February 12, 2025 • 37 mins
From 12 Years a Slave, to Kinky Boots, to Love Actually, English actor and Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor has just about done it all - and now he’s stepping into the world of Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy!
Pete sits down with Chiwetel to chat about the latest Bridget Jones film and revisit some of his most iconic roles, including how he processed 12 Years a Slave once filming wrapped and why he’s sworn never to step back into Lola’s thigh-highs for Kinky Boots: The Musical.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Get a Pete Helly here. Welcome to you Ain't Seen
Nothing Yet? The movie podcast Wire, our chat to a
movie lover about a classic or loved movie they haven't
quite got around to watching until now. In today's guest
Oscar nominee, chewital as you for.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All below.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I want to stay here with you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thank the jobber, my nay shucked, my fail that you
couldn't happening right.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
You ain't seen nothing yet?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
If you don't mind, what an exciting episode of you
Ain't Seen Nothing Yet today?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Because we have.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
I think I might be wrong, but I think.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's our first Oscar nominee.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
He was nominated for an Oscar for twelve Years a Slave,
and he has been in many of my favorite films,
including a film that I am growingly becoming obsessed with,
which is Children of Men by Alfonso Kron and he's
brilliant in that.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I think that's a perfect movie. We had a guest
who nominated it as one of their favorite movies and I.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Checked it out after they mentioned it, and I was like, yeah,
this is an amazing film. I thought it was really
good when I first saw it, but it's spectacular. So
we get the chat Chewadel about that, and this is
a bit of a break in protocol. And I should
also mention I'm recording this intro in an apartment in
Sydney because I've been there for Peter and the Starcatcher
(01:55):
coming to Briege and soon the interview is done under
lott bit junk condition set up by Universal Pictures. I
appreciate or their helping as system with this interview, but yes,
it's it's all clean audio for the interview, but it
is a break from traditional Yasny protocol.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's hard to ask somebody doing a junk at the
squeeze in the time to watch a film.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So I discuss Childwell's three favorite films of his and
then we discuss a little grab bag of my favorite
chiwitel as you four films, which include Twelve Years of Slave,
Children of Men and Kinky Boots. I was tossing up
because we had a certain amount of time whether to
ask about Kinky Boots or love actually, but I assume
(02:39):
there's plenty of stuff about his thoughts on love Actually.
I was curious to see how he remembered Kinky Boots
because there was a big film for him and I
don't think it was his first lead, but firstly maybe
the major picture motion picture.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
He done Love Actually, which of course was an ensemble.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
He's only a pretty good time around around that time.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Actually made Love Actually in two thousand and three, and
then you Boots in two thousand and five, and he
makes Children of Men in two thousand and six. But
you get to discuss what it was like working on
twelve years a slide, the responsibility that came without, how
he shok the character off, and the time that took
working with Joel.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Edgend In Kicky Boots.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
His love for that film, and also just the amazing
movie Children of Men, and that amazing ambush scene that
was almost a one take action masterpiece. So I hope
you enjoy Chewardelle as before he is in town. He
was in Sydney for Bridget Jones Mad about the Boy,
and I recommend those who have followed Bridget on her
(03:42):
adventures this is not the time to get off.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I were quite moved by the film. It's as funny
as I think the.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Other installments, this one I found more moving for many reasons,
I think, But yeah, check it out. Get to a cinema,
watch movies in a cinema when you can. But I
absolutely stoke.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Can you hang yet? Cheered out?
Speaker 6 (04:01):
D four?
Speaker 7 (04:02):
Toda Hi, my name is CHURTI ledio four. My three
favorite films are Bicycle Theme and Andre Rubelev That's.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
And Do the Right Thing?
Speaker 6 (04:28):
Doctor?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Come on?
Speaker 5 (04:29):
What what? Always? Do the right thing?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
That's it, That's it, I got it.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
I'm gone. Do you miss Tis?
Speaker 8 (04:41):
Sometimes?
Speaker 9 (04:42):
I miss him all of the times.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Can you survive?
Speaker 9 (04:45):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It's not enough to survive, You've got to live, just Harry.
Speaker 9 (04:59):
Miss don't welcome now. That is what I call a rebrand.
Speaker 5 (05:05):
Did you have sex?
Speaker 9 (05:05):
Did you have sex? Did you have sex last night?
Speaker 10 (05:08):
Yes? I did.
Speaker 11 (05:10):
I had a full night of utterly mind blowing sex
and it was amazing.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Bridget Jones, It's time to live.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Bridget Jones is back and she isn't in great shape.
And no it's not because she's hitting the bottle or
pining for a man. It's kind of the opposite. In fact,
the Bridget, played brilliantly once again by Rene Zoweger, is
mourning the death of her beloved mister Darcy Colin Firth,
with two young children to raise with a somewhat shambolic
(05:46):
help from Uncle Daniel Cleaver, the always watchable Hu Grant
in full sleeze mode once again. But it's time for
Bridget Jones to get out of her slump, to get
back into the workforce, connected with friends, and yes, of course,
to find her next love. When a tree climbing missap
brings the attention of her kids, teacher mister Walker, today's guest,
(06:09):
the always classy chewill Edge You four and the younger
Chap Rockster White lotuses Leo Woodall. It provides the opportunity
for the more mature Bridget to try something and someone
new in life.
Speaker 9 (06:25):
There are memories that will never leave us. I like
you very much, just as you are. But sometimes those
memories are suddenly bridges. Oh we left with.
Speaker 11 (06:42):
Welcome to you and see nothing yet real. It's a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Thank you, And I'm relieved because I've seen well, i've
seen two of the three of these films. Okay, so
you're going to educate me on one of them, which
is Andre reblov And from nineteen sixty six.
Speaker 10 (06:59):
I know of it.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I know it's considered one of the great art house
movies of all time. I somehow know there's a cow
that is on fire and some some reason I know
that tell us about it, and what do you like
it so much?
Speaker 7 (07:13):
So it's a Tarkovski film, and it is a beautiful epic,
a religious epic really around the life of Andre Rublev
and his sort of his struggles as a as an
artist and as a religious figure in this time of
great change in Russia and these very sort of violent
(07:35):
encounters and struggles, a period of great political life, of
great emotional life, of great emotional striving. And you know,
I was struck by the film because I mean, I'm
struck by Tarkovsky generally like everybody else. The imaging that
he uses, the kind of systems of shooting he uses,
(07:59):
the the way that there's a kind of very visceral
reaction and a kind of profound intelligence to the work
that's being done. That is, you know, that is present
throughout his films, and that was present throughout his career,
and a sort of a shortened career because he died
relatively early. But I think because Rublev is so ambitious,
(08:21):
you know, because it is so so epic in its scale,
and because the kind of epic quality of it seems
almost I mean it's hard to say like this, but
it seems almost easily achieved. You really feel that you're
confidently in the presence of somebody who has mastered scale
(08:41):
in cinematic language.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
So there are.
Speaker 7 (08:46):
Sequences that you can go back to time and time
again and marvel not only the sort of imagination that
they would have required, but also the fact that you
would attempt at that some would attempt this sort of
at all and achieve it so beautifully. These kind of
(09:06):
sequences with thousands of extras, these sequences with everything on fire,
these war sequences, but also these sequences of celebrations. There
are sequences that are aerial, you know, shots from balloons
and shots from the top of these church towers, and
there are you know, these shots in the water and
communities meeting each other. There is such beautiful poetry in
(09:28):
the filming, and.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
You make them social change, which is runs through I
think your three favorite films and a lot of the
movies you've made in your career. But do the Right Thing,
what does that film make mean to you?
Speaker 7 (09:37):
Well, I mean, do the Right Thing is epic in
a kind of different way, you know it is. It
really does capture a moment in time. It's still relevant today.
But the kind of the discussion of the tensions, the tensions,
the racial tensions in America, that it brings up this
idea of there being a real conversation to be had,
(10:00):
and are people prepared to have these conversations, you know,
and what is the result of these conversations. To set
that film in that in that time, For Spikey to
place it, and to place that argument so vehemently with
such kind of clarity and strength, I think was the
(10:20):
thing that ingrained it as an idea into the minds
of everybody who watched that film. It was again a
sort of perfectly realized way of having a very complicated
conversation with an audience.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
It was he was the first time I heard or
answer the argument. Spikeley made the argument that film's idea
is or purpose is to present problems and then for
the audience to debate them. And I think some writers do,
mean some critics get confused about trying to fix the
world through movies. It's not we can promote, debate and
(10:53):
have arguments. And he mentioned, you know, the whole debate
about did Murky did do the right thing? And he
says only white people ever asking that question, which is interesting.
But is that what you like when you watch a
film that is just prompting a debate or a new
way of thinking.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
I mean, I think that's part of it, you know.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
I feel like that film actually does land on a side,
It has a position. I think that the sort of
the final questions I think are kind of the debate.
But I think it's just in the presentation of the
conditions and the overall.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
Context of a life.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
You have so many answers to to what is, to
what was then what still continues in some ways, to
go on, and to be able to have that conversation
without the.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Need for explicitly stating anything.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
But through images, through characters, through conversations, through the dynamics,
through cinematography, through sound, through music, you know, you can
have these very developed concepts looked at, thought about, and
I think people come away from it changed. You know
that even if they feel like, well, I don't know
if he did the right thing or didn't do the
(12:06):
right thing, what they actually come away from is a
better understanding of the world. And that I think is
really what films can achieve. You know, if you come
out of a film and you're looking at the world
in a slightly different way. You know, then you've really
truly had a cinematic experience.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Basycle Themes I've loved for it's the first foreign language
film I ever watched when I was younger.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
What does that film mean to you? Well so much.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
I mean, Bicycle Themes is a film of just this
kind of deep profundity. First of all, I think it's
the relationship between a father and a son that and
I think when I first watched that film, it was
the first time I had seen that relationship represented quite
(12:53):
as powerfully as that one is. Just the love and
that bond seemed so deep to me. You know, there's
a sequences he walks towards the river when he thinks
Bruno might have fallen in and you know, they've had
an argument and he's stormed off, and then he hears
that a boy has fallen in the river, so he
(13:14):
starts to walk back, and there's a close up shot
of his face as he's walking back, and you see
a beautiful piece of acting by the way that you
see the doubt and the concern and the fear creep
into his face as he thinks, could it be, could
it be? Is there any chance that they're calling for Bruno?
Speaker 10 (13:32):
You know?
Speaker 7 (13:33):
And then he starts to run and starts to scream
the name of his son, and then eventually he finds
him and they're embrace, and that moment is absolutely heartbreaking.
And so the film for a lot of that kind
of postwar Italian circumstance and all of the questions it
asks about ethics and morality, about circumstances, about the social
(13:53):
structures that we live in.
Speaker 10 (13:55):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
It's a deep and profound and beautifully sharp film.
Speaker 7 (13:58):
And all amateur actors, yeah, exactly, found actors, including the
adult axes. Often people talk about it in terms of
the young actors and they say, oh, these are young,
but everybody in that film is really sort of coming
to that. It was arriving in that moment into the
into that that's and take on the mantle of it
with such precision. So Desika did an extraordinary job.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And let's jump forward to why you're here in Australia.
Bridge Giants A matter about the boy? Congratulations? Sorry last
week I've seen all Bridge Jones films, have enjoyed all
of them. This one was speaking of somebody about I said,
it's as funny as all the other films, but with
this one there is it got me like emotionally, I I,
you know, I whether a tear roll down my check,
(14:40):
but my eyes were watering that this, I don't know,
the great the whole grief thing really struck me emotionally.
This was the most emotional I've gotten watching a Bridge
Janons film.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Yeah. I think that's right.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
I think that the what I loved about it when
I read the script was that it had all of
exactly as you're saying, and had all of the humor.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
You know.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Somebody put it this way recently. They said, it's like
nothing's changed except everything. I think that's a really beautiful
way of describing it. I just I felt like it
had all of that humor, but it had this layering
of this kind of emotional base to it that felt
very authentic and very very real.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
And I think it's it is that thing.
Speaker 7 (15:22):
About all of the sort of challenges of growing of
growing older, the different things you face. But you know,
but having Bridget in this phase of life, it means
that you can have all of that optimism and that
perseverance and that kindness frankly, and still feel that it's
(15:43):
relevant in middle age. I mean to still feel like,
actually that gets you through some of the sort of
profound challenges that you can face. It this at a
certain time in life. And so I felt it just
had a real riches. It was almost as if Bridget
Jones had found her moment.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You know, and it was and it was now comedies
are hard to get made, and they're hard to make work,
but here we are fourth, you know, installment of Bridge Jions.
What what is it about Bridge Gionts and the character
of Helen Fielding created And now Rene Zelwega has.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
I think that it's there's a lot of different factors.
I think, I think absolutely that Helen Fielding right from
the beginning, there was a very there was I remember
at the beginning, there was that intrigue, you know, when
the in the in the newspapers, when it when it
first came out, you know, as as a sort of
in the journal you know that was printed I think
weekly was the Bridget Jones Diary, and it was fun
(16:39):
and everybody was kind of excited about it. And then
and then it turned into the book, the first book,
and there was a lot of excitement about that, and
I hadn't I didn't read the book at the time,
but I was familiar with the newspaper and then and
you know, obviously everybody was talking about the book and
then and then the film, you know, so I came
to it then with the film, and I just fell.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
In love with it.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I thought that it was incredibly fresh.
Speaker 7 (17:06):
You know, just it had in this character, very very funny,
but also something unique, you know, just something that was
about everybody that was that felt like, you know, this
character didn't say the right.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
Thing or do the right thing, but it wasn't sort
of broad comedic. It was it felt very real.
Speaker 7 (17:22):
And I had loved Renee from before, and to see
her in this film it was sort of surprising to
me because obviously she was an American actress, and yet
she was doing something that was so specific in terms
of the kind of Britishness that she was that she
sort of pinpointed that it sort of felt like, you know, witchcraft,
(17:42):
and it felt like sorcery.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
She just got it so right.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
And so do you think sometimes those comedic performances don't
get the accolades that they deserve because it is a
stunning performance.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
I think that's you know, absolutely true.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
I think it's just that everything about it, you know,
because having to get into the manners, having to get
into the specifics, having to perform in that way, and
that at that level, you know, you know, I'd seen it.
I was first aware of her and Jerry maguire, so
it was a completely different you know, she brought the
same authenticity and energy in a way, but it was
a completely different sort of line of it. So I
(18:17):
think that's why people were just crazy about it, you know,
when it came out and they felt so seen and
represented by it, and I think it sort of set
off this kind of huge wave of affection it became,
and that I think is the reason that it became
so beloved. It's so optimistic and this idea of somebody
being able to persevere, you know, through it all. I
(18:39):
think we all feel out of step with the world sometimes,
you know that we're kind of trying to catch up,
or we're spinning plates and some of them are falling,
and we're blaming ourselves, you know, for all of these things,
and then along come somebody who says, don't worry about
all that. You know, yes, we spend all of this
time judging ourselves and blaming ourselves, but actually, you know what,
(18:59):
you can still win, and you can do it with
optimism and kindness. And I think there was something very
it's something that still lasts and almost feels like right now.
It's a it's it's a it's a message that I
think can be really her.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It gets the mixture out of being right now. And
there's a reason for this film to exist. Absolutely that
you know that the passing of you know, mister Darcy,
but it's it's not relying and sorry, it also feels nostalgic,
but it's not relying on nostalgia. But watching the film
and seeing you Grant again and then Thompson, it's it's
so much fun. But also what I was quite touched
(19:35):
by was her little circle of friends, you know, the
Sally Phillips, and it was really I was quite moved
to see them again and that those friendships continue totally.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
I mean, it's all about love, isn't it in a way,
and all of the different kinds of love that you
that you experience, and obviously there's romantic love, but then
there's the love of family, you know, the love of parents,
the love of children, you know, and then you know,
there's love of friends, which doesn't often get talked about,
you know, quite as much. But this is a very
(20:05):
profound love that we have in our lives. And that
kind of support system and that kind of chosen family
is so important. And I think one of the things
about this is exactly that sense of feeling, oh, thank goodness.
You know, she's held onto all of these relationships, and
I'm so happy that in the twenty five years that
(20:26):
I've been able.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
To do that too, you know.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
And it's another way that you relate to her and
you reflect on how important those relationships have been for you.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Now you carrige everyone to go to the cinema. Of course,
I see Prittis Jones, met that boy and have a
laugh with people around you. I want to jump around
a little bit now to your studying career. Obviously nominated
for the OSCAR for twelve years.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
A slave. I want to ask you what part of
the country you come from. I originate from Canada.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
I guess where that is.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
Well, I know where Canada is. I've been there myself.
Speaker 9 (20:58):
We'll traveled for a slave.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Solomon Northolk is an expert player on the violin.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I was born a free men, lived with my family
in New York. Been good for your mother until the
day I was to see to Solomon kidnapped, sold into slavery.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
If you can go back, can you remember, I mean,
accepting that role, the responsibility that comes with that. Do
you remember what you were feeling on day one of
filming or the night before, you know, trying to get
the select, like just rolling up to that set. Yeah,
incredible actors around you. You know it's gonna be a
big film. The pressure must have been on you. Yeah,
(21:39):
did you deal with it?
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Well? It was very interesting, you know. I think that
it was.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
We got down to Louisiana for you know, a few
weeks before to do some rehearsals and to kind of
go to some of the locations and have a look
around basically just to get a feel for what was.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Kind of going on.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
And I do think that there was a sense of,
you know, kind of a building pressure. It's like this
kind of energy that's sort of arriving that you know,
and it is it's something that you're trying to control
a lot of the time, you know, because you do
feel this sense of responsibility the sense of the kind
of weight that you're meeting an occasion in a way,
(22:15):
and then I think it's really I think the first
day we were out by plantation and it was so
moving just to be there, just to be having any
kind of tangible contact with the experiences that people had
in these places. And then you know, the cameras start
(22:38):
rolling and you start playing the scenes and you feel
that you feel supported. You know, I felt an ease,
I felt supported by what had happened in the places,
and I just felt supported by by the people, by
the people themselves, by the spirit of all of these people,
you know. And I think the Peter talked about the
same thing, that there was a sense of we're here
(23:01):
to tell a story. We're here to tell the story
of people, and from the perspective of people who've never
really been able to tell the story in this way.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Mister Parker, see again, mister Barker, man received a letter
compiling many accusations.
Speaker 10 (23:22):
You look me in the eye.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
On your life, you answer me truthfully. Have you any
other name than Platt?
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Solomon Northup is my name?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (23:30):
That's all this it's official business, my nigga, my business,
your business, waits.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Tell me if you're family, Platt, I have a wife,
two children.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
What the hell are your children's name?
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Margaret and Alonzo?
Speaker 4 (23:42):
What's your wife's name before her married?
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Annhampton? I am who I say? Where you going, Platt?
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Go with the rose you need in a few with
my property, my author that you.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Come back here.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You come back here.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Boy, you're going to hand him.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Monig he is mister Solomon North. You come here unfamiliar to.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Me, and no doubt Samana Solomon northon hell he is.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
He's more nigger, And I'll fuck you for as is
your right, as it will be my pleasure to bankrupt
you in the courts.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Your decision one hand him.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
At the other end the final day of filming, how
were you able to shake Solomon off?
Speaker 5 (24:24):
If you're able to it all?
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Well, I you know, one of the producers on the
film had an apartment in Dumbo in New York. So
basically I just needed somewhere to go, you know what
I mean. After we finished filming, I couldn't go back home.
You know, I couldn't go back to London immediately because
I just wasn't really in a state. You know, you
(24:47):
can't because you can't just sort of rejoin society sort
of straight away, and because it feels very weird, you're
only you're only going to be talking about where you've been,
you know, the kind of the depth of the experience
that you've just had.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So so I stayed there actually for about three months.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
You know.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
So I was in this place, you know, and then
I would and then I sort of slowly came out
of the experience and slowly started to see people and
you know, and then sort of get back into back
into life.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
So it took a little bit of time. Yeah, incredible,
Children of Men. Homeland Security Bill is ratified after eighty years.
British borders will remain closed, a deportation of illegal immigrants
will continue. Good Morning, our lead story.
Speaker 10 (25:28):
The world was stunned today by the death of Diego Ricardo,
the youngest person on the planet. Baby Diego was stabbed
outside a bar in Buenos Aires after refusing to sign
an autograph.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
This movie, Blade Runner wasn't like a massive, massive hit
when it came out, but it became it becomes Blade Runner.
I don't even know what young men boxed office and
did when it came out. I remember saying it I
think okay, but yeah, but I feel like that film
is finding new audiences all the time.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Now, Yeah, do you feel that totally?
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I think people are stunned and they see it, know
that they just you know, and what was what you know,
obviously Alfonso and and emmanuel Lebedski were able to achieve
in the film is I just can't think it's I
don't think it's ever been surpassed, you know, like, I
just think it's so extraordinary what was what was done
(26:19):
and how relevant and raw and honest it feels, you know,
as a piece of cinema.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Why do they great films stay alive and they keep changing.
There's there's a line that I wrote down when the
illegal immigrants come by, and Michael Kaye makes the point,
you know, they they do their best to make the
best life of themselves and now the government are handing
them down like cockroaches. Yeah, and you look at what's
happening around the world at the moment, and that's as
relevant today as it was in two thousand and so for.
Speaker 7 (26:46):
Sure, it's and it's sort of become more and more
more and more relevant. You know that it's because it's
sort of prescient and it's sort of it's it's kind
of it is terrifying, you know, how much closer we
get to these dystopia in realities, you know, and you
don't know, it's hard to judge when you're in the
middle of it all, you know, because you're sort of
(27:08):
looking around and you're like, well, this is all seems
pretty out of control. But you know, everybody's trying to
still live their lives, and you're like, but this wasn't
like this twenty years ago. Twenty years ago they were
warning about this, and here we are and we're still
trying to sort of make the best of it. But
at some point we've got to really reflect on the
fact that this has been a long time coming, you know,
(27:30):
and we are in the midst of something that's kind
of strange right now.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Obviously, you shoots these long scenes. The opening scenes are
absolutely stunning, but the one of the most famous one
is the ambush, Yeah, which you're involved with. What was
What are your memories of shooting that?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
What's happened? What are you doing? Why did you do that?
We're gonna get off the road to get in.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
Mm hmm, Well I remember the car rig, you know,
and and That was pretty wild, you know because just
I think there are there are YouTube videos now about
how that was achieved, you know, with Alfonso and she
were up above us, you know, in the in the
rig and then us in the car and my seat
(28:49):
on a hinge, you know, so that the camera could
pass over my head, and I remember it was just
it was such a dance to be able to say
a line, you know, and the intensity of the moment
and then go back on this hinge and lie there
as the camera goes over my face and then does
you know something else and then you come back as
the camera comes back to you and you're still in
the moment, you're still doing the thing, but you're having
(29:12):
to kind of dance do a choreography the camera. And
it was the only time really that I've experienced this
that the camera was a performer, you know, the camera
was a performer in the scene, and so the choreography
was with the camera, and it just meant for it
just made for a very kind of rich, emotional, you
know sequence, and then to watch it, you can't tear
(29:34):
your eyes away.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
So it was brilliant. It was the egg. Was there
any practical you know, CG.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
On effect with the egg going, because you would would
have had a front, right, I say to that, Yeah, that.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Was that done in the moment? No, No, that's that's
yea yeah, no, no, that's a visual effect. Yeah, I'm glad.
I think maybe they got it once or something.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Is there a part of you when that's happening kind
of thinking, don't be the one who stuffs his take.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that is real.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
I mean, but that it wasn't in that scene because
I think because I think it's easier when it's a
bit more when it's a bit chaotic. You know, if
you're doing a long scene like that and a hundred
different things are happening, and then it comes to you
and you're in the middle of some very kind of
hectic moment, you know, you feel a bit more confident
about that. I think it's harder when you are doing
(30:23):
a scene that one hundred things are happening, it's very
long scene, and it comes to you and it's a
calm moment and you've just got to say a line
or move something.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
You know that you feel the build of the pressure.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
Actually, you know, it seems sort of counterintuitive in a way,
but that was those were the moments and I was like,
oh wow.
Speaker 11 (30:41):
That's that's tough and just quickly Kinky Bridge I love.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I'll watch again.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Recently, Joel adgit and is a friend of mine, and
I feel like there's a big film for both of you.
I should think that was for Joel. Like Joel, I
think it's one of his first big international films. You've
done love actually, but this is you, you know, in
the laid Laula would have come with its own you know, pressure,
and you know, as far as representing and you know,
and what a beautiful film and that message of gives
(31:08):
you know, sorry, change your mind about someone?
Speaker 5 (31:10):
Yeah, yeah, that's a beautiful message. Why did you stop? Well,
I won't want you to walk into the factory and
feel that people didn't respect you.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Done.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
I wouldn't want anyone else to know what that feels like. Oh,
change your mind about someone?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I love that. I mean, I love that film. I
loved making it. I loved spending time with Joel.
Speaker 7 (31:45):
You know, he was that was when we first when
we first met, and we've been friends now for twenty
something years. And it's it's a beautiful film. You know,
it's a beautiful film. It's a fantastic message. I love
the fact that it then went on to have a
life as a musical. Yeah, you know, I mean I
could never. I couldn't even imagine doing it as a musical,
like playing Lola as a musical because of the heels.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
You know, I just I just thought, I can't. You know,
I would, I would break my neck in a day.
You know, it was hard enough just doing the catwalk
in the film, you know, to try and dance properly,
dance in those heels. You know, you might as well
call the ambulance before the curtain goes up. You know,
it was. It was terrifying stuff.
Speaker 11 (32:24):
Yeah, we probably wrap up this film this podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Usually my guests watches a classic movie they've never seen,
and then we talk about, oh yeah, is there a
classic movie that you are maybe slightly embarrassed that you
haven't caught or you were pretty much.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
I don't know. It's hard to say. I suppose there
must be. I mean, there's obviously millions of films that
I haven't seen, but the classic but it's sort of
my mind is a blank. I tell you, I did
watch again, you know a film that I love, A
classic film that I love that. Not a lot of
people have.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
I mean, I suppose people have seen Holiday? Do you
know the Filmy Grant?
Speaker 10 (32:58):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (32:59):
Yes, I just watch that again the other day.
Speaker 10 (33:01):
How does your garden girl case?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
It's like wonderful where you are can be, but it
hasn't been well. I don't call what I've been doing living?
Speaker 9 (33:10):
And what do you recommend for yourself, doctor Holliday?
Speaker 5 (33:13):
As long as I need? You mean just to play?
Speaker 6 (33:16):
No, No, I'll be working since I was ten. I
want to find out why I'm working. The answer can't
be just to pay bills and to pile up more money.
Even if you do, the government's gonna take most of it.
Speaker 7 (33:25):
Yes, But what is the answer, Well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
That's what I tend to find out.
Speaker 10 (33:29):
Now.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
The world's changing out there. It's a lot of new
exciting ideas running around. Someone that might be writing, some
might be car guy, but they're affecting all our lives.
I want to know how I stand, where I fit
into the picture. Well, it's all gonna mean to me.
I can't find that out sitting behind some desk in
an office. So since I get enough money together, I'm
gonna knock off for a while, QUI quit. I want
to say part of my life for myself. There's a
catch to it, though, It's gotta be part of the
(33:50):
young part, you know, Uh, retire young, workold, come back
and work when I know what I'm working for. Does
that make sense to you? You know?
Speaker 7 (33:57):
I love that film and I love Carry Gronk, you know,
because I feel like he's an actor that can do
He's an actor that did everything.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
You know, he could do drama, he could do comedy because.
Speaker 7 (34:06):
He was always incredibly believable and he was one of
these people that you didn't need to know much about
the films. You just need to know that Carry Grant
was in it and you thought this is going to
be a good time, And that I think is a
real marker of you know that you want to hit
as an actor, where somebody just thinks that actually, just
by you being in the film, they're probably going to
be okay, you know. So so I think everybody should
(34:29):
check out Holiday if they haven't seen it, you know,
or haven't seen it recently, because again it's such a
kind of beautiful classic film.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
You're a class actor, so much fun to watch on
screen and pleasure to mention thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
And you need to look behind, but I can keep
you here.
Speaker 6 (34:48):
This side to make the.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Well, there we go.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
That was a real treatwell Edgy four, so classy, so articulate,
so kind and personable, and it's it's what I hoped,
as you always do, and I guess what I kind
of expected, because when you watch Chitterwell on screen, he
(35:17):
does have this presence and this dignity, a classiness, whether
it's playing a Lola in Kinky Boots or Solomon in
Twelve Years of Slave or mister Wollaka in the Bridget
Jones Mad for the Boy. Yeah, there's real there's real
(35:37):
dignity to him and a kindness. And that's exactly what
I felt when chatting to him. Obviously he loves his films.
I cannot wait to go and watch both Holiday and
Andre Ribley off, and I might go back and revisit
Bicycle Thieves and do the right thing as well. It's
been a while since I've seen those films. But what
(35:58):
a classy guy. A I don't want to embarrass him,
but I think his on screen is as close to
Sidney Poitier as we have gotten there's there's a similarity
in the way they hold themselves. Denzel obviously is in
that conversation as well. But there's a real yeah dignity
in class that I always associate with Sidney Poitier that
(36:19):
I think Chiedewell A G four has as well. What
was funny actually is when I ask people to do
the intros, often people who come on that my yasni
are friends or people I've known and and they've listened
to the podcast. Either they listen to it because they
like the podcast their movie fans, or they've listened to
it in anticipation for doing the podcast. And I've taken
(36:40):
through the intro and sometimes I've got to run through
it a few times. Sometimes there's a few bloopers if
you like, and it takes a little while. Cheerydell had
never heard the podcast before. I explained to him just
really quickly how we start the episode. He got it
one take. He's a professional. I think he's a really
good actor. I think that's probably all of this. Yeah,
(37:01):
thank you so much for Universal for helping set that up.
Thanks Amy, a producer as well, for getting all the
bits and pieces together.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I will confirm through maybe social media. Who our next
guest is. There's a few aligning that now, which is exciting.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So kick out of the movies, same in cinemas if
you can, and until then, bye
Speaker 5 (37:19):
For now, And so we leave old Pete save fan
sout and to our friends of the radio audience, we've
been a pleasant good night.
Get a Pete Helly here. Welcome to you Ain't Seen
Nothing Yet? The movie podcast Wire, our chat to a
movie lover about a classic or loved movie they haven't
quite got around to watching until now. In today's guest
Oscar nominee, chewital as you for.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
All below.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
I want to stay here with you.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Thank the jobber, my nay shucked, my fail that you
couldn't happening right.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
You ain't seen nothing yet?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
If you don't mind, what an exciting episode of you
Ain't Seen Nothing Yet today?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Because we have.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
I think I might be wrong, but I think.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
It's our first Oscar nominee.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
He was nominated for an Oscar for twelve Years a Slave,
and he has been in many of my favorite films,
including a film that I am growingly becoming obsessed with,
which is Children of Men by Alfonso Kron and he's
brilliant in that.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I think that's a perfect movie. We had a guest
who nominated it as one of their favorite movies and I.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Checked it out after they mentioned it, and I was like, yeah,
this is an amazing film. I thought it was really
good when I first saw it, but it's spectacular. So
we get the chat Chewadel about that, and this is
a bit of a break in protocol. And I should
also mention I'm recording this intro in an apartment in
Sydney because I've been there for Peter and the Starcatcher
(01:55):
coming to Briege and soon the interview is done under
lott bit junk condition set up by Universal Pictures. I
appreciate or their helping as system with this interview, but yes,
it's it's all clean audio for the interview, but it
is a break from traditional Yasny protocol.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
It's hard to ask somebody doing a junk at the
squeeze in the time to watch a film.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
So I discuss Childwell's three favorite films of his and
then we discuss a little grab bag of my favorite
chiwitel as you four films, which include Twelve Years of Slave,
Children of Men and Kinky Boots. I was tossing up
because we had a certain amount of time whether to
ask about Kinky Boots or love actually, but I assume
(02:39):
there's plenty of stuff about his thoughts on love Actually.
I was curious to see how he remembered Kinky Boots
because there was a big film for him and I
don't think it was his first lead, but firstly maybe
the major picture motion picture.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
He done Love Actually, which of course was an ensemble.
Speaker 5 (02:55):
He's only a pretty good time around around that time.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
Actually made Love Actually in two thousand and three, and
then you Boots in two thousand and five, and he
makes Children of Men in two thousand and six. But
you get to discuss what it was like working on
twelve years a slide, the responsibility that came without, how
he shok the character off, and the time that took
working with Joel.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Edgend In Kicky Boots.
Speaker 1 (03:17):
His love for that film, and also just the amazing
movie Children of Men, and that amazing ambush scene that
was almost a one take action masterpiece. So I hope
you enjoy Chewardelle as before he is in town. He
was in Sydney for Bridget Jones Mad about the Boy,
and I recommend those who have followed Bridget on her
(03:42):
adventures this is not the time to get off.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I were quite moved by the film. It's as funny
as I think the.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Other installments, this one I found more moving for many reasons,
I think, But yeah, check it out. Get to a cinema,
watch movies in a cinema when you can. But I
absolutely stoke.
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Can you hang yet? Cheered out?
Speaker 6 (04:01):
D four?
Speaker 7 (04:02):
Toda Hi, my name is CHURTI ledio four. My three
favorite films are Bicycle Theme and Andre Rubelev That's.
Speaker 5 (04:26):
And Do the Right Thing?
Speaker 6 (04:28):
Doctor?
Speaker 2 (04:29):
Come on?
Speaker 5 (04:29):
What what? Always? Do the right thing?
Speaker 3 (04:33):
That's it, That's it, I got it.
Speaker 5 (04:35):
I'm gone. Do you miss Tis?
Speaker 8 (04:41):
Sometimes?
Speaker 9 (04:42):
I miss him all of the times.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
Can you survive?
Speaker 9 (04:45):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (04:46):
It's not enough to survive, You've got to live, just Harry.
Speaker 9 (04:59):
Miss don't welcome now. That is what I call a rebrand.
Speaker 5 (05:05):
Did you have sex?
Speaker 9 (05:05):
Did you have sex? Did you have sex last night?
Speaker 10 (05:08):
Yes? I did.
Speaker 11 (05:10):
I had a full night of utterly mind blowing sex
and it was amazing.
Speaker 9 (05:22):
Bridget Jones, It's time to live.
Speaker 1 (05:25):
Bridget Jones is back and she isn't in great shape.
And no it's not because she's hitting the bottle or
pining for a man. It's kind of the opposite. In fact,
the Bridget, played brilliantly once again by Rene Zoweger, is
mourning the death of her beloved mister Darcy Colin Firth,
with two young children to raise with a somewhat shambolic
(05:46):
help from Uncle Daniel Cleaver, the always watchable Hu Grant
in full sleeze mode once again. But it's time for
Bridget Jones to get out of her slump, to get
back into the workforce, connected with friends, and yes, of course,
to find her next love. When a tree climbing missap
brings the attention of her kids, teacher mister Walker, today's guest,
(06:09):
the always classy chewill Edge You four and the younger
Chap Rockster White lotuses Leo Woodall. It provides the opportunity
for the more mature Bridget to try something and someone
new in life.
Speaker 9 (06:25):
There are memories that will never leave us. I like
you very much, just as you are. But sometimes those
memories are suddenly bridges. Oh we left with.
Speaker 11 (06:42):
Welcome to you and see nothing yet real. It's a
pleasure to have you.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Thank you, And I'm relieved because I've seen well, i've
seen two of the three of these films. Okay, so
you're going to educate me on one of them, which
is Andre reblov And from nineteen sixty six.
Speaker 10 (06:59):
I know of it.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
I know it's considered one of the great art house
movies of all time. I somehow know there's a cow
that is on fire and some some reason I know
that tell us about it, and what do you like
it so much?
Speaker 7 (07:13):
So it's a Tarkovski film, and it is a beautiful epic,
a religious epic really around the life of Andre Rublev
and his sort of his struggles as a as an
artist and as a religious figure in this time of
great change in Russia and these very sort of violent
(07:35):
encounters and struggles, a period of great political life, of
great emotional life, of great emotional striving. And you know,
I was struck by the film because I mean, I'm
struck by Tarkovsky generally like everybody else. The imaging that
he uses, the kind of systems of shooting he uses,
(07:59):
the the way that there's a kind of very visceral
reaction and a kind of profound intelligence to the work
that's being done. That is, you know, that is present
throughout his films, and that was present throughout his career,
and a sort of a shortened career because he died
relatively early. But I think because Rublev is so ambitious,
(08:21):
you know, because it is so so epic in its scale,
and because the kind of epic quality of it seems
almost I mean it's hard to say like this, but
it seems almost easily achieved. You really feel that you're
confidently in the presence of somebody who has mastered scale
(08:41):
in cinematic language.
Speaker 5 (08:45):
So there are.
Speaker 7 (08:46):
Sequences that you can go back to time and time
again and marvel not only the sort of imagination that
they would have required, but also the fact that you
would attempt at that some would attempt this sort of
at all and achieve it so beautifully. These kind of
(09:06):
sequences with thousands of extras, these sequences with everything on fire,
these war sequences, but also these sequences of celebrations. There
are sequences that are aerial, you know, shots from balloons
and shots from the top of these church towers, and
there are you know, these shots in the water and
communities meeting each other. There is such beautiful poetry in
(09:28):
the filming, and.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
You make them social change, which is runs through I
think your three favorite films and a lot of the
movies you've made in your career. But do the Right Thing,
what does that film make mean to you?
Speaker 7 (09:37):
Well, I mean, do the Right Thing is epic in
a kind of different way, you know it is. It
really does capture a moment in time. It's still relevant today.
But the kind of the discussion of the tensions, the tensions,
the racial tensions in America, that it brings up this
idea of there being a real conversation to be had,
(10:00):
and are people prepared to have these conversations, you know,
and what is the result of these conversations. To set
that film in that in that time, For Spikey to
place it, and to place that argument so vehemently with
such kind of clarity and strength, I think was the
(10:20):
thing that ingrained it as an idea into the minds
of everybody who watched that film. It was again a
sort of perfectly realized way of having a very complicated
conversation with an audience.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
It was he was the first time I heard or
answer the argument. Spikeley made the argument that film's idea
is or purpose is to present problems and then for
the audience to debate them. And I think some writers do,
mean some critics get confused about trying to fix the
world through movies. It's not we can promote, debate and
(10:53):
have arguments. And he mentioned, you know, the whole debate
about did Murky did do the right thing? And he
says only white people ever asking that question, which is interesting.
But is that what you like when you watch a
film that is just prompting a debate or a new
way of thinking.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
I think so.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
I mean, I think that's part of it, you know.
Speaker 7 (11:12):
I feel like that film actually does land on a side,
It has a position. I think that the sort of
the final questions I think are kind of the debate.
But I think it's just in the presentation of the
conditions and the overall.
Speaker 5 (11:29):
Context of a life.
Speaker 7 (11:31):
You have so many answers to to what is, to
what was then what still continues in some ways, to
go on, and to be able to have that conversation
without the.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
Need for explicitly stating anything.
Speaker 7 (11:45):
But through images, through characters, through conversations, through the dynamics,
through cinematography, through sound, through music, you know, you can
have these very developed concepts looked at, thought about, and
I think people come away from it changed. You know
that even if they feel like, well, I don't know
if he did the right thing or didn't do the
(12:06):
right thing, what they actually come away from is a
better understanding of the world. And that I think is
really what films can achieve. You know, if you come
out of a film and you're looking at the world
in a slightly different way. You know, then you've really
truly had a cinematic experience.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Basycle Themes I've loved for it's the first foreign language
film I ever watched when I was younger.
Speaker 5 (12:29):
What does that film mean to you? Well so much.
Speaker 7 (12:33):
I mean, Bicycle Themes is a film of just this
kind of deep profundity. First of all, I think it's
the relationship between a father and a son that and
I think when I first watched that film, it was
the first time I had seen that relationship represented quite
(12:53):
as powerfully as that one is. Just the love and
that bond seemed so deep to me. You know, there's
a sequences he walks towards the river when he thinks
Bruno might have fallen in and you know, they've had
an argument and he's stormed off, and then he hears
that a boy has fallen in the river, so he
(13:14):
starts to walk back, and there's a close up shot
of his face as he's walking back, and you see
a beautiful piece of acting by the way that you
see the doubt and the concern and the fear creep
into his face as he thinks, could it be, could
it be? Is there any chance that they're calling for Bruno?
Speaker 10 (13:32):
You know?
Speaker 7 (13:33):
And then he starts to run and starts to scream
the name of his son, and then eventually he finds
him and they're embrace, and that moment is absolutely heartbreaking.
And so the film for a lot of that kind
of postwar Italian circumstance and all of the questions it
asks about ethics and morality, about circumstances, about the social
(13:53):
structures that we live in.
Speaker 10 (13:55):
You know.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
It's a deep and profound and beautifully sharp film.
Speaker 7 (13:58):
And all amateur actors, yeah, exactly, found actors, including the
adult axes. Often people talk about it in terms of
the young actors and they say, oh, these are young,
but everybody in that film is really sort of coming
to that. It was arriving in that moment into the
into that that's and take on the mantle of it
with such precision. So Desika did an extraordinary job.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
And let's jump forward to why you're here in Australia.
Bridge Giants A matter about the boy? Congratulations? Sorry last
week I've seen all Bridge Jones films, have enjoyed all
of them. This one was speaking of somebody about I said,
it's as funny as all the other films, but with
this one there is it got me like emotionally, I I,
you know, I whether a tear roll down my check,
(14:40):
but my eyes were watering that this, I don't know,
the great the whole grief thing really struck me emotionally.
This was the most emotional I've gotten watching a Bridge
Janons film.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Yeah. I think that's right.
Speaker 7 (14:51):
I think that the what I loved about it when
I read the script was that it had all of
exactly as you're saying, and had all of the humor.
Speaker 5 (14:58):
You know.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Somebody put it this way recently. They said, it's like
nothing's changed except everything. I think that's a really beautiful
way of describing it. I just I felt like it
had all of that humor, but it had this layering
of this kind of emotional base to it that felt
very authentic and very very real.
Speaker 5 (15:20):
And I think it's it is that thing.
Speaker 7 (15:22):
About all of the sort of challenges of growing of
growing older, the different things you face. But you know,
but having Bridget in this phase of life, it means
that you can have all of that optimism and that
perseverance and that kindness frankly, and still feel that it's
(15:43):
relevant in middle age. I mean to still feel like,
actually that gets you through some of the sort of
profound challenges that you can face. It this at a
certain time in life. And so I felt it just
had a real riches. It was almost as if Bridget
Jones had found her moment.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
You know, and it was and it was now comedies
are hard to get made, and they're hard to make work,
but here we are fourth, you know, installment of Bridge Jions.
What what is it about Bridge Gionts and the character
of Helen Fielding created And now Rene Zelwega has.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
I think that it's there's a lot of different factors.
I think, I think absolutely that Helen Fielding right from
the beginning, there was a very there was I remember
at the beginning, there was that intrigue, you know, when
the in the in the newspapers, when it when it
first came out, you know, as as a sort of
in the journal you know that was printed I think
weekly was the Bridget Jones Diary, and it was fun
(16:39):
and everybody was kind of excited about it. And then
and then it turned into the book, the first book,
and there was a lot of excitement about that, and
I hadn't I didn't read the book at the time,
but I was familiar with the newspaper and then and
you know, obviously everybody was talking about the book and
then and then the film, you know, so I came
to it then with the film, and I just fell.
Speaker 5 (17:01):
In love with it.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I thought that it was incredibly fresh.
Speaker 7 (17:06):
You know, just it had in this character, very very funny,
but also something unique, you know, just something that was
about everybody that was that felt like, you know, this
character didn't say the right.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
Thing or do the right thing, but it wasn't sort
of broad comedic. It was it felt very real.
Speaker 7 (17:22):
And I had loved Renee from before, and to see
her in this film it was sort of surprising to
me because obviously she was an American actress, and yet
she was doing something that was so specific in terms
of the kind of Britishness that she was that she
sort of pinpointed that it sort of felt like, you know, witchcraft,
(17:42):
and it felt like sorcery.
Speaker 5 (17:44):
She just got it so right.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
And so do you think sometimes those comedic performances don't
get the accolades that they deserve because it is a
stunning performance.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
I think that's you know, absolutely true.
Speaker 7 (17:56):
I think it's just that everything about it, you know,
because having to get into the manners, having to get
into the specifics, having to perform in that way, and
that at that level, you know, you know, I'd seen it.
I was first aware of her and Jerry maguire, so
it was a completely different you know, she brought the
same authenticity and energy in a way, but it was
a completely different sort of line of it. So I
(18:17):
think that's why people were just crazy about it, you know,
when it came out and they felt so seen and
represented by it, and I think it sort of set
off this kind of huge wave of affection it became,
and that I think is the reason that it became
so beloved. It's so optimistic and this idea of somebody
being able to persevere, you know, through it all. I
(18:39):
think we all feel out of step with the world sometimes,
you know that we're kind of trying to catch up,
or we're spinning plates and some of them are falling,
and we're blaming ourselves, you know, for all of these things,
and then along come somebody who says, don't worry about
all that. You know, yes, we spend all of this
time judging ourselves and blaming ourselves, but actually, you know what,
(18:59):
you can still win, and you can do it with
optimism and kindness. And I think there was something very
it's something that still lasts and almost feels like right now.
It's a it's it's a it's a message that I
think can be really her.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
It gets the mixture out of being right now. And
there's a reason for this film to exist. Absolutely that
you know that the passing of you know, mister Darcy,
but it's it's not relying and sorry, it also feels nostalgic,
but it's not relying on nostalgia. But watching the film
and seeing you Grant again and then Thompson, it's it's
so much fun. But also what I was quite touched
(19:35):
by was her little circle of friends, you know, the
Sally Phillips, and it was really I was quite moved
to see them again and that those friendships continue totally.
Speaker 7 (19:44):
I mean, it's all about love, isn't it in a way,
and all of the different kinds of love that you
that you experience, and obviously there's romantic love, but then
there's the love of family, you know, the love of parents,
the love of children, you know, and then you know,
there's love of friends, which doesn't often get talked about,
you know, quite as much. But this is a very
(20:05):
profound love that we have in our lives. And that
kind of support system and that kind of chosen family
is so important. And I think one of the things
about this is exactly that sense of feeling, oh, thank goodness.
You know, she's held onto all of these relationships, and
I'm so happy that in the twenty five years that
(20:26):
I've been able.
Speaker 5 (20:26):
To do that too, you know.
Speaker 7 (20:28):
And it's another way that you relate to her and
you reflect on how important those relationships have been for you.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Now you carrige everyone to go to the cinema. Of course,
I see Prittis Jones, met that boy and have a
laugh with people around you. I want to jump around
a little bit now to your studying career. Obviously nominated
for the OSCAR for twelve years.
Speaker 5 (20:47):
A slave. I want to ask you what part of
the country you come from. I originate from Canada.
Speaker 9 (20:54):
I guess where that is.
Speaker 5 (20:55):
Well, I know where Canada is. I've been there myself.
Speaker 9 (20:58):
We'll traveled for a slave.
Speaker 6 (21:01):
Solomon Northolk is an expert player on the violin.
Speaker 5 (21:05):
I was born a free men, lived with my family
in New York. Been good for your mother until the
day I was to see to Solomon kidnapped, sold into slavery.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
If you can go back, can you remember, I mean,
accepting that role, the responsibility that comes with that. Do
you remember what you were feeling on day one of
filming or the night before, you know, trying to get
the select, like just rolling up to that set. Yeah,
incredible actors around you. You know it's gonna be a
big film. The pressure must have been on you. Yeah,
(21:39):
did you deal with it?
Speaker 5 (21:39):
Well? It was very interesting, you know. I think that
it was.
Speaker 7 (21:42):
We got down to Louisiana for you know, a few
weeks before to do some rehearsals and to kind of
go to some of the locations and have a look
around basically just to get a feel for what was.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Kind of going on.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
And I do think that there was a sense of,
you know, kind of a building pressure. It's like this
kind of energy that's sort of arriving that you know,
and it is it's something that you're trying to control
a lot of the time, you know, because you do
feel this sense of responsibility the sense of the kind
of weight that you're meeting an occasion in a way,
(22:15):
and then I think it's really I think the first
day we were out by plantation and it was so
moving just to be there, just to be having any
kind of tangible contact with the experiences that people had
in these places. And then you know, the cameras start
(22:38):
rolling and you start playing the scenes and you feel
that you feel supported. You know, I felt an ease,
I felt supported by what had happened in the places,
and I just felt supported by by the people, by
the people themselves, by the spirit of all of these people,
you know. And I think the Peter talked about the
same thing, that there was a sense of we're here
(23:01):
to tell a story. We're here to tell the story
of people, and from the perspective of people who've never
really been able to tell the story in this way.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Mister Parker, see again, mister Barker, man received a letter
compiling many accusations.
Speaker 10 (23:22):
You look me in the eye.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
On your life, you answer me truthfully. Have you any
other name than Platt?
Speaker 5 (23:28):
Solomon Northup is my name?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (23:30):
That's all this it's official business, my nigga, my business,
your business, waits.
Speaker 5 (23:36):
Tell me if you're family, Platt, I have a wife,
two children.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
What the hell are your children's name?
Speaker 5 (23:41):
Margaret and Alonzo?
Speaker 4 (23:42):
What's your wife's name before her married?
Speaker 5 (23:43):
Annhampton? I am who I say? Where you going, Platt?
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Go with the rose you need in a few with
my property, my author that you.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
Come back here.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
You come back here.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Boy, you're going to hand him.
Speaker 5 (24:00):
Monig he is mister Solomon North. You come here unfamiliar to.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Me, and no doubt Samana Solomon northon hell he is.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
He's more nigger, And I'll fuck you for as is
your right, as it will be my pleasure to bankrupt
you in the courts.
Speaker 5 (24:14):
Your decision one hand him.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
At the other end the final day of filming, how
were you able to shake Solomon off?
Speaker 5 (24:24):
If you're able to it all?
Speaker 7 (24:26):
Well, I you know, one of the producers on the
film had an apartment in Dumbo in New York. So
basically I just needed somewhere to go, you know what
I mean. After we finished filming, I couldn't go back home.
You know, I couldn't go back to London immediately because
I just wasn't really in a state. You know, you
(24:47):
can't because you can't just sort of rejoin society sort
of straight away, and because it feels very weird, you're
only you're only going to be talking about where you've been,
you know, the kind of the depth of the experience
that you've just had.
Speaker 5 (24:59):
So so I stayed there actually for about three months.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
You know.
Speaker 7 (25:03):
So I was in this place, you know, and then
I would and then I sort of slowly came out
of the experience and slowly started to see people and
you know, and then sort of get back into back
into life.
Speaker 5 (25:14):
So it took a little bit of time. Yeah, incredible,
Children of Men. Homeland Security Bill is ratified after eighty years.
British borders will remain closed, a deportation of illegal immigrants
will continue. Good Morning, our lead story.
Speaker 10 (25:28):
The world was stunned today by the death of Diego Ricardo,
the youngest person on the planet. Baby Diego was stabbed
outside a bar in Buenos Aires after refusing to sign
an autograph.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
This movie, Blade Runner wasn't like a massive, massive hit
when it came out, but it became it becomes Blade Runner.
I don't even know what young men boxed office and
did when it came out. I remember saying it I
think okay, but yeah, but I feel like that film
is finding new audiences all the time.
Speaker 5 (25:56):
Now, Yeah, do you feel that totally?
Speaker 7 (25:58):
I think people are stunned and they see it, know
that they just you know, and what was what you know,
obviously Alfonso and and emmanuel Lebedski were able to achieve
in the film is I just can't think it's I
don't think it's ever been surpassed, you know, like, I
just think it's so extraordinary what was what was done
(26:19):
and how relevant and raw and honest it feels, you know,
as a piece of cinema.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
Why do they great films stay alive and they keep changing.
There's there's a line that I wrote down when the
illegal immigrants come by, and Michael Kaye makes the point,
you know, they they do their best to make the
best life of themselves and now the government are handing
them down like cockroaches. Yeah, and you look at what's
happening around the world at the moment, and that's as
relevant today as it was in two thousand and so for.
Speaker 7 (26:46):
Sure, it's and it's sort of become more and more
more and more relevant. You know that it's because it's
sort of prescient and it's sort of it's it's kind
of it is terrifying, you know, how much closer we
get to these dystopia in realities, you know, and you
don't know, it's hard to judge when you're in the
middle of it all, you know, because you're sort of
(27:08):
looking around and you're like, well, this is all seems
pretty out of control. But you know, everybody's trying to
still live their lives, and you're like, but this wasn't
like this twenty years ago. Twenty years ago they were
warning about this, and here we are and we're still
trying to sort of make the best of it. But
at some point we've got to really reflect on the
fact that this has been a long time coming, you know,
(27:30):
and we are in the midst of something that's kind
of strange right now.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Obviously, you shoots these long scenes. The opening scenes are
absolutely stunning, but the one of the most famous one
is the ambush, Yeah, which you're involved with. What was
What are your memories of shooting that?
Speaker 5 (28:06):
What's happened? What are you doing? Why did you do that?
We're gonna get off the road to get in.
Speaker 7 (28:26):
Mm hmm, Well I remember the car rig, you know,
and and That was pretty wild, you know because just
I think there are there are YouTube videos now about
how that was achieved, you know, with Alfonso and she
were up above us, you know, in the in the
rig and then us in the car and my seat
(28:49):
on a hinge, you know, so that the camera could
pass over my head, and I remember it was just
it was such a dance to be able to say
a line, you know, and the intensity of the moment
and then go back on this hinge and lie there
as the camera goes over my face and then does
you know something else and then you come back as
the camera comes back to you and you're still in
the moment, you're still doing the thing, but you're having
(29:12):
to kind of dance do a choreography the camera. And
it was the only time really that I've experienced this
that the camera was a performer, you know, the camera
was a performer in the scene, and so the choreography
was with the camera, and it just meant for it
just made for a very kind of rich, emotional, you
know sequence, and then to watch it, you can't tear
(29:34):
your eyes away.
Speaker 5 (29:34):
So it was brilliant. It was the egg. Was there
any practical you know, CG.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
On effect with the egg going, because you would would
have had a front, right, I say to that, Yeah, that.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Was that done in the moment? No, No, that's that's
yea yeah, no, no, that's a visual effect. Yeah, I'm glad.
I think maybe they got it once or something.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Is there a part of you when that's happening kind
of thinking, don't be the one who stuffs his take.
Speaker 5 (30:00):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that is real.
Speaker 7 (30:01):
I mean, but that it wasn't in that scene because
I think because I think it's easier when it's a
bit more when it's a bit chaotic. You know, if
you're doing a long scene like that and a hundred
different things are happening, and then it comes to you
and you're in the middle of some very kind of
hectic moment, you know, you feel a bit more confident
about that. I think it's harder when you are doing
(30:23):
a scene that one hundred things are happening, it's very
long scene, and it comes to you and it's a
calm moment and you've just got to say a line
or move something.
Speaker 5 (30:32):
You know that you feel the build of the pressure.
Speaker 7 (30:35):
Actually, you know, it seems sort of counterintuitive in a way,
but that was those were the moments and I was like,
oh wow.
Speaker 11 (30:41):
That's that's tough and just quickly Kinky Bridge I love.
Speaker 5 (30:45):
I'll watch again.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
Recently, Joel adgit and is a friend of mine, and
I feel like there's a big film for both of you.
I should think that was for Joel. Like Joel, I
think it's one of his first big international films. You've
done love actually, but this is you, you know, in
the laid Laula would have come with its own you know, pressure,
and you know, as far as representing and you know,
and what a beautiful film and that message of gives
(31:08):
you know, sorry, change your mind about someone?
Speaker 5 (31:10):
Yeah, yeah, that's a beautiful message. Why did you stop? Well,
I won't want you to walk into the factory and
feel that people didn't respect you.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Done.
Speaker 8 (31:21):
I wouldn't want anyone else to know what that feels like. Oh,
change your mind about someone?
Speaker 5 (31:40):
I love that. I mean, I love that film. I
loved making it. I loved spending time with Joel.
Speaker 7 (31:45):
You know, he was that was when we first when
we first met, and we've been friends now for twenty
something years. And it's it's a beautiful film. You know,
it's a beautiful film. It's a fantastic message. I love
the fact that it then went on to have a
life as a musical. Yeah, you know, I mean I
could never. I couldn't even imagine doing it as a musical,
like playing Lola as a musical because of the heels.
Speaker 5 (32:07):
You know, I just I just thought, I can't. You know,
I would, I would break my neck in a day.
You know, it was hard enough just doing the catwalk
in the film, you know, to try and dance properly,
dance in those heels. You know, you might as well
call the ambulance before the curtain goes up. You know,
it was. It was terrifying stuff.
Speaker 11 (32:24):
Yeah, we probably wrap up this film this podcast.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Usually my guests watches a classic movie they've never seen,
and then we talk about, oh yeah, is there a
classic movie that you are maybe slightly embarrassed that you
haven't caught or you were pretty much.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
I don't know. It's hard to say. I suppose there
must be. I mean, there's obviously millions of films that
I haven't seen, but the classic but it's sort of
my mind is a blank. I tell you, I did
watch again, you know a film that I love, A
classic film that I love that. Not a lot of
people have.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
I mean, I suppose people have seen Holiday? Do you
know the Filmy Grant?
Speaker 10 (32:58):
Yes?
Speaker 5 (32:59):
Yes, I just watch that again the other day.
Speaker 10 (33:01):
How does your garden girl case?
Speaker 5 (33:03):
It's like wonderful where you are can be, but it
hasn't been well. I don't call what I've been doing living?
Speaker 9 (33:10):
And what do you recommend for yourself, doctor Holliday?
Speaker 5 (33:13):
As long as I need? You mean just to play?
Speaker 6 (33:16):
No, No, I'll be working since I was ten. I
want to find out why I'm working. The answer can't
be just to pay bills and to pile up more money.
Even if you do, the government's gonna take most of it.
Speaker 7 (33:25):
Yes, But what is the answer, Well, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
That's what I tend to find out.
Speaker 10 (33:29):
Now.
Speaker 6 (33:29):
The world's changing out there. It's a lot of new
exciting ideas running around. Someone that might be writing, some
might be car guy, but they're affecting all our lives.
I want to know how I stand, where I fit
into the picture. Well, it's all gonna mean to me.
I can't find that out sitting behind some desk in
an office. So since I get enough money together, I'm
gonna knock off for a while, QUI quit. I want
to say part of my life for myself. There's a
catch to it, though, It's gotta be part of the
(33:50):
young part, you know, Uh, retire young, workold, come back
and work when I know what I'm working for. Does
that make sense to you? You know?
Speaker 7 (33:57):
I love that film and I love Carry Gronk, you know,
because I feel like he's an actor that can do
He's an actor that did everything.
Speaker 5 (34:04):
You know, he could do drama, he could do comedy because.
Speaker 7 (34:06):
He was always incredibly believable and he was one of
these people that you didn't need to know much about
the films. You just need to know that Carry Grant
was in it and you thought this is going to
be a good time, And that I think is a
real marker of you know that you want to hit
as an actor, where somebody just thinks that actually, just
by you being in the film, they're probably going to
be okay, you know. So so I think everybody should
(34:29):
check out Holiday if they haven't seen it, you know,
or haven't seen it recently, because again it's such a
kind of beautiful classic film.
Speaker 5 (34:37):
Thank you so much for joining us.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
You're a class actor, so much fun to watch on
screen and pleasure to mention thank you.
Speaker 4 (34:42):
And you need to look behind, but I can keep
you here.
Speaker 6 (34:48):
This side to make the.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Well, there we go.
Speaker 1 (34:56):
That was a real treatwell Edgy four, so classy, so articulate,
so kind and personable, and it's it's what I hoped,
as you always do, and I guess what I kind
of expected, because when you watch Chitterwell on screen, he
(35:17):
does have this presence and this dignity, a classiness, whether
it's playing a Lola in Kinky Boots or Solomon in
Twelve Years of Slave or mister Wollaka in the Bridget
Jones Mad for the Boy. Yeah, there's real there's real
(35:37):
dignity to him and a kindness. And that's exactly what
I felt when chatting to him. Obviously he loves his films.
I cannot wait to go and watch both Holiday and
Andre Ribley off, and I might go back and revisit
Bicycle Thieves and do the right thing as well. It's
been a while since I've seen those films. But what
(35:58):
a classy guy. A I don't want to embarrass him,
but I think his on screen is as close to
Sidney Poitier as we have gotten there's there's a similarity
in the way they hold themselves. Denzel obviously is in
that conversation as well. But there's a real yeah dignity
in class that I always associate with Sidney Poitier that
(36:19):
I think Chiedewell A G four has as well. What
was funny actually is when I ask people to do
the intros, often people who come on that my yasni
are friends or people I've known and and they've listened
to the podcast. Either they listen to it because they
like the podcast their movie fans, or they've listened to
it in anticipation for doing the podcast. And I've taken
(36:40):
through the intro and sometimes I've got to run through
it a few times. Sometimes there's a few bloopers if
you like, and it takes a little while. Cheerydell had
never heard the podcast before. I explained to him just
really quickly how we start the episode. He got it
one take. He's a professional. I think he's a really
good actor. I think that's probably all of this. Yeah,
(37:01):
thank you so much for Universal for helping set that up.
Thanks Amy, a producer as well, for getting all the
bits and pieces together.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
I will confirm through maybe social media. Who our next
guest is. There's a few aligning that now, which is exciting.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
So kick out of the movies, same in cinemas if
you can, and until then, bye
Speaker 5 (37:19):
For now, And so we leave old Pete save fan
sout and to our friends of the radio audience, we've
been a pleasant good night.
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