Glenda Jackson has been talking about what her reaction would be if some hapless soul suggested she try out for a part, and the conversational to and fro which ensues – my disbelief, her certainty – leads to me playing a scene with one of Britain’s most outstanding actors. “Hello, Ms Jackson, we have a …
Ashley Walters, the 38-year-old actor who plays cops and robbers (as well as Romeo for the BBC), was weight training in his local park in Crouch End, North London, last year when he was approached by a teenage boy. “He was like, ‘Er listen, I really wanna get into actin’ an’ that, blud…’ And I …
Last Tango stars Anne Reid and Derek Jacobi are in complete harmony – both on and off screen Pasada: a moment in the Argentine tango that provides an opportunity for the lady to add flourishes of her own, and where “a considerate leader will give her time to perform if she wishes”. This perfectly describes …
Dracula star Claes Bang and The Killing’s Sofie Grabol discuss what it’s like to be Denmark’s hottest exports Sofie Grabol, it could be said, was the person who kickstarted Britain’s love affair with all things Danish, with her character – Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lund, and her trademark jumper – in The Killing, which was …
Andrew Smith and Russell T Davies were together for 20 years before Andrew died of a brain tumour in 2018. Russell T Davies arrives slightly breathless and immediately friendly. He is tall (6ft 6in), dressed in a plaid shirt, jeans and hiking boots with a rucksack slung over one shoulder. In a single bound, he enfolds …
There are a number of curious leitmotifs in the long friendship between the late Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – as to be expected with these two fantastical writers – and one was their shared, possibly excessive, passion for sushi. The creator of hit after hit, from the Sandman comics early on to his recent international bestseller, Norse …
Miriam O’Reilly has been the victim of multiple cases of mistaken identity since liberating her hair, and herself, from fierce beetle-black dye to delicate natural milky white; mainly from her husband of 30-odd years, Mark. In the first week of her transformation, she would be woken by panicky yelps from the other side of the …
The Line of Duty star reveals what writer Jed Mercurio has in store for Superintendent Ted Hastings. Within ten minutes of talking to Adrian Dunbar, I find myself channelling Superintendent Ted Hastings, the chief of police anti-corruption unit AC-12 and most popular character in the BBC’s wildly successful TV drama Line of Duty, which is heading …
Jenny Agutter walks across the floor of an old, atmospheric house, let out for location work – all artful peeling walls – in South-East London, with the bearing of a dancer that she once trained to be long ago when she was sent to board, at the age of eight, at Elmhurst Ballet School. She is sixty-five and …
Idris Elba is renowned for playing tough guys – but he’s happy to show his cuddly side. There’s a sudden quickening in the atmosphere of the hotel lobby when he arrives, tall and striding, surrounded by enough people to form a modest entourage, and soon after I’m in a small room with him and he’s …