Tonight, tonight, won't be just any night.
So, what are we waiting for?
Let's start the show.
Hello, good evening, you're all so welcome to the show.
Hey, we're all in a happy mood here because good news,
Plan B restrictions will be lifted on the 26th of January!
Hurray!
Oh, talking of things that will be gone by the end of the month.
Showing off his new pants there.
Apparently his old pair caught fire.
Yes, Boris Johnson is fighting a plot to oust
him as Prime Minister.
It's called operation save big dog.
I think big dog might be going to live on a farm soon.
By the way, it's not just Boris who is in trouble
over boozy meetings.
A photo emerged this week of Sir Keir Starmer
allegedly at a drinks bash.
Woo hoo!
I think Keir must be making one of his speeches.
Party!
Keir, you crazy animal!
That woman appears to be stifling a yawn.
What a dull, boring party...
Labour is.
One thing we can all agree on, it is truly shocking that all those
people think it's acceptable to drink at work.
Cheers!
Let's meet tonight guests!
All right.
Later we'll have music from singer-songwriter Emeli Sande.
But first, she is an award-winning comedian and creator
of the hit romcom Starstruck.
It's Rose Matafeo!
She's the break-out star in Stephen Spielberg's
new adaptation of West Side Story, it's Rachel Zegler!
She's the BAFTA winning star of This Is England
and the record-breaking hit drama Line Of Duty, it's Vicky McClure!
And he is one of our greatest actor directors, hotly tipped for Oscar
glory with his latest film Belfast, it's Sir Kenneth Branagh!
Welcome all.
Lovely to see you all.
Newbies!
Rose and Rachel, we've never had you before.
I mean, yeah, thanks for having us.
We are new!
I know.
I don't know why I'm here!
And, of course, we've got, I was going to say
old lags, but I didn't.
Now, Boris, obviously talking about Boris, and you,
is it Are we going to see this drama this year?
Now, Boris, obviously talking about Boris, and you, is it..
Are we going to see this drama this year?
You are, in the autumn you're going to see a series called
This Sceptered Isle, which is about the early months
of the pandemic over here in the UK.
And they released an image.
Ken is playing Boris Johnson.
Check this out.
I mean, that is so good.
Oh, my God.
Yes, that's him, that is.
How long did that take?
Yeah!
About three hours, actually, in the morning
to get into all of that.
They've got a whole kind of skin balaclava thing,
things under the eyes and the nose, and they've given me a top lip
for the first time in my life, so that's exciting.
Did you mess up your hair yourself?
Exactly.
That is self-messed hair.
That's not messed up enough, in my opinion.
It develops.
We know Boris doesn't take three hours getting ready
Vicky, you've been viral all week with the Line Of Duty spoof
where you're interrogating Boris Johnson.
Did you know that was coming out?
I can't confirm or deny anything.
OK.
Pleading the fifth.
No, because it's gone gangbusters that thing It's everywhere.
Yes, I've watched it.
OK, OK.
Rachel Zegler, what an amazing time to be you.
I mean, well, I'm sure it's always lovely being you, but this is...
Pretty cool.
Just that thing, you know, I love that bit at the beginning
of the film saying, introducing Rachel Zegler I mean,
that is exciting.
It is unlike anything I could have possibly imagined, so, thank you.
I love that you posted this picture, I think it's so sweet,
of you with your face.
Oh, yeah I mean, how big did that need to be?
It could have been much smaller but they said no, the big one.
Where is that?
That is at a movie theatre in New Jersey where I grew up,
and it was where I saw The Jonas Brothers Concert Movie
when I was six years old, so it was a bit of a full-circle
moment, if you will.
I think that's a straight line I don't think there's any...
There is no circle in that.
You're right.
There is the Jonas Brothers to West Side Story trajectory.
That's a pipeline.
You see that picture and think that's adorable, your first movie,
of course you're that excited when you see a photo of yourself.
Vicky McClure, what is your excuse?
I'm still really happy to be working!
I get it.
Listen, me and Johnny were in the car and I practically
said, "Stop the car, I've just seen my face,
"I need to take a picture."
Yeah, I'm still not over all that.
And also, it's a great poster.
Yeah, you can barely see my face.
Stop it, we know exactly who that is.
Look at those eyes.
The eyes!
Rose Matafeo, we've had so many New Zealanders on the show,
but they're at normally the end of the show on...
Oh, come on!
Graham!
Way to just shit on my country.
They're not famous enough!
No, it's very true.
It is very true.
They're like lemmings.
They just queue up for that, for the chair.
Why is it always New Zealanders in the red chair?
I don't know!
Because they just experience the most messed up stuff, I think...
You know, New Zealand is a very small, lovely place.
You've been to New Zealand, haven't you?
Never.
What the hell!
Why would I?
They all come here!
This is a very popular show in New Zealand.
It's very interesting.
Oh.
Not surprising, it's very good.
Yeah, whatever.
I'm shocked.
No, I...
We've watched this for many years in New Zealand,
we very much like it, and we're very happy for me to be
representing my country.
No!
It's not a Commonwealth Games but, you know.
Listen, we've got some brilliant films and shows
to talk about tonight.
Let's start with Kenneth Branagh's love letter
to his childhood home town This is Belfast.
This is Belfast.
It is in cinemas now.
This is...
It is sort of the story of you as a nine-year-old boy in Belfast.
Yeah.
What prompted you to tell this story now?
You know, I don't know how your lockdown was at the beginning.
I had so many friends who got in contact who I hadn't seen
for a while who were so desperate to make contact, and I was calling
them, and just everything was about re-establishing human connection.
We really felt the separation.
It reminded me, it sent me right back to the time when I was nine
years old in north Belfast in a wee street, mainly Protestant,
but Catholics were there, as well, where in the course of,
I suppose, 20 seconds when I thought I was hearing bees in the air,
and I thought I was seeing a swarm of bees, realising
I was at the beginning of a riot, which would passed through my
street, and those 20 seconds would be the end of my childhood.
When I came out of my house two hours later, the paving stones
were lifted up from...
The ground beneath our feet was gone, the paving stones
were in barricades at either end of the street, and we were in
a fortress, what had been a sort of playground before,
it was a beautiful, harmonious neighbourhood,
not an idyll but a home for sure, and suddenly life was different
and the uncertainty that we all felt all the sense of being
in the unknown, and, therefore, our need for human contact,
and our need for laughter, and our need for songs,
and dancing, and ad hoc parties, and all of the daftness
we could possibly grasp but at a dark time when we didn't
know what was going on, that's where this lockdown sent me
back to, and I tried to write it as truthfully as I could.
And your mother brilliantly played by Caitriona Balfe in the film,
and Ciaran Hinds, Jamie Dornan, but we must mention Jude Hill.
Yes.
So, how old was he when you started filming?
Ten years old.
He got the part out of 300 boys who sent in self tapes.
He did about half a dozen Zoom auditions, he eventually improvised
in a final audition with me and Lewis McAskie,
who played his brother in it.
And he's amazing.
He's just, he's a natural.
He's got this great capacity to listen.
He's funny.
He loves football for sure, big Liverpool supporter.
Very difficult to get him.
He's supposed to be a Tottenham Hotspur supporter
He's supposed to be a Tottenham Hotspur supporter in the film.
We had one scene where he simply has to say, "Is there nothing this
Tottenham right half cannot do!"
And we go to rehearse the scene, and I said,
"You've just stopped there, Jude, is there a problem?"
He said, "Yeah, I can't say that"
"But he's a Tottenham..."
"I can't say that" I said, "Why?"
He said, "I'm a Liverpool supporter."
"I know you're a Liverpool supporter, but you're an actor,
"and he says he's a Tottenham supporter, and you've
"got to pretend"
"I can't go there, Ken.
"Don't ask me to go there."
I said, "OK, well, maybe don't do it in the rehearsals,
"but do it in the take?"
"OK, let me think about it."
And then we did one take, and we got it, and he said,
"Is there nothing this Tottenham Hotspur
"right half cannot do"
I said, "Great, that's terrific, can we do one more?"
He said, "I think you've got what you need."
Never take a boy away from his football team.
I tell you what, let's watch a clip This is the brilliant Jude Hill
as Buddy talking to his grandmother played by Dame Judi Dench.
When Pop went to England to be a coal miner, did you go with him?
Did you want to?
Neither do I.
Has your father said what he's doing?
He says it has to get decided by Christmas.
When is he coming back?
At the weekend We are going to the pictures.
He's taking us to to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
What in the name of God is that?
It's a flying car.
Oh, God, I've heard it all
It goes over a cliff, and you nearly fall out of your seat.
Do you want to come?
It'll be company for you until my Pop's home.
If God had wanted me to see flying cars I would have been born
with blinking wings.
You love your films, don't you?
I was a great one for the pictures when I was your age.
I used to think you could climb right inside the screen and visit
all those strange places you saw.
Like that one in that film, what was that?
Lost Horizons, did you ever see that?
No, what was the name of the place, Granny?
Shangri-La, that's what they called it.
Did you ever go there?
There were no roads to Shangri-La from our part of Belfast.
Judi Dench, so brilliant, and you've worked with her so many times now.
12 times now, yeah, 12 times, yeah.
And she's played nearly everyone in your life.
We've been married, I've been her son, she is my grandmother.
It's like the incest theatre company.
I think I have the exact same taste in films as you.
I saw the film and it's so good but all of your favourite
films are my favourite films, as well.
Also, it made me weirdly nostalgic for my childhood,
which is bizarre because I did not grow up in the 60s in Belfast,
but it was, it was such a warm, lovely...
I think there is something similar with 90s New Zealand
and 60s Belfast.
I don't know if that means we are a backward
country or something, but it, kind of, yeah, I smelt the film.
Do you know what I mean?
That's a compliment.
It was fantastic.
And I loved the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang representation.
One of the things that's been really lovely, actually,
is when people see the film what it does is it takes them back
to their own childhood, and it also takes them back
to stories of their own family.
Everybody, you know, in each every individual family,
all of the decisions we make about whether we are moving
somewhere or whether you're leaving school, or going to another school,
they are massive in our own families, they are tiny
to the outside world, but it is the stuff
of our lives, isn't it?
There is quite a lot of recognition, I think, for people.
Talking about leaving home, Rachel, obviously New Jersey, your home,
is that still your home?
If you said I'm going home now, would you go back
to your childhood bedroom?
Yeah, I would.
That's your house?
Yeah, those Pepto-Bismol coloured walls.
Yeah I've only moved for work, and so it's always been temporary
where I lived in Chelsea, New York for a while,
then I lived in Atlanta, Georgia for a while,
and now I've been here for a week and a half and I will be
here for six months.
New Jersey, you're from New Jersey, and when you were filming
West Side Story, New Jersey royalty came to call.
Yes.
He actually descended from the heavens.
Bruce Springsteen, everyone.
Actually?
Yeah, Bruce Springsteen came three times and he came
to see me sing I Feel Pretty, and he had his aviators on,
and he was, like, "I've got to see the Jersey girl sing",
and I just peed my pants.
And there it is, yeah, I was losing my mind.
That day I could not go up and talk to him It was him
and Stephen Sondheim sitting next to each other.
What?
I was, like, why am I here?
Was that the same day that Barack Obama came, as well?
Barack Obama came.
I like how he gets third billing.
Also appearing...
In my house it goes Bruce, Steve, Barack It was Barack Obama,
In my house it goes Bruce, Steve, Barack.
It was Barack Obama, Bruce Springsteen, John Williams
all on the same day.
It was just absolutely ridiculous.
But how did it work?
Did they sit and look at monitors, where they in the set?
Did they sit and look at monitors, were they in the set?
They watched Gustavo Dudamel, who is an incredible conductor,
a maestro in his own right, truly, and they watched him conduct
the mambo with the New York Philharmonic.
I'm sitting there on the couch, and Michelle Obama's next to me,
and Bruce Springsteen's there, and Barack Obama and John Williams
and Stephen Spielberg.
And John Williams is talking to Gustavo Dudamel, and John turns
to Barack Obama and says, well, "What do you think?"
And I am like, what does it matter what he thinks,
he was the President of the United States!
It was just the most ridiculous, I cannot even believe
I was sitting in that room.
It sounds like you are describing a really kitsch artwork
that you see in a hotel, the most famous people ever,
painted playing pool.
Playing poker!
They are the dogs playing poker.
It was just...
I can't even...
Even telling the story, I, like, what was I doing?
Also, I like that Michelle Obama only showed up in that bit!
She wished me a happy birthday!
She was only holding the coats.
Who was the tallest one of them?
It was definitely Barack Obama.
Oh, yeah.
I have to say, Michelle held her own.
She was there and she was tall too.
I used to have in my diary, a celebrity height chart.
As a teenager.
Where I would write down the heights of my favourite celebrities
and the difference to my height.
To yourself, right.
Oh!
Yeah.
That was two years ago.
And you are all going on it!
I'm five foot two.
Just so you know.
And, tell me this, Kenneth Branagh, what about bringing
the whole movie home?
It was one thing to show it to the world, but what did
Belfast make of Belfast?
Oh my god.
We were there on November the 4th at the opening night
of the Belfast Film Festival, 1400 people in the Waterfront Hall
in Belfast and I reckon 50% of them were Jamie Dornan's family.
I thought we were related to most of Belfast, and I think the other
half were Ciaran Hinds' and Jude Hill's.
It was an amazing evening, they were on their feet at the end,
it was absolutely amazing, I was completely
and utterly made up.
Vicky, you've spent a lot of time in Belfast.
I have, yeah.
That was where we shoot Line of Duty.
The first series was in Birmingham and then we moved over to Belfast
and I adore it there.
I'm not very good at being away from home, so I have kind of made
Belfast my second home.
And, you know, St George's Market, Belfast Bap, the Spaniard,
these are all my spots.
I have adopted them.
It is interesting saying about not wanting to leave home,
so much of that film is about that idea of leaving home
and deciding to leave home, so you were nine when you left,
where did you go to?
I went to Reading, well, you know where Reading is...
I don't, but anyway...
I barely know where London is!
Well, it is a very nice part of the world and, you know, yes,
so we ended up there, but very different, you know,
from that massive large extended family, we became much more sort
of an internal-looking nuclear family.
They made a big sacrifice for us and the film is partly
about saying thank you for that.
I wish you continued success with it and good luck for the award season
and all that palaver.
Belfast, it is in cinemas now.
Meanwhile, Vicky McClure, back where she belongs,
kicking it in Jed Mercurio's latest drama, Trigger Point.
It starts this Sunday at nine o'clock on ITV,
but this is a very different type of copper.
She is not a copper.
At all?
At all.
She couldn't arrest anyone, even if she wanted to.
Really?
Yeah.
She actually has to have a police officer with her at all
times, so my number two, as they are called,
is played by Eric Shango who is going to be a massive star,
I can guarantee it.
And, yeah, she is not a police officer, she is
a bomb disposal expert.
OK.
And, this is your show.
You are it.
I mean, how much harder is it being the one,
whereas in Line of Duty, you were one of three?
Yeah, it really took me by surprise.
I have got to say, I felt like a crewmember by the end.
I was in every day.
Usually...
If there is an interrogation scene and Martin and Ady are in it,
I am like, that is four days off for me.
Whereas, that wasn't really the case in this show
I was really up for it and the challenges, you know,
that I got in there, you don't really go back into Kate's
back story that much, whereas Lana's story is all there,
there was so much for me to do.
And how many women are bomb disposal experts?
I don't know how many are bomb disposal experts in the Army,
but in the Met, which is what this is set in, there aren't any.
But they do exist in the Army?
They do exist in the Army, so Lana's sort of back story
is that she was in the Army, you know, a bomb disposal
expert in Afghanistan, but there is not currently any
female bomb disposal experts in the Met.
But on set, you did have real bomb disposal people?
We did.
We had Joel and Paul and they were with us every day,
checking everything, you know, and allowing the artistic
licence, where we needed it.
They were great.
It was, you know, just tiny little details,
where they went, yeah, you can take your helmet off
and I was like, whoa!
What do you mean, I am going to take my helmet off?
And he was like, if a bomb goes off, that helmet is doing nothing.
I am like, OK, fair enough, I get it.
So, there are tiny little details and habits that we got into,
which was, you know...
I have a question.
Go for it.
Why do you wear a helmet at all then?
LAUGHTER
Very good question.
Until you actually get up close and personal,
you don't really know where the threat is or what is going
on, so anything can happen.
There could be acorns falling down from the trees.
LAUGHTER.
Yeah, it is an aggressive squirrel.
How unrealistic...
All bomb scenes in films that you watch when you're
a kid, it was two wires.
Were bomb experts like, that is total crap?
Did you have to cut the blue wire?
There might be some wire cutting!
We will have to watch to find out.
Spoiler alert!
Actually, she has got some snips, it is quite a big deal.
We have got a clip.
This is you as Lana.
You'll like this, wires are involved.
Approaching a suspicious vehicle.
Lana.
Lana!
Hey!
Hey, watch!
Watch what you're doing!
Oh, for...
What is she doing?
A manual check.
APPLAUSE.
You wanted wires!
I love how you describe it as a suspicious vehicle and it
looks better than any car I have ever owned!
That is a fair ride!
But, you know, it is not all bombs and tension,
it is not all bombs and tension, because you did a lovely thing
for the whole company, when you finished filming...
So, you finished filming and, what happened then?
I just wanted to say thank you.
So, I just gave Greggs a call...
LAUGHTER.
We have a really close relationship and I thought I would get
everyone a sausage roll.
What I said was, it would be really nice to do something a bit quirky,
I will leave it with you.
To which they came back with a proposal, which I thought,
like, that's genius, we have got to make this happen,
so a van pulled up, a bomb disposal Greggs van.
We have got a picture of the van.
Oh my god!
I have been here for a week and a half and who is Gregg?
I don't know!
Greggs is a bakery for drunk people, Rachel.
We're going after the show!
It would be my privilege to take you.
The face of Greggs.
Obviously that is the new logo, I am assuming.
Some actresses get signed up by Burberry or Dior, Greggs.
They all know what I am like.
So, let's go through some pictures here.
Isn't that great!
So good, isn't it?
The attention to detail.
Explosive flavours inside!
They drove that down the motorway!
We had vegan and we had the normal ones, so everyone was happy.
They are very good, aren't they?
The vegan ones...
It makes you think how little sausage must be in the meat ones,
because they taste exactly the same.
I am missing out!
You are missing out.
We will treat you to a dine-in Greggs.
That would be great.
A dine-in Greggs!
You have got to pay 20p more.
We had a delivery...
I mean, that must be the first Greggs delivery.
It must be, yes!
Greggaroo!
APPLAUSE.
How did your thing begin with Greggs?
Obviously, you love Greggs, but when did it become a thing?
I can't remember, I don't know...
You know what?
I must have posted, many years ago, and then I remember they sent my
agent a gift card and it was like, Greggs have sent you a gift card
and I thought, oh my God, amazing!
Like a black card for Nando's type of thing.
And it was a 20 quid card.
That will take you a long way in Greggs!
I got it.
It is almost all-you-can-eat.
You could cater a wake with that!
Now, obviously, that is a lovely thing to do at the end
of the filming of Trigger Point.
Ken, Belfast wrapping, what did you get everyone?
Well, it was coffee, it was coffee, it was very, very nice coffee.
It was Costa Coffee!
A whole van showed up!
It was the time of Covid, but you can get everything
you could possibly do on the top of that froth.
I am so disappointed.
I turn to Rachel.
Steven Spielberg!
I know that name!
It wasn't even Covid times!
He had no excuses.
What did you get?
I got, well, all of the gang, so the Sharks and the Jets,
the Sharks got varsity jackets with the big red sleeves
and their character name on it and the Sharks on the back
and the Jets got blue sleeves, the Jets on the back.
Tony Kushner gave us these long-sleeved black T-shirts that had
the famous whistle that the Jets do and the sheet music written
by Leonard Bernstein on a shirt, which was really beautiful.
That started weak, but it ended strong.
I was like, a T-shirt, but actually that was quite cool.
And then also we got T-shirts of Steven's famous movies,
but with a West Side Story twist, so we have the Jaws poster,
but it says Sharks instead.
And then Bruce the shark is holding a Puerto Rican flag in his teeth.
And then the Jets also did the same thing, but it is J ET S ,
so we got T-shirts with the logos on it, it was incredible.
Coffee, Ken, coffee?
I can see that it is making the coffee look a bit
rough at the moment.
All I can say is, low budget film, Graham.
But I get it, I bring your Lordship's attention
back to the froth, many, many interesting designs.
Oh, yes.
Your own stencil and everything!
APPLAUSE.
Very good.
Listen, a lot of buzz about Rachel Zegler's first screen
performance and what a way to start, playing Maria in the new Spielberg
adaptation of West Side Story.
It is in cinemas now.
Obviously...
Sorry, just my face.
It is weird, still.
I have seen it once and I am like, ew!
So, 1961 was the first version and people might have missed it.
LAUGHTER.
If people don't know, what is the story, who is Maria?
Maria is an 18-year-old migrant girl from Puerto Rico,
she has been in New York City for about four months
with her brother, Bernardo and his girlfriend Anita
and her first real social gathering, her first time being part
of the crowd in New York is this dance at the gym and she meets
a boy, who is American and his name is Tony and she just instantly falls
in love with him, because he seems to be a better option than Chino,
who her brother really wants her to date and get to know,
because he is very smart and he is going to make money
and he is Puerto Rican and it is very important,
so hilarity ensues.
There is a lot of death.
A lot of violence.
I mean, it is a beautiful script by Tony Kushner,
obviously just the incredible original musical, 1957,
inspired us to make this version and obviously it pays homage
to the 1961 Bob Wise film, because that was just a piece
of truly cinematic history.
All right, I tell you what, let us watch a clip
This is you as Maria, singing Tonight with Tony,
played by Ansel Elgort.
# Tonight, tonight.
# It all began tonight.
# I saw you and the world went away.
# Tonight, tonight.
# There's only you tonight.
# What you are, what you do.
# What you say.
# Today, all day, I had the feeling.
# A miracle would happen.
# I know now I was right.
# For here you are.
# And what was just a world is a star.
# Tonight...
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.
Beautiful.
I just want to quickly touch on this, you getting this part
was one of those kind of Hollywood fairy things.
So, take us back, I think you were 16, you were in high
school, what happened?
What happened?
Literally, though, I am sitting here right now and I am
like, what happened?
No, I was 16 years old, I got sent a tweet from Cindy Tolan,
our incredible casting director, she was looking for four people,
she was looking for Maria, Anita, Bernardo and Tony.
She was looking for Latinas aged 15-25 and I was like, that's me!
But my friend McKenna sent it to me and said,
thank me when you're famous and I laughed my ass off at that,
but then I thought, I just played the role on stage,
so maybe, maybe, you know...
I was one out of 30,000 people who auditioned for it
and I auditioned for a year.
You auditioned for a year!
There were nine calls.
No job is worth that.
All right?
LAUGHTER
No job is worth it, this one was.
And it was nine times and I don't think I met Steven until six
months into the process and then I have six months more to go, there
was a screen test, chemistry test and more
and more and then there was
like a period of time with silence where I was like, I didn't get that
shit and I started moving on to other things and they called me,
kind of late December of 2018 and they said,
we want you to come in
one last time and when I got it, I screamed, Holy shit,
really loud and then I just started crying,
saying this has been the longest year of my life.
To this day, I mean one out of 30,000, you say what are
the odds and, you say, one out of 30,000.
I love that when you get the part, you then ask Steven Spielberg
if it is OK to do something.
I asked Steven Spielberg...
If I could still do my senior year musical, which was
Shrek the Musical.
You laugh.
Princess Fiona, Princess Fiona.
Princess Fiona over here, it is a fantastic musical.
Jeanine Tesori, who actually worked on West Side Story
composed music for Shrek, but Steven looked at me, I produced the
original Shrek, of course you can do Shrek, and I ended up doing it,
getting painted green, I looked like
I had jaundice for three weeks after I did the show.
We have got a picture of you as Princess Fiona.
There you are.
That same girl, that same girl, went on to sing I Feel
Pretty, with her whole chest on a movie screen.
Ken, did you do musicals at school?
I did enough to know how hard it was, so not very
often.
But, you have directed a musical or two?
No, I did direct an opera, actually, Mozart's The Magic
Flute and directed Love's Labours Lost enough to know, so a
Shakespeare musical, so a song from the classic age
of the American song book, enough to know and recognise
myself in other actors who would come in and you would say, can you
sing and dance?
Oh, yes.
It is just like the horse riding story, do you
ride a horse?
Oh yeah, I was born in the saddle, absolutely, and then
they leave the room and they go and book the horse riding
lessons or, in this case, the cure-all is just,
saying, I move, I am a really good mover.
That's me!
A really good mover.
But you can sing and dance?
Well, I move a lot.
It's really based on movement.
My life is dancing away, but it is more
movement.
So, you can't sing or dance?
Not in the conventional sense.
But again, look at me moving and I think
you'll find I compensate in a very special way.
No is the answer.
Vicky McClure, you do dance!
I do dance, I just love to dance.
Yeah.
You are classically trained, aren't you?
I did.
I trained when I was younger and then I stopped when I was about
19, I think.
I think we have got a picture of you doing ballet.
Aw!
She has had a fall!
LAUGHTER.
I would now!
How long does it take to get those sort of hand
poses?
Just nailing that.
Oh, darling, I mean...
Oh, look at that!
You never lose it.
Why did you stop?
Did you get too tall or...
No, I stopped because I was acting and
that just kind of took priority.
I think, I mean, you are incredible, what I have
just seen is unreal, but
to do both, like to do the dancing and the acting, is a lot and, you
know, I was just doing a normal job at the time,
could not do it all.
You become a hermit, and that is life.
You have to protect it so hard.
I just remember, I cut out caffeine, I cut out dairy, I walked
around with a scarf in the middle of a New York summer,
because you just want to protect yourself.
I am not a dancer, I do not know...
I am not a singer.
There we go.
Together, they were useless.
It is hard to keep up both.
Absolutely.
I saw her twice.
I went alone.
I cried my eyes out.
No!
I am a freak.
Also, because you have to wear masks in the cinema and it
is great, because it mops the tears and also
you can sing behind the
mask.
I was singing the entire time.
I lost my mind.
Thank you.
I have seen it nine times now.
Wow!
That is not enough!
I've seen it twice!
It's enough for me.
I have a really hard time watching myself and listening
to myself, but I have seen it nine times now and every time, I am just
very proud of what we did.
Listen, West Side Story is in cinemas now.
Yes!
Meanwhile, Rose Matafeo returns with a second series of hit rom-com,
Starstruck, it starts on the relaunched BBC Three channel from
the 7th of February and then the box set will be available on iPlayer.
So, you know I am a big fan of this, I
loved the first season.
Oh, that's nice, you watched it!
Yes!
You know I did!
That is crazy.
So, I know it and love it, so if people don't know
it and don't love it yet, what's it about and where do you find your
character at the start of season two?
So, Starstruck, series one is about a woman who is remarkably
close to me, a New Zealander who is living in London, who has a one
night stand with someone on New Year's Eve, who then ends up,
it turns out to be a very, very famous man.
Craziness ensues.
It is a rom-com, it is just a rom-com, basically.
It is like a series of missed connections and two people who
are trying to fall in love with each other and can't and the second
series, the first series ends on kind of,
you know, beautiful, like
rom-com, all rom-coms end with like a punch
in the air, freeze-frame.
And then I was, like, interested in the second series
of what happens directly after that, because there
is a total fallout from the idyllic rom-com ending and usually it is
hell, so that is where those characters find themselves in the
second series.
Tell you what, let's watch a clip from season two
of Starstruck.
This is you and Tom and it's not going so well.
No.
It's not a big deal.
Just forget it.
It is a big deal, though, because it is a
lot of money to me.
Well, do you want me to just give you the money,
then?
No, I don't want your money!
Sorry.
Richie Rich!
That was a stupid thing to say.
What are you talking about?
It is disgusting.
Look, OK, game over, great, I would say that
is my worst game ever, so thank you, thank you for that.
And thank you for your generous, generous offer.
It was supposed to be a nice thing.
I spent literally the whole day trying to make you
feel OK.
I shouldn't even be here!
I am supposed to be in Ireland right now.
We're all supposed to bloody be somewhere, mate!
Look, I am going to go to Magic Mike Live and I don't think
you should come.
Well, I didn't want to come.
Well, you literally have no taste.
Fine.
LAUGHTER.
Yeah.
You started out as a stand-up and had great success as a
stand-up, but presumably when you were very young, I mean,
you had no other option, it was all about your
family.
I was so young when I started, I had no life experience to
base any of my observational material on, so it was mainly about
my family.
Yeah, I had a lot of jokes about my nan, a lot of jokes...
I had a weird upbringing and I didn't really realise that until
after I talked about it on stage and then people were, like, I don't
relate to that!
Talk to us about your granny's parrot.
Oh, yeah!
I did a routine about my Nan's bird, Caesar, which was wonderful.
You know when your Nan's bird, your budgie is
dying and they wrap it in
a towel and they make all the family visit
it and say goodbye to it before it dies?
And there was just silence.
Yeah.
It was like a little Elvis, in a little towel, it
was a dying bird.
I was like, that's not relatable to any of you?
The thing is, when you base it on your
family, they come to your shows in New Zealand and then my Nan would
start heckling me.
I once did a joke, ripping my Nan apart, about
how she would pronounce muesli as moo-seli.
Moo-seli, and she is the nicest person ever, that she saw
that joke, came back to the show the next day,
and then when I did that
joke, from the back of the room, she went, next time I'll make you
something different, then!
She slammed me!
That is the most polite heckle of all time!
Because your grandmother, she did come to
Britain, she saw you on stage.
She did, eventually.
She was really sort of built into the fabric of Belfast,
but we got her out to England once and she laughed at the idea of me
being an actor.
Many people did.
But, she was baffled by it, so we took her to see me in a play
and she was with my parents.
I was playing St Francis of Assisi, a nice Protestant
lad, and we put her in the front row and we gave her the little opera
glasses, you know, because her eyesight
was not so good and the
only problem was, that in playing Francis,
who was an ordinary man at
the beginning of the play, I find God and in the way of things, when
I find God, I have to be born again and when I am born again, I have to
be born naked.
So, I have got to take my kit off, in front of my granny.
She is on the front row, she has got the opera glasses and I
think, oh, bugger this!
Bugger!
Just go for it, just go for it!
So, I get to the end of the first half, walked
down and think I can do this and I go, I get ready
for the big first act finish, father, father, tis I,
I am born again!
I thought, just go for it, I felt like Danny Dyer on
The Wall!
Drop 'em!
It was block and tackle going, crown jewels in
the wind, but I have got them, total silence, there listening,
you know, you could hear a pin drop, absolute
rapture at the sight of great acting and then
I hear from the back of the
auditorium, a voice saying, I have seen more meat on a dirty fork!
No way!
Not very helpful!
And then my granny, she stands up, she turns
around, she holds up the opera glasses and says, use your
binoculars, it looks like a bloody hot dog!
So...
She was always protecting me.
Right, it is time for music, this singer songwriter has
sold over 6 million albums, had two UK number ones and won four BRIT
Awards and is one of our favourite singing guests.
Here, performing Brighter Day, it is Emeli Sande!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.
# We've seen it all
# The tears have fallen
# And every step is on the edge
# And we're so confused
# We don't understand
# It feels like this night won't end
# But there's gonna be brighter days
# Brighter days
# I'll keep you lifted when you're losing faith
# There's gonna be brighter days
# Brighter days
# Though it seems distant, know the world will change
# To brighter days
# The world will change
# So don't you worry, there's still hope left
# If the pain gets heavy, if you need a friend
# I'll be holding you steady, my love won't end
# And I'll be counting the seconds until we meet again
# Yeah there's gonna be
# Brighter days
# I'll keep you lifted when you're losing faith
# There's gonna be brighter days
# Brighter days
# Though it seems distant, know the world will change
# To brighter days
# The world will change
# To brighter days
# The world will change
# All of a sudden sun will start to shine on you
# Know you've been running but now it's time for your breakthrough
# I'll tell you something it's not all for nothing, it's true
# Hey, you'll see it soon
# There's gonna be
# Brighter days
# I'll keep you lifted when you're losing faith
# There's gonna be
# Brighter days
# Though it seems distant, know the world will change to
# Brighter days
# To brighter days
# The world will change
# To brighter days
# The world will change
# To brighter days #.
Wowzer!
Emeli Sande, everybody!
Come on over.
Many thanks to the band.
Emeli Sande, everybody!
Here she comes.
We got you a chair.
There is a glass of wine.
Thank you.
That's a big sing.
It's a high one.
Yeah.
Up she goes, and she's off again.
And those shoes, too.
Thank you, yes.
Oh, my God.
Hello!
Yeah, down the stairs.
Well done, you.
Listen, so that's the single, Brighter Days,
that is out now.
Yes, out now, yeah.
And that is going to be on the forthcoming album.
That's going to be released in May?
Yes, May coming out.
Now, is this, so this is the album, so you produced this as well
as...
Well, it's sort of the first time I've had a say in the
production, and there is a couple of tracks on there that I actually
produced.
It's been nice just to make something, kind of, you know,
more independently, and definitely have my fingerprint on everything.
Yeah, yeah.
And it's weird because I wasn't going to bring it up, and
then you said, apparently every time he sees you he gets quite nervous.
Really?
It's only because you were so brilliant at the Olympics opening
ceremony in 2012, so when I see you it
It's only because you were so brilliant at the Olympics opening
ceremony in 2012, so when I see you it reminds me of how terrifying
it was on that night when we were all playing
to 1 billion people, but you
can't all of us down because you did such a wonderful job.
-- calmed all of us down because you did
such a wonderful job.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you so much.
APPLAUSE
Ten years ago this year.
Yeah, yeah.
Rachel was ten.
I was 11.
OK?
Loved it, though, loved it, stayed up late.
Now, exciting, Emeli Sande back on tour, but like a proper big
tour.
Yeah, UK tour.
We are going to announce the date soon but it should
be sometime in the summer.
I'm excited.
I just finished a few shows at the piano, so now I'm excited to
get out there with the band and really enjoy just kind of dancing
and hopefully making people happy with music.
Wow.
Listen, that performance was stunning.
Thank you so much and good luck with the tour
and the album, Emeli Sande, everybody!
APPLAUSE
Lovely job.
Right, that's nearly it.
Before we go, just time for a quick visit to the big red chair.
Hello.
What's your name?
Ellis.
Ellis?
Alice.
Sorry, Alice.
Where are you from, Alice?
New Zealand.
Oh, my God.
Do you know Rose Matafeo?
No, I don't.
What?
How?
You don't know who I am!
I find that hard to believe.
Where are you from in New Zealand?
Auckland.
I'm from Auckland!
Which school did you go to?
A small school called Saint Dominic's college.
I know St Dom's.
What school did you go to?
I went to Auckland girls Grammar.
Everyone knows Auckland Girls Grammar.
Everyone knows.
Yeah, yeah, we've got a reputation.
Wait, so, how old are you?
I'm sorry.
I'm just interviewing her now because I swear
to God I know you.
I think we do have friends of friends.
She is admitting it now.
Wow.
Also, my favourite thing about you, Alice, is
that you're wearing your coat.
Like you're just going to be flipped and
leave.
Listen, let's hear her story.
Off you go, Alice.
OK, so a few years ago my boyfriend and I went on
a holiday to Vietnam.
I quickly learned when I arrived in Vietnam
that I don't do very well in the heat and humidity.
So, we went on a day trip down to the Mekong Delta,
which is about four hours outside of Ho Chi Minh City.
Interesting.
I was melting.
Melting the entire day, and then on the way back the aircon in
the bus just completely broke.
I then proceeded to have a big meltdown.
OK, Alice, remember your representing our country!
OK?
Let's pick it up.
OK, sorry, snappy, so bus pulls over, I refuse to get on,
I may or may not have said, you don't understand, I will die if I
get back on that bus.
Arrived back in Ho Chi Minh, wake up, realise I
have left my phone somewhere at the...
Sorry.
I mean, I was as nice as...
That story, it was like it was happening in real time!
You're going to get that with a St Dom's girl,
OK?
Only four hours from Ho Chi Minh City?
It felt like five.
Poor Alice.
Are very good.
Very good.
That really is all we have time for.
If you'd like to have a go in the red chair yourself and
tell your story you can contact us via website with this very address.
Please say a huge thank you to all of my guests here tonight.
Emeli Sande!
Rose Matafeo!
Rachel Zegler!
Vicky McClure!
And Kenneth Branagh!
Yeah, thank you.
Join me next week with singer Ella Henderson, rising star Nicole
Lecky, great Scot James McAvoy, Oscar-winning Director Pedro
Almodovar, and Hollywood star Penelope Cruz!
I'll see you then.
Good night, everybody, goodbye!