On this week’s show (7th November) Graham welcomes Hollywood's Glen Powell, Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh, Emmy-winner Rosamund Pike, comic Jack Whitehall, and superstar Ed Sheeran.
Glen, talking about starring in dystopian action thriller The Running Man, and asked about doing his own stunts, says, “I had to abseil down eight storeys of a building in freezing conditions half naked and wearing a harness which cinched me – believe me nothing looked good! The crazy thing I found out after was that there was a guy whose only job was to stop me kicking a window – which means he was looking up my skirt all night – I wondered what he was seeing take after take!”
Revealing Tom Cruise gave him advice on stunt work, he says, “Tom rang me to give me the low down and, what I thought would be a ten min call, lasted two and half hours – he basically told me how not to die! He also gave me running lessons. He said, ‘You should film yourself running because you don’t look as cool as you think you do.’ He was so right!”
And, on getting permission from Arnold Schwarzenegger to recreate the role, Glen says, “I didn’t want to tread on his legacy without speaking to him. He was lovely and gave me his blessing. He doesn’t miss any of his action movies. He was like, ‘It’s a brutal way to go to work, I preferred Kindergarten Cop and Twins.’”
Michelle, talking about playing Madame Morrible in Wicked: For Good, says, “We are missing it already – It has been an amazing family. The film is more emotional. The characters made choices in the first film and with choices there are consequences. It is stunning and a great cinematic experience.”
Asked about singing, she says, “I don’t sing but John Chu the director convinced me to do the impossible and I am so glad he did. Cynthia gave me the confidence and thanks to both her and Ariana I’m in Billboard Hot 100!”
Rosamund also shared advice she got from Tom Cruise, her co-star in Jack Reacher. She says, “The night before I started filming Gone Girl, I was so frightened, and I couldn’t sleep so at four in the morning I wrote to Tom saying I wasn’t up to the role and I was terrified. And he sent me the kindest letter immediately saying, ‘You’ve got this and you are ready.’ It was such a significant gesture from someone with such a level of fame.”
Talking about her crime caper sequel Now You See Me: Now You Don't, she says, “It is a gorgeous movie, and I relish being a villain. I tried to meet people in the arms trade and those that fund wars so I could do my research but all those I managed to find seemed reasonable and not nefarious at all!”
Sharing stories with Michelle about being Bond girls, Rosamund says, “I was very young and had never seen a Bond film when I went for the role. I was asked to bring an evening gown to the audition, so I borrowed a huge red 1980’s ball gown of my mother’s. Barbara Broccoli took one look at it and produced a dress that to me looked like five bits of string. I realised I had an education ahead!”
Jack, talking about his lead role in thriller Malice, in which he plays a villainous ‘manny’, says, “It has the vibe of White Lotus and Mr Ripley. It was such a different role for me as I’m playing a proper villain. It was really fun.” Adding, “I had just become a dad and was hiring a nanny when I was filming it, so my level of questioning was intense!”
And, on working with David Duchovny, he says, “He didn’t know who I was at the start but while we were filming in England he got obsessed with Catchphrase and was so excited that my name was one of the answers.”
Revealing a recent disastrous gig, he explains, “I was hosting a jewellery awards event in Monaco and as I was wondering what on earth I could talk about when the comedy gods delivered the Louvre heist. I don’t speak French, so I had no idea that the woman that came on before me said the robbery was one of the most tragic things that had ever happened to the French people, and on I come with a high viz vest with a load of prop jewellery. When I said, ‘Who wants Napolean’s tiara’ it was tumbleweed. I died on my arse. How did I know that mentioning ‘heist’ five times to a room full of jewellers is like shouting ‘bomb’ at an airport. It was horrendous!”
Ed Sheeran joins Graham for a chat about his new album before performing Camera live in the studio.
Talking about his future albums, he says, “Stop will be the last one that I really care about. I will always make music, and I might go on tour, but I may not release any. At the moment I am very much driven, I want to be making these records, I want to be touring and trying new things, but when I get to around 60, I will want the freedom.”
Asked about his planned posthumous album, Eject, he says, “I think it is just sensible. I have a plan for when I pass away – I know the songs I want played at my funeral and I know where I want to be buried. There have been a lot of posthumous albums of artists we know and love and I am not sure they would have wanted their songs released in the way they were. When mine comes out it will be what I wanted.”
The Graham Norton Show BBC One and iPlayer Friday 7th November 10.40pm
Next week (14th November) is Children in Need on BBC One. Graham is back on 21st November when his guests include Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Ben Stiller, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and sombr.
Picture: BBC/So Television/The Graham Norton Show/Christopher Baines
