Robert Lindsay interview
Robert Lindsay talks about guest starring in Plebs, and discusses how he wanted to quit BBC sitcom My Family long before the show ended.
Did you know anything about Plebs before you signed up?
No, I knew nothing. I'd not seen it, but my kids had, and I think anything I do now seems to be dominated by them going, 'Oh you must do that!'. The last three jobs I've done on TV have been because of my kids telling me to do it. Plebs has been a lot of fun. The kids on it seem very professional and funny. They take it seriously, which I think for comedy is very important.
What are the advantages to filming abroad rather than in England?
You don't have the family domestic problems, you can concentrate totally on what you're doing. I must have had 15 phone calls this morning, 'Can you do this? Can you pay for that?' Life doesn't stop, you just get texts and phone calls, but it's nice to be able to concentrate on the work.
How was the character of Crassus sold to you?
I think his name sold it to me, I love it! There's this whole fallacy about comedy that it's not taken as seriously as drama, which is nonsense. I think the fact I have to hold a turtle, that's been a highlight!
Why are you holding a turtle?!
It's his pet! Myrtle the turtle, who is actually a tortoise! Myrtle is lovely, she already responds to my touch! She doesn't put her head in her shell anymore. Unlike when Tom comes near her, he tried to stroke her and she immediately backed up.
Can you tell us a bit more about Crassus?
I've based him on all those awful football chairmen, people who know nothing about football but who want to make their name in something. He's a man of the earth, he's crawled his way up society in Rome at the detriment to everyone around him.
He's married well, he's very rich, his wife throws extravagant parties. He compares himself to Caesar, telling the lads that it's their generation that are always mucking around whereas people like him are building civilisations, people like Caesar. He has aspirations well above his station. I've given him a northern accent because it feels like he's a man of the people who has come up the ranks.
What do you make of the Plebs humour?
Oh it's very funny! What I love, having done a pre-watershed comedy for so long where one was only allowed one expletive a show - which usually went to Zoe Wanamaker and not me - suddenly I've got four F-words in this, which is rather nice!
I don't think my dad will be very happy. When I did Extras for Ricky Gervais a few years ago I had to tell an eight-year-old boy to fuck off and I think my dad hyperventilated. In fact, I still think that put my dad into an early grave, he couldn't believe I'd done that.
Is swearing on TV quite liberating?
Oh yeah! I've done a lot of theatre recently and in that medium you don't really think about it, but with TV you're playing to a wider audience. There are still people out there who will complain, but life's moved on.
I'm always staggered when I watch a chat show, you know, the use of language is crazy. They wouldn't have got away with that 10 years ago. It's incredible. Even in America now, I was out there recently and there was so much swearing. I think things like Netflix, Amazon and even Sky have liberated language.
Do you prefer filming comedy to drama?
Someone said to me the other day that it's about the mood you're in and actors are very moody. There's a very famous phrase in our profession which says, 'The worst thing you can do to an actor is give him a job because he'll always complain about it and want to do something else'. I think that's absolutely true and I'm no exception.
I've done a lot of musicals, a lot of Shakespeare, a lot of sitcoms, song and dance shows. I usually find that within three or four months I'm begging to do something else. My problem is a lot of the stuff I have done has turned out to be a big hit and run for quite a long time, which is a compliment.
My Family definitely ran for a long time...
Yeah but we wanted to finish My Family years before we did. Zoe and I agreed that once the kids had grown up that would be it.
Kris Marshall, who was my son [in the show], came to me one day and said he had to leave the show. I asked what the matter was, and he said, 'Bob, I'm playing 19 years of age and I'm almost 40!'. I saw the point.
We'd made up our minds about the kids, it can't be a show called My Family without a family, but we carried on. Me and Zoe would ring each other up saying we couldn't do anymore, let's call it a day. I'd put the phone down and then two days later Zoe would ring up and say things like, 'Listen, can we just have a chat about this because I've just bought a kitchen!'. So it was about home improvements!
Is TV overtaking movies in this day and age?
It's happening, for sure. I think that's also economical. Now movies are so expensive and they've moved into this ridiculous CGI world and I think people are beginning to see through it. I know Game Of Thrones is very CGI but it's based on very good scripts. I'm hooked on various things now - True Detective, Breaking Bad. I was doing a show in the West End a few years ago, getting home and sitting till five in the morning bingeing on TV shows!
Would you like to come back to Plebs?
I actually think we could turn Plebs into a musical, I really do! Plebs The Musical would be amazing, I can see it on stage, right now in the West End. Crassus would definitely have an aria!