Kayvan Novak 2010 interview
This interview was conducted before the start of the first series...
Despite being a BAFTA Award-winning TV star with millions of fans, Kayvan Novak can walk down the street completely unrecognised. That's because, as the voice of Fonejacker, the inspired prank phone caller with a seemingly boundless supply of characters and voices, his face is never seen on screen. But all that is about to change. Tonight, these well-loved animated characters will be made flesh at last, as the Fonejacker becomes Facejacker. Here, Kayvan reveals all.
Hi Kayvan. Could you explain what Facejacker is about?
The idea is that I play some of the characters from Fonejacker, some of the animated characters, but I play them in real life. So we're achieving that by heavy prosthetic make up that's transforming me into the characters.
You must have to spend half your life in the make-up chair?!?
It's quite time-consuming. Each character takes about three hours. But it's worth it, because the transformation is pretty awesome. Terry Tibbs is a good example: we gave the picture of Terry Tibbs to our make-up guy, who then took a cast of my face and then tried to make a mask that looked like Terry. And the results are pretty sensational. I've been going round as Terry Tibbs quite convincingly. People have heard the voice and then seen the face and gone 'My God, it's Terry Tibbs!'
Who are the original animations based on?
Well, Terry Tibbs, for example, is two people that we Photoshopped together. We got the massive skull and cranium and suit and shirt and neck of one guy that we found on the internet, and we merged him with my Polish mechanic's features, his eyes, nose and mouth.
Now that you're playing these characters face-to-face as opposed to over the phone, does it feel very different to perform? Do you prepare differently?
It's a good question. It's something I've never experienced before. Playing someone so completely different, who doesn't even look like you, is quite an escape. To just go out and be these characters is great, they're suddenly real, and you get to play with them in different ways. Over the phone, you can only say things to people and hope that they accept it and react in the right way. There is more of a jeopardy being face to face. For the first few minutes of the interaction, you're never quite sure that you've convinced them. You always wonder what they're thinking. Ultimately, I'm a 31-year-old Iranian dude wearing a plastic helmet, putting on a voice and trying to convince them that I'm a character. I try and come across like a tornado, destroying everything in my path, so they have no choice but to accept them. It's credit to the make up that you can stand face to face with people and convince them. The comedy potential then is massive; it's much bigger than on the phone.
Have there been any characters from Fonejacker that aren't in the new series?
Yeah, there are some guys who I can't play in real life. For example, as much as I love the 'Internet Service Providings' guy, he's a small, meek dude. I'm a tall, proud, arrogant man, so it just doesn't work physically. With others, I put on the fat suit and I'm off. The African scamster guy's name has changed, though. Terry looks quite like he does in Fonejacker, but the African prosthetic, with my features, made the African character look very different, so we changed his name, because it clearly wasn't the same guy.
When you're playing a well-loved character like Terry, you must sometimes get rumbled by people who are Fonejacker fans?
Yeah, but not that often. It was occasionally more a case of someone saying 'Hang about, mate, who are you under there?' Inevitably, sometimes when you're doing work with prosthetics, sometimes people will spot something. That's par for the course.
What have been the best reactions you've had from people? Has anyone ever tried to hit you?
No-one's tried to hit me yet, but we've still got some filming days to go, so fingers crossed! Although Nigel Benn gave me a little warning tap, because he figured out something was going on.
You wouldn't want him hitting you!
No. He's a lovely guy, and he only did it in jest, thankfully.
Which characters do you particularly enjoy playing?
I always like doing Terry. And this series, there's Brian Betonde, the guy who sounds like Brian Sewell, but with a speech impediment means everything he says starts with a 'b'. Viewers have heard him but never seen him before; we've always filmed the people receiving the call with him. He's really come alive. We weren't sure how he'd look or what he'd wear, but he's turned out really well. We do a journey into art and youth culture with him. I was at an MC battle last Saturday as him, and I actually won my battle, which was a bit surprising. I think he'll be a popular character.
For every one hit that makes it into the series, how many end up on the cutting room floor?
Well, we kind of decided early on that the best way of doing the hits would be to go to places where there were lots of variables and lots of people, so that I could literally roam. It's better than doing it as the classic hidden camera set-up, where you get people to come in. We went out among the public where we could just keep trying stuff. I'm in make up for three hours, you don't want to do that for one try at something which then goes wrong and it's all over. Each shoot takes so much preparation, you really have to go out there and get something out of the day. If you're in the right environment, a lot of options present themselves. It's still not a practical way of making telly, that's for sure. And it's been a learning curve of epic proportions. But I think we'll have something to be proud of at the end of it.
Have you enjoyed the experience of making the series?
It's been a challenge, but if you feel that you're being frustrated, and you feel challenged, and you're on edge, then you're probably in the right place. That's the one tiny piece of wisdom that I've garnered from this life. When you find yourself saying 'Why does everything have to be so difficult?' then you're on the right track. If things are coming too easy, then you'll be underwhelmed with the results, guaranteed.
In your other life, you're a screen actor. You were blown up by George Clooney in Syriana...
Yeah, that was great. Four days in Casablanca, in Morocco, filming there. I really enjoyed it.
And you've just done a film directed by Chris Morris, a comedy about Jihadi terrorists...
Four Lions, that's right. I've just come back from Sundance, it was premiered out there. It was a great experience. I did the pilot for Facejacker, finished that in March, and then went off to film with Chris Morris for ten weeks, with a bunch of amazing actors, and amazing Chris Morris.
Do you prefer doing the Fonejacker and Facejacker stuff, or the films? Where does your heart lie?
I'm really committed to making comedy, so if I'm acting, I prefer doing comedy. I like doing my own stuff, but if I'm going to work with people, then they've got to be the right people. And I've been lucky enough to work with some amazing people. I'm a lucky boy right now; I've got my fingers in a few pies.
You won a BAFTA for Fonejacker. How did that feel?
That was completely awesome. It was totally unexpected. We always used to joke 'This will get us our BAFTA' after a George Agdgdgwngo call - we just assumed no-one at BAFTA would give a shit about a bunch of prank calls. The success of Fonejacker was so unexpected. In 2008, when we were doing the second series of Fonejacker, we just seemed to win every award we were up for, which was just bizarre. We also had the anxiety of thinking 'They're awarding us for this fluke, the second series is going to be awful, what am I doing?' And the anxiety of wanting to make the second series as good as the first.
How do you feel about this series? Now most of it is in the can, are you pleased with the results?
Very pleased. I think we're making something that's never been made before, and that's exciting in itself. Not only is it pioneering and original, it's also very funny, which is ultimately what you want.