In an hour-long New Year’s Eve special (Friday 31st December), Graham brings 2021 to a close with double-Oscar-nominated Jessica Chastain, British actors Claire Foy, Michael Sheen, and Cush Jumbo, Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage, top comic Joe Lycett, and The Divine Comedy.
Jessica joins Graham from the US to talk about starring in and producing the long-awaited female spy film The 355.
Asked about the film finally being released, she says, “We made it so long ago, but the good thing is that we made it outside the system – it is independently financed. The actors raised the money, so we are all like the bosses, which makes it exciting.”
Recalling a fight scene with Diane Kruger, she says, “She completely kicked my ass, I totally underestimated her as an opponent. It was exhausting and I was so sore – thank god we were not actually hitting each other!”
Talking about the amazing facial transformation she underwent for her role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jessica says, “It took seven hours, and I actually wore compression socks because I was sitting in the makeup chair for so long. I was completely exhausted by the time I got on set!”
Claire, talking about her new quirky biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, says, “It is a beautiful, beautiful film, but I didn’t want to be in it at all because it was a period film about a man. I’ve got terrible taste and it turns out every single job I have ever done, I’ve gone, ‘That’s going to be awful,’ and some of them have been really good! I’m really glad I didn’t go with my instinct on this one as it’s really good; so whimsical, and beautiful.”
Asked if she and her co-star Benedict Cumberbatch enjoyed working with the cats, she says, “I loved the cats, but Benedict now has a pathological hatred of working with them – they are very high maintenance, and they were more important than him!”
Peter, talking about playing Cyrano de Bergerac in his new film, and asked if he has always wanted to play a romantic lead, he says, “Who hasn’t? As performers we are all hopeless romantics. I’ve played my fair share of fun supporting characters; bad guys, and crazy people, but as the romantic lead you get to tell the whole story rather than just show up for certain scenes.”
Talking about getting to swashbuckle, he says, “I really enjoyed it. You feel like you got something done during the day. Acting can be so abstract but with sword fighting you actually feel like you’ve been to the gym and its job well done.”
Asked if, after 10 years, it was a relief when Game of Thrones finally came to an end, he says, “Yes. It was time to move on, as hard as it was. We normally go off for a couple of months and have great friendship and you don’t see each other again, but this was a family – I lived in Ireland, so for me it wasn’t just the show, it was a life, which was the hardest thing to walk away from.”
Joe Lycett (pictured below), interjects, “I am a big fan of the series and watched the whole lot. The only issue I have with it is when they put in cameos – Ed Sheeran mainly! I love Ed Sheeran, I love Game of Thrones, I didn’t love the Venn diagram where they crossed over. It took me out of it. If you’re going to put them in do it properly and kill them, really kill them. I wanted him singing Shape of You while Peter is going at him with an axe!”
Peter says, “I think it was because we just wanted rock stars around – a lot of those deals were probably done at the pub and then when they actually turned up it was like, ‘Oh no, now we have to write a scene for them!’”
Michael, talking about New Year’s Eve, says, “I had always done youth theatre so from the age of 13 I was there every New Year’s Eve. When I was about 20 it came to the evening, and I didn’t know what to do so went back to celebrate with everyone but when it got to ten to midnight, they asked me to leave because I wasn’t on the course. So, I spent New Year’s Eve walking along the M4 motorway trying to get home!”
Asked about his new film Last Train to Christmas, he says, “I have always wanted to do a time travel film and I love trains, so it ticks all the boxes! I get to play millions of versions of myself – I actually lost count.”
Cush, asked if she had to learn to pole dance for her role in Harlan Coben’s drama Stay Close, says, “I didn’t have to and I did have the choice to have a double to do all the physical action, but I’m an all or nothing sort of person, so I learnt to do it. It’s much harder than it looks, but once you get it, it’s completely addictive.”
Talking about playing Hamlet, she says, “I bloody loved it. My child was six months old, and I think I was hormonal when I agreed to do it. By the time I got to do it he was old enough to take on stage. It was amazing, I loved it.”
Revealing how she got into the male character, she says, “I had a long time to think about it and for the rehearsals I borrowed a lot of my husband’s trousers and boxer shorts. I didn’t wear ladies’ knickers for months which was really helpful!”
Joe, talking about his upcoming UK tour More, More, More, says, “This show is a kind of a love letter to my local area of Birmingham, my house, and garden. I am always inappropriate about my garden, and rude to my plants, but people seem to love it, so much so that Gardeners World did an interview with me!”
The Divine Comedy perform their classic Something for the Weekend live in the studio before Neil joins Graham for a chat.
Talking about the 25-year-old song, he says, “It’s still enjoyable to sing, because the story of it is very weird. I grabbed the title from Cold Comfort Farm and then went on a tangent. Writing a song is different every time but flights of fancy are a big part of it.”
Talking to Graham about writing the songs for the new Willy Wonka film, he says, “Basically I have been writing about chocolate for a year,” adding, “I have ambitions in all directions. Just doing pop music for the rest of your life just looks kind of silly as you get older. If you ask me, I will do it.”
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One and BBC One HD, Friday 31st December at 10.20pm
Graham Norton returns on 7th January with guests that include Martin Freeman.
Graham Norton Picture: BBC/So Television
Joe Lycett picture: Matt Crockett
