Joe Gilgun interview
A chat with Joe Gilgun, who plays the new boy in Series 3 of Misfits. He talks about dealing with fame, and his dreams of becoming a flying cup of tea...
Joe, you're the new kid on the block. How are you settling in?
I'm settling in well, it's nice. The rest of the cast are really sweet.
So you've not been bullied too much?
No. We all bully each other a bit, just to keep morale up on set. Fun and games, though, nothing serious.
Is it difficult coming in to such an established group, that's been working together for two series? Did you feel a bit nervous coming in to a group like that?
Coming in to it I did, yeah. But I think if I didn't, there'd be something wrong. As you say, it's an established group of friends and work colleagues. And Robert Sheehan who played immortal Irish gobshite Nathan before me did such a good job. So it was an awful lot of pressure. I just wanted to do well.
Were you already a fan of the show?
I don't really watch television. I watch a lot of films. I'd heard of it, and I was aware of what it was. I don't watch much telly, because you end up watching people you know. And it reminds you how successful everyone else is being and you're not. [Laughs]. You see your pals and you're like [sarcastically] 'Brilliant, nice one mate.'
So when you're coming into something like Misfits, do you sit down and watch the last two series?
Yeah, I'd have been a moron to come in and not watch any of it. And I got completely addicted. It was like The Sopranos. It sort of ruins your life a little bit. You don't leave the house, you just have to keep watching the episodes. Arrested Development, that's another one. It's completely addictive, one episode of that and you've got to watch them all. It was very similar with Misfits - I started watching, and that was it. And I love the comic book genre. I love all of that stuff.
Had you acted with any of the cast before?
I'd worked with Lauren Socha's brother, who plays Harvey in This is England, so I knew Lauren through Michael. We live together now, me and Lauren [not in THAT sense]. Very happily, I might add.
You play Rudy. What's his story?
He's a bit of a rough diamond, really. He just tries to shag everything and everyone. He's rude and obnoxious and arrogant, but he's also quite sweet. He doesn't go out of his way to hurt people's feelings, I don't think. He's just an idiot, a massive idiot. I think he's actually slightly sociopathic. He doesn't seem to gauge people's thoughts or feelings very well at all. But I don't think he intentionally sets out to hurt anyone.
You started out in Coronation Street at - what were you, ten? What was that like?
I was eight. It was a major deal. When you go on television, other young people are going to recognise you. And kids are bloody cruel. You don't know how to defend yourself or how to deal with it. It's completely alien to anything you would ever have experienced as a child. Everybody suddenly knows who you are, and you're just suddenly expected to deal with it, because you're on the TV, and that's the job you've chosen. You should know that that's what's coming. But you don't, when you're a kid. You don't have a frigging clue what's about to happen.
Did that make you nervous about going back on to the screen?
No. I don't want to make it sound like a difficult experience. At times I really enjoyed myself. I was very, very lucky to get that job as a young kid, and I did love it. But there were ups and downs to the job at that age. I think it massively set me up for when I went on to do This Is England and Emmerdale. I was an adult by then, and I knew how to deal with people and how to carry myself. You've got to live and learn.
You've done This is England, Corrie, Emmerdale, now Misfits. It's all a bit gritty. Do you ever want to get a role where you just play a millionaire who lives in The Bahamas?
I'll take what I'm frigging given. I'm not Guy Pearce. You get what you're given. I'm happy doing gritty work. To get any work at all, to be able to do this work every day is a godsend. I don't want for anything, I'm content. I'm doing well, I'm 27 years old, I feel I'm doing alright. I can't really do much else, to be honest.
Lastly, the others will tell you they've been asked this question in pretty much every interview they've ever done...
You're going to ask me what fucking superpower I'd have? I'd like to be able to turn into a cup of tea. I'd turn into a cup of tea, a flying cup of tea. With a cape. [Laughs]