|
|
 |
James Nesbitt interview - Radio Times, June 2007 |
|
|
|
 |
|
The star of Jekyll chatted to Zoe Williams about his work, his family and indulging his dark side as Mr Hyde.
On choosing to act
"I've carried enormous guilt for years.
Guilt and embarrassment. And that probably
went hand in hand with me going out a lot and
getting into trouble. I was living an existence
that wasn't really grown up anyway, so there
weren't moral absolutes. The whole world
was morally questionable."
On those tabloid headlines
"I was away a lot, enjoying the high life.
I would defy a lot of people not to have that
kind of a time. It's an element of Jekyll and Hyde, that dual
existence. It's a bit of a cliché, but there were two
different characters, the family guy and the guy
that was away working, and rarely did they come together. I think now the whole idea
is that they have come together."
On his parents
"My mum
can't watch anything. Nakedness and bad
language don't sit well with the mother
of an only boy, and the baby [of the family].
I just have to tell them not to watch it.
I realised quite late on that what they're
proudest of is that I'm working and that
I'm in a stable relationship, with two kids.
All they ever wanted was for me to be well
and happy and decent."
On playing Hyde
"Our Hyde is like a child, really. He has no
morals. So the notion of evil is not so much
immoral as not having any morals at all."
"A dark
side doesn't necessarily mean an evil side, it
means the side that we can't show. It's like
when you're a kid and there's relations around.
And you've just taken things a bit too far and
your mother says, 'Stop showing off'. Playing
Hyde was a bit like being able to show off all
the time. Do things that you'll never get an
opportunity to do."
On his attitude to acting
"One of the watersheds I've had is realising
one day, far too late, that I'm not the young one
in the company any more. But I enjoy
taking on responsibility now. I play leading
men quite a lot - I don't mean classic leading
men, I mean leading the company in a sense.
And I quite like that feeling of being a link
between the actors and the crew, making sure
everyone's getting on, reminding everyone that
it's a really fun business that we work in."
"Being an arse is much more difficult
than not being one. I've come across very few,
and the ones that behave like that aren't the
ones I really respect."
"If you are
being paid a lot of money, if someone is writing
a show for you, if your slightest whim is catered
for, you have to keep an eye on yourself."
"I've worked a lot; I'm blessed in that respect.
But also I'm a good worker, and I definitely
have a Protestant work ethic. And although
I've tried to take maybe three months off at a
time in the last few years, when I was working
they were long, 70-hour weeks, and I wasn't
enjoying the fruits of it when I was off because
I was knackered. There's a period of
readjustment when you come back, not just
for me but for the wife and kids. And then
as soon as you've all readjusted I'd be off
working again."
"I love the work so much that it isn't
about the money and the fame. I mean, I don't
mind the money, but the fame is a bit weird."
**
View our James Nesbitt picture gallery - or take a look at our full Jekyll guide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Advertiser link |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| EMAIL A FRIEND |
|
| Want to share this page with a friend? It's quick and easy! |
| Email a friend |
|
|
|
|
|
