The screen icon has finally made it to Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, but he would've loved a call earlier! Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00Was there any murmurings at all from the agent at all?
00:03You never got a call about it?
00:04No, I never thought about that.
00:06I thought, well, surely he could have found me something in Harry Potter.
00:10Brian, good to meet you, sir.
00:12Big fan of Lord of the Rings, great big fan of yours,
00:14so indulge me if I may as we start.
00:16Every time I see interviews with you these days,
00:18people want to talk about Logan Roy, which is fine,
00:21but it neglects the greatest show ever made, Sharp,
00:24great adaptation, Rushmore, Originator, Hannibal Lecter, with Manhunter.
00:30And I wondered, in the age of streaming and rediscovery,
00:34is there any role or piece of work that you've been involved in
00:37that you kind of wish people would rediscover and talk to you about now?
00:42Oh my God, that's a big one.
00:43I think there are a few.
00:46There is a series I did in the late 70s called The Devil's Crown,
00:56and it was a series about Henry II and subsequently King John
01:03and then Richard the Lionheart, about those three kings.
01:07It was wonderful, and I played Henry II,
01:11and Jane Lafayette, a wonderful actress, fantastic actress,
01:17played Eleanor of Aquitaine,
01:19and that was a show that I would have loved to have seen sometime.
01:22I don't think I've seen it.
01:23Was it at all like the Hollow Crown that she did?
01:25Yeah, sort of, probably a version of it.
01:27But it was interesting because it was something new in television.
01:30It was perhaps not all successful,
01:33but it was the fact that every set was inside.
01:37So when you moved, you literally moved from one set to another,
01:40so you could actually see them going from one set to another,
01:44and it was a bold move.
01:45I don't think they continued it through the whole of the series,
01:48but it was a visual experiment.
01:52Almost like theatre on TV.
01:54Yeah, exactly, but emblematic and subtle as well.
01:59Don't they understand?
02:02I lost a friend!
02:04For 40 days and nights when they told me at Argentan,
02:06I couldn't eat, I wouldn't speak!
02:11God grant you never to know the torment of an action you can't call back.
02:15If only I had not, if only I had not, if only!
02:19Awesome, I'll check that out myself.
02:21Okay, let's move on to Lord of the Rings.
02:23I'm a massive, massive fan of Lord of the Rings.
02:25My mum gave me the single volume when I was around 10,
02:28just before the films came out.
02:30I remember reading through and being completely swept away with it all.
02:35When I looked at those movies back then,
02:37you'd just come off the back of what, like, Braveheart, Rob Roy,
02:40you were handy with a horse and a sword.
02:42Was there any murmurings at all from the agent at all?
02:45You never got a corn about it?
02:47No, I never thought about that.
02:48I did all those things before, you know,
02:51actually, subsequently, since Ironclad,
02:53I did a lot of horse riding.
02:55Oh, with James Purifoy?
02:56Yeah, yeah, I did a lot of sword weaving and that.
02:59No, I mean, I don't know, I've always been open for that.
03:03And it's like, you know, for instance, I was never in Harry Potter.
03:08I mean, never, you know, it was a very kind of...
03:11I thought, well, surely he could have found me something in Harry Potter!
03:17There's probably a short list of, kind of, some of Britain's, like,
03:21finest actors of that generation that probably could get together and go,
03:24why weren't we in all these things?
03:25Absolutely, I think there's more than a few.
03:27Well, it's happened now, it's happened now, thank goodness.
03:30I'm a big fan of this.
03:32I love the, kind of, the new take and the anime aspect
03:36of the, kind of, Tolkien, Oeuvre.
03:38Well, I think that's the genius of this film.
03:41I mean, you know, we do the voices and, of course, they're great parts.
03:46And, of course, I come from a radio tradition,
03:48so, as I say, that's wonderful, you know.
03:50That's, kind of, mother's milk to me, you know.
03:53I love that, absolutely love it.
03:55And, you know, it's a great role
04:01and it's a great piece of work to be part of.
04:03And a quick word on Helm Hammerhand himself.
04:05He makes Logan look like a flower girl, really.
04:09He's a very...
04:10Well, Logan probably was one of his flower girls when he's old enough.
04:14You do not seek an alliance.
04:16You seek a throne.
04:21You will live to regret this, old man.
04:28He's dead.
04:30How was he as a character?
04:32Did you still feel, obviously, so experienced on stage and on screen,
04:36but when you do something in animation,
04:37does he still feel like a part of Brian?
04:40It's like, yeah, but it's like when you're creating radio.
04:42You do exactly the same thing.
04:44You create the man you are.
04:47And, yeah, and I think there was a great deal of...
04:52I mean, I suppose one of my images for Helm
04:56was a young, and I emphasize young, King Lear, you know.
05:02King Lear before he had more than one daughter to contend with.
05:07He had three, you know.
05:09So, and that was the sort of image I had of him, actually.
05:13His physical image is very, for me, a very Lear-like image, you know.
05:18So I really, you know, that was something that was very strong for me.
05:24Well, I think the whole thing is very strong.
05:26I'm hoping, as a big Tolkien fan, Lord of the Rings fan,
05:28that it's the start of kind of an expansion of these stories in this world
05:33that can be done in interesting and new ways.
05:34Well, I think this is the original thing about it, is the style now.
05:39It's a new style. It's a brand new style.
05:41And I think it's a style that, you know, will be shown and copied in many ways.
05:47But it's so original.
05:49And they have it. It's part of a tradition, you know.
05:52It's part of the Japanese tradition in terms of graphography, you know.
05:56Just the whole thing.
05:58It's now. It's zenith, I think.
06:00Well, I'm sure tons of people are going to see it.
06:02And it's been a pleasure to meet you today, sir.
06:05And The Devil's Crown.
06:07The Devil's Crown.
06:08Google and check that out and rediscover it.
06:10An absolute pleasure to have a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year.
06:14It's that time now, isn't it?
06:16Yeah, get ready for that.
06:18All the best.