Kevin McNally interview
Kevin McNally plays Spencer, who works in the pro-Brexit Roadshow bus.
Hi Kevin. Can you explain a bit about who you play in the series...
I play a non-affiliated, libertine, farming millionaire who is rabidly anti-Europe, and a great believer in sovereignty.
Much of the series is going to be shot on the day of transmission. Have you filmed anything like that before?
No. But very sensibly, we've done a day of shooting already which will provide some of the material for the show, but has also given us all a taste of what will be required of us on the day of transmissions. So I'm actually feeling a little more relaxed than I would have been otherwise.
Are you still nervous about aspects of it?
No, I'm not. I know there will be quite hard days when we shoot the bulk of the storyline of it. I suppose I was nervous about the idea of being thrown three scenes that were written that morning and gleaned from the newspapers. But now it's been demonstrated to me that it can be done, it will happen, and the show will go out. As long as I feel confident in that, and I know the system they've put in place works, I feel much more relaxed about it.
What made you say yes to Power Monkeys?
The fact that Andy Hamilton asked me! It's the fifth time I've worked with him, and whenever Andy's come to me, I've always known it's going to be really good writing and a really fun character to play, because unlike other people I've worked with a lot, he doesn't keep coming back and asking me to play the same character.
And it's also that I've never done anything like this before, and particularly as you get older as an actor, I think when something comes that's a little out of your comfort zone, I feel duty-bound to say "Yes" and hope for the best.
Have you seen any of the show's predecessor, Ballot Monkeys, to get an idea of how it all works?
I didn't watch it at the time because I was over in the States, where I mainly live now. When I came back, and I signed up to doing this, Andy gave me some of them, so I've been looking at those, which has given me more of a clue as to the way it works. So that was a very useful tool for me to have.
Is there something quite liberating about not having too much time to agonise over every aspect of your performance?
There is! In fact, it was [co-creator] Guy Jenkin who said to me yesterday that we don't have time to deliberate over anything. Having done the work on the character beforehand, I know who he is, so the scripts that comes in, you just take a shot at. You invariably go with your first instinct, and if you're well-prepared, that's often the best take.
There will be episodes the day before and the day after the referendum - that's going to be a pretty fraught few days.
It will be for the actors - but it'll be more fraught for Andy and Guy. As soon as we've finished shooting, they go and not only edit together what we've just shot, but integrate that into the already-edited stuff that we've pre-recorded. So that's a hell of an afternoon, to get it together to be delivered to Channel 4 to transmit in the evening. To do that two days in one week - I'm expecting them to be shells of their former selves by that weekend.
Are you interested in the issues surrounding the referendum?
Yes, very much. Somebody of my age who remembers us joining the Common Market, as it was then called - it's a very interesting test of the European project. It was initially set up as a common market, but now I suppose what this is a test of is, whether people believe whether it's become too much of a social integration. I think that's the issue that most people feel concerned about. I think people are generally not concerned with the financial aspects. I think a lot of people on the right are concerned about sovereignty, so I think it's a fascinating test of where people stand at this point.
Would you describe yourself as a political creature?
Yes, although find that as I get older, I find that I try to judge each issue on its merits as opposed to instantly judging it with a party line. Politics gets more complex as you get older. I've always been left-wing, and still am, though of course that is no indication of whether you're pro or anti Europe.
As you love mostly in the US now, presumably you'll also be interested in the Trump storyline in Power Monkeys as well?
Oh absolutely. I think it's a stroke of genius that Trump and Putin are involved as the two most vocal people either side of the European Union. I think that adds a very clever international aspect.
Is it a very different experience, being on set on Pirates Of The Caribbean, compared to Power Monkeys, or is it fundamentally the same, just with better catering?
[Laughs] Although the catering issue isn't necessarily resolved on the side of Pirates Of The Caribbean! I always say that they're exactly the same, it's just that everything on the set of Pirates is bigger, including the cock-ups.
Power Monkeys airs on Channel 4 every week at 10pm from Wednesday, with two special episodes bookending the EU referendum, airing on 22nd and 24th June.