This latest series of The Graham Norton Show has certainly not been short of Hollywood star power. The only downside is that it's been so star-packed there hasn't been room on the sofa for the usual British comedian chipping in. If you want that you'll have to wait until October 31 when Strictly winner Chris McCausland will be appearing on the show alongside Keira Knightley, Malala Yousafzai, Aimee Lou Wood and Mumford & Sons.
On this week’s show Graham welcomes rock legend Bruce Springsteen, The Bear star Jeremy Allen White, Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, American actress Tessa Thompson, and rock band Florence & The Machine.
Bruce and Jeremy chat about the new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, of which Bruce says, “It’s not a musical biopic, but rather a character driven drama with music.”
Asked if he had much involvement in the filming of the movie, Bruce says, “I was on set a lot. I felt really guilty about that because not only did Jeremy have to play me, but he had to play me while I am sitting right there watching him. He was incredibly tolerant and generous of me for which I am grateful. I had a great time.”
Jeremy adds, “In the beginning I didn’t know what to expect and I was a bit nervous. You’re trying to drum up some delusion and imagination and seeing the man you are playing in the corner was hard. But then he came so often it became normal.” Adding jokingly, “I think if he had given me notes it might have broken me.”
Bruce interjects, “He prepared in private, so I stayed away. On set I rarely said anything, I just enjoyed myself.”
Asked about being a non-singer playing such an iconic artist, Jeremy says, “There was a lot of prep. It was tough. I am such an admirer of Bruce so it took a long time to accept I could do it. It was daunting and I had scary days but I trained six times a week for six months so I could sound a bit like Bruce. The rasp came naturally after singing the songs over and over and over again.”
Talking about what it was like seeing himself being portrayed by Jeremy, Bruce jokes, “I don’t remember being that young or that good looking!”
Asked about the casting of Jeremy, Bruce says, “I’d seen him in The Bear and saw how the camera read his internal psychology. His performance is very, very real and authentic. He was my first choice and fortunately he took the job.”
On his upcoming role in Star Wars, Jeremy says, “I can’t say much about it other than I am the voice of Rotta the Hutt, Jabba’s son. All the work for me was done about a year ago.”
Jennifer, talking about her role in the psychological drama Die My Love, says, “Martin Scorsese brought this to us after he had read the book at his book club, which is adorable. He said I should play the character. When I read the book, I had had a hard time imagining it as a movie, but I wasn’t going to correct Marty!
Asked about preparing for the role, she says, “Lynne Ramsay the director challenged us during rehearsals – Robert (Pattinson) and I had to do interpretative dance lessons together. We both embarrass quite easily, and we didn’t really know each other so it was totally humiliating. Then on the first day of filming she asked whether we remembered what we did and asked if we would do it naked!” When everyone on the sofa questions her about it, she says jokingly, “Should I have said no? You all seem quite shocked.”
Asked if it was strange coming back to acting after a hiatus, she says, “I needed some time out, I worked all through my 20s. I was at peace with the possibility of not being able to get back, but I thought it would be fine.”
Tessa, talking about taking the lead in Hedda, says, “It’s a re-imagining. It still has the spirit of the Ibsen's original, but it has been updated in some interesting ways. It feels different and I think people that love the original will be satisfied. The whole film is a big party – it’s significantly gayer and kinkier than the original.”
Asked about her perfect English accent, she says, “I wanted it to be the Queen’s English. I love people that are so posh they can’t move their mouths, but we didn’t go quite that far.
Florence & The Machine perform their new single Everybody Scream, before Florence joins Graham for a chat about her love of Bruce Springsteen songs and her upcoming sell-out tour.
And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the world-famous Big Red Chair to tell their funniest stories.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One and iPlayer, Friday 17th October 10.40pm
Next week (24th October) Graham’s guests include Kim Kardashian, Sarah Paulson, Bryan Cranston, Rachel Zegler, and Little Simz.
Pictured: Bruce Springsteen, Jeremy Allen White, Graham Norton, Jennifer Lawrence, Tessa Thompson, Florence + The Machine
Picture credit: BBC/So Television/PA Media/Matt Crossick
