This programme contains some strong language.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Oh! Oh, hello! Hi, hi, hi! Hello, good evening, everybody! Hi two
year! You are also welcome to the show. I tell you, it is a packed
show tonight. We have enough guest on my sofa for a Taylor Swift video!
Could reappear in a Taylor Swift video? Oh, go on, I will!
Plenty of stars for us tonight! Performing for us later, look over
there, it's Gorillaz! But first night, this actor shot to fame in
the Italian season of White Lotus before charming our pants off and
One Day and Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy. Now he stars in Vladimir.
It's Leo Woodall, everybody! Here he is!
CHEERING 'S.
I know, it's Leo Woodall! This Olivier award-winning star
played our favourite conman in Hustle, helped John Travolta in
Primary Colours and has wowed the audience on everything from
Shakespeare to sometime. Now his acclaimed RSC production of Cyrano
De Bergerac is heading to the West End.
Please welcome Adrian Lester! CHEERING
APPLAUSE Hello!
Good to see you. Adrian Lester! For 12 years, this actor played
Penny, the girl next door, in TV's longest running and wildly popular
sitcom The Big Bang Theory. More recently, she starred in the flight
attendant. Now, she is an Vanished. A first time welcome to Kaley Cuoco!
CHEERING APPLAUSE
So shiny! Hi! So lovely to see you. Hello!
And what a year this man has had. Not only was he the co-creator and
star of last year's global phenomenon in Adolescence, picking
up a Golden glow, and an Emmy along the way, he still found time to
start in hits like 1000 Blows and to plate Springsteen's died in Deliver
Me From Nowhere. His latest tome is The Good Boy. Please welcome the
great Stephen Graham! CHEERING
APPLAUSE.
Sit down, sit, sit, sit. I know, I know! What a lovely couch. Before we
do anything, Stephen Graham, congratulations on everything. It
has been so lovely to see you travelling the world, picking up
prizes wherever you go. And I were saying backstage, it is lovely that
it is you, Erin and Owen, you keep winning together. That is nice. Yes.
CHEERING As you say, to be able to share it
together is nice, because you don't really get those opportunities, do
you? Get keeps on giving, as Erin says. And was at the Golden globes?
It is such a starry audience, but you were distracted by a specific
person? Well, yes, there were a few! Do you
know what I mean? I'm the only person I don't reckon nice sometimes
in a room like that! We recognise you!
I have known him for a long time, and Leo just stood up and was
looking at me and clapping and I thought, I don't know...
Not this Leo! Leo DiCaprio! LAUGHTER
It's strange, he's been my mate for 20 years, so for him to see me in
that situation was lovely for him and an honour.
It was weird. But, Leo, weirdly, you did meet
Stephen, but where was it, do you remember?
Know, why would you?! We met in a toilet!
LAUGHTER Yes, it was at the critics choice
awards. That's right!
I had finished my... Wee, and I was beginning to... Went to shake your
hand! I had been dry my hands for three minutes, because I was like, I
want to say hello to Stephen Graham! Big bladder!
It takes its time when you get over a certain age!
I was very excited to meet you, because I had kind of already lost
my mind, and I turned around, and as soon as he was done, just went hi!
Oh, mate, I've just had my knob in my hands! And I washed my hands.
You did. The etiquette of shaking hands, people!
Make sure you don't have your knob in it!
I like that everyone is washing their hands. That is good. That is
the same night you met Kaley, is it? We met that night too! I fanned over
your girlfriend and over you! Everyone fanned over each other! It
was a fine moment stop it was a what's?
We were all fanning over each other. What did you think I was saying?
Eight fanny moment! We were all fanning over each other.
It was not that kind of show! Adrian, have you been in a toilet
with anyone on this couch? No, I haven't!
Good! Kaley Cuoco, everyone loved you as
penny in the Big Bang theory. Thank you, oh, thank you!
APPLAUSE CHEERING
Lot of years. But I felt like... I knew The Big
Bang Theory had been successful, but I didn't realise there are more
episodes of it than any other sitcom. Yes. Wow. I believe so. 279.
Yes, I don't think we had 300. Yes, 279 according to my stats. You must
assume at some point that everyone has seen an episode of it. I never
assume that, but I get a
assume that, but I get a lot of "Penny"s wherever I go. But one
person in your life not so familiar! Yes, my fiance had no idea when I
met him! He had never seen it. He had never seen it, the first time he
brought me home to meet his family, his mum's partner is lovely, and the
first time I met him I was introduced, and he went, Penny! And
he kept calling me Penny. And I never said anything about it,
because I thought, that's so sweet, he loved the show. And I saw Tom
looking around, like, I can't believe he thinks her name is Penny!
But he noticed I wasn't bothered, he didn't say anything, and in the car
that night, he was like, I told John your name! I can't believe he called
you Penny! I don't know where he got that from! And I said, I think you
got it from The Big Bang Theory. He said what? He had never seen the
show. He didn't know my name on the show.
Wow! He has still never seen it!
I'm sure he will enjoy your new show Vanished, which we will talk about
later. But we get started tonight with Stephen Graham's latest, The
Good Boy, in cinemas from March the 20th. This is something quite
different for you, a genre film. Tell us who you play. It is a great
premise. It's a really strange little film.
The director made it... It is, it's weird!
LAUGHTER It's good weird.
It's good weird, but it's very strange. It's kind of Northern with
a European sensibility, and it's basically... A family kidnapped a
young man and try to teach him some manners, and try to give him some
culture, you know, and open his eyes to the possibility of what it would
be to be a loving, caring human being.
And the kind of trio, it is Arnesen Boone and you are reunited with
Andrea rise bro? Yes, she is fantastic, and so is
Arnason but the last time you are with her
was in Matilda! Yes, we played man and wife! And
this is very different! I would say fans of Mathilde that
might not enjoy it so much! Well, they kind of will, because it
is also child cruelty, which was going on there!
Yes! Yes, everything is linked! We have a clip. This is due as Chris
and Andrea as Catherine, and you are going down to the basement to see
Tommy, played by Anderson Boon.
Tommy? Tommy.
Tommy, what happened to your toilet? What have you done, Tommy?
Aargh! Catherine, go upstairs, please!
Go upstairs! Aargh! Aargh!
I'm really sorry about that. That was my fault stop that was too soon.
Can I run you a bath? APPLAUSE
CHEERING Ooh!
That was good! Very scary. I don't think I sold it right.
Mightily, it brings up a lot of issues about social identity, what
we are doing with the world these days, and also that kind of, are you
better being in an imprisoned environment that you know, or should
you be free and be able to fly and see what's out there, you know?
Thematically it's quite deep stop and it's obviously a different look,
the wig and glasses. And you have talked before on the
show about finding walks. It is a very strong look!
Thank you! Did you find a walk for him?
I did. As you know, in the house, when I create these things, I must
piss Hannah and the kids off so much, but I walk up and down the
house till I get it right. I like to get the physicality of it. You work
with the costume department, they give me the shoes and I play with
it. But I found really interesting one. It was a weird walk! And I
would be walking the dogs, and I go, right! They would run and we would
get into the walking. It changed my hips and everything! It's a bit
weird. Definitely get your steps in!
Yes, I got my steps in! Your method steps! And Adrian,
you're playing Cyrano De Bergerac, which we will talk about later, and
his defining physical thing is the nose.
Yes. How do you go about choosing the
nose? Oh, wow!
LAUGHTER Good response, Leo!
It is like a proper big...
It is like a proper big... Schnozz it's a schnozz!
You can smell the coffee in the next room! Did you start smaller and go
bigger? We started with a very small one,
and we tried a little bit bigger one, and went, a bit bigger, so we
tried it even bigger, and that I had to wear it in rehearsal when I was
fighting, just to make sure it wouldn't fall off! Because we did
all the choreography and everything. Sometimes I'm onstage and I turn, I
can't turn too sharply. It's a comedy, but when someone speaks...
Yes, I can't go like that, because it might come off.
In the back of your head, are you thinking it will come off?
Oh, God! When I turned, if someone says
something surprising, I have the kind of...
LAUGHTER Very good!
APPLAUSE And talking of transformations, Leo,
for you, how hard was it to make the switch from Jack in The White Lotus
to playing very posh in One Day. It was difficult purely because I
had to do in two weeks, because the shoot was crossing over. So I had to
lose... I don't know, a stone and a half of weight, of muscle, I mean!
LAUGHTER And kind of lose the walk, get rid
of the tatties, which are harder to get off and I actually realised.
You liked the tatties, though. I love them!
I love them! It is not when you are getting them on or off. I would just
sit in the chair and meditate when you have to get them. I have a lot.
I have a view. Oh, so you have to get them covered.
Do you have any tattoos? I have a large one on my back with just shows
above my shirt. I wish I had thought a few years
ago, just go an inch lower! I never would have had to cover it. Yes,
it's always just sticking out of the top, annoying.
Is it rude to ask what it is? It covered an old one. It just got
worse and worse. Oh, wow!
I covered that one and another, and now I'm just...
A big scribble! Think before you put one on your
back, guys! Interesting with them on your neck,
because you would probably never put one on your neck.
I mean, I don't know. No,... It would be there for ages.
The neck was definitely extreme, but I liked... Some of them were so
stylish. It says something about this
character, doesn't it, having it on the neck?
I had Wendy on my left butt cheek. It doesn't actually make it into the
show! LAUGHTER
It's not real! I just thought you meant Wendy on your arse for no
reason! In future relationships, that's going to be a bit...
Has anyone seen Wendy today?! Is a couple of scenes and that, and
I tried to shift... You tried to get Wendy into the
shot? I tried to shift her into the shot,
but she didn't make it!
Was it the name or the logo of the shop?
Who came up with Wendy?
I did!
There's a reason for Wendy!
I think there's some back story here.
So I think I'd been watching Breaking Bad, and there's
a character called Wendy in that show, and I just thought,
this kid would have some memory of a woman called Wendy and he'd
just get a tattoo on his bum.
So Wendy's supporting you, in some way?
So Wendy got me through that whole...
Any woman would see that as a compliment!
That's so lovely you got my name there.
Well, you haven't met Wendy!
Wendy would be very happy.
That's so Wendy!
Now, you talk about the themes of The Good Boy, Stephen, and,
in a way, it's like a weird twisted companion piece to
Adolescence, isn't it?
Presumably you've all seen Adolescence?
Oh, my God!
APPLAUSE.
Thank you very much.
Because, beyond the huge success of the show,
I assume what's really gratifying is the response of audiences
and people approaching you.
And conversations.
Look, don't get me wrong, the awards and everything
is wonderful and to be respected by your peers and admired
by your peers and people...
I've watched you.
You're a wonderful actor and you're a huge inspiration to me.
I remember the play you did with Lenny, Storm Damage,
which was wonderful, absolutely brilliant,
and it was beautiful, and that was raising social
awareness back then and it was a fantastic play,
Ashley Walters as well.
And it was a brilliant play, brilliantly written,
brilliantly acted.
It was a wonderful piece.
So, for me to be a part of work like this, which has a social
conscience and can have an impact, there's many supermarkets,
but Tesco's...
That's where I shop more regular.
I'll be in Tesco's, just getting a shop, and bits and bobs,
and a fellow will come up to me and he'll just say thank you,
thank you for the conversation I had with my lad the other day.
We watched your programme and we started to have a conversation
about stuff and we've never opened up to each other like that.
And that, to me, that's it, you've achieved more
than you can even dream of, in that respect.
What a gift to parents because it's such a hard
conversation to ever have.
Of course, yeah, with any parent, it's a very difficult conversation.
And now it's inspired a book.
I think I've got an advance copy here.
That was a lovely thing!
There you go.
That's why you're brilliant at your job.
This is Letters To Our Sons, and these are real letters that
you've collected from fathers?
Yeah.
It was an idea of a friend of mine, Julie, who I've known for years.
She works for a publishing company.
And she came up with this idea and this concept through another
woman called Orley who's got a son herself, and they approached me
and I just thought it might be a really good opportunity
for fathers to be able to write letters to their sons.
Sometimes, it's difficult to talk about things, isn't it?
But if you can write it down, there's nothing better than a paper,
a pen and a paper, to be able to express your
feelings to your son.
And also, presumably, really different experiences,
different relationships?
Huge, huge...
The scale of it's massive.
Some of them are really funny, we've got quite a few
from men in prisons, which was brilliant.
We reached out right across the board and I'd say
it was from maybe binmen to barristers, do you know what I mean?
So it's a huge collection of letters, something
I'm very proud of.
Well, you can pre-order this now and the book is raising money
for Dad La Sou and Man UP.
And don't forget, you can see Stephen in The Good Boy
in cinemas from 20th March.
Very good.
APPLAUSE.
It's unbelievable!
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Now, Kaley Cuoco brings us a big glossy thriller.
It's called Vanished.
It's on Prime.
All four episodes out Friday, 27th February.
And here's a taste to get us in the mood.
Listen, I love that we get to meet up in hotels all over the world.
But I want to build a life.
And I love you.
Tom?
Tom, I've been looking all over for you.
Tom, are you there?
There has to be an explanation for all of this!
Maybe I can help.
I've been investigating him.
You don't know Tom.
Do you?
APPLAUSE.
It's so weird to watch that in front of you!
It is so twisty turny.
There's lots of big reveals and stuff, so you probably can't
tell us too much about it.
But tell us about your character and just how it starts.
Well, it's a lot on a train, so, yeah.
He disappears off a train.
We spent some time in France and I spent most of it looking
for Tom, which was...
He vanished?
Yeah, and she starts unravelling some...
Maybe she doesn't know her boyfriend as well as she thinks she does.
And it's great because it's four eps.
I love a good four episoder.
In and out, in and out, you don't have to commit too much time.
It's fast.
Not 12 years.
No, not 12 years.
Not that long of a commitment, exactly!
I'll change my hair, no one will care.
It's fast moving and it looks beautiful with
France in the background.
That was what I was going to say.
It's the plot, but then there's the setting.
It's just gorgeous.
You weren't that keen on going to France?
I was excited to go.
My child had just turned two, so it was kind of like...
It was the first time I'd left, so there was that.
And then deciding, do I bring her and my dog?
A big decision.
Brought the dog.
Got that taken care of.
It was the best thing we could have done.
And I'm like a really weird eater, so I don't like French
food, so that was tough.
Oh, God!
I know.
Good noise everyone, well done!
We are European.
The French make some beautiful food, you know?
Listen, no one hates the way I eat more than me!
It causes me a lot of struggle.
I wish I liked more things.
But not just food, though.
Not keen on trains.
What's the problem with trains?
You love this job!
I know.
I am not fun, as you can see.
I get very claustrophobic and very nauseous, so I guess I didn't
realise we'd be actually on a train.
Did you read the script?
I thought, you know, just sit there...
And I'm also not a big...
This is another thing.
I'm not a big preparer.
This is why I could never do a show like Adolescence.
I hate rehearsal.
That was probably a lot of rehearsal, is what I'm thinking.
Like a play.
Three weeks rehearsing, yeah.
Three weeks' rehearsal?
Oh, my dear God!
That's a lot of work.
And it's impressive.
So I realised I had to get on the train and shoot these
scenes on a moving train, and I'm very claustrophobic,
it was very low, and I was running up and down the train.
And I guess I just didn't think about that before I go on there.
But it helped, it caused me to be very dizzy.
It was all very real.
You weren't acting?
No, I was really concerned.
No, seriously, where is Tom?
Where is Tom?
Get me off this train!
Was all I could think of.
Are you going to do season two?
Is there a season two?
I want to stay on land.
OK.
Mixed reviews for France.
But I tell you who loves France, Adrian Lester.
I didn't realise, you are a French film star.
He is!
A very early job I did was playing an American
record producer in a film, a French film.
And the weird thing was, I auditioned for this film
in English, met the director, and he said, very good,
and did my audition, and he said, when can you start?
And picked the date.
Ten days' shooting, and I went over and I met the other actors,
and we did this read through and went through the scene.
And I said my lines in English and then he said, no, no, no!
And someone came over with the script...
No!
Oh, yes!
And the lines were in French.
That is a nightmare.
I can't believe we hadn't worked that out.
Do you know what I mean?
I thought, I'm playing an American record producer,
of course you speak English.
I got to the set and it's French comedy, so they speak really fast.
And we are in the scene.
And then I went...
And there was a gap.
And then I went, oui, bien sur!
And they carried on.
And there was another gap and I went...
And said my line.
It was OK.
We've got a clip.
I haven't seen this film!
I haven't seen this film.
You've never seen it?
Have you never seen it?
Look, what I'll tell you...
No, you're very good in it.
So it's called Les Soeurs Soleil.
The Sun Sisters.
The clip we are showing features Adrian as the American record
producer, a woman doing some of the worst lip
syncing I've ever seen!
And keep your eyes peeled for one of the most surprising cameos...
I don't know if it's a cameo, but you do not expect to see
this in a French film.
Here we go.
This is Les Soeurs Soleil, featuring Adrian Lester.
SINGING.
HE SPEAKS FRENCH.
Please, call me.
Oh, yeah, I call you!
Beautiful!
Can we see the kangaroo again?
That is ridiculous!
Why is there a kangaroo?
He is very invested in what's happening.
He's really looking at it.
He's practised his walk and everything.
That's another thing you should ask.
Apparently, am I speaking French?
For some reason, the husband and wife in the film,
they had a pet kangaroo.
We did a scene, this scene, and we had to do retakes
because the kangaroo jumped onto the mixing desk.
So there was a moment when...
And I'd waited and I went...
Cut!
It was strange.
I'm asking this question, and the answer could be yes.
Kaley, do you own a kangaroo?
Well, what's funny is...
I have a lot of weird animals, but I would love to get a kangaroo,
now that I just saw how focused and work-related he was.
I have a lot of strange animals.
I have a farm at home, and we have all types of farm animals,
we have some very unique animals too, and pigs and goats and cows.
You've got something called a zonkey?
We have a zonkey.
Everyone thinks it's a myth, it's real.
We have a picture of the zonkey.
It's half zebra and half donkey.
She is real.
Is that an accident?
Yes.
You shouldn't do that.
No, no, no.
That has to be an accident.
That's why I saved it, yeah.
No, I get you, yeah.
Now, is a zonkey...
It's an accident between a zebra and a donkey.
No, I get that, but is the zebra the father?
I was not part of that process.
So I just came in later.
I wondered what a zonkey was, so I looked it up.
It looks like it's wearing tights!
It does look like it's wearing tights.
So a zonkey, so, if the parenting is the other way round,
they are called a debra.
They are called a debra.
Not making it up!
Not making it up.
Someone google that!
It's true.
Turn off your phones.
But it's true.
So if the donkey's the dad?
Yeah.
Or a mother.
It's just different parenting.
This is a zonkey, though.
This is a zonkey.
Have you got two zonkeys?
I have two zonkeys, yes.
Do they neigh, like a horse?
They donkey, you know.
What, like a donkey?
There is no horse in this equation.
They are kind of making a deep donkey sound.
What do they sound like?
Well, how would that sound?
Don't ask me!
Not a neigh.
It's a bray.
OK.
He is so confused!
A donkey and a horse, they are not the same thing!
No, they are not.
They are different.
Very different.
Just a reminder, you can see Kaley in Vanished on Prime
from the 27th of this month.
Very good.
Good news, all.
Adrian Lester is returning to the stage in Cyrano de Bergerac.
It's the Royal Shakespeare Company's hit production.
It's transferring to London's West End, starting June
13th and it runs to September fifth at the Noel Coward Theatre.
So you did it, was it last year, you did it?
Yeah, end of last year in Stratford.
So is everyone coming or is it just you?
That's unconfirmed.
OK, I won't pry.
Susannah Fielding is coming back as Roxanne.
OK, so that's confirmed too.
So it's the two of you?
And if people don't know, tell us something about Cyrano de Bergerac,
and also is this a new translation or a new adaptation?
It's a new adaptation, reworked from the original by Simon Edwards and
Debra Stephenson, so it's a fresh one. And it's the story of... Cyrano
De Bergerac is kinda one of the most romantic stories ever written. He's
a poet, philosopher, fighter. He has a big nose, he is insecure about it,
and in love with a childhood trend, Roxanne, but she doesn't love him.
He's in the friend zone. But she falls in love with his soldier
friend Christian, and she want Christian to write to her, but
Christian can't write. He's terrible with poetry, terrible with language.
So Cyrano writes love letters and Christian's behalf for Roxanne, and
she falls in love with this tune because of his language and because
of the letters. And that's the way it goes.
It's so sad! It is actually very funny.
There are funny bits too. And the fights I kind of doubly
difficult, because you are not just fighting?
No... There is a very famous bit in the play where someone insults
Cyrano's nose, and he says, that's not good enough. And he comes up
with many insults himself and they are all rhyming. Some of them are
iambic and Samardzic, a kind of poem, some of them are quatrains,
and he's really, really quick stop but in our production, I'm fighting
another character while I'm delivering the poetry. Wow.
So on each beat, parry, we have worked out where the line comes,
where I dodge and duck, so we did a lot of rehearsal. The night's back
there, a stunt trained actor, Matt, he is brilliant. The weapons are
real and dangerous, and we have to be so exactly that. Every word I say
it is time to every movement he makes in my response to him.
Have you ever hit him accidentally? Nearly. Nearly, and...
So far! LAUGHTER.
We have never actually... Never actually made contact.
And reading about your life, Adrienne, you grew up in Birmingham,
and that idea of acting and stage and theatre kind of change your life
having it available to you? Yes, it did. I spent a lot of time
at a place called the Midlands Art Centre. We didn't really have drama
or music at school, really at all, so I had to go there to experience
that, and I joined the Birmingham youth Theatre, and every summer,
every term break, I was just there, and the people there were amazing.
This can from a council estate of the road, and they just opened the
doors and let me came in. I went to dance classes, I've done Tai Chi
there, LA, learned the piano, everything to do with music and
performance, and I just had this spark and thought, I love this. I
want to keep doing it stop Stephen, you had a similar experience in
Liverpool, starting young and stage? Yes, through school, but then with
the Everyman Youth Theatre. That changed my life stop there as a man
that... This is a real name! Gerry
Pantomime. Is that really has name in terror
bank not his real name, but he used that name.
And often I have said, you know, I was a kid in an it devious tracksuit
and a pair of trainers and a lacrosse T-shirt, and there were
kids with pink hair, lads with jeans with a flower on the back pocket, a
huge community of goods from all over the place, and Jerry created
this wonderful atmosphere where we could create stuff.
It was a place to go and just be creative, and for me, it absolutely
transformed my life, the Everyman Youth To.
Leo, you resist becoming an act? You can from a theatre family.
Yes, it was in my family, so for some reason, it was kind of the last
thing I wanted to do. Even though I grew up watching my dad on stage and
my stepdad. They kind of sad, whatever you do, don't be a fucking
act! LAUGHTER
So what did you want to do? I kinda wanted to be a PE teacher.
LAUGHTER My hero was always my PE teacher.
When did you decide not to do that? Jack Costello. Oh! Jack Costello.
Real name. I don't know, I just love sport and
kind of wanted to do that, but then I realised you need to get really
good grades in science. Which I didn't get!
LAUGHTER Because you also chose between sport
and acting, didn't you, Kaley? No, I thought I would be a
professional tennis player. That was my dream.
But not a pipe dream? You were good stop yes, I played in the juniors,
went all over the nation and that stuff.
So you were serious. Yes, and then I kind of had to
decide... Because being a professional athlete is a lot of
rehearsal! LAUGHTER
Yes, a lot of practice! So I gave up on that dream.
But I find it interesting, when you gave up on that dream, you gave up
on it? Yes, I'm very all or nothing. I
didn't want to touch a tennis racket ever again. I played a lot, travel
and love that, trained and all that stuff. So when I was done, I was
done, and I got my first TV show right after and said, I'm not going
to play tennis ever again. And I really didn't. And recently,
actually, when Cove it happened, I was like, I'm kind of good at this,
I should do it again. Everyone was playing tennis, because you could go
outside, so I was like, I could do that! I started playing again, and I
was like, I could be an adult player now.
Was it like riding a bike? Where you good again?
I was very sore after. Everything hurt! But I could play, yes. That's
the problem, it's the competitiveness. I am so not fun to
play anything with! I want to win everything. So it's not fun. No one
wants to play anything with me. Oh, I love that!
I will beat you down! LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE I will ruin your life, ruin your
family's life... I take it back!
It will get so dark that it will just really... I can't, none of my
friends want to play with me at game night. No one wants to be on my
team. So I want to win this right now!
LAUGHTER I don't know how, but I'm going to!
You are winning! I am going to win this somehow!
LAUGHTER CHEERING
You can see Adrian repeats roller Cyrano De Bergerac at the Null cow
Theatre in London. Tickets are on sale now. -- Noel
Coward Theatre. APPLAUSE
CHEERING. Right, I turn to Leo Woodall. There
you are! His latest series is called Vladimir, coming to Netflix on March
fifth. That gives you some idea! LAUGHTER
Get it?! It honestly took me a minute to get
that! Is the difference between a horse
and donkey! APPLAUSE
So you are Vladimir. So who is he and why is that the poster?
I don't know! I don't know why that is.
No, Vladimir, it's about an English professor at a university in, I
think, on the east coast, and this younger professor joins Vladimir.
And she kind of develops the bit of a fixation, a bit of a sort of...
You know, a little mini crash. But it snowballs. Yes. You've got an
obsession, really. I didn't want to say obsession, but
I'm glad you did! And Rachel vice please this other
professor. What a great actor. Yes, all the men in my life now hate
me! And most of the women as well! She is wonderful. -- Rachel Weisz.
Poor woman. This isn't really a spoiler. There are quite a lot of
moments where she snapped into a sort of fantasy, and it is maybe
like a part of my ear, or my knee, and so, you
and so, you know, this incredibly seasoned, respected woman is now
just staring at my knee, and I must have had to do it 25 times!
Well, we have a clip. This is you with Rachel Weisz and
her husband, played by John Slattery.
You are very sexy, Vladimir. I know.
How did you come by this physique ooh oh!
It is a nice question. It is a lovely question.
I don't know, grappling bears? I go to the gym. It's like the only
thing that I do. I need the outlet. It is a healthy outlet stop it sure
is. I am a simple fellow.
I lift, right, work, eat. Who are all those writers that had
all that time for hobbies, like Hemingway and his bull fights?
Hemingway didn't do bad time. That is true. He did miss out on
that. Oh!
I like your smile. He's just being nice.
LAUGHTER APPLAUSE
Did your arms hurt in that same? I was going to say that!
You know when you make a choice and you have to do it for, like, eight
hours? Did you make that choice? I made that choice!
I was thinking, his arms cannot be good!
He must be really wrinkly now! Yes and yes. All of the above, and
in a lot of pain. And acting with the great Rachel Weisz, but in a
movie you have coming out in May, you work with a legend, Dustin
Hoffman. Yes! There he is.
That was actually a really funny day, because we do these house
calls,... You play piano tuners. We play piano tuners, go to these
big houses, and so the camera is pointing at us, and obviously, there
is no character behind the camera, so he just kind of looks up and
goes, hello! And then realises that the camera is the sort of character,
and he dipped his head and goes, I would like one more.
LAUGHTER Really wonderful to work with stop
it was so surreal. Tuner is out in May, and Vladimir,
starring Leo Woodall, is on Netflix from March five. Excellent!
APPLAUSE CHEERING
OK. It is time for music. This Brit and
Grammy award-winning band have sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
Here performing Orange County, it is Gorillaz featuring Gorillaz Jackson
and Anouschka Shankar.
# You know the hardest thing is to say goodbye
# To someone you love
# That's the hardest thing
# Every face you forgot
# Father's jaw
# They suspend the clock
# Another start
# Get another chance to love
# I hear you now
# I understand you lost today to get tomorrow back
# But what are the tolls
# That's the hardest thing we've been sold
# I'm not your enemy
# Your legacy frightens me
# will I keep it gold or will it spoil
# Before I get the chance to grow old
# I don't know if I can take this any more
# So why are you trying to break me
# I don't know if I can stay on board
# You know the hardest thing
# Is to say goodbye to someone you love
# That's the hardest thing
# I'm not your enemy
# Your legacy frightens me
# Will I keep it gold or will it spoil
# Before I get the chance to grow old
# You know the hardest thinG
# Is to say goodbye to someone you love
# That's the hardest thing
# I'm not your enemy
# Your atoms gone You stand alone And everything
# You gave to someone you love
# That's the hardest thing
# Hardest thing.#
APPLAUSE.
Beautiful!
Gorillaz.
Featuring Kara Jackson, Anoushka Shankar.
Thanks to the band, the backing vocalists.
Come on over.
Damon, you're coming over.
Anoushka.
Come on over, guys.
So beautiful!
Hello!
Congratulations.
Very nice to meet you.
I know it's been a minute.
Kara, Anoushka, Damon, there's everybody else.
Thank you so much for that beautiful performance.
Sit yourselves down.
And that gorgeous song is off the new album.
It's called The Mountain.
And it's out on the 27th of February.
Give it applause!
Damon, welcome back.
It's been a minute.
Thank you.
You just haven't invited me back.
Well, you're here now.
I am.
I remember the last time I came.
I had to cajole you in a nightclub.
Do you remember that?
I want to hear more about cajoling!
I was in a nightclub?
I was in a nightclub with you.
And I was, like, why am I never on your show?
I've no recollection of that!
It was one of those nightclubs.
Yes, it must have been.
How funny!
I may have blanked it from my mind.
But, listen, Anoushka, how did you get involved in this project?
I tend to be a little mindful about the cross-cultural collaborations.
Are we entering another flying carpet celestial moment?
So, when people reach out, it's a bit, like, let's
see what this is about.
But it was Gorillaz and they've always approached collaboration
in a certain way, so I knew that going into it.
But then I was really...
It was just a great recording day.
I spent the day with you.
You know that, you were there.
I was kind of there.
I was just looking at you, going...
It was really from the ground up, like, he was there for the whole day
of recording, which sometimes you would think wouldn't happen.
No, seriously!
It was nice.
And I just wondered, it's sitar?
Yes.
Because your dad, Ravi, was so famous.
Like that.
I mean, you can play it like that.
Did you resist playing it or did you start playing it
from a very young age?
My parents did that really brilliant south Indian thing, like,
south Indian, South Asian, Indian thing of, no one's
going to force you to play, you don't have to play
if you don't want.
Of course, will be very disappointed if you don't.
But it's totally your choice.
So I was, like, I'll keep trying, I guess,
and so I kept playing and, luckily for me, I did it long
enough that I fell in love with it and that was that.
And, Kara, am I right, you were, are, a proper Gorillaz fan?
Oh, yeah.
I'm 26, so I grew up listening to Gorillaz and Blur,
and I don't usually admit this, and I'm now doing it
on a very public scale, but, when I was younger,
I used to be on Tumblr, I grew up in the Tumblr era,
and I had a whole blog dedicated to classic rock and rock bands.
So of course Blur was featured on my blog on Tumblr when I was 12.
Can I just ask you, where did Gorillaz come from?
What was the concept?
Because my dad introduced me to Gorillaz.
And he said, you'll never guess who this is?
And it blew my mind.
I mean, I think you're a genius, I always have.
But where did that concept come from for Gorillaz?
Thank you for letting me ask that question.
It's an open forum, Stephen, it's an open forum.
I was living with Jamie, a cartoonist, and literally
we were sitting on a sofa, not dissimilar to this one,
and I'd bought this Panasonic eight-channel flat TV,
like, maybe the first, second one in the country.
So we just had this empty flat and this huge flat television,
we were just watching endless stuff.
And we came to the conclusion there was a lot of manufactured
stuff out there, so let's do something really kind
of interesting with manufacture.
And the artificial.
And you created them characters and put them together?
Yeah.
And we should tell everyone, Gorillaz are going on tour.
You're doing your biggest ever gig, I think, Tottenham Hotspur stadium?
A large music venue in North London, yeah.
APPLAUSE.
All right.
Well, listen, thank you so much for that performance.
Good luck with the tour, good luck with the album,
Kara, Anoushka and Damon.
Give it up for Gorillaz, everybody!
That is it for tonight - no time for red chairs, I'm afraid.
So please thank the rest of my guests - Leo Woodall!
Adrian Lester!
Kaley Cuoco!
And Mr Stephen Graham!
Join me next week with chef Gordon Ramsay, Brat Queen Charli
XCX, Hollywood star Jennifer Garner, Oscar-winner Benicio
del Toro, and music from the mighty Foo Fighters.
I'll see you then.
Goodnight, everybody, bye-bye!