or whatever you're doing at work. It's always fun. 00:05:34.300 --> 00:05:40.189 But to get to play like sort of a dragon rider, to ride a dragon is insane. 00:05:40.799 --> 00:05:46.390 And I think Vermithor is the coolest dragon. I think he's phenomenally misunderstood. 00:05:46.697 --> 00:05:50.454 And it was a really exciting sequence to work on. 00:05:51.093 --> 00:05:56.685 It was a sort of, when we talked about the sequence, we talked about loads of 00:05:56.685 --> 00:05:59.995 movie references that get us excited when we're shooting. 00:05:59.995 --> 00:06:04.725 You know things like alien and aliens and the light and the dark and the the 00:06:04.725 --> 00:06:07.904 the threat of something that's so terrifyingly formidable, 00:06:08.745 --> 00:06:12.395 and movies like the revenant where you've got to like come up against a bear 00:06:12.395 --> 00:06:16.925 or you've got to you know you've got to endure something that's the peak of 00:06:17.365 --> 00:06:20.745 sort of the extreme of human fear you know what are you going to do if you're 00:06:20.745 --> 00:06:23.426 standing in front of something that can burn you to a crisp or squash you, 00:06:24.376 --> 00:06:27.965 and all of that detail goes into the building of that sequence as well. 00:06:27.965 --> 00:06:32.550 So I immediately was thinking about bonding with Thermothor. 00:06:33.625 --> 00:06:39.019 Because watching Game of Thrones and seeing Daenerys or Jon Snow or whoever, 00:06:39.505 --> 00:06:43.587 interacting with the dragons, those sequences are done so well. 00:06:43.883 --> 00:06:48.115 And we're so used to this language now, right? I mean, I think it was 1993 that 00:06:48.115 --> 00:06:52.065 Jurassic Park came out and I was 12. 00:06:52.890 --> 00:06:58.485 And we've seen people interacting with creatures of this size and we believe 00:06:58.485 --> 00:07:01.226 it, we buy into it, you absolutely do. 00:07:02.239 --> 00:07:05.869 So I knew the creature was going to be incredible. 00:07:05.869 --> 00:07:11.829 I knew the VFX team were going to make it really delicate and really massive and huge. 00:07:11.829 --> 00:07:17.409 So you've really got to think about your side of it and how delicate you can be as a human being. 00:07:17.409 --> 00:07:21.884 Because at the end of the day, if you as a viewer don't, if you don't relate, 00:07:22.383 --> 00:07:27.709 to the person, the human being, again, we're so used to CGI. 00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:31.409 We're so used to the ability now. We almost take it for granted like, 00:07:31.409 --> 00:07:32.599 oh, that's not good enough. 00:07:32.854 --> 00:07:34.886 You know, there's so much of it now. 00:07:36.899 --> 00:07:40.209 The characters we play, the people we play, they've got to be living and breathing 00:07:40.209 --> 00:07:45.466 and relatable, even if you don't like the person, or it's a really matter to us as a viewer. 00:07:46.400 --> 00:07:51.219 So I, any little bit of screen time we get, 00:07:52.078 --> 00:07:55.358 I always think about how is this going to connect with the person watching, 00:07:57.070 --> 00:08:01.174 and how can that insane adrenaline rush when they say you're going to get to 00:08:01.174 --> 00:08:05.804 ride Vermithal, how can I get that insane adrenaline rush distilled into a moment 00:08:05.804 --> 00:08:08.554 that people feel it on the other side? 00:08:08.554 --> 00:08:11.974 I mean, I've just watched episode seven literally last night. 00:08:11.984 --> 00:08:14.404 I'm a bit late. I watched it last night as well. 00:08:15.144 --> 00:08:21.056 And the moment at the end when Ulf says they're gonna burn. 00:08:22.064 --> 00:08:28.253 To almost I mean I wanted to cheer and scream and jump up and down and like because you see. 00:08:29.244 --> 00:08:34.134 I mean for instance that episode seven I'm not in that episode actually so I 00:08:34.134 --> 00:08:37.584 hadn't gone through that script and scrutinized it like part of the beauty of 00:08:37.584 --> 00:08:39.457 being in the show is I also get to be a fan 00:08:39.880 --> 00:08:43.567 and Tom is my friend you know Tom is my friend, my colleague, 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:45.314 kind of a partner in the show. 00:08:45.921 --> 00:08:50.502 And I watched it and

I'm so, I was so excited. I was just so brilliantly done. 00:08:50.861 --> 00:08:53.201 Yeah. Sorry. That's a long answer, but. 00:08:53.636 --> 00:08:57.724 No, no, no, don't worry. I'm all here for long answers. And so I was going to 00:08:57.724 --> 00:09:02.324 say as well, you talk about having to kind of take the adrenaline that you feel 00:09:02.684 --> 00:09:05.914 and take the excitement that you feel and try and translate that through the screen. 00:09:05.914 --> 00:09:10.614 But obviously, unfortunately, or actually maybe that's for the better but unfortunately 00:09:10.614 --> 00:09:14.685 there isn't a live dragon in front of you so how does it, 00:09:15.219 --> 00:09:19.844 differ on set and does it make it difficult at all or do you feel like you can 00:09:19.844 --> 00:09:23.380 still kind of get lost in this world when you're filming 00:09:23.646 --> 00:09:28.842 how does it change the filming process obviously having to work with a rig and 00:09:29.051 --> 00:09:33.335 everything else as opposed to being able to visually see what you're interacting with, 00:09:34.187 --> 00:09:38.124 Well, in all honesty, it's not different to any other acting that you do. 00:09:38.564 --> 00:09:42.484 Like from right for the minute I went to drama school, I was in room three, 00:09:43.284 --> 00:09:46.974 at drama school and we're imagining something in front of us and you're creating 00:09:46.974 --> 00:09:51.414 an illusion for the audience, whether it's your teacher or your peers or an 00:09:51.414 --> 00:09:53.709 audience of 300,000 people in the theater. 00:09:55.764 --> 00:09:59.352 You have to do the job to create the sensation, the feeling. 00:09:59.886 --> 00:10:04.404 My very first job i did in 2001 i left drama school early and i played hans 00:10:04.404 --> 00:10:10.104 christian anderson for hallmark and there was loads of green screen tons of 00:10:10.104 --> 00:10:12.838 green screen right right away and, 00:10:13.684 --> 00:10:17.592 i was playing hans christian anderson telling fairy tales to kids now kids can't work, 00:10:18.648 --> 00:10:23.814 as long hours as adults and there were lots of times when i wasn't talking to 00:10:23.814 --> 00:10:28.840 a child i was talking to a tennis ball on a stick with a smiley face drawn on it. 00:10:30.390 --> 00:10:35.734 And some of the most emotional scenes i've done in 26 years worth of work how 00:10:35.734 --> 00:10:39.451 with with a partner with a with a wife or in a very tender moment, 00:10:40.364 --> 00:10:43.804 i can't see the other actor because the camera angle they're choosing means 00:10:43.804 --> 00:10:46.726 i'm staring at the map box i'm staring at a piece of plastic in front of me, 00:10:47.300 --> 00:10:54.645 so there are moments where you see lots of actors where they are seemingly in it connected, 00:10:55.261 --> 00:11:00.164 and present and going through something that looks completely organic and they're 00:11:00.164 --> 00:11:01.861 just staring at a piece

of black plastic and, 00:11:02.719 --> 00:11:05.471 Sometimes you can't even focus on the black plastic because everything around 00:11:05.471 --> 00:11:07.706 it is so black. You're just staring at an area. 00:11:08.076 --> 00:11:14.537 So it's not just the sequences where we have creatures that we have to do the imagining. 00:11:14.978 --> 00:11:19.351 It's everyday work, actually. And people don't normally talk about that because 00:11:19.351 --> 00:11:21.541 the process of filming, especially like, you know, 00:11:22.121 --> 00:11:25.901 Christopher Nolan's done the Odyssey with these IMAX cameras, 00:11:25.901 --> 00:11:30.081 and he's talking quite a lot about rigging up this system so they can see their 00:11:30.081 --> 00:11:32.611 reflection so that it doesn't look like their eye line. 00:11:32.611 --> 00:11:37.459 Is off our job is is all eye lines the technical aspects of the job, 00:11:38.004 --> 00:11:41.871 is something really you kind of learn on the job and because you have to you 00:11:41.871 --> 00:11:44.931 can't really you can do a bit of it in drama school you can do a bit of it i 00:11:44.931 --> 00:11:49.741 mean more now more than ever you it's it's it's cheaper to practice because 00:11:49.741 --> 00:11:51.701 we have so many cameras but. 00:11:53.161 --> 00:11:57.941 Imagining vermouth or in many ways is quite easy We have two or three, 00:11:58.281 --> 00:12:01.014 four people in blue suits, 00:12:01.628 --> 00:12:07.330 which are carrying often a dragon head on a very large pole that has my dragon, 00:12:07.522 --> 00:12:12.211 because he's so big, he has huge sticks coming off the blue thing they hold 00:12:12.211 --> 00:12:13.877 with tennis balls on the end for his eyes. 00:12:14.197 --> 00:12:18.561 So I can, you know, so I can, it really looks like I'm looking in his eyes when 00:12:18.561 --> 00:12:22.461 you see I'm focusing in the right area and his breath is done with a wind, 00:12:22.461 --> 00:12:26.221 with a, with a leaf blower or many leaf blowers. 00:12:27.755 --> 00:12:32.670 And we were, in many ways, the guys are puppeteers. They are puppeteers. 00:12:32.670 --> 00:12:38.610 The director, whether it's Claire or Lonnie or whoever, we have an amazing roster 00:12:38.610 --> 00:12:42.452 of directors who I'm, you know, huge fans of all their work. 00:12:42.649 --> 00:12:48.955 So they are part of the puppeteering team in terms of the breath and we kind of choreograph that. 00:12:49.146 --> 00:12:55.665 So I'll offer up an idea and we will all work together to try to make that sink 00:12:56.083 --> 00:12:59.620 but i also know that in the end the guys the rest of the puppeteering team the 00:12:59.620 --> 00:13:03.370 vfx guys come in and put the texture and the detail and after that too so you know, 00:13:04.050 --> 00:13:08.600 in many ways so much of that heavy lifting is done for me i have to take care 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:12.770 of my part of the puppeteering which is really me i have to puppeteer

me. 00:13:13.790 --> 00:13:18.709 And just and and again that comes back to like scrutinizing and contemplating, 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:23.214 what is going to be relatable for a person sitting on a couch or a cinema. 00:13:23.614 --> 00:13:27.834 And often I find the most relatable thing is the most human thing. 00:13:28.235 --> 00:13:34.170 So Hugh standing in front of Vermithor, okay, so he's got to show courage. 00:13:34.170 --> 00:13:40.307 He's got to show, in my mind, that in that scene, he missed his opportunity. 00:13:40.446 --> 00:13:43.105 When Silver Denny steps forward and gets his face burned off, 00:13:43.685 --> 00:13:47.140 Hugh is upset with himself that he's hesitated. Because you see, 00:13:47.140 --> 00:13:50.593 if Silver Denny had Bluetooth to Vermithor, he's dead. 00:13:50.959 --> 00:13:55.550 If Sylva Denny's Bluetooth to Vermithor, Vermithor, as it were, 00:13:56.087 --> 00:13:58.089 that's one less dragon for him to connect to. 00:13:59.094 --> 00:14:02.870 So by the time he eventually stands in front of Vermithor, he's either going 00:14:02.870 --> 00:14:05.827 to be eaten, burned alive, or stomped on, or it's going to work. 00:14:06.338 --> 00:14:11.695 And then you've got a choice. Do you puff yourself up and stand strong and hide your courage? 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:15.500 I remember I used to dog walk when between my jobs, acting jobs, 00:14:15.500 --> 00:14:18.890 I used to dog walk in Battersea Park and meet a lot of dogs from the Batsy Park 00:14:18.890 --> 00:14:20.623 charity and talk to the dog handlers. 00:14:21.104 --> 00:14:24.440 And they would say, you know, things like, the dogs can feel your temperament. 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:27.250 The dogs can feel what you're thinking and what you're feeling. 00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:30.038 And if you're nervous, the dog will be nervous. And if you're... 00:14:31.073 --> 00:14:36.802 If you're angry, the dog will be angry. And so how do you hide your emotions 00:14:36.802 --> 00:14:39.089 from a giant beast that can burn you? 00:14:39.229 --> 00:14:42.432 How do you hide from something that you're afraid, frightened when you don't 00:14:42.432 --> 00:14:43.733 want it to think you're frightened? 00:14:45.144 --> 00:14:48.492 So I thought, I'll make myself as big as possible. 00:14:48.492 --> 00:14:50.992 I thought, what did, what do the UFC fighters do? Like what does, 00:14:50.992 --> 00:14:54.332 what do people who are incredibly cocky, like Conor McGregor on people, 00:14:54.605 --> 00:14:57.982 what do they do when they have to face off against each other in the pantomime 00:14:57.982 --> 00:15:02.396 of what they do what do they physically do to hide if they have any doubt, 00:15:03.069 --> 00:15:05.535 and what do they do physically with their bodies so like, 00:15:06.312 --> 00:15:09.912 a moment like that the amount of scrutiny and thought and kind of contemplation 00:15:09.912 --> 00:15:14.906 you can put into it that is all that is about is is it going to make the person 00:15:15.034 --> 00:15:19.893 watching it feel like that could be them and and think, 00:15:20.544 --> 00:15:24.352 oh i wish i'd done that or why didn't he do this sometimes it's good to frustrate 00:15:24.352 --> 00:15:29.869 people and not do what you think And for me, that's the joy of the job is so 00:15:30.287 --> 00:15:35.383 they make it as easy as it could possibly be for us to imagine these things. 00:15:36.276 --> 00:15:39.820 And the rest is just how much detail do you want to go into? 00:15:41.794 --> 00:15:46.256 And I think it's incredible that with such a big set, you can put that much 00:15:46.256 --> 00:15:50.186 trust into everyone around you. And you know that you can just solely focus 00:15:50.186 --> 00:15:54.037 on what you need to get done and what you need to do in that moment. 00:15:54.747 --> 00:15:58.746 And we kind of said earlier as well that it's easier for you, 00:15:59.166 --> 00:16:04.504 especially with you, being able as you were able to relate to him with your family of your own. 00:16:04.829 --> 00:16:09.646 Obviously how that must have helped you get into this character and we see him 00:16:09.646 --> 00:16:13.206 start out kind of as this desperate blacksmith who's trying to feed his sick 00:16:13.206 --> 00:16:15.783 daughter to then becoming a dragon rider, 00:16:16.230 --> 00:16:22.166 it's such an incredible story but then in episode six we see Hugh reunite with 00:16:22.166 --> 00:16:27.352 his wife Kat and we start to really see the effect that this change has had on his character 00:16:27.793 --> 00:16:32.456 so at what point in filming did it stop feeling like a bit of a rags to power 00:16:32.456 --> 00:16:36.744 story and begin to actually start feeling maybe more of a tragic story, 00:16:37.446 --> 00:16:41.846 well in truth it kind of felt tragic right from the beginning because they're 00:16:41.846 --> 00:16:45.786 not only living in a famine but his daughters immediately his daughter is is 00:16:45.786 --> 00:16:51.846 sick and he's they are in a stressful situation so, 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:56.756 the pressure was really already on him and and it wasn't, it's not really a 00:16:56.756 --> 00:16:58.863 rags to rich in, in as much as it's a. 00:17:00.002 --> 00:17:08.096 It's a reluctant revelation that he is revealing who he is and who he's hidden for all these years. 00:17:08.096 --> 00:17:11.596 So when you meet him, he's trying to live an honorable life. 00:17:11.596 --> 00:17:17.487 He's trying to live in a way that he feels happy with for himself. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:24.890 He's trying to live, do a job, look after his family in a way that doesn't involve being a Targaryen. 00:17:25.635 --> 00:17:28.799 It doesn't involve a connection to his mother, who he is ashamed of. 00:17:29.786 --> 00:17:34.386 Who he has a lot of pain around and a lot of pain around the idea that he doesn't 00:17:34.386 --> 00:17:36.839 fit into the aristocracy, 00:17:37.408 --> 00:17:41.056 and

that and you know that's a funny thing so that's that's revealed that was 00:17:41.056 --> 00:17:45.427 revealed to me in in the text that the guys gave me the writers gave me that, 00:17:45.949 --> 00:17:48.858 he's chosen never to talk about this with his wife, 00:17:49.512 --> 00:17:54.006 in however many long years they've been together and they've been striving he's 00:17:54.006 --> 00:17:57.620 never said i'm gonna go to the family for money i'm gonna go, 00:17:58.096 --> 00:18:02.236 by the way my mom is this person and she lives over there and she's really rich 00:18:02.236 --> 00:18:04.708 but i'm sorry but she runs a load of hall houses and she's like, 00:18:05.254 --> 00:18:08.203 she kind of like fucked up the family and you know, 00:18:08.963 --> 00:18:13.456 he doesn't talk about any of that he hides that he pushes that away he's trying 00:18:13.456 --> 00:18:17.799 to do something different in effect he's not really living in an honest way, 00:18:18.536 --> 00:18:22.926 he's he's trying to live honestly but he's not really being honest that's the 00:18:22.926 --> 00:18:25.996 scene where he's imploring his wife to before he says you know, 00:18:25.996 --> 00:18:28.416 he's going to go and try and tame Vermithor. 00:18:29.216 --> 00:18:31.487 I felt like he was really asking for permission from his wife. 00:18:31.991 --> 00:18:35.006 He was trying to say, look, I need your blessing to do this, 00:18:35.006 --> 00:18:39.706 because actually, if I do this, and it works, it's going to mean this wonderful 00:18:39.706 --> 00:18:42.239 thing. But if it doesn't work, not going to get to come back. 00:18:42.506 --> 00:18:44.950 And she won't give him that blessing. So... 00:18:46.075 --> 00:18:49.767 You know, it's funny playing a part where you, because all this has happened 00:18:49.767 --> 00:18:53.237 and the bits you get to see, I love doing the scene with Elora. 00:18:53.237 --> 00:18:57.217 Elora and I have known each other for like over 10 years. We did a show called 00:18:57.217 --> 00:18:59.077 Beowulf together many, many years ago. 00:19:00.023 --> 00:19:05.847 And I knew, I know what an amazing actress she is and what she brings to it. 00:19:05.847 --> 00:19:11.337 And she, this reuniting scene, it's a different side of you that you don't get 00:19:11.337 --> 00:19:15.330 to see because quite often you've seen me either towing the line, 00:19:15.859 --> 00:19:21.716 playing the dutiful dragon rider you know part of part of the army, 00:19:22.790 --> 00:19:27.577 keeping my mouth shut not really showing his hand or his cards or showing anybody 00:19:27.577 --> 00:19:32.577 who he is and there's a little bit in that scene where you actually get to see oh he's, 00:19:34.037 --> 00:19:38.100 he's not just a yes man he's not just the guy that that is going to, 00:19:38.955 --> 00:19:42.397 be dutiful all the time he has this is this is the thing he's been wanting the 00:19:42.397 --> 00:19:46.227 entire time which is security for his wife and it's the thing that being a dragon 00:19:46.227 --> 00:19:49.377 rider has denied him he's not been able to fly off he's not been able to go 00:19:49.757 --> 00:19:52.799 on the ground hunting and he's just decided okay fine i'm gonna, 00:19:53.437 --> 00:19:58.425 i'm gonna find some way of getting into tumbleton and i'm gonna go and try and track her down, 00:19:59.193 --> 00:20:03.001 and it's really it was it was lovely it was lovely to be able to get to actually, 00:20:03.913 --> 00:20:10.501 show the audience more of who he really is and and actually, you know. 00:20:11.477 --> 00:20:13.910 In the scene, he's clumsy. 00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.347 I'd like to think he's probably really tired, you know, his daughter died, 00:20:17.347 --> 00:20:20.467 he's grieving, he's left his wife, he's in this crazy circus, 00:20:20.467 --> 00:20:24.007 he's got to hang around with Ulf all the time, he's pushing every buttons constantly, 00:20:24.007 --> 00:20:27.773 and he's constantly watching it all going, oh my god, this is gonna spill over. 00:20:28.185 --> 00:20:33.253 But he's also really angry and desperate to get to Kat, so when he finally gets there, 00:20:34.200 --> 00:20:38.817 I always thought it was, you know, it's quite a, it's quite a sort of possibly 00:20:38.817 --> 00:20:41.927 tone deaf response that she says, you know, my brother died. 00:20:41.927 --> 00:20:45.507 And he says, but I've got a dragon. It's like, does he, does he even hear her? 00:20:45.507 --> 00:20:47.917 Does he even hear that she actually said, does he even register that? 00:20:47.917 --> 00:20:51.497 Because actually at that moment, anyone else doesn't really matter to him. 00:20:51.497 --> 00:20:53.629 It's just her. I've got to get you out. 00:20:54.018 --> 00:20:57.460 No, everyone else is probably going to die anyway. I've just got to get you out. 00:20:57.698 --> 00:21:01.657 And he's really not misjudged the situation, but I think, you know, 00:21:02.104 --> 00:21:05.207 he hasn't thought it's that far through i think he thought she was gonna say 00:21:05.207 --> 00:21:08.447 thank god let's go so it's always 00:21:08.447 --> 00:21:12.547 felt a little bit tragic to me in that respect and also exciting i i. 00:21:13.507 --> 00:21:17.797 You know cat's denial of she does not get excited when he says who his mom is 00:21:17.797 --> 00:21:20.827 she does not get excited when he says look i've got a really good chance i know 00:21:20.827 --> 00:21:23.421 i'm gonna go gambling i know it's a really dangerous casino 00:21:23.648 --> 00:21:27.397 but i've got a stack dice like like honestly he's trying to sell it to her and 00:21:27.427 --> 00:21:29.818 She's like, no, I really know gambling. 00:21:30.155 --> 00:21:33.040 This is the gambling is, I don't want any gambling wins. 00:21:33.949 --> 00:21:37.879 And I think he thought she was going to go with him, but no. 00:21:38.755 --> 00:21:42.824 I think that kind of reuniting scene that we got to see

was, 00:21:42.824 --> 00:21:47.504 as you said, it was so nice to have this moment between the two characters, 00:21:47.504 --> 00:21:51.821 but also get to know a little bit about them more personally. 00:21:52.163 --> 00:21:56.334 I felt that it was a really incredible scene and really allowed the audience 00:21:56.334 --> 00:22:01.604 to connect with Hugh and to connect with his wife. It was a really well-done 00:22:01.604 --> 00:22:03.865 scene, in my opinion. I really enjoyed it. 00:22:06.013 --> 00:22:11.144 I've had more reaction to that scene, I think, than I did even the taming of Vermithor. 00:22:13.364 --> 00:22:18.494 And it's been quite curious, really, to be honest. There's an awful lot of men 00:22:18.494 --> 00:22:22.224 saying, well, you see, as a man, you can never please a woman. 00:22:23.981 --> 00:22:26.934 Seems to be a lot of women saying, hang on, are you missing the detail in what 00:22:26.934 --> 00:22:28.996 she says? What actually happened to her? 00:22:29.408 --> 00:22:36.854 And there do seem to be a difference of opinion or a disconnect and I just maybe 00:22:36.854 --> 00:22:40.075 people could watch it again and maybe that's a good thing and, 00:22:40.813 --> 00:22:46.394 this is the other thing about when we play characters you know someone said 00:22:46.394 --> 00:22:47.993 to me that good tv writing, 00:22:48.892 --> 00:22:51.944 you should never say what you mean or mean what you say so there should always 00:22:51.944 --> 00:22:57.664 be subtext because in life people don't necessarily really always say what they mean. 00:22:58.584 --> 00:23:02.698 They're afraid of saying what they really mean. They say something else. 00:23:03.358 --> 00:23:05.605 So the subtext is very heavy and large. 00:23:06.721 --> 00:23:11.579 And in these scenes where people are seemingly saying what they mean, 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:13.907 people are often very clumsy. 00:23:14.573 --> 00:23:17.215 And then in hindsight, oh, I didn't really mean that. I'm sorry. 00:23:17.215 --> 00:23:23.115 No, it came out clumsily. So what I mean is, you know, but in the heat of the 00:23:23.115 --> 00:23:25.318 moment, it creates more drama. 00:23:26.155 --> 00:23:30.138 And I definitely feel that Elora and I both felt like that about the scene. 00:23:30.672 --> 00:23:34.325 Like, hang on, there's a different way of doing this scene. They could say different things. 00:23:34.325 --> 00:23:38.055 We could we could try and there was a really good like both of us wanted to 00:23:38.055 --> 00:23:41.115 try and fit i think fix the relationship like you know, 00:23:41.762 --> 00:23:46.522 but we we did and i've got to say we when we did the rehearsals particularly 00:23:46.784 --> 00:23:49.465 elora was phenomenal because, 00:23:50.162 --> 00:23:58.215 she just she did this like really beautiful like natural reaction where she just totally fell apart. 00:23:59.329 --> 00:24:03.655 And i've known her for a long time and I knew what the scene was but as

I approached 00:24:03.655 --> 00:24:06.614 her I didn't expect her to just completely fall apart, 00:24:07.231 --> 00:24:13.035 and it was it kind of guided the scene and it was it was really that that that 00:24:13.035 --> 00:24:18.350 is an amazing thing when you find something really natural on set and then you film it for six hours, 00:24:19.461 --> 00:24:22.995 and you've got it and you've got to find that natural thing I mean that's our 00:24:22.995 --> 00:24:27.715 job you know that's what's fun about the job as well is dancing around this 00:24:27.715 --> 00:24:32.462 thing this spontaneous moments and find the truth in them again and again and again, 00:24:33.548 --> 00:24:35.568 so it was it was a real pleasure and. 00:24:36.868 --> 00:24:42.873 Yeah she's she's amazing to work with and i think perhaps that level of vulnerability 00:24:42.873 --> 00:24:47.682 that we see with your characters in that scene is like you said people are resonating with it 00:24:48.030 --> 00:24:51.913 many people are resonating with it for different reasons yeah there's there's 00:24:51.913 --> 00:24:56.413 that level of relatability even in this universe where there's dragons and everything's 00:24:56.413 --> 00:25:01.203 going and it's all and it's crazy and it's insane people find that way to relate, 00:25:01.683 --> 00:25:05.743 i think it's hilarious i've sent so many memes of it as well you know when we 00:25:05.743 --> 00:25:10.543 were doing the dragon the taming of vermathor where when i scream at vermathor um, 00:25:11.584 --> 00:25:15.503 that was a thing on set where it wasn't quite supposed to be as big as that 00:25:15.503 --> 00:25:20.863 and i said to ryan and david and the guys you know can i just scream in his face, 00:25:21.623 --> 00:25:24.143 lonnie and i were talking about it and he went we'll have to talk to the guys 00:25:24.143 --> 00:25:29.793 so we got david and ryan over and they were like we'd shot one and we watch 00:25:29.793 --> 00:25:33.643 him play back and ryan turned to me and goes you know this is going be a meme, right? 00:25:34.523 --> 00:25:37.403 I was like, I don't know. I don't really know what gets to be a meme, 00:25:37.423 --> 00:25:39.623 what doesn't. But yes, I mean, it's a nice moment. 00:25:40.123 --> 00:25:46.383 It certainly felt genuine to me and something that people would do to have done 00:25:46.383 --> 00:25:50.074 the scene and then get sent so many memes by people of like, 00:25:50.318 --> 00:25:52.743 you bring home a cyber truck and your wife's really angry. 00:25:54.663 --> 00:25:59.394 Really funny, really, really funny stuff. I mean, you know, 00:26:01.239 --> 00:26:05.479 a scene or a show getting that much kind of scrutiny you know you should be so lucky you know, 00:26:06.132 --> 00:26:10.019 i love how passionate the fans are i mean on both sides of the coin it could 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:15.269 be quite brutal at times but people really care about the story both book and 00:26:15.269 -->

00:26:17.039 show and i think that's a good thing, 00:26:17.839 --> 00:26:22.129 definitely there's a very there's a very loyal fan base surrounding this entire 00:26:22.129 --> 00:26:26.279 franchise for sure it's one thing but you know what i've had this before in 00:26:26.279 --> 00:26:29.760 in in the theater when we've done adaptations of the classics so when you do, 00:26:30.242 --> 00:26:33.999 you know mostly now when you do a version of a Shakespeare play you don't do 00:26:33.999 --> 00:26:36.628 a traditional Elizabethan Shakespeare play, 00:26:37.603 --> 00:26:43.280 it's always a modern adaptation or this or that Shakespeare wrote you know there's the quarto the folio, 00:26:43.915 --> 00:26:47.119 and there's debate about bits that he wrote and didn't write and all that and 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:50.301 so when you do the play the play is also a cut so they cut the play, 00:26:50.847 --> 00:26:54.709 so sometimes you'll do a play and they'll say hang on you missed out that bit 00:26:54.709 --> 00:26:57.813 of the sonnet or you missed that scene in king lear when this happens 00:26:58.243 --> 00:27:02.259 and people have always got a very strong opinion and or they'll say this modern 00:27:02.259 --> 00:27:05.882 setting doesn't work and they and and when we do q and a's in the theater. 00:27:06.819 --> 00:27:09.749 I've experienced it before where people have been quite brutal saying you your 00:27:09.749 --> 00:27:13.231 character made a joke then he shouldn't make a joke then because he he was dying 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:18.479 i said well he lives with sarcastic humor his entire life so maybe it's appropriate 00:27:18.479 --> 00:27:20.602 that he hides his feelings with a joke. 00:27:21.043 --> 00:27:23.599 And then people say, no, you're wrong. Okay. 00:27:24.259 --> 00:27:28.189 Okay. Well, I'll do that every night and maybe you come back tomorrow and you can watch it again. 00:27:28.839 --> 00:27:35.741 I mean, people have ownership of their experience of how they digest art. 00:27:36.025 --> 00:27:38.353 And then it's very, very important to them. 00:27:39.116 --> 00:27:44.344 And what I always find interesting about poetry is at different times in your 00:27:44.344 --> 00:27:49.150 life, when you read it again, you find something in it else that you didn't think was there. 00:27:49.539 --> 00:27:53.274 And including the work that we do, like as an actor, I'll film something and, 00:27:53.854 --> 00:27:57.484 we do so much that doesn't make it to the screen. We do so many takes and we 00:27:57.484 --> 00:27:59.820 do so many versions of things that you don't see. 00:28:00.174 --> 00:28:03.535 And often when we watch the show, we think, oh no, why did they use that take? 00:28:03.738 --> 00:28:05.219 I did one that was way better than that. 00:28:05.933 --> 00:28:09.184 And you can have an opinion of a show that you've done, and then five years 00:28:09.184 --> 00:28:11.070 or 10 years later, you watch it again and go... 00:28:11.913 --> 00:28:15.229 Oh that was really good that was that was actually really good i just spent 00:28:15.229 --> 00:28:19.779 five or ten years thinking i was rubbish in that and i made i made the wrong 00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:22.494 choices and you want to watch and think why have i, 00:28:23.069 --> 00:28:26.949 why have i held this negative opinion of the thing i did the thing i cared so 00:28:26.949 --> 00:28:30.441 much about and you watch and go oh that was that was a strange, 00:28:31.132 --> 00:28:36.281 but it's because things change as we change so that's hopefully the best kind of art, 00:28:37.044 --> 00:28:40.846 has that resonance and and you know who knows. 00:28:41.779 --> 00:28:47.009 100% yeah I completely agree and I know we've touched a little bit already on 00:28:47.009 --> 00:28:51.039 some of the other work that you've been in and your other experiences and how 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:55.199 you kind of got into the industry but you've had an incredible like. 00:28:56.219 --> 00:28:59.904 You've been in you've had credits in so many different things I mean Outlander, 00:29:00.276 --> 00:29:04.409 Doctor Who, Warrior that's just to name a couple and so I was wondering if you 00:29:04.409 --> 00:29:07.849 could give us maybe a little bit of background I know you said you were at Lambda 00:29:07.849 --> 00:29:09.415 and all these things but is there any, 00:29:09.862 --> 00:29:15.459 background that you can give us on how you got into the industry or perhaps any advice for, 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:19.798 students or young people that are looking to to make it into this industry, 00:29:20.919 --> 00:29:24.640 I come from a little working class town in the northeast of England called Hartlepool, 00:29:25.156 --> 00:29:30.735 and all my life I was a sportsman my family did sport and it was a big commitment for my parents, 00:29:32.012 --> 00:29:35.799 not just the nights of training but the competing on the weekends I was a swimmer 00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:38.379 and a fencer and about basketball and I'm one of five kids. 00:29:38.379 --> 00:29:41.050 So my family was, we were very lucky to have parents. 00:29:41.380 --> 00:29:44.910 And as a parent now I realize quite how much of a commitment that was. 00:29:45.699 --> 00:29:49.589 So when I said to my dad, I wanted to go to drama school and there were fees 00:29:49.589 --> 00:29:51.276 involved that it was gonna cost money. 00:29:52.644 --> 00:29:56.690 I remember my dad saying, how on earth are we going to pay for that? 00:29:58.034 --> 00:30:02.334 And I think that was one of the very first, and that's not my dad being resistant. 00:30:02.334 --> 00:30:07.114 That was my dad just being honest and real. And maybe he wouldn't have said 00:30:07.114 --> 00:30:10.854 that to me again, but there was a moment there where I could have said, 00:30:10.854 --> 00:30:12.976 yeah, oh no, you're right, dad, and just left it. 00:30:14.305 --> 00:30:18.054 And after 26 years being in

the business, I realized that if you want to be 00:30:18.054 --> 00:30:20.366 an actor, you have to persevere. 00:30:21.134 --> 00:30:24.974 There'll be so many moments where you want to give up and you want to pack it 00:30:24.974 --> 00:30:29.254 in or you don't want to you don't want to pursue it because it is it is hard 00:30:29.254 --> 00:30:32.283 it is not honorable things don't happen logically, 00:30:33.322 --> 00:30:38.054 so what you have is you have to have your own you have to have your own sense 00:30:38.054 --> 00:30:41.235 of self and your sense of you've got to know why you want to do it. 00:30:43.116 --> 00:30:45.664 It's not a job to do to get famous and make money. 00:30:46.584 --> 00:30:51.594 If you really love acting, if you really love, it doesn't have to be pretentious. 00:30:51.594 --> 00:30:54.214 If you love doing silly voices and dressing up and making people laugh, 00:30:54.214 --> 00:30:57.674 that's enough. That's great. That's the best possible one because at the end 00:30:57.674 --> 00:31:02.321 of the day, acting is playful and it's imitative and it's generous. 00:31:02.854 --> 00:31:05.948 It's not about you. It's about other people actually. 00:31:06.284 --> 00:31:11.567 But what I would say is I applied for Lambda on the last possible day I could have. 00:31:12.333 --> 00:31:14.664 I couldn't apply to Guildhall or 00:31:14.664 --> 00:31:19.619 Central, these are the drama schools in Britain, because I was too late. 00:31:20.379 --> 00:31:23.568 The only drama schools I could apply to were RADA and Lambda and I auditioned 00:31:23.568 --> 00:31:25.713 for both and I was lucky enough to get into Lambda. 00:31:26.424 --> 00:31:29.838 And immediately we couldn't afford for me to go. 00:31:30.203 --> 00:31:34.238 And I couldn't get any money from my local education authority because they 00:31:34.238 --> 00:31:37.328 needed a grant from the lottery to access their fund. It was like, 00:31:37.328 --> 00:31:38.975 we can't give money unless you get money. 00:31:39.550 --> 00:31:43.938 And again, more stumbling blocks that are very practical and very real for a lot of people. 00:31:45.695 --> 00:31:50.138 And I went anyway. my mom and dad said go for the first term we'll work out 00:31:50.138 --> 00:31:51.487 how to pay for the rest just go, 00:31:52.097 --> 00:31:56.658 so I went to London and I started at drama school and I auditioned for grants 00:31:56.658 --> 00:32:02.251 that the school put me up for and I worked I worked at Lambda I used to I used to. 00:32:03.628 --> 00:32:06.558 Do all sorts of jobs we used to fix things at the school we used to wash the 00:32:06.558 --> 00:32:10.748 walls we used to work on the bar they had a whole armory of weapons and I was 00:32:10.748 --> 00:32:12.668 a fencer as a kid so I was used to 00:32:13.048 --> 00:32:16.883 fixing swords and things so I used to fix things in the armory we used to count 00:32:17.057 --> 00:32:19.868 lines in players because when they distribute the players when you're there 00:32:19.868 --> 00:32:22.988 at drama school they want to evenly distribute characters the way they did that 00:32:22.988 --> 00:32:25.915 was was plays so they'd give me a stack of plays 00:32:26.206 --> 00:32:28.918 and you'd have a calculator and you'd have to write down the character names 00:32:28.918 --> 00:32:32.388 and you have to count how many lines each character has so they knew 00:32:32.701 --> 00:32:36.324 they were giving the students an equal distribution of lines in a in a play 00:32:36.742 --> 00:32:38.425 but which what that meant was, 00:32:38.890 --> 00:32:43.658 i had a stack of plays that i got to look at you know and and actually the working 00:32:43.658 --> 00:32:47.098 at Lambda meant I was in Lambda. I was just there all the time. 00:32:47.638 --> 00:32:51.051 And then I got, then I got work choreographing fights for some of the plays. 00:32:51.771 --> 00:32:56.021 And then I got a job choreographing the fights at the Globe for Mark Rylands for his Hamlet. 00:32:56.328 --> 00:33:00.652 And Mark Rylands let me sit and watch him rehearse Hamlet. And I was 19. 00:33:01.333 --> 00:33:06.568 But I got that job because I needed to work to pay for the drama school that 00:33:06.568 --> 00:33:10.324 I couldn't pay for because I'd been competing, doing fencing before that. 00:33:10.533 --> 00:33:16.198 So like everything kind of like worked out, but what I look back on and recognize 00:33:16.198 --> 00:33:18.823 is like, there's lots of moments where you could stop. 00:33:20.719 --> 00:33:24.856 And i've had conversations with people along the you know over the 26 years 00:33:24.856 --> 00:33:28.359 i've professionally done it was 29 including drama school like, 00:33:29.525 --> 00:33:33.986 where you get you can get really you can get really distracted with the pollution 00:33:33.986 --> 00:33:38.266 of the business whether or not you've got and now it's even worse because it's 00:33:38.266 --> 00:33:43.316 if you're on social media have you got enough followers you know do people care what you know, 00:33:44.147 --> 00:33:47.357 the pollution of how much money, 00:33:48.609 --> 00:33:53.506 how much money a job might have or of all that stuff doesn't matter what matters 00:33:53.506 --> 00:33:57.506 is why do you want to do it and do it because you love it and for the things 00:33:57.506 --> 00:34:02.569 you love again if you love the thing you do if you love it and you care, 00:34:03.255 --> 00:34:09.095 then people will gravitate towards that you will you will find work you will find joy in the job, 00:34:09.971 --> 00:34:11.796 but there will be a lot of disappointment. 00:34:13.256 --> 00:34:19.497 Even when I left, I left early. I got a job in my third year playing the lead 00:34:19.706 --> 00:34:22.713 in two films for Hallmark playing Hans Christian Andersen. And I left, 00:34:23.824 --> 00:34:26.874 I left arm school, I didn't graduate, didn't do my final term. 00:34:26.874 -->

00:34:29.314 And I went to Berlin to play Hans Christian Andersen. 00:34:31.597 --> 00:34:35.004 With a cast of people who I'd watched growing up on the TV as a kid. 00:34:35.712 --> 00:34:37.626 And I felt totally overwhelmed. 00:34:38.405 --> 00:34:42.294 And then I got back and I don't think I worked for like at least eight months. 00:34:44.215 --> 00:34:49.434 And I was auditioning and I had masses of time out of work between jobs. 00:34:49.434 --> 00:34:55.232 And I did i worked on building sites i worked in pubs i was a nanny a dog walked, 00:34:55.708 --> 00:35:02.650 i did i did almost everything else but all the while i was doing it i was you know trying to consume, 00:35:03.271 --> 00:35:08.659 plays and culture and and hang in there but you need to know why you really want to do it, 00:35:09.294 --> 00:35:13.264 and you've got to keep hold of that and you've got to stick together as well 00:35:13.264 --> 00:35:17.153 if you've got other contemporaries actors you've got to look at you do, 00:35:17.974 --> 00:35:21.984 find people who you can confide in and look after each other because now more 00:35:21.984 --> 00:35:25.494 than ever because it's become isolating you know we used to go into rooms and 00:35:25.494 --> 00:35:31.634 meet casting directors directors producers have meetings sometimes two or three for a job now more than. 00:35:33.194 --> 00:35:37.119 Now more than ever people are getting their mums their girlfriends their wives 00:35:37.514 --> 00:35:41.804 their their boyfriends whoever is the most immediate person to them and they 00:35:41.804 --> 00:35:45.444 do all their self-tapes with them, which actually puts quite a big burden on 00:35:45.444 --> 00:35:48.354 your relationship because you're like, oh, we've got to reconstruct the house 00:35:48.354 --> 00:35:50.464 now, darling, and put a camera up. 00:35:50.464 --> 00:35:53.664 And then you're going to have to read with me because if I don't, 00:35:53.664 --> 00:35:55.717 I'm not going to get to do the thing I love to do. 00:35:56.274 --> 00:36:01.315 And that is different kind of demand. And it's also very isolating. 00:36:01.779 --> 00:36:05.714 You can spend a lot of time on your own when really what the job is about is 00:36:05.714 --> 00:36:10.307 about people connecting and being with human beings and having a human experience 00:36:10.487 --> 00:36:11.892 not a digital experience 00:36:12.297 --> 00:36:15.784 and when you film it you're supposed to be selling a human experience not a 00:36:15.784 --> 00:36:18.533 digital one but you need to know how to, 00:36:19.209 --> 00:36:21.119 craft it for that and it's, 00:36:22.249 --> 00:36:25.584 So don't end up isolated. 00:36:26.820 --> 00:36:29.779 Spend time with human beings while you're doing it. Yeah. 00:36:30.814 --> 00:36:35.199 I think, as you said, especially since COVID and everything becoming a lot more 00:36:35.199 --> 00:36:38.935 online. I mean, my friend, she's very much interacting. 00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:44.234 I find it so much fun when I get to film self-tapes with her and help her out with stuff. I love it. 00:36:44.576 --> 00:36:47.972 I love the behind the scenes of it all. But yeah, I think, as you said, 00:36:48.361 --> 00:36:50.265 you really don't get that. 00:36:50.474 --> 00:36:53.589 I noticed that she will often be like oh let me redo that let me do that you 00:36:53.589 --> 00:37:00.552 can be so self-critical in those circumstances and you kind of lose that face-to-face human value 00:37:00.958 --> 00:37:06.049 but with that being said you also mentioned your first job that you booked it 00:37:06.049 --> 00:37:09.725 was very overwhelming and it can obviously be a very nerve-wracking industry 00:37:10.114 --> 00:37:14.479 did you have any advice on how to maybe overcome some of these challenges or 00:37:14.479 --> 00:37:17.103 overcome these nerves when breaking into 00:37:17.439 --> 00:37:21.749 this kind of nerves nerves is completely normal that's part of the job i think 00:37:21.749 --> 00:37:26.112 there's a i'm sure there's a really good jeff bridges quote about nerves that we just use them 00:37:26.519 --> 00:37:30.589 and they don't necessarily go away they're just familiar also it's quite hard 00:37:30.589 --> 00:37:34.855 sometimes to differentiate between nerves anxiety and excitement. 00:37:35.865 --> 00:37:41.779 It really is you think i'm nervous and especially if i do a play and i'm rehearsing 00:37:41.779 --> 00:37:45.082 and you get to like four or five weeks of rehearsals sometimes, 00:37:45.731 --> 00:37:49.419 i start feeling like i really don't know what i'm doing and what i need is the 00:37:49.419 --> 00:37:53.813 audience because i'm ready to get on the stage and just get on with it just you know, 00:37:54.509 --> 00:37:59.315 you use the nerves the the nerves are there to help you, 00:38:00.007 --> 00:38:03.409 scrutinize i wouldn't don't try and get rid of them just breathe just learn 00:38:03.409 --> 00:38:08.579 to breathe and i would say in terms of physical health nothing has helped me 00:38:08.579 --> 00:38:12.005 more than doing a little bit of basic yoga practice. 00:38:12.939 --> 00:38:16.609 You can do a lot of yoga there's a lot of different types of yoga and you can 00:38:16.609 --> 00:38:18.821 easily go to a class that will put you off, 00:38:19.594 --> 00:38:23.773 But as an actor with a long career to look after yourself physically, 00:38:24.488 --> 00:38:30.833 but look after your breath in moments of auditioning and intense adrenaline, 00:38:31.512 --> 00:38:33.942 because you can rehearse and rehearse, particularly if you're doing something 00:38:33.942 --> 00:38:35.342 like a fight, you can rehearse and rehearse. 00:38:35.342 --> 00:38:40.712 Then when you step on stage, you get extra adrenaline and that can at times 00:38:40.712 --> 00:38:46.112 make you unsafe and your breath can suddenly feel like it eludes you and you can get a tightness. 00:38:46.112 --> 00:38:48.902 And I

think having a little bit of 00:38:49.262 --> 00:38:55.042 knowledge of breath and practicing in like a yoga in an hour i'd say like i 00:38:55.042 --> 00:38:59.122 said i did a lot of sport i was a fencer i was a swimmer i did basketball at 00:38:59.122 --> 00:39:03.273 drama school we did a thing called alexander technique which teaches you about physical tension 00:39:03.627 --> 00:39:07.910 so that you don't strain your voice and you look after yourself physically on stage but i would say. 00:39:09.182 --> 00:39:13.352 We're very lucky we've never been in a position before where almost everywhere 00:39:13.352 --> 00:39:16.781 there's somewhere that does a pretty decent basic yoga class. 00:39:17.562 --> 00:39:22.062 And that use of your breath is going to really help ground you in those moments 00:39:22.062 --> 00:39:24.618 of excitement or nerves. 00:39:25.099 --> 00:39:27.485 But just know you are not alone. 00:39:28.107 --> 00:39:30.162 Everybody feels it. And, 00:39:30.963 --> 00:39:36.403 Like Bill Nighy and some of the people I've looked up to over the years have 00:39:36.403 --> 00:39:40.143 said things like, you know, Bill said, the good thing about you, 00:39:40.143 --> 00:39:41.849 Kieran, is no one else has got your head. 00:39:42.017 --> 00:39:45.082 You are a one of one. That is your unique selling point. 00:39:45.622 --> 00:39:49.070 So don't worry that you think we all look the same, the people who go for it. 00:39:49.372 --> 00:39:52.025 I was going to say, you all look the same in the room waiting to go in the casting. 00:39:52.187 --> 00:39:55.699 You won't sit in a room with people that all look like you anymore because it doesn't happen. 00:39:56.019 --> 00:40:00.553 They made it once in the blue moon but like your unique selling point is that 00:40:00.553 --> 00:40:07.043 you are you and your interpretation of the character will be yours so enjoy 00:40:07.043 --> 00:40:10.013 that and own that and also something i do, 00:40:10.647 --> 00:40:12.749 now a lot of the auditions you do, 00:40:13.415 --> 00:40:17.403 will be really there might be really exciting characters that you would be desperate 00:40:17.403 --> 00:40:19.886 to play but you probably won't get to do it, 00:40:20.594 --> 00:40:23.989 so the only time you're going to get to play the part is the audition. 00:40:25.083 --> 00:40:29.823 So just do it for that just enjoy the audition and and pour yourself into it 00:40:29.823 --> 00:40:32.612 and enjoy it for that moment and then let it go 00:40:32.924 --> 00:40:36.713 like an artist doing a sketch or a painting and then put it aside and then another 00:40:36.713 --> 00:40:41.403 one put it aside another one put it aside just keep doing that for you and you 00:40:41.403 --> 00:40:44.773 feel it there's this thing about bringing up kids that someone said, 00:40:45.289 --> 00:40:46.962 if a kid brings you the painting, 00:40:47.622 --> 00:40:50.205 and you say to the kid oh my god i love it, 00:40:50.889 --> 00:40:55.300 that you're almost teaching the child to look for external validation. 00:40:56.433 --> 00:41:00.247 Whereas if you say to the kid, wow, that's amazing. How, how does that make you feel? 00:41:00.913 --> 00:41:05.193 You're asking the child what their experience is. You're reinforcing their sense 00:41:05.193 --> 00:41:09.940 of self and, and helping them to, to develop a stronger, 00:41:10.644 --> 00:41:14.803 sense of who they are and what they feel within the world, rather than needing 00:41:14.803 --> 00:41:17.935 to look out for other people to give feedback. 00:41:19.101 --> 00:41:25.482 And I think we would do well to remember that when we're making auditions or anything. 00:41:25.864 --> 00:41:29.738 Not to say we don't need feedback, but we can get a little bit, 00:41:30.038 --> 00:41:31.592 the balance can get out of sync. 00:41:32.056 --> 00:41:35.557 I mean, also a little bit of ignorance can help sometimes. 00:41:35.859 --> 00:41:38.488 When I auditioned for Hans Christian Andersen, they said to me, 00:41:38.488 --> 00:41:39.649 could you do a fairy tale? 00:41:39.876 --> 00:41:42.678 And I went through the script and there wasn't a complete fairy tale. 00:41:42.678 --> 00:41:45.187 And so it was quite panicky. I thought, I don't know what to do. 00:41:45.524 --> 00:41:48.821 Or they must want me to learn a whole fairy tale. 00:41:49.451 --> 00:41:53.618 So I went to Waterstones and I got Thumbelina, like a little ladybird book. 00:41:53.618 --> 00:41:57.133 So it's 14 pages of the story. So it's condensed version. 00:41:57.790 --> 00:42:03.168 And I made a piece of theater. I learned it and I did all these like hand gestures 00:42:03.168 --> 00:42:07.738 for it because I thought what they want is they want to see Hans Christian Hansen. 00:42:09.221 --> 00:42:10.701 So I didn't know how to audition. 00:42:12.778 --> 00:42:17.048 I'd heard this story that Mark Rylance, when he'd auditioned to play hamlet 00:42:17.048 --> 00:42:23.290 at the rsc when he was very young had done to be or not to be but he'd done it in russian, 00:42:24.618 --> 00:42:30.018 wow and i thought that's wild like yeah well i bet it was an amazing piece of 00:42:30.018 --> 00:42:30.684 theater oh yeah definitely. 00:42:32.698 --> 00:42:36.918 And i saw in my mind i was like i want to be like mark i want to try and do 00:42:36.918 --> 00:42:40.488 something that people go oh that was even if you don't get the job like god 00:42:40.488 --> 00:42:42.577 that was that was good that was interesting, 00:42:43.693 --> 00:42:48.342 so i did this thing and i and i recognize obviously now that it was very unusual 00:42:48.761 --> 00:42:52.338 to just say i don't want to do they went oh you put the script down they all 00:42:52.338 --> 00:42:55.908 put the script down go on then and i did this little peek it wasn't really long 00:42:55.908 --> 00:42:56.911 it was a couple of minutes, 00:42:58.185 --> 00:43:01.898 but it was i guess it was individually creative

and it and for me it was really 00:43:01.898 --> 00:43:03.421 fun and it did get me the job, 00:43:04.606 --> 00:43:09.426 And I did that because I was completely ignorant. And sometimes I've tried to 00:43:09.426 --> 00:43:12.866 go in and just please the people, please them and hit every note that I think 00:43:12.866 --> 00:43:15.949 they want, rather than hang on, what do I think? 00:43:16.767 --> 00:43:20.744 What do I want to bring to this character? And then can I show it? 00:43:21.455 --> 00:43:24.891 Because often if you show an idea, people go, that's really interesting. 00:43:25.338 --> 00:43:29.489 If you try to explain the idea, people go, oh, I'm not sure about that. That sounds a bit weird. 00:43:30.426 --> 00:43:35.696 So often I think, show, don't tell. and i'm doing it right now i'm constructing 00:43:35.696 --> 00:43:38.602 i'm starting a new job and i'm constructing a character, 00:43:39.236 --> 00:43:43.296 and i was playing with it last night and thinking no i can't do that i can't 00:43:43.296 --> 00:43:47.726 do that that would be that would be way too much but i'm gonna show not tell 00:43:47.726 --> 00:43:50.946 and i'm gonna wait for say i'm gonna wait for someone to say can you not do that. 00:43:53.126 --> 00:43:56.906 Because it's fun for me and i've learned if it's fun for me generally people 00:43:56.906 --> 00:43:59.166 go oh let's do more of that you know. 00:44:00.392 --> 00:44:03.666 Yeah like when i did warrior i made him northern irish and i just thought all 00:44:03.666 --> 00:44:07.446 these americans are going to say can you can you use an accent we can understand 00:44:07.446 --> 00:44:10.686 or can you not do that and then the end they were like no could you do more 00:44:10.686 --> 00:44:12.646 of that and i was like oh my god thank you yes. 00:44:13.808 --> 00:44:18.246 Yeah definitely i feel like if you present it's kind of like how you said earlier with 00:44:18.666 --> 00:44:21.926 with the dogs when you were talking to the dog trainers a dog can tell when 00:44:21.926 --> 00:44:25.496 you're feeling a certain emotion and i feel like that's very you can feel that 00:44:25.496 --> 00:44:29.174 with people as well if you're having fun people will often, 00:44:29.761 --> 00:44:31.682 reflect that and mimic that back to you, 00:44:32.274 --> 00:44:36.333 and at the end of the day people want you know when you're thinking about being nervous like, 00:44:36.970 --> 00:44:41.016 people want you to be a solution they want you to be good they don't want you 00:44:41.016 --> 00:44:43.147 to not get the job they want, 00:44:43.791 --> 00:44:47.008 you to come in and be a solution so often before going in, 00:44:48.166 --> 00:44:53.916 there was a there was a brilliant voice teacher an actor called greg de polna that we had at lambda, 00:44:54.450 --> 00:44:58.546 and he had this thing where he said you know before you before you go on stage 00:44:58.546 --> 00:45:03.512 before you going to an audition, just have a quiet moment and think to yourself, I have a secret. 00:45:04.374 --> 00:45:08.773 Somebody loves me and I am beautiful. I think those are the three that he said. 00:45:09.743 --> 00:45:13.670 And I often stand off stage and think, I've got a secret. Think of someone who 00:45:13.670 --> 00:45:16.540 loves you and I'm beautiful. 00:45:17.000 --> 00:45:21.771 Think of something. Those are kind thoughts. Those are thoughts that imbue you 00:45:21.911 --> 00:45:26.746 with an inner life and actually bring you away from very frightened, 00:45:27.424 --> 00:45:32.483 reaching feelings and thoughts that might be kind of. 00:45:34.660 --> 00:45:38.456 Lacking or that sort of edge of nervousness. 00:45:40.416 --> 00:45:44.730 Being standing on stage is a very empowering thing watching a person just breathing 00:45:44.730 --> 00:45:49.309 and standing and actually existing people talk about aura a lot now like but 00:45:49.617 --> 00:45:54.691 people like oh you know sportsman or people he's giving aura and all this sort of thing and i'm like, 00:45:55.696 --> 00:45:59.460 i think it's it's it's in a it might maybe it's not but it to me it's like in 00:45:59.460 --> 00:46:04.650 a life like watching somebody who's really alive like emma in the show i feel 00:46:04.650 --> 00:46:08.420 like emma has like layers, 00:46:09.580 --> 00:46:14.490 of of of depth and matt always has matt's matt's always had this like almost 00:46:14.490 --> 00:46:18.750 like violent sway so brilliant for damon but like i mean he's he carries it 00:46:18.750 --> 00:46:20.231 on every job he has you know, 00:46:21.180 --> 00:46:25.720 the best people i find when you watch them they have so many other things going 00:46:25.720 --> 00:46:28.870 on that you watch them and you sort of you want to investigate them more and 00:46:28.870 --> 00:46:31.991 say I want to know about that thing that I think they're thinking 00:46:32.362 --> 00:46:37.122 and we don't even know why we feel it as human beings you think why are some people more 00:46:37.547 --> 00:46:41.940 magnetic than others in that moment and that's a skill you know that's that's 00:46:41.940 --> 00:46:44.432 something as an actor you can learn. 00:46:45.632 --> 00:46:49.354 And I think sometimes people just have it definitely for sure, 00:46:50.434 --> 00:46:56.250 and so I kind of want to wrap this up by asking you this is kind of just more 00:46:56.250 --> 00:46:57.458 for myself as well actually, 00:46:58.055 --> 00:47:05.600 we have one episode left of the season and i'm very excited also very sad i don't want it to end but, 00:47:06.304 --> 00:47:10.430 maybe without any spoilers or anything like that i won't prod you too much but 00:47:10.430 --> 00:47:15.986 if you could describe the finale in one word or phrase what would you say. 00:47:17.840 --> 00:47:22.784 I'm trying to get one really good word and it's very hard to encapsulate everything. 00:47:23.102 --> 00:47:27.480 Well, when I asked Max this, who plays

Sir Laurent, he gave me like four. 00:47:27.840 --> 00:47:28.900 I'll take as many as you need. 00:47:29.800 --> 00:47:36.300 No, I know. I mean, because in one way it is exhilarating and in another way it is frustrating. 00:47:37.900 --> 00:47:40.673 And I'm trying to think of the right word. 00:47:41.761 --> 00:47:48.817 Is like expanding. And I would also, I would say like, oh my God, 00:47:48.817 --> 00:47:50.921 exhilarating and devastating. 00:47:51.328 --> 00:47:54.947 And everything seems, everything seems like it's not enough. 00:47:54.947 --> 00:47:59.567 I can't think of an expletive that's and I can't think of something that encapsulates 00:47:59.567 --> 00:48:02.957 everything. It's just that epic. It can't be put into one. Well, 00:48:02.957 --> 00:48:04.277 look, let me put it this way. 00:48:04.637 --> 00:48:11.020 Like we are all so gutted that there's only one episode left of this season, 00:48:12.540 --> 00:48:20.907 we are also extremely excited about season four and it can't come soon enough 00:48:20.907 --> 00:48:23.957 like i can't tell you how much we all want to be back together, 00:48:25.590 --> 00:48:30.197 getting on with it like because because i think what happens in episode eight 00:48:30.197 --> 00:48:40.497 is is it's so explosive it's so good like it it's so mad being part of this show i watch it i watch it, 00:48:41.917 --> 00:48:44.797 with the with all the excitement that everybody else does and my wife normally 00:48:44.797 --> 00:48:45.737 says every time it's like. 00:48:47.477 --> 00:48:50.287 Normally when we're sitting down to watch it my wife will say it's so mad you're 00:48:50.287 --> 00:48:52.434 in this show i can't believe you're in this show. 00:48:55.637 --> 00:48:58.877 I mean i feel like that every time the hbos thing comes on yeah um, 00:49:00.992 --> 00:49:10.037 it's an absolute dream come true to be part of it and the episode ed is explosive 00:49:10.281 --> 00:49:14.792 explosive i suppose explosive is a good word because it means there's fallout, 00:49:15.997 --> 00:49:17.857 and there's an aftermath from an explosion and, 00:49:19.110 --> 00:49:23.868 Well, I am very excited and I feel like if the episode that I watched last night, 00:49:23.868 --> 00:49:28.248 if episode seven is set in any tone for episode eight, I am terrified. 00:49:29.768 --> 00:49:32.728 Can I just say, how good is Tom Bennett? How good was Tom in that episode? 00:49:32.728 --> 00:49:34.900 Incredible. So incredible. 00:49:36.908 --> 00:49:44.398 I've really enjoyed having a ringside seat and watching Ulf's Revelation because 00:49:44.398 --> 00:49:47.901 I've been there from the beginning, like the very beginning. 00:49:49.601 --> 00:49:53.447 And it's, it's, I was, I texted Tom immediately last night when I, 00:49:53.447 --> 00:49:57.520 when I watched the show and I said, I'm so excited. 00:49:58.687 --> 00:50:02.544 I'm so excited by what he'd done and the detail. And, and, and. 00:50:03.743 --> 00:50:08.827 You know, it's funny when all the shows that I love on HBO, for instance, 00:50:08.827 --> 00:50:12.977 like Sopranos and Deadwood and that I've rewatched, I've rewatched them so many 00:50:12.977 --> 00:50:16.727 times and watch the actors and watch the stories. And I always see something new. 00:50:17.067 --> 00:50:20.457 I always do in the performances. Even when you think you know it you watch it 00:50:20.457 --> 00:50:22.464 again think oh maybe i've misremembered that, 00:50:23.193 --> 00:50:27.407 but you see little things and those little things that the actors either subtext 00:50:27.407 --> 00:50:30.777 what they show the camera what they don't show the camera the props they fiddle 00:50:30.777 --> 00:50:35.818 with the the choices they make they're not accidents. 00:50:36.628 --> 00:50:40.877 You know people look read some my favorite things is people that look like they're 00:50:40.877 --> 00:50:46.195 just existing in a world and the camera happens to find them you know you don't get to see 00:50:46.531 --> 00:50:50.357 you only get to see the bits of hue that the camera chooses to show you you 00:50:50.357 --> 00:50:54.705 don't get to see him on his own going to the toilet or like contemplating 00:50:55.082 --> 00:50:57.874 or contemplating that his wife's not there and he's sad or, 00:50:58.623 --> 00:51:03.547 or ranting with people about how he doesn't like you know revealing truths that's 00:51:03.547 --> 00:51:06.919 the thing they say a lot about duologues and stuff in shows duologues, 00:51:07.679 --> 00:51:11.747 scenes between two characters are good because people some people don't often 00:51:11.747 --> 00:51:17.066 reveal truths in groups or in threes they'll do it in twos, 00:51:17.547 --> 00:51:20.107 or they'll do it in a confessional way if you're lucky enough for a character 00:51:20.107 --> 00:51:22.813 to have an inner dialogue or a soliloquy or something like that, 00:51:23.265 --> 00:51:27.777 but in duologues they might but often if the person is in a setting particularly 00:51:27.777 --> 00:51:30.157 when they're in front of the king and the queen do you think they're always 00:51:30.157 --> 00:51:33.187 telling the truth and it's like that's amazing because 00:51:33.547 --> 00:51:38.502 like you think you know a person I mean, like, I don't know that person at all. Mm-hmm. 00:51:39.607 --> 00:51:41.526 And I think that is the most incredible 00:51:41.526 --> 00:51:44.414 thing about this show that you can really tell when you watch it. 00:51:44.530 --> 00:51:51.078 Every single character has so much excitement and so much passion that they bring to the screen. 00:51:51.432 --> 00:51:54.806 And I can only imagine what it must be like to, as you said, 00:51:55.641 --> 00:51:58.787 all the takes that don't make it, all the things we don't get to see. 00:51:59.095 --> 00:52:04.488 I bet there is so much just energy on these sets and I think that is what makes it so incredible. 00:52:04.824 --> 00:52:09.677 So

I'm very, very excited to see Episode 8. Very excited. 00:52:10.031 --> 00:52:15.816 It yeah me too and I yeah we sometimes get them early as screeners because of 00:52:15.816 --> 00:52:19.906 course we're doing press and we watched we watched episode seven last night, 00:52:20.514 --> 00:52:22.606 and my wife said are you going to get a screen for eight. 00:52:25.206 --> 00:52:29.644 I don't think so I don't know maybe I don't know I've got some press to do this week but I don't know, 00:52:30.686 --> 00:52:34.396 but to be honest I don't I don't really want to watch it I don't want to watch 00:52:34.396 --> 00:52:38.195 it on a small device i don't really want to watch it on a laptop or, 00:52:39.183 --> 00:52:42.956 in a setting you know something when we went to the premiere for season the 00:52:42.956 --> 00:52:48.246 opening of season three and just to be clear like that episode episode one of 00:52:48.246 --> 00:52:50.621 season three is really episode nine of season two, 00:52:52.641 --> 00:52:58.896 and in a 10 in a 10 episode arc episode nine is always the one where the big 00:52:58.896 --> 00:53:02.586 stuff happens and episode 10 finishes the season and sets up the next there's 00:53:02.586 --> 00:53:06.475 a there's a rhythm to these things and of course that got shunted along because of, 00:53:07.602 --> 00:53:11.602 administrative stuff above everybody else's pay grade so, 00:53:12.384 --> 00:53:16.423 knowing that we were going to watch in the premiere this incredibly you know 00:53:16.423 --> 00:53:20.273 the battle of the gullet this huge episode that my friend directed that everyone 00:53:20.273 --> 00:53:23.321 had poured all this work into on a massive screen, 00:53:23.953 --> 00:53:28.173 in the cinema that i watched star wars in and lord of the rings in you know 00:53:28.533 --> 00:53:31.073 i went to watch lord of the rings at one o'clock in the morning in this cinema 00:53:31.073 --> 00:53:35.580 with a full group of people who all cheered when things happened in the movie 00:53:35.881 --> 00:53:38.086 well we got to watch our episode, 00:53:38.706 --> 00:53:44.395 with people cheering and all gasping when certain things in the episode happened, 00:53:44.992 --> 00:53:49.091 and i said when we were in there this is how we should watch the show every week. 00:53:50.576 --> 00:53:54.133 And i look everyone pays the subscription model there's more subscription models 00:53:54.133 --> 00:53:56.387 now than ever it's you know they but, 00:53:56.994 --> 00:54:03.203 personally i would pay 10 quid to sit in an audience of a cinema with a group 00:54:03.203 --> 00:54:04.683 of people who want to watch the 00:54:04.683 --> 00:54:09.393 show together to have the collective human experience of watching a show, 00:54:09.913 --> 00:54:14.733 and feeling everyone receive those shocks and everything at the same time I 00:54:14.733 --> 00:54:17.695 would do it and I'm in the show like, 00:54:18.310 --> 00:54:19.119 and I think, 00:54:19.763 --> 00:54:24.672 hopefully someone out there can take an initiative and set that up because I'll come, 00:54:25.893 --> 00:54:29.603 I'll be there as well I'll come along and I'll do a Q and A if people really 00:54:29.603 --> 00:54:33.205 want, if people want to talk to us, like there's people who are in these shows, 00:54:33.641 --> 00:54:38.070 I would happily come along and talk to people because so much work goes into it. 00:54:38.197 --> 00:54:41.117 And it's not just those actors, like the crews, I can't tell you, 00:54:41.675 --> 00:54:44.827 it's so good to go to work and watch everybody doing their job. 00:54:45.454 --> 00:54:49.943 And I know AI is coming. I really, really hope that it's beneficial to people. 00:54:49.943 --> 00:54:55.583 But when you go to work and you see people doing their job and doing it well, like, I, 00:54:56.280 --> 00:54:58.767 I understand actors that say they don't like to watch themselves, 00:54:58.767 --> 00:55:02.224 but I like to see the stuff because it's not just about us. 00:55:03.577 --> 00:55:05.897 And this is such a circus. 00:55:07.654 --> 00:55:11.757 I think I completely agree. And especially when a show, as I mentioned, 00:55:11.757 --> 00:55:14.207 you can just feel the passion through the screen. 00:55:14.207 --> 00:55:20.077 And when a show this big and this epic, it doesn't do it justice just watching it on a little laptop. 00:55:20.077 --> 00:55:23.817 I feel like to have that, I mean, even I know, because I've watched the entire 00:55:23.817 --> 00:55:30.030 show and all of Game of Thrones with my boyfriend and even just us two when we watch it we're 00:55:30.413 --> 00:55:35.208 like being able to feel each other's reactions so yeah I agree I feel like something 00:55:35.365 --> 00:55:39.794 these is so special and it also the community that it makes is so special, 00:55:40.877 --> 00:55:46.127 it is and and like I said the only understandably people would be reluctant 00:55:46.127 --> 00:55:51.257 to pay when they've already paid I this is not me pitching a like a thought 00:55:51.257 --> 00:55:52.129 through business model. 00:55:52.449 --> 00:55:56.507 I just mean the collective experience, like getting together to watch an England 00:55:56.507 --> 00:56:00.599 final or getting to, you know, people do it on the big finales of shows. 00:56:01.353 --> 00:56:03.268 Honestly, I'd do it every week. 00:56:05.521 --> 00:56:10.795 Because it's not that much fun for me watching it on my own for press. 00:56:10.795 --> 00:56:15.125 I can have my own reactions and things, but human beings need to be with human beings. 00:56:16.213 --> 00:56:20.293 We've got enough technology and reasons for us all to be isolated. 00:56:20.763 --> 00:56:24.435 I think people talk about cinema dying or declining. 00:56:24.435 --> 00:56:27.845 We've got loads of reasons to sit together and enjoy collective experiences 00:56:27.845 --> 00:56:29.831 and i think the more of those we have the better and,

00:56:30.928 --> 00:56:36.065 this this is what this is for like we should do it i think that's an incredible 00:56:36.065 --> 00:56:39.505 idea and i feel like someone needs to hopefully watch this and put that into. 00:56:41.445 --> 00:56:44.575 The other thing i'd say as well like we were talking about you were saying advice 00:56:44.575 --> 00:56:47.100 about getting the industry and talking about watching things, 00:56:48.402 --> 00:56:54.345 is i've probably learned more about my own acting since the self-tape thing 00:56:54.345 --> 00:56:58.505 came in because we audition and you do have to watch so many tapes you do have 00:56:58.505 --> 00:57:01.046 to watch yourself and i'd say just, 00:57:01.772 --> 00:57:05.085 people say i don't like watching myself i don't like hearing my voice on a you 00:57:05.085 --> 00:57:07.682 know thing you've got to get comfortable being uncomfortable, 00:57:08.994 --> 00:57:14.175 and and and scrutinize it in a healthy way you know scrutinize your stuff in 00:57:14.175 --> 00:57:17.108 a healthy way you know can you hide from you, 00:57:17.723 --> 00:57:22.065 can you see yourself acting or can you see yourself lying or can you hide you 00:57:22.065 --> 00:57:27.273 know there are some takes i do and one take i think god i'm really acting there, really performing. 00:57:27.545 --> 00:57:32.615 And the next take, I think, okay, that looks like a person who's breathing and 00:57:32.615 --> 00:57:34.668 living and existing and not planning. 00:57:35.184 --> 00:57:40.215 I haven't planned that. And almost one take to the next, I couldn't necessarily 00:57:40.215 --> 00:57:41.662 tell you what the difference is. 00:57:42.115 --> 00:57:48.338 It's a breath before the take. It's a note that maybe my wife gave me, or I don't know what. 00:57:48.971 --> 00:57:50.782 And it's still finding that and looking for it. 00:57:51.694 --> 00:57:54.974 But get comfortable being uncomfortable watching yourself, because. 00:57:56.320 --> 00:58:00.911 You will learn a lot about the craft by watching and just know everybody feels 00:58:00.911 --> 00:58:03.722 uncomfortable and everybody feels nervous. It's totally normal. 00:58:04.093 --> 00:58:06.804 Don't try and fight that. Just keep going. 00:58:07.811 --> 00:58:12.191 Just keep going. And I think in a world, kind of as you mentioned this before 00:58:12.191 --> 00:58:18.011 earlier, we've become as a society very dependent on social media and we have 00:58:18.011 --> 00:58:20.770 technologies. And as you said, these are all things that isolate us. 00:58:21.153 --> 00:58:25.211 And I also think these are all things that make because much more self-critical 00:58:25.211 --> 00:58:28.225 as you mentioned oh I don't have enough followers or whatever 00:58:28.648 --> 00:58:34.372 and so I feel like being able to ground yourself and focus on your own performance 00:58:34.755 --> 00:58:39.291 the advice that you've given I feel like people will really resonate with that because, 00:58:39.871 --> 00:58:44.653 I think we very much need that in in the society that we're in for sure, 00:58:45.866 --> 00:58:49.197 yeah and again it I think it's like healthy connection. 00:58:49.384 --> 00:58:55.443 There's a difference between just any kind of connection and being around human beings. 00:58:56.211 --> 00:58:58.450 Being around human beings is a restorative thing. 00:58:59.911 --> 00:59:00.922 For whatever reason, 00:59:02.124 --> 00:59:07.123 I had an accident 10 years ago. I brought my back. And so I have a metal spine. 00:59:08.044 --> 00:59:12.248 Part of my spine is metal. And part of the recovery from that, 00:59:12.248 --> 00:59:22.047 the trauma from the accident that I had, is I was advised to do singing and sound baths and things. 00:59:22.587 --> 00:59:28.738 And I went past this. There was a sign outside his church. It said a choir was 00:59:28.738 --> 00:59:30.358 singing and it was a sound bath. 00:59:30.880 --> 00:59:33.648 And I was like, that's interesting, isn't it? That they say that this is a sound 00:59:33.648 --> 00:59:40.424 bath. And I've been getting this very practical, technical advice about treatments for this injury. 00:59:41.190 --> 00:59:44.588 And then I realized human beings singing with each other and being with each 00:59:44.588 --> 00:59:47.645 other and the vibration between us is a healing thing. 00:59:49.378 --> 00:59:53.128 It doesn't necessarily always be it's not necessarily as a cerebral thing it's 00:59:53.128 --> 00:59:58.609 just getting a hug from somebody that loves you for 20 seconds does something physically to us, 00:59:59.219 --> 01:00:04.448 you know it is restorative and that's what we're supposed to try and bring to 01:00:04.448 --> 01:00:08.518 the job well in the process of doing it you're gonna go you're gonna need a 01:00:08.518 --> 01:00:12.867 hug you're gonna need a hug from someone you're gonna have a human connection, 01:00:13.379 --> 01:00:16.008 you know like jack nicholson used to say, you know what, you've got to go and 01:00:16.008 --> 01:00:18.190 live your life to be able to bring it to the work. 01:00:18.579 --> 01:00:21.244 You know, well, you've got to be with human beings and you've got to, 01:00:22.213 --> 01:00:29.082 work out how to restore yourself. So breathe, breathe and bring it back to the work and stay healthy. 01:00:30.806 --> 01:00:32.629 And do yoga. Do yoga. 01:00:35.082 --> 01:00:40.792 I mean, it's a human thing. We're lucky. We're storytellers and make it about that. 01:00:40.792 --> 01:00:45.962 Not, not, not the pollution around the job, you know, the followers and this 01:00:45.962 --> 01:00:50.402 and that and the chatter, it can get really distracting and it gets you into 01:00:50.402 --> 01:00:54.479 a place that's very flighty, very ungrounded, very fearful. 01:00:55.161 --> 01:00:58.382 That's also very human too and useful for your characters. 01:00:59.316 --> 01:01:02.992 One of my old acting teachers said to me, I was 18, we

walk along the road towards 01:01:02.992 --> 01:01:06.222 rehearsal and she said about, you know, bringing your human life. 01:01:06.222 --> 01:01:09.212 She said, you realize your whole life, you're just farming it for experiences 01:01:09.212 --> 01:01:10.473 to bring back into the work. 01:01:11.123 --> 01:01:14.438 And they're like, yeah, when things have happened to me in my life that are really bad, 01:01:15.084 --> 01:01:18.002 I've often had a little chuckle have been like oh well it'll be useful for work, 01:01:19.356 --> 01:01:22.642 like and i've had enough now i've had enough now experiences i don't want to 01:01:22.642 --> 01:01:28.332 have any more but it's being human that's it's being human that's what that's the reality anyway, 01:01:28.951 --> 01:01:33.122 well i think people are really gonna resonate with everything you've said and 01:01:33.122 --> 01:01:38.152 i feel like we've had an incredible chat it's been absolutely such a pleasure 01:01:38.152 --> 01:01:42.437 to speak with you today as i've said i just cannot wait to see episode eight 01:01:42.837 --> 01:01:46.532 and thank you for all the incredible advice that you've provided us all with 01:01:46.532 --> 01:01:50.642 today it's been an absolute pleasure yeah thank you thanks for asking thank 01:01:50.642 --> 01:01:54.262 you very much and thank you everyone at home that was watching i hope you all 01:01:54.262 --> 01:01:56.250 enjoyed it and i will see you all next time. 01:01:57.715 --> 01:02:01.720 Thank you so much it's honestly been such a pleasure to chat with you today 01:02:02.045 --> 01:02:08.901 no it's it's a pleasure and like it's really nice to be asked you know if there's any advice because. 01:02:10.409 --> 01:02:15.390 You don't, you know, it is quite a long time. I'm reading now more than ever. 01:02:16.051 --> 01:02:19.182 I'm learning these fight sequences at the moment. I've got like sword and shield 01:02:19.182 --> 01:02:20.539 and doing all this like amazing stuff. 01:02:21.264 --> 01:02:25.622 And I'm 46 next month. And I'm like, Oh, wow. I'm a little bit achy. 01:02:25.622 --> 01:02:27.052 I've been doing this a long time now. 01:02:28.296 --> 01:02:31.132 And there's, there are a lot of hard lessons there. 01:02:33.579 --> 01:02:36.732 And so the more that you can share that though, I feel like we could have sat 01:02:36.732 --> 01:02:41.050 here and talked about this all day, to be honest. I feel like I could pick your brains for hours. 01:02:41.334 --> 01:02:44.452 Well, I think, like what I said to you at the beginning, there's a way of being 01:02:44.452 --> 01:02:51.263 succinct because actually you can just kind of go off into anecdote after anecdote 01:02:51.658 --> 01:02:52.970 because that's what it's like. 01:02:53.080 --> 01:02:57.202 And it's quite exciting as well when you think, how can I help this young person? 01:02:57.202 --> 01:03:00.476 Because people do ask you, how can I help them in a way that is efficient? 01:03:01.986 --> 01:03:06.351 Bill Nighy, what did Bill Nighy say to me? Learn your lines and save your tax money. 01:03:10.611 --> 01:03:14.211 I should have said that you know we might we can pop that in there somewhere 01:03:14.211 --> 01:03:18.001 i think anthony hopkins said to me something like you know this isn't this isn't 01:03:18.001 --> 01:03:22.002 for wimps you know this is hard learn your lines and know, 01:03:22.565 --> 01:03:26.651 that it's hard kira and i'm like and i'm just going oh my god it's anthony hopkins. 01:03:29.211 --> 01:03:33.091 And i feel like this is the beautiful thing about us being able to sit and chat 01:03:33.091 --> 01:03:37.351 about stuff because you've had a million of your own experiences and you've 01:03:37.351 --> 01:03:42.360 been able to meet with people who have also had a million of their own experiences so there's so much, 01:03:42.859 --> 01:03:46.571 that you can put out there and so much about like i will my friend who i mentioned 01:03:46.571 --> 01:03:51.241 is trying to break into the acting industry she has been for years and this 01:03:51.241 --> 01:03:54.841 is one of the interviews i'm going to say jasmine go and watch this interview 01:03:54.841 --> 01:03:57.260 because i feel like we've had a lot of, 01:03:57.783 --> 01:04:02.451 really incredible advice and relatable advice as well, 01:04:02.991 --> 01:04:06.949 but it's funny because you see that there's probably nothing in there that's like, 01:04:07.735 --> 01:04:11.937 go to this place and do this thing for that person there's no like real roadmap, 01:04:12.408 --> 01:04:15.791 because because there are a million different ways in i did a film years ago 01:04:15.791 --> 01:04:20.881 with kelly mcdonald when i was about 21 and kelly was in had been in train spotting 01:04:20.881 --> 01:04:23.329 and was super famous and i couldn't believe i was working with kelly, 01:04:24.071 --> 01:04:27.651 and she was saying oh my god because i used reading Shakespeare and talking 01:04:27.651 --> 01:04:30.831 about all the stuff that I'd learned at drama school and Kelly was like I feel 01:04:30.831 --> 01:04:35.373 really bad that I didn't go to drama school and I feel like I've got a big gap in my education and, 01:04:36.143 --> 01:04:38.324 you know she's got a few Emmys now, 01:04:39.730 --> 01:04:44.171 you know we did a film again we did a film again a couple of years later and 01:04:44.171 --> 01:04:46.851 i said do you remember saying that to me in a trailer when we were like in our 01:04:46.851 --> 01:04:50.341 20s and she said he said no she said oh what a load of shit. 01:04:53.121 --> 01:04:56.761 But she was just sharing her vulnerability and and i've come across that a lot 01:04:56.761 --> 01:04:59.761 but i would say to people if they're thinking about going to drama school go 01:04:59.761 --> 01:05:04.421 go go get because it's such a well-rounded education i don't there isn't a day 01:05:04.421 --> 01:05:07.778 where i don't use something

i learned at drama school and, 01:05:08.463 --> 01:05:13.921 and there are bursaries there are things you can do to pay the fees or stay 01:05:13.921 --> 01:05:18.210 in there or do it but it is absolutely or at least it was when i was there things have changed a bit but, 01:05:18.750 --> 01:05:23.231 i would just say educate yourself do push yourself and you shouldn't ever stop 01:05:23.231 --> 01:05:26.900 you should eat culture every day you should read learn something play guitar, 01:05:28.257 --> 01:05:31.773 that's the other thing I normally say is, is, is do something every day that's 01:05:31.773 --> 01:05:37.893 creative because otherwise you will, you will start feeling probably pretty bad. 01:05:37.893 --> 01:05:43.746 If you wait for someone in a suit to let you be an artist, you are going to feel really bad. 01:05:44.211 --> 01:05:48.313 So anyway, I could talk to you all day. I know I could, I could honestly, 01:05:48.313 --> 01:05:50.263 we could be here till 10 o'clock tonight. 01:05:50.263 --> 01:05:53.185 Honestly, I feel like I could pick your brains for hours. Um, 01:05:53.545 --> 01:05:55.933 and I feel like even some of the stuff that you've said there i'm going to say 01:05:55.933 --> 01:05:57.841 to gareth who edits all this 01:05:58.259 --> 01:06:01.713 try and try and slot that in somewhere when we post it because i just feel like 01:06:01.713 --> 01:06:05.673 we could sit here and chat all day yeah you can do that i don't i don't mind 01:06:05.673 --> 01:06:08.632 you can just share it it's just a conversation and the thing is that like, 01:06:09.917 --> 01:06:12.943 i don't know don't know you don't always know what's going to be helpful for 01:06:12.943 --> 01:06:19.419 people you know i i i for instance as an actor you're going to have a b and a c job. 01:06:20.943 --> 01:06:22.270 If your A job is being an actor, 01:06:22.925 --> 01:06:25.183 you're going to need to dog walk or be a nanny or something. 01:06:25.183 --> 01:06:27.523 And there's a reality to that because those are the things that are going to 01:06:27.523 --> 01:06:29.346 keep you available for the auditions and the jobs. 01:06:29.705 --> 01:06:33.133 If you get a permanent job, that's the issue. You're like, oh my God, 01:06:33.133 --> 01:06:36.014 how do I pay for stuff but also stay sane? 01:06:38.621 --> 01:06:42.702 It's hard. And I worked in bars and building sites for the first part. 01:06:43.061 --> 01:06:44.118 And what that meant was... 01:06:45.295 --> 01:06:49.633 Back then, I earned cash in hand money and then I worked in bars and I ended 01:06:49.633 --> 01:06:54.453 up working late and then drinking with people late, which is not necessarily 01:06:54.453 --> 01:06:56.292 the best thing for when you go to audition the next day. 01:06:57.040 --> 01:07:01.633 And I kind of ground myself into the ground a bit. And I had a good time in 01:07:01.633 --> 01:07:04.541 my 20s, but I stopped drinking when I was about 28. 01:07:05.911 --> 01:07:10.683 Because it wasn't good for me. It wasn't working. And I didn't know if that 01:07:10.683 --> 01:07:14.529 was allowed or like at the time it was kind of part of the culture and everything. 01:07:15.660 --> 01:07:16.763 But I'm better off without it. 01:07:17.141 --> 01:07:20.363 And I wouldn't ever say to people, you know, in their twenties, 01:07:20.363 --> 01:07:23.153 you know, don't drink, don't have a good, it's like, it's like saying to someone 01:07:23.153 --> 01:07:27.461 don't have a good time, but for me, it didn't work. It doesn't agree with me and I needed to stop. 01:07:27.624 --> 01:07:29.742 And it was hard to stop and I did stop. 01:07:30.636 --> 01:07:34.543 And then a friend of mine said, what's it like? And I said, it's almost like 01:07:34.543 --> 01:07:37.403 getting two for one on your days because you don't have the hangover in the 01:07:37.403 --> 01:07:41.293 morning and you don't have the stuff that you forget in the evening. 01:07:41.293 --> 01:07:42.401 So you actually get more time. 01:07:42.785 --> 01:07:51.750 Um and it's just like yeah bill's advice is hilarious learn your lines and save your tax money, 01:07:52.255 --> 01:07:56.413 and i think i mean even what you just said i mean i think i'm 21 and i think 01:07:56.413 --> 01:08:00.413 i must be the most boring 21 year old because i can i agree completely with 01:08:00.413 --> 01:08:03.267 everything you just said i i would much rather, 01:08:03.730 --> 01:08:09.453 be in bed or like out still with people but i feel like drinking culture but 01:08:09.453 --> 01:08:13.644 I feel like I've just finished university and it was like, 01:08:14.219 --> 01:08:18.273 okay we're gonna go out now but we're gonna go out we're not gonna go out till 01:08:18.273 --> 01:08:20.813 10 o'clock at night and then we're not gonna get back in till 6 a.m and I'm 01:08:20.813 --> 01:08:22.763 like but then where does my Sunday go yeah, 01:08:23.603 --> 01:08:29.773 what do I do with my Sunday yeah and and and you know I think for a lot of people 01:08:29.773 --> 01:08:33.013 that's okay that's what they want to do that's what they're doing of course it is, 01:08:33.971 --> 01:08:36.203 I think for anybody who's out there who's thinking that, 01:08:37.326 --> 01:08:39.663 they can't and they can't live without it. 01:08:39.663 --> 01:08:42.005 Or if you stop, you're going to lose something. 01:08:43.886 --> 01:08:48.963 It's fine. Like, of course you can. You're going to get more out of your life 01:08:48.963 --> 01:08:52.715 if it's not helping you. And it certainly wasn't helping me. 01:08:53.491 --> 01:08:59.575 But it did feel like devastating to sort of stop at the time, which is insane. 01:09:00.603 --> 01:09:04.193 But then again, all my idols, when I grew up, all my idols were like crazy rockstar 01:09:04.193 --> 01:09:07.466 drinking people. And there was a certain myth around it. 01:09:07.830 --> 01:09:11.553 And I really smashed that myth because you know if I was

I wouldn't be doing 01:09:11.553 --> 01:09:14.663 what I'm doing now if I was still doing that because there's no way I could 01:09:14.663 --> 01:09:15.953 have sustained what I'm doing, 01:09:16.883 --> 01:09:21.032 for me and that's me yeah you know and when I stopped a mate of mine did say 01:09:21.241 --> 01:09:26.673 oh some people just can't handle it and I went yeah that's me I can't do it 01:09:26.673 --> 01:09:29.883 anymore I've done it enough it's fine I've done it yeah, 01:09:30.843 --> 01:09:35.883 I want to do more with my life I want to yeah learn to surf and I want to you 01:09:35.883 --> 01:09:39.623 know ride motorbikes and I want to fight and I want to work for HBO, 01:09:41.574 --> 01:09:45.033 and I honestly I remember when I was stopping thinking I really just want to 01:09:45.033 --> 01:09:49.538 try and stay being an actor and hopefully pay the bills for acting and and, 01:09:50.683 --> 01:09:55.473 dream and think I want to work for HBO so every time that HBO thing comes on 01:09:55.473 --> 01:10:00.132 I think I cannot believe I'm working for HBO like, 01:10:00.937 --> 01:10:03.031 But it wasn't an accident. 01:10:05.097 --> 01:10:08.559 Again, as Bill said, this is another thing Bill Nye said to me, 01:10:09.377 --> 01:10:13.225 you've got to stack the dice. He said, we kind of live like gamblers, 01:10:13.666 --> 01:10:16.482 but you've got to kind of stack the dice. You've got to look after yourself. 01:10:17.056 --> 01:10:20.898 Look after yourself. Apparently, it's not cool to look after yourself. 01:10:21.217 --> 01:10:26.407 He said to me, looking after yourself is pretty punk. It's pretty out there. It's pretty like, 01:10:29.263 --> 01:10:33.917 you take care of yourself. that's that's that's pretty rock and roll right yeah 01:10:33.917 --> 01:10:37.257 you're gonna take care of yourself so you can do this all this cool shit i was 01:10:37.257 --> 01:10:41.357 like yeah well yeah that's me and tom bennett sit on set a lot and we're sitting 01:10:41.357 --> 01:10:44.153 there like that both of us dads you know like sitting there going, 01:10:44.687 --> 01:10:48.997 with cups of tea going have you got a dragon yeah i've got i've got a dragon yeah i've got a dragon, 01:10:50.376 --> 01:10:57.527 there's a silly smugness about it it's not smug it's 100 gratitude and enjoying 01:10:57.527 --> 01:11:00.941 it for what it is and we say thank you a lot, 01:11:02.636 --> 01:11:06.477 because it's it's fun yeah definitely and i'm like you said, 01:11:07.057 --> 01:11:11.267 just every time seeing that hbo sign pop up when you watch the next episode 01:11:11.267 --> 01:11:17.027 must be the most rewarding thing ever and that all your hard work and your perseverance 01:11:17.027 --> 01:11:21.697 as you said earlier paid off so it's just incredible it is, 01:11:22.237 --> 01:11:27.666 and and again i i get to have the experience of being as excited as anybody else about Ulf's turn. 01:11:31.257 --> 01:11:34.097 But I also get to call him up afterwards and go, oh my God, that was so good. 01:11:37.197 --> 01:11:38.888 No, like, so yeah. 01:11:40.097 --> 01:11:43.427 Yeah, definitely. Well, I'm just so excited for the next episode. 01:11:43.427 --> 01:11:45.773 It was the most incredible thing to watch. 01:11:46.128 --> 01:11:49.377 I watched it last night and I instantly texted my boyfriend and I was like, 01:11:49.377 --> 01:11:51.137 have you watched it yet? Watch it right now. 01:11:51.537 --> 01:11:53.897 I was like, get it on right now. Watch it right now. 01:11:54.492 --> 01:11:59.049 It was very good. Egon, I love Tom Gunkani. I love the lads so much. 01:11:59.322 --> 01:12:03.557 I really enjoyed Egon's journey through this sort of like with Nail and I thing, 01:12:04.414 --> 01:12:05.777 with Matthew and Jefferson. 01:12:05.777 --> 01:12:09.647 Like those guys together was such a dream. it was so good to listen to them 01:12:09.647 --> 01:12:11.703 in the read-throughs as well they're so funny, 01:12:12.457 --> 01:12:15.717 because these are other parts of it like i've known jefferson for a long long 01:12:15.717 --> 01:12:19.837 time i've known a lot of the cast like tommy flanagan and abu and, 01:12:20.537 --> 01:12:25.377 like i've known loads of the people in the show for ages and you get to watch 01:12:25.377 --> 01:12:31.977 them and they surprise you and and just get to enjoy it in the i suppose the best possible way. 01:12:33.297 --> 01:12:36.187 I can't wait to see who joins the show for season four like we never know who's 01:12:36.187 --> 01:12:38.555 going to walk in the door because they don't tell us until we do the read-through 01:12:38.845 --> 01:12:42.305 it's like oh my god hey man how are you like i'm seeing friends it's like oh 01:12:42.589 --> 01:12:44.592 you know like tom cullen like tom cullen came 01:12:44.906 --> 01:12:49.602 and played uh reneer as you know luther largent you know tom is a phenomenal actor 01:12:49.927 --> 01:12:51.802 who has his own show often, 01:12:52.307 --> 01:12:55.720 and he came and was part of our show for this small time, 01:12:56.721 --> 01:13:01.627 or barry barry who who egg on you know stabbed in the chin last night you know 01:13:01.627 --> 01:13:06.925 like these guys are phenomenal actors who just come in and join the cast for a bit and, 01:13:07.924 --> 01:13:10.836 Yeah, very lucky. Very lucky. 01:13:11.964 --> 01:13:15.885 Yeah, I can't imagine how incredible and surreal it must be. 01:13:16.338 --> 01:13:20.384 But yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure to chat with you, honestly. 01:13:20.384 --> 01:13:27.144 It's made my day, made my entire career up. 01:13:27.884 --> 01:13:31.224 Yeah, I'm going to have to go because I'm preparing my next thing. 01:13:31.724 --> 01:13:34.904 Yeah, I won't take up any more of your time. No, no, it's all right. 01:13:34.904 --> 01:13:41.384 I've got to go and do some fighting. and well enjoy yeah and yeah looking forward 01:13:41.384 --> 01:13:45.431 to episode eight but thank you again for your time and it's been lovely to meet 01:13:45.779 --> 01:13:49.674 you you too thank you very much keep going see you later bye.