Eddie Marsan • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #286

Published Feb 14, 2024, 11:00 AM

LOOK OUT! It’s only Films To Be Buried With!

Join your host Brett Goldstein as he talks life, death, love and the universe with shall we say national treasure? Yeah let's do it... National treasure and actor EDDIE MARSAN!

A glorious episode full of fun and gems from someone whose passion for and dedication to the game is admirable and inspirational. Eddie is one of the busiest folks in showbiz, and has a lot to share about it all. So much to enjoy including his dislike for typecasting and being put in a box, drama school days, jelag secrets, chilling with Jim Broadbent and Bob The Butcher, on-set behaviour, family commutes, the society and vampire connection and acting like a mechanic. Fascinating - you'll love this one.

Video and extra audio available on Brett's Patreon!

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Look out. It's only films to be buried with. Hello, and welcome to films to be buried with. My name is Brett Goldstein. I'm a comedian, an actor, a writer and director, a chopper, and I love films. As William Blake once said, the road to excess leads to the Palace of Wisdom. Babylon was wildly underrated. I agree, mister Blake. Nice one, yeah, good point. Every week I'm invite a special guest over. I tell them they've died. Then I get them to discuss their life through the films that meant the most of them. Previous guests include Barry Jenkins, Sharon Stone, Jamila Jamil and even Bed Ambles. But this week it's the brilliant actor and come on, I'll say it national treasure. It's mister Eddie Marzan. Get over to the Patreon at patreon dot com Forward Slash Brett Goldstein, where you get an extra twenty minutes with Eddie. We talk secrets, we go deep, we talk about beginnings, we talk about how it all ends. You also get the whole episode uncar Adfree and as a video. Check it out over at Patreon dot com. Forward Slash Brett Goodstein. So Eddie Marzan is a incredible actor. You know him from everything you've ever seen that you've loved. He's in everything, and he's brilliant in everything. He's one of the great actors of our time. I'd never met him before. We recorded this on Zoom the other day. What a fucking delight. He was a joy. I really think you're going to love this one. So that is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy episode two hundred and eighty six of Films to Be Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to Be Buried With. It is me Brett Goldstein, and I am joined today by an actor, a world's ender, a gang that's the Number one, a Vifa Vendetta, a handcocker, a Sherlock Holmes, a warhorser, a Deadpool tour and Ray Donovan and Jonathan Strange and mister Norrilla. I can't keep going and we'll never get to the podcast. If a list of all his achievements, it's one of the most extraordinary actors. He's worked more than anyone you've ever met in your life. He's in everything, he's brilliant and everything. He's different than everything. He's a fucking superstar. I can't believe he's here. Could you believe he's here? He really is? Please welcome to the show? Is here right now? Is anyone's aunt?

Thank you?

Welcome?

Thanks very much? Can I recall that? Can I? Can I apply that anymore?

You can make that your ringtone? Whatever you want to do. Eddie, the greatest news. This is the first time we're meeting. But you're a Spurs fan, so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we just we just want we just I think we scored in the ninety fifth minutes or very exciting.

God, it was exciting. I didn't believe, which is you know, it's the hope that kills you. I didn't believe, and then it happened. I couldn't believe it. It's lovely to see you. You are, I mean, you're quite Uh. There's not many people like you, is there, Eddie? Like you're really an extraordinary actor who is in fucking everything, always working, always completely different in everything. You're massively respected and loved, and I think you always have been, and I don't think there's many people like that. You haven't had like a sort of up and down career of every black you know what I mean, like, I think you've you're basically a national treasury, is what you are? Had to feel about that?

I don't know.

I mean I knew.

I knew early on. I knew at drama school, all a good looking kid so if you don't a checkov, all a good looking kids who were playing to blow the sexy blow with shoots hutself at the end, and I was playing like, who didn't you have a botto coff who was like they used to call me Captain Belkrot drama school because I used to pull the small parts. So I kind of knew that that was going to be my if I was going to make a career of this, that no one was going to ask me to be basically because women don't want to fuck me and men don't want to be me, so you don't employ me, so you better employ me to be someone else.

And that's what I sort of worked out. Really, that's only in film. I mean in real life, I mean.

When we.

Understoppable, Oh just just I'm fighting them off. In real life, I've heard the stories. You're fighting them off men trying the keys to take your place. Listen, I cannot agree with anything you just said, But that is interesting, Like what is it if I may given the position you're in. I'm always interested in because because often in early parts I've been asked it, and I always think it's such a funny question when you do, like one of your first big jobs, and people say like what attracted you to the role, And You're like, what the fuck are you talking about? Like there was a choice, you know what I mean. But you are in the position I believe where you get offered lots of things nowadays. What gets you like, fuck, I've got to do this? Like what is it? If it isn't a big paycheck or whatever it is, Like I really like this thing. I think.

I've got four kids, I've got four teenagers, so I think families a big, bigger something to worry about.

I think is whether I can come home.

I mean, I used to do a job in LA, used to do Ray Donovan, and he used to allow me to come home every weekend. So I used to commute from LA to London every week I think. I think. What I try and do is I try and make sure that the thing I do is completely different to the.

Last thing I did.

I try and mix it out all the time because I hate to be defined. I can't stand people define me. When I first started acting, all I could get was Prime Monthly or the bill because a company east End. All they ever thought of me of was being a thief or mugger, and not even as successful. My man used to say, I don't mind you being succeief, but why you've got to be such a ship because you're always nicked. So, and I knew I didn't want to be a profet got me. I wanted to be an actor. I think there's other people that do that better than me. So I went back to voice coaches and movement coaches, and I just wanted to be as diverse as possible, really, But I think that that's been to a certain extent. It's been to the detriment of my career as well, because I've never it meant. It means, I've never exploded, do you know what I mean. I've never had that big lunch. I've never had one thing that made me a hit. I've always been that guy I'm gonna go to go In America they call I remember once working in America on one of the early seasons of Ray donovan and there was this old actor. We were shooting in Culver City and there was an old actor. I forget his name now, but he came on set. We were filming near his house and he came up to me and he said, you're a donut actor. And I said, what the fuck's a don't actor? And he said, well, in America, a donut is a ring done. And he said, what happens is this industry can't afford to have someone come to the fore of their own volition. They have to have money invested in the next big thing. So what they do is they invest in someone and then they surround them with good actors, good character actors, so they make the investment look like a better actor. So the middle, the center of the donut is vacuous, but the actual donut is the is the sugary, the bit of stodge around, you know, the ring, he said, And that's what a donut actor is, and that's what you are. And if you look at a lot of Hollywood actors, big stars, early on, they're surrounded by great character actors. And that's what you said, that's what you are.

That's fucking fascinating. So it's a massive confident. There is that thing in the old like studio system and the old films they used to do a big thing where the star of the film doesn't appear in the film for about twenty minutes. They've talked about a lot. Yeah, the digital characters talked about. So it's built up, built up, so when they appear, you're like, oh, wow, they're finally here.

Yeah.

The reality is it's just been donut actors for twenty minutes building the plot up. Yeah, yeah, carry yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Well it's interesting you say you haven't exploded. I could be wrong because obviously I know you and I'm a big fan, but like you're very well known. You must get records at the time in your life.

Yeah, no, I am, because because I work all the time. I mean, one of the one of the things that I think has helped me is because I have a career in America and a career that you can like you do now.

And what that means is that someone.

Always wants you somewhere, you know, and and and actually America has a much more is open to a much more diverse casting of me than.

Now. It's changing. But you know, initially I.

Have to go to America to be diverse in Britain and we had a very very fixed idea of what I should be.

Yeah, did you find that listen? I mean I don't want to, I'm always wary of but yes, I completely find that. Yeah, I mean it's interesting. So many actors come to Omerga to actually get work. I mean, in England, before I made my own things, I was only being asked to audition for parts of terrorists because of my Yeah. Oh, and I kept thinking I won't play terrorists, this is not this is what I want to do, and that was all that was coming in and it was like, oh, yeah, I've probably got to make my own stuff too.

Yeah, that's what you have to do.

You have to do something to kind of to change it up a little bit, you know. And there's nothing more Soldy strong than people having that fixed idea. I found it ex interesting and the really solder strong when people had a very fixed idea of me and it was the wrong idea and it was based on a prejudice and you fucking to do what I really am, you know.

Yeah, it's very interesting to being I fucking hate being put in the box. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it, and I don't know if everyone feels that way, if some people are comfortable, like I think there are some movie stars that I could be wrong. Maybe they're very frustrated, but where you go like, yeah, you've got your thing, you figured your your thing, and you can keep playing those notes and they're good. They're good notes, and it's nice to see you in that, you know what I mean? But yeah, yeah, they probably go to sleep and they go to get me out of this box.

Yeah, yeah, they probably want to do what we do.

Yeah, Eddie, I've forgotten to tell you something and I feel sick about it. I feel sick that I haven't told you this up top. I should have. I forgot, But you've died. Yeah, sorry, I'm so sorry. That's right, that's all right. Yeah, i'd say you've had a good you've had a good run. You've much. Yeah, you see, V alone is extraordinary, you know for kids. So you know it's not bad, is it? How did you die?

Hopefully?

Making love to my one? Ask what sort? So I'm making love to my wife. I think exactly where I'm going to go with That's the other thing is she probably won't notice about.

She's so.

If she can't sleep, she wakes me up and she says, tell me about your career. It talk about your career again, and our songs one about my career. She goes up to sleep. It gets on to sleep. Some people listen to podcasts. My wife waits up, says, tell me about your career.

It's so funny. Well she could listen to this podcast that they'll get right. Yeah, yeah, so you're making love to your wife, then you die and she doesn't notice for about thirty minutes.

No, she'll no, she'll probably notice because you know some people. They some people when they when when with their sex life, they had loads of things like swings and whips and all that. I mean, my pre planning is to finish just as much as a day thing starts.

Then I've got it down to a tea.

Really, so she'll probably know.

It's when Match of the.

Day comes on and my eyes and I'm not responding.

She'll probably realize I'm gone just to check for your wife. She's gonna be it's gonna be trauma. It's gonna be slightly traumatic it or is he going to be.

Like, yeah he went out with the small ones friend.

Yeah, he seems happy. Okay, that's a lovely way to go for you. Yeah, do you have an age, a chosen age that this happened?

No, anytime, really I've got I don't.

I've got no control of it.

About it? Or do you worry about death? That's like you don't, do you?

I worry about I worry about being doing my looking after the kids. I think what my wife and kids, making sure they're okay. I think doing that and nothing else. Really, No, my life has gone far beyond what I what the expectations were, far beyond the expectations.

So I'm quite happy. I haven't asked this question in as well. But given all that you've done, do you care or think about legacy? Do you care? Like I want my films to live on? I want you know what I mean? Do you care or you like I'm dead? It doesn't matter nothing else? No, No, I wanted to think about it. I won't be aware of it. I don't believe in and you know, don't have any consciousness. I mean, I don't remember what it was like before I was alive and I wanted him. I won't know what it's like when gone, you know, I don't worry about it. I mean, one of the talk about legacy. One of the one of the things that inspired me was the story of Claude Brain, the old Hollywood actor, the character actor who actually came from Clapham and had a very very rough London accent and I had to get it kind of worked out of him and went over to Hollywood and became this brilliant character actor. But actually he's a real London, working class London boy.

And I remember thinking, I'd love people to think of me the way they thought of claud Brain, and that he transcended people's idea of him. I think that would be something I'd like.

Really, that's so interesting. I can ask you a question. When you were commuting from la to London see your family, how did you survive? What's your jet lag secret?

Exercise running as soon as you land. When I was doing Ray Donovan, because I was playing the boxing trap, they gave me a called Rob Garcia, who works out and we used to go to the wild Card Gym. There's two Wildcard gyms, one in Hollywood and.

In Santa Monica.

We used to go to the Santa Monica and also Robert Downey Jr. Has a gym in La a secret gym that he would let me use, and so I would literally get out like three four o'clock in the morning and go to the gym and work really hard because what we're rob because what I found was that if you got physically tired, that overcame the jet leg Do you know what I mean? That that helped you become If you became physically tired in that geographical time and space, then.

That helped interesting.

Yeah.

So you think there's no after life, nothing dead.

Nothing, No, no, that's it.

Yeah. Yeah, Well I got news for you, Eddie. You're wrong. And the people that there's a heaven and they're very annoyed with you for not thinking there would be anything, and they're like surprise, you turned off and you're like, what I thought I was going to be asleep? Yeah, it carries and your workmen. There in heaven is filled with your favorite thing. What's your favorite thing? Oh?

I think films. I do love films.

You've come to the right place because they're fucking cinemas everywhere. What's your perfect cinema set up? Do you like them? Cinemas with the recliners and the meal, Yeah, and the.

Glass of red wine.

Me and my wife's sitting there watching a really good film, Lovely Fantastic Mind.

Jo'll probably fall asleep back ten minutes.

Yeah, that's that's why I don't like them about I think coming for that.

Yeah, yeah, my jo. I used to get a lot of sleep when I used to said.

The kids to see kids films and sitting there and giving loads of sweeters, and then they'll sit there and then I'll just I'll be off.

But then that's nudge me because I saw I used to catch up on my sleep by taking.

Them to see kids films.

Yeah.

Yeah, well, so you've come to Heaven. They're very happy to see you. They're big fans. They want to talk to you about your life. They want to talk about your life through films. The first thing they ask you, what is the first film you remember seeing, Eddie.

I think the first film.

I think it was at Home. I think it's probably something like Jason in the Arg or something like that. It was such a film, it was such an I think it was something that completely took my attention. It's probably what kids get when they played video games.

Now.

For me, it was just amazing to see these monsters and all.

These heroes and stuff.

You know.

I think Jason in The Arguments was probably the first film myself.

Yeah, I remember seeing and you watched that at home? That was on TV.

Yeah, on TV. I mean, I mean the first film going to the cinema to see. I remember my my parents took us to see the Cartoon of Robin Hood and I remember I remember going in in the afternoon and it was sunny and coming out and it was dark, and I was blown away by the fact that the sun had gone down while the cinema.

Yeah, but the first film I.

Really remember being excited about, thinking what's gone on?

What is this thing? Was chasing the Army?

Do you do you remember thinking I want to be part of that? But you just like I just loved it as a thing.

No, I didn't. I had no idea I want to be a part of I was just blown away by the by the story and the special effects.

What about being scared? What's the film that's scared you? The nice? Do you like being scared?

Yeah? It was the Road, you know, Yeah, fuck it that terrified me. It's funny enough. I was doing I was doing a film with Ethan Hawk in I think we were in Nova Scotia and he wanted to go and see it, and I I wasn't that bothered. He said, I'm going and see this film with you. He's quite I mean he's he's a real connocern Ethan.

So I said, come, we're going and see this film.

Was right, and I sat and sat with him, and he put his head in his hands the whole fucking film. He put his hands up like he couldn't watch it was so terrified. And I was said, shipping myself, but watched it, And what the fuck you put me to watch this film?

Even watch it?

It's just that I found that dystopian post apocalyptic world was terrified, awful, Like when you see a mother and a child running and those blokes catch up to them and you know they're going to eat them.

It was I found it really disturbing film.

Yeah. Yeah, it's fucking depressing. Yeah it is a depressing film. Yeah yeah yeah.

And what what shut what?

I don't know what happened the course?

Yeah, I don't know what happened.

Yeah.

I don't think they ever tell you no stuff stuff happened.

Yeah.

So that's your big fear, is it? End of the world.

Yeah, I was terrified, Like when puting them invaded Ukraine, I'm going to see it with my wife and thinking sitting and thinking, oh god, this is I get really disturbed by things like that, Like the idea of Trump coming back terrifies me, you know, just like, oh god, it just terrifies me. I get really disturbed by things like that. I've got I've got to I've got to take a step back from.

How old are you? Your children are all teenagers.

Nineteen eighteen, fifteen and thirteen.

Wow, boys and girls one girl and.

Three boys the other just studn't talk to you.

Yeah, yeah, that's a lot to worry about.

Have you got kids?

No, I don't have kids.

You can have one of mine if you don't. Got fucking luves.

But I worry the one you'd give me would definitely be the worst word. And you know it.

Oh yeah, I'll give you the count.

You wouldn't say, you'd say to them like, oh you're going off, We'll have a lovely time.

Honestly, they love it.

They love it.

I love it. They spent they spent the summers in later.

This one's it. Dues E said, it does you don't do anything what's the film about you cry the most? Are you a crier? Yeah?

I cry for I cry a weird thing.

The weirdest thing I ever cried for when I when we had our first baby and I sat up one.

Night feeding it, like two o'clock in the morning, and.

I think Jordan got married to Peter Andre and I cried watching the.

Winning It was it was it was, it was moving, it was moving. It was the wedding of her time. You're right, it was.

Yeah.

Now I think the film it was.

In a big Disney carriage.

I don't know what it was.

It was like it was like the pushing becks of ten years later, wasn't it kind of thing? Yeah? Yeah, the film that mainly try I think the most shingless list that was the film that that I found got I've got most disturbed that. I think the little girl in the red the red Coat, and also the little boy when he when he hides in the toilet and do you have a kids telling me you can't be there anything, poor little fuck, you can't even be there.

They want to be letting M stay there.

That was that was the most disturbing thing for me, and that made that upset me the most.

What is the film that you love? People don't like it, it is not critically acclaimed, but you love it unconditionally.

Carry On Screaming, I think that's fantastic.

Tell me about I think I haven't seen that one. Tell me about carry On Screaming.

It's with R. H. Koulbert and Prunella Fielding.

It's it's just a carry on film and it's based on basically horror movies. It's based on the Hammer horror movies. And it's probably the best one. I think that, or the Carrying Up with Young One. It's just fantastic, you know, It's just it's just brilliant. I mean that people turn into wear wolves, and there's and there's a Mummy, and there's a there's like a Dracula figure. Kenneg Williams is like, I don't know, it's like a dracularly mad scientist.

It's just brilliant.

It's so camped, but it's it's great and I think it's probably my It's the one that I could watch all the time, and I'm not supposed to.

I should be more of a common serve.

I'm not. Yeah, I forget about the carry on films. I love to carry on films carry what's the best carry on? Clear? The best way?

I think, I don't know. My favorite gag is in carry on carrying lot of jungle where Silver Sims asked, is it silver John Sims? John Sims asks, She asks, what say? Glance asked you? They're going to go and see the monkeys and it's maintain season. She says to me, if I throw monkeys, do you think they'll come? When he said, will you?

And it's just great, great comic time.

I just love it.

I love it.

I love those games. I'm a real gag merchant.

I love it.

I do love it. I do love a gag. I do a very old fashioned in my.

You haven't done a lot of comedy, have you?

No?

I did.

I did early on I did, and then it just went a bit. I think after I seen certain roles push in a certain direction. I think, Happy Go Lucky, push me into the mad conspiracy, theorist thing, and then and then other roles have sent me in other ways. No, I'd love to do more comedy, Actually I quite. I do like comedy very much.

Interesting. What is the film that you used to love but you've watched it recently and you've got I don't like this anymore.

The last two seasons of Ray Donovan were in New York rather than their a So we rented a house in Long Island, me and.

Me and my wife and the kids.

And Long Island is kind of like these these towns we were in place call Sad Harbor, but around there are like these villages and it's a bit.

Like amateur bill horror, you know, those kind of houses.

And we were trying to tell my kids, so are young, and we were telling about great horror movies, and me and my wife told about Silence of the Land and we watched it and they were like totally not scared at all, really, And when I watched it with them, I remember thinking, actually, it's quite a bit of a TV movie. Really, it's not as good as I thought it was. I think the performances are amazing, but the actual filmmaking I didn't feel that great.

So we felt defeated, me in my wife.

So I mean, I think they could have called social services on us because what we did was yeah, but there's an abbul and was shown.

We showed them the Exorcis, we showed them the exit.

They were terrified and they were traumatizing me and my wiferiend.

Oh that didn't suck you up? Well, okay.

To you up now.

Yeah, yeah, you're there all weekend, all right, all right, yeah yeah funny. What is the film that means the most to you? Not necessarily the film itself is good, but the experience you had seeing it will always make it special to you.

I was once dumped. I was once broken, eyted and dumped by. She was a girl I went to drama school with, and she's now a well known actress and she left me for a trumpet, but she I lost that to the brass section. So and I remember sitting sitting watching when Harry met Sally, and I remember thinking that.

Was really it was not my own.

I was just me and me and my bulldog at the time, sitting there watching it, and I remember thinking, you know, life goes on, you just you know, just hang around and lifeguard. And I remember that film made me gave me kind of hope that life goes on, you know.

Ah, yeah, that's nice.

Yeah.

What is the film that you most relate to relate to?

Well, the film that I remember that, I think The Long Good Friday was the first time I heard someone speak with a voice that I recognized.

I think I think when I.

Saw Bob Hoskins on screen and the.

Way you used to hear people do swear or do London accents or to play gagster movie, but they always sounded fake. And when I first heard Bob Hoskin, I remember thinking, that's that sounds like my old man. You know, that sounds like men on can sort of state that's it, that's it, he's gone wrong. And I remember think seeing that and thinking, you know, that was the first time I heard my voice on screen and I saw the mannerisms that I identified with.

Yeah, given that you've worked with everyone, is there someone you've worked with that you were like a huge fan of and when and then you did get to work with him and it was a great You don't have to tell me a negative story, but like, have you worked with someone that you really looked up to that was a big start to you that you ended up doing something with.

Yeah, I mean, I think when we did go to New York, I spent nine months with Jim Broadby, I was like, he's a psychic. I mean, I've got I've ended up with two lines in the film and lot my storyline got cut, but they put me with the first day they put me, tell me to go at lunch with Jim Broadby, and it was just it was just a brilliant learning being with him for nine months on set, and we became great friends and we had such a laugh. And it's funny because Stephen Graham spent time with Leonardo, and him and Leonardo.

Became great friends.

And I don't really and I don't know Leonard. I know, I never spent much time with him, but me and Jim just became really really good mates.

You know.

It's a funny.

One day we were playing we were playing football and I was in goal and we were doing three kicks, just playing three kicks and no one could beat me, and all the actors, none of them could.

I was I was keeping every every.

Shot out and then they gave Jim a go and he and he was the only one who scored and everyone judged it in.

Yeah.

That was that was the first time I was a big fan of his and I learned how to be not only behave on the film set, but kind of keep your power drive, you know, kind of keep because I was there with Daniel day Lewis, and Daniel was always in character and was always build a butcher, and that was and it seemed to exhausting. And watched Jim, and Jim was like would always keep very calm and very polite to everybody, but also was always ready when he needed to be. You could tell he's always spinning plates, but very quietly and without much fuss. And I remember watching him and thinking that's the way to do it, because it was just inspiration.

So can I ask you? And maybe you're not allowed to talk about it? I don't know.

With Dan.

I've always wondered with Dania day Lewis being in character, does that mean he's like getting food at length being horrible?

No, No, it's not. It's not like that at all. Actually a lot of people think that's not I mean we would talk to he would Basically what he does. I did the same thing when we did Ray Donovan with the Parkinson. So what he does is he keeps the physicality, the physical aspects of the character, the voice, the mannerisms. He keeps that on all the time because when when the camera rolls, he wanted to be spontaneous, but I would sit there and read an article in the Guardian and say, what do you think about this article? And yeah, you call him Bill, not that you know, and it's our Yeah, and did talk about anything and it was always for life. But what he was doing was keeping that physical side of the character running.

So when when the.

Camera rolled, it was it was on the ball. And when we did Ray Donovan and I did the Parkins, I used to have to keep that going so that when you saw it it didn't look like I was acting, you know. But the worst thing about Ray Donovan was but it's like like like you got me here the cameras and the edge of frame is here. The thing is you have so you have to have to shake like I have to have to shake there on Parker because if you had to shake there, it's just waking the whole thing. When I auditioning for Ray Donovan, I auditioning on a Sunday night and I taped it and I'll choute to my wife and she made me go back and do it again because you're just you're just knocking one out.

As obviously thought it was terrible.

I had to tell to ask if you directed to tell me the age of frame you'd have to like lean do something because they have to see the shape, but they can't be below the can't be below the edge of.

Frame because it looks O scene.

Do you have a especially in your earlier when when you're turning up on a film where you're not where you're a smaller part and you're coming in to do a week or something and the film is already going, And do you have a system of like day one, how you greet you know, do you do you introduce yourself to everyone? You say, like do you have a way, because so much if it's like social and how you deal with the cruise and everyone like do you have a Is it just you play it by it, see what the vibe is or do you have a system?

Yeah? I mean I had a great I had a great teacher. Had I had a Russian die called Sam Coogan used to study with the Moscow Arts Theater and he knew that I wasn't academic. I mean I left score at fifteen and I got no academic qualifications. So anything cerebral, I've always struggled with language or whatever. But it's something very visceral, visual music or you know, sensory.

I can that's the way I work.

And he said to me once, he said, I'm going to teach you to act like a mechanic. He said, because if your car breaks down, no matter if it's snowing, raining, sunny weather, whatever, mechanic will will open up a box and will fix your car.

And he said, I'm going to teach you.

To act like that.

So no matter where you turn.

Up on set, no matter what's going on, you're going to turn up and do your job. And he gave me a technique, and that technique is what has enabled me to, regardless of what's going on, to just turn up and do my job. I think also having children helps as well, because family life became so important. You don't get emotional strokes at work. You don't go to work to seek belonging. You just go to work to work, and that enables you to be much more polite because you don't need anything from anybody. And if you don't need anything from anybody, you can be kind.

If you if you go to work and you've.

Got to be along with people have got to tell you how wonderful you are.

You're in trouble, really, you know, it's best to just turn up and do the job.

Fascinating. What's the technique?

Well, he had he ran an academy called the Science of Acting, and I started with him. There's like a ten step thing that he does that I've always kind of used. Really it's it's it's very fascinating. It's it's I mean, I think other people use it's what you do spontaneous. What he did was is he looked at what good actors do and try to make show you what they do. It's not it's not it's not it's not cultishur it. You don't, you know, you said, this is what good acting is, and you just do it. You know.

Wow, that's really interesting, fascinating. What a world? What a life? What is the sexiest film you've ever seen? Oh?

I used to love I just love the hammer House.

To borrow vampire films, you know, those women with heaving the features just before it bit their neck.

I just love it.

I mean that was my like, you know, that was when I was was becoming sexually a where you saw watch that. It's amazing, you know that kind of thing. I don't like. I don't like rituitous. I'd rather as the suggestion than the the actual thing, you know, so you know, like and also like that Ponanski film The Darts of the Vampires or I don't know killers, Yeah, Phyllis Vampire Killers.

There's got two titles for some reason, that's right.

But Sharon tateing that it's absolutely gorgeous. Yeah, that kind of there's something about vampire Apparently vampire films always come into fashion whenever society is more prudish, whenever society. Yeah, it's vampire because it's it's a subconscious approaching sexuality in a different way, you know. Apparently when Bush was in power, and when Bush was in power and Miracle was becoming more slightly more puritanical, that's when you've got all those vampire.

Movies coming out.

Wow.

Yeah, it's interesting.

I find that. Yeah, that's so interesting.

Also I also the Phillish Vamparkers because my favorite vampire is alf your Past. He came from bethnal Green, so my name kind of knew his family and he came from bethnal.

Green and he's he was like a hero of mine when I was a kid. They should tell me about.

Alf your Pass and especially when I'm when I was when I started acting a lot of the other people say you've got to be the next healthy Past, but it's great enough film.

Yeah, I'll take that.

There's a subcategory. The sub category is traveling bonus worrying. Why I don't a filmy fad the browser? You weren't sure you should. I don't want to ask this question, but I have to. It's the podcast.

Probably bammed me or something, which yeah people, yeah lovely, Yeah.

Up, lovely. So that you don't find this thing, let me try this. Uh Okay, what is objectively, objectively the greatest film of all time might not be your favorite, but it is the best of cinema.

I would probably say it would either be Gender Florette I think I loved Yonder I thought that was amazing, or but the other one I think, and this is actually one of the earliest films I remember seeing was The Night of the Hunter. I think The Night of the Hunters is amazing, amazing.

You know what, Neither of those films have ever come up in all the episodes of this podcast. That is an excellent show.

Yeah, I think, I think if I'm on, if I'm yeah, I mean my favorite film is The Godfather, But you told me not because everyone.

I fucking told you, I told you.

But I do think that A Hunter is an amazing film, and I do think Jonda is an amazing I mean, Daniel Jond the acting is amazing, is amazing. It's just just wonderful a story and a twist at the end and everything brilliant.

Well, great shout, you're very good at this and what yeah you're getting you're actually scoring quite high a lot of points. I haven't told you this sometimes. Let me tell you, you've got about one hundred and ninety five thousand. Just what is the film that you could or have? What's the most over and over again?

Probably The Life of Brian?

Probably, Oh what a cracker, it's so good. The Life of Brian.

Oh yeah, it's amazing. Yeah, so funny. I mean some of the gags are just amazing.

It's so funny. But it's also so well made, like it's a properly Yeah, it's a good film, and it has a good story and like aside from the days, like that is a good film.

And the ending is yeah, I.

Think the ending is genuinely profound, Like I think it's deep. It's a fucking brilliant film, though, is.

Yeah, Yeah, yeah, and I'm a member of the British Humanist Association, so I'm very for me, it's just the comment it makes about religion, not only about religion, but about belief systems, whether they be political or philosophical, religious or whatever, and how we buy into them, and how I'm a great believer that all these belief systems are just ways of belonging. Really, all of them, they're just wasted belonging, and we buy into it because it gives us a sense of identity because then what it's more terrifying and realizing that, as the Buddha said, do is no self, which I found fascinating in the sense that we're not thing.

People want to fix them.

They want to have a fixed sense of self as they want to hold on to something, you know. And I love the life of Brown because it kind of takes all that part, you know.

And you don't want to be put in a box. So you don't like this fixed sense of self.

Yeah, it's the words. It's almost traumatic to me if people try to define it. There was there was a fascinating discussion. David Harewood gave a talk that Jonathan Dimbleby talked and I was invited to go and listen to it about being a black actor in Britain, and they told this story about it. In his talk, he told this story about him in the late nineteen fifties, just after the wind Rush, about ten years after the first wind Rush generation came over and the BBC decided to do a live play for Today about Jamaican immigrants coming to London. But people who are making the film, the people who are writing it, directing it, set dressing or whatever, were white. But they got these these Jamaican actors to come in and play these parts, you know. And there's a famous story about this young Jamaican actress came in and she came into her bedroom and it was messy and it was filthy, and they were going to start shooting live in about fifteen minutes, and she said, why.

Is this so dirty?

And they said, well, that's how you live, and she said, that's not how I live. And so when they left in the fifteen minutes, she tidied the rum up, cleaned it up, so when they shot it, it showed how she would live. And I've found that in my career that exact story has happened to me quite a few times where someone's asked me to play someone from my background and then you play it and they and they show me the house that I'm living in or the clothes that I'm wearing, and they're filthy, and they're like, there's a need for people to infantilize us, there's a need for people to in and I think it's there's something about creatives, and there's progressive creatives.

There's a narcissistic element in them.

Where they have to be the rescuer and the people that they're making the film about are the victims and they're going to rescue them. And if you're not a victim, then they can't be the hero of the story, do you know what I mean? And sore, And I've always pushed back against that, you know, I've always don't I don't buy this, And that's one of one of the reasons why I've never wanted to be I don't like people defining me because you haven't got any idea of why, you.

Know, I haven't got any idea of why.

Well, yeah, well no, there are two things. One when I always think whenever I see like reality TV always there's like a thing that people always say on reality TV where they go like, yeah, well that's me, that's me, you know me, that's me, that's what I'm like. And I always think, how do.

You know what?

You don't know? I don't know. How are you say? Sure? Yeah, yeah, all these things. But then it's also I think people are it's everyone is so fucking complicated. It's much easier. It's like when you hear gossip and stuff. It's it's so I think why, like gossip is like fun for a second, and then you feel awful, you feel you feel the pressed afterwards. Is because it's like a dehumanization. It's like you get to go, oh, they're this, they're this, yeah exactly, yeah, we can minimize that person into but they're a bad guy or they're a good guy there yeah yeah yeah, and then afterwards you feel empty because you know that's not true and you wouldn't want anyone talking about you in that way, and you go like, yeah, we're all fucking a million things and it's complicated, yeah exactly. Yeah.

Yeah, it's just why I think populism is. That's what the right populism popular is. Populism always demands an other to dehumanize. It always starts, and social media is terrible for that. Social media is fucking unbelievable. Yeah, the way, the way you cannot explore complex or new and ideas. It has to be a binary idea. And the more binary the idea is, the more followers you get, and you know, and and it's just just I find it exhausted.

Absolutely, that's terrified. That stuff terrifies me, like the right terrifies you. But it's yeah, but I think it's all comes from insecurity that everyone is scared of their own like because the thought that you have expressed that everyone wants to belong and there is never belong. We are all one consciousness and it's all one fucking thing. It's so unfathorable and scary that you got couple just make it that it's this.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. I cannot be that you be that yeah.

Yeah yeah yeah, Edie, I mean the points are just racking up here. I I don't like being negative. What's the worst will we've ever seen?

I went to l A. I was jet like in l A and I was working and I went to see the Passion of Christ. Yes, I remember sat and watched it and there was.

This woman beside me, and she was quite a famous her, but she started crying, she's getting moved. And I watched it, and first of all, I thought, alt a bit. It's really it's really dependent on the ide that.

People know Jesus is that people have.

This belief system. Because it doesn't introduce it, it doesn't tell the story. It says, this is him, this is how he suffered for you. And I'm watching thinking this is this is awful. I'm thinking this is just like this, he suffered because of you. I mean I remember watching it and literally thinking to myself, this is like a poor no that goes straight to the country. I don't I don't get this.

It's two hours of a man being beaten up, like it's it's such a weird if you take the context out of it and you go, if you knew nothing of religion, you go, do you want to watch this film? You've watched that and be like, why did you make me watch a man get beaten? Yeah?

Yeahs, unless you understand the religious beliefs behind it. I remember, you know, I just watched it and thought that this doesn't make any sense to me, because I think you believe it. I thought it's terrible.

Yeah, I think that's totally fair. Do you know this. I'm trying to tell this on the podcast Go Back. I think about this often during the making and Passion of the Christ. Jim Convisio. If that's how you say it is on the cross and he gets struck by lightning not once, but three times, If that is not a sign that you should stop making this best, it's amazing to me they continued making the film three times he got struck by lightning on the cruss. God is talking to you. You should listen, you know what I mean?

We had to me and me and bench happening with you.

We we were doing this film once and we were laughing about what it's really like to make a film compared to what you see on screening, like we imagine, like like because actors always want like a coffee or they want to you know, and me it's always another moca, you know. So so like you're playing Jesus, Like so even if I was playing Jesus like literally before you see this, and I'm up there on the cross literally like this, you'd be like, you know, if I was playing Robin or I'll be like, you know, I'll be.

Like, like you put some cinnamon on it, yeah, yeah, and then back under the cross, you know.

And that's what it's like in filmmaking, really, you.

Know what I mean, It's funny. I love when people come visit on set. I won't come visit on set, and I always like to time how long it takes to they realize how fucking boring it is.

I know, I know, my kids used to. My kids used to come and then they just don't get sweets from the grass of it.

And when we and there we was, we didn't ride Donovan.

They said, you can always tell when Eddie's kids turn up because the door to the studio is sticky.

Because my kids nothing but sweet. And also they used to nick.

My two eldest used to nick the little golfing buggies around. And there was one idea used to let them do. One idea was a bit of a stone. They used to let them do everything.

And the one idea used to really get strict and you can't do that. But my kids used to.

Around on the golf that's fine. What is the film You're funny and you should do more comedy. What is the film that made you laugh? The most. I think Animal House, okay.

Animal House, I think Blazing Saddles wonderful, and I think those.

Yeah, but there was a film.

There's a really funny film called Partners with John.

Hurt and Ryan O'Neill.

He's set in the eighties where John Hurt is a gay cop, Ryan O'Neil County's partner and they and they go.

On and they sold this can's fucking hilarious.

Wow, I think. But I think, you know, I think stir crazy was I think those two together are just brilli, you know, yeah, amazing and it was directed by Sydney Poitier.

I believe you're right, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. What a mad fact you getting. You get twenty points for that one? Fuck, Eddie, I think you might be in the league. Eddie. You've got let me just count this up. Six seven, one hundred ninety one thousand, five hundred and forty five hundred and thirteen points, which I think is one of the highest scores we've had on it. So congratulations, you've been amazing. However, your wife has discussed she's a bit of assault. You were making love to it. You were making love to it just before match of the day. You time. You usually tied it right, you usually turned it. So you timed it. You started thirty seconds before the match of the day to predict it. And at twenty second, twenty three seconds in, you start to think, oh, my heart on the other side is feeling a bit weird, and you died. You died, exploded in the spot, and your lovely wife rolled you off and went football Z one and she laid back to what's the football? And after match of the day, I was walking around with a coffin, you know what, I'm like, I'm not going to do it like a and one of your fourteen kids answers the door and said, I said, where's the Where's that? They went upstairs making love to it. I'll come upstairs. You're dead. Your your wife. I'm like, I'm sorry. She's like, no, I don't worry about it. I sort of. He seemed happy. Look at him, he smiling and you are grinning. And anyway, so with you, we get you in this coffin. I have to chop you up because there's more of you know, I was expecting the stuff you're in the coffin. Coffin absolutely roummed. There's no room in this coffin. There's only enough room to slide one DVD into the side for you to take across to the other side. And on the other side its movie night every night. What film are you taking to show in heaven when it is your movie night?

Oh god?

It has fucking Godfather, it has to be.

It's just an amazing film.

You could take it.

I haven't shown my kids yet. I'm saving it.

Are you scared? Because in case they don't like.

Showed one and two and if they don't like, i'mould have shown me.

So funny you will watch this excess, watch you like.

I'll show you.

Bandy f.

Eddie. You've been joy and the delight and fascinating. Thank you so much for doing this. And you would like to tell people to watch or to listen to coming up that you are doing.

Yeah, we got Back to Black coming out?

Oh yeah in.

In the UK and then may a think in the.

US is Back to Black is coming out? The only the film about Amy wine House a beautiful it's a beautiful film. It's a real tribute and it shows them from her perspective. And I play Mitch her dad. Oh wow, which is uh fascinating characters are playing and.

Did you meet him?

I met mit, I met, I spent a couple of days with him, and fascinating, fascinating man. One thing that happened, I have to sing in the film. I have to sing and Flying Me to the Moon. And I got mitched to record because Mitch is a very good singer. So I got mitched to record fly Me to the Moon him singing so I could copy his voice, and he recorded it for me.

And at the end, when you record it, anyway, there you.

Go love you. And I suddenly realized that I said that to my kids all the time, when they're going to school or they're going.

To love you.

And I realized that this is a man whose daughter's no longer with us, and he's got all this love and he doesn't know where to put it, so he says love you, and I suddenly it broke my heart, you know, And and it made me realize as a father, that that's what you're playing. Yes, since you're playing a father, you're playing a man whose daughter is an addict at the same time as being the most famous woman in the world, and how do you deal with that? And you're just a captain, you know, and that's why I thought, well, that's that's that's the way to approach this. And also we've got April to twelfth, We've got Franklin coming out, which is on app which is a story about Benjamin Franklin, Michael Douglas paying Benjamin Franklin. I played John Adams, your second American President. So I come over to Paris and give him a kickup the heart space?

Do you did you? Has can? I ask? Has Mitch seen the film?

Has he seen the film? But yeah, yeah, I think he has. I don't know.

I mean, I haven't seen the completed film yet because they're still doing the music to it.

Now.

Have you had this experience of playing someone real who's alive and them seeing, yeah, I.

Played I played I played Pool for Vits, I played Bob Dylan, I've played Shaman Parritz. For some reason, they're all Jewish and I'm not Jewish, but for some reason, I get I get cast a lot in Jewish roles. I think, I think, to be honest with you, I think it's because a lot of the guys making films, and quite often a lot of the Jewish guys cast me. They make stories about their uncles and their and their fathers and their grand fathers. And when they hear me speak, because and they go, you got my grandfather's voice. And then and then, I mean I grew up speaking a little bit of like Yiddish lang because in the East End it's all.

That kind of stuff, you know.

And so when they hear me said, they got, God, that's exactly what my grandfather or my uncle, you know my uncle my sounded like you say, Yeah, that's because that's where I come from. So I think that was that That's the way it kind of came from that. I mean, Mitch comes from Stepney and I come from Stepney. So when we sat down and talked, it's just like two Stepney boys just sitting talking about life.

Really, have you had the experience of the person you've played seeing the film and then talking to you afterwards about it or is that not happening?

No, somebody, I don't know if Bob Dylan's manager showed in me playing Bob Dylan the thing.

But it's a lovely story. It's about I did this thing called.

Knocking on Dave's Door, which was off for sky Art, and it's about there's an urban myth that save Stewart. The Eurrhythmics invited Bob Dylan to crouch in. Then he went to crouch Hill or something, and he knocked on the door of this bloke called Dave, and he said it's Dave. Then yeah, it'll be back in twenty minutes. And the plumb Dave came back was played by Paul Rissa in the film. And he and then there's Bob Dylan to sit in his living woman and they watched her countdown all afternoon.

Okay, oh Eddie, I've loved this. Thank you so much for this. What a pleasure you meeting you and hang out with you. Thank you. I have a wonderful death. Send my love to your sort of a wife and to your four children. And if you are going to send me one, just send me at least the bund in the middle one.

You know what I mean.

I don't want the worst way. Yeah, give me one with some hope, you know what I mean. Yeah, what a pleasure. I hope pleasure you in real life. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Cheers, good day. So that was episode two hundred and eighty six. Head over to the Patreon at Patreon dot com forward slash Brett Goldstein for the extra twenty minutes a chat, secres and video with Eddie go Chapple Podcasts give us a five style writing but right about the film that means most of you and why I don't write about the podcast No one cares about that. They want to hear about your favorite film or might it means something to you. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. And my naghbor more he fucking loves reading him. Thank you so much to Eddie forgiving me his time. Make sure you watch Back to Black when it comes out. Thank you to Scruby's Pittman, the Distraction Pieces Network, Thanks to Buddy Peace for producing it, Thanks to Adam Richardson for the graphics and Least Alone for the photography, and to Will Ferrell and the Big Money Players Network for hosting it. Come and join me next week for another smasher of an episode. Oh, I've got a good one next week. You're going to love it, so I hope you're all well. That is it for now. Thank you for listening. In the meantime, have a lovely week, and please, now more than ever, be excellent to each other.

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