British Comedy Guide
The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton. Credit: So Television, Christopher Baines
The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

  • TV chat show
  • BBC One / BBC Two
  • 2007 - 2024
  • 514 episodes (32 series)

Comic chat show presented by Graham Norton. The biggest names in showbiz join the host on his sofa.

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Series 15, Episode 8 - Julie Andrews, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Pharrell Williams

Julie Andrews reveals how dangerous filming Mary Poppins was, Channing Tatum talks about fatherhood, Jonah Hill flirts outrageously with Dame Julie and Pharrell Williams performs live in the studio.

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Further details

Jonah Hill, flirting outrageously with Dame Julie Andrews, refers to her throughout the show as his future wife and is somewhat taken aback when he discovers she is married to the legendary film director Blake Edwards.

Julie, talking about a chance encounter with some tourists, says, "I had to get fit for a role so I used to go to Switzerland and I was walking around in the mountains. One day I thought, 'This is ridiculous, there's not a sole around' and I sang The Hills are Alive... just as a whole bunch of Japanese tourists came over the hill. You should have seen their faces!"

Reminiscing about Mary Poppins, she recalls, "It was dangerous making the flying stunts, which they saved for me until the end of the filming. Presumably most of the film was in the can by then and if an accident happened it was safe! I was hanging around on a very high wire in an excruciating harness and I felt it drop by about a foot and I thought, 'Oh my god, my luck is running out. This is it.' I called down to say let me down easy and the word went down the length of the studio. At which point I dropped like a ton of bricks to the stage. There was a silence and I let fly with a few good Anglo-Saxon four-letter words that Disney had never heard before!"

Talking about the irascible PL Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, she says, "I met her for tea once and she said, 'Well, you're far too pretty for the role but you have the nose for it!"

On being topless in S.O.B., directed by her husband Blake Edwards, and asked if she was advised against it, she says, "I didn't have a problem with it. I'd done an awful lot by then and it took 10 years to get the movie made so I had a lot of time to think about it. It was legitimately in the script but it was cold in the studio!"

Jonah talking about 22 Jump Street, his new movie, and the stunts involved, says, "It's not that I don't like doing them, but whenever it's possible for my stunt person to do it, I allow him to do it. He gets such joy out of it and why would I want to take away that joy?" Interjecting, Channing Tatum says "He absolutely can do it but he thinks it's funnier to watch me do it."

Revealing he got a lot of flack for the scene in The Wolf of Wall Street in which he appeared to eat a goldfish, Jonah says, "The animal protection people wouldn't let me eat one. I showed up on the day and there were four minders or assistants for the fish - more than I had. I ended up hating the fish and I'll never work with one again."

Channing, talking about new fatherhood, says, "I am really enjoying it. It's a new task, a new challenge and it's fun. But, for the first year, you're sort of an assistant. It's all about the mother and baby."

Revealing he had a rather nasty accident on set, he says, "We were filming in Scotland in a cold river and they were pouring warm water down our wetsuits. It was the end of the day and the guy came to top us up, and he had forgotten to top up the boiling water with river water and he poured it down my wetsuit. It burnt me, but it healed fine!"

Pharrell Williams joins Graham for a chat. Talking about his new album, he says, "It is an open love letter to women because they have been so amazing and supporting. I wanted to speak to that very special demographic that has been holding me up for so long."

Asked about working with Madonna, he says, "She doesn't like super softies. I was stern in my position in terms of producing and giving her advice - she likes it. It's a pleasure to work with an icon, someone I looked up to and thought was hot when I was young."

On how he finds the time to collaborate with so many people, he says, "No social life. It's work and family. At this point in my life at 41 that's the most important thing to me."

Talking about working with Justin Timberlake, and asked if the songs were originally meant for Michael Jackson, he says. "Ultimately they were meant for Justin. If you look at life as I do, there are no accidents of coincidences, so the music went where it was suppose to go."

Pharrell performs Marilyn Monroe live in the studio and is joined on stage by lots of female members of the audience.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 23rd May 2014
Time
10:40pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
45 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Graham Norton Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Pharrell Williams Guest
Jonah Hill Guest
Julie Andrews (as Dame Julie Andrews) Guest
Channing Tatum Guest
Writing team
Rob Colley Writer
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Steve Smith Director
Jon Magnusson Series Producer
Rina Dayalji Producer
Pete Snell Producer
Alan Thorpe Producer
Graham Stuart Executive Producer
Catherine Strauss Line Producer
Perry Widdowson Editor
Chris Webster Production Designer
Lindsey McLean Costume Designer
Mandy Furlonger Make-up Designer
Oli Richards Lighting Designer
Jonathan Whitehead (as Trellis) Composer
Kerry Hussain Graphics

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