Thomasin McKenzie<\/a>), blossoms. But when an unexpected murder occurs, Eric gets framed \u2014 leaving Rose and her family\u2019s future perilously uncertain.<\/p>\n\n\t\u201cThere is a resurgence of this kind of comedy, which I know people love,\u201d Radcliffe ponders, citing the recent releases of The Naked Gun and Spinal Tap II. \u201cIt\u2019s stupid and silly, but it\u2019s also genius. It\u2019s my style. I love it.\u201d Fackham Hall boasts a mighty ensemble cast including Damian Lewis and Tom Felton, as well as Ludwig\u2018s Anna Maxwell Martin and Baby Reindeer\u2018s Tom Goodman-Hill.<\/p>\n
\n\tSo what else has Radcliffe got up his sleeve? He\u2019s joined forces with Jonah Hauer-King, Kristine Froseth,\u00a0Leo Suter\u00a0and\u00a0Ellie Bamber in Anna Biller\u2019s upcoming ghost story The Face of Horror, and after that will headline Netflix\u2019s period drama The Age of Innocence next to Camila Morrone. In short, the man is busy \u2014 and he\u2019s beaming about it. \u201cThat\u2019s the feeling I\u2019ve been chasing,\u201d Radcliffe says. \u201cI\u2019ve started to feel confident and comfortable in my career and what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBelow, Radcliffe unpacks all the directions in which this newfound confidence has taken him. He dives into working with \u201cphilosopher\u201d Jimmy Carr, why he\u2019s feeling optimistic about the future of British film and that one Hollywood actor whose career so far has him just a little bit envious: \u201cHe\u2019s just amazing and everything he does is just cool as fuck.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBen, I think the natural place for us to start is: are you a fan of the period drama?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, I am. It\u2019s not my go-to. So the fact that this was a spoof made it a lot more appealing to me, but I am very much into that kind of thing. But Fackham Hall is very different \u2014 it\u2019s a complete spoof of Downton Abbey, essentially. It\u2019s very fun.<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd it\u2019s written by Jimmy Carr, who is an icon in his own right but has never really dabbled in screenwriting before. What was your initial reaction to reading the script and how was it working with him?<\/p>\n
\n\tSo he wrote it with his brother and these three guys, the Dawson brothers, who were brilliant. And I think it was an idea that [Carr] had during COVID that he wanted to do a spoof of Downton Abbey. He had loads of ideas and this was the one that actually came to fruition and got made. But it was cool for me, because I have always been a fan of Jimmy Carr. I\u2019ve watched all his specials and I watch his YouTube clips all the time. So to work with him, I was very excited. But he\u2019s actually in the film as well, he\u2019s not just behind the scenes. He\u2019s got a very funny role as the vicar.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe wasn\u2019t on set every day because the man\u2019s got a busy schedule. He\u2019s traveling the world on tour, but he popped in for his scenes and from behind the scenes, he was overseeing everything as well. He\u2019s just brilliant. And I don\u2019t just like him for his comedy \u2014\u00a0he\u2019s actually the smartest guy and he\u2019s full of so much wisdom. It\u2019s two sides to Jimmy Carr: the comedian and the philosopher \u2026 I feel very grateful that I actually got to meet him and work with him.<\/p>\n
\n\tI think it will really pique people\u2019s interest as Fackham Hall comes out. What can you tell us about Eric and the plot? If you could summarize it, what\u2019s your tagline?<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a spoof comedy that\u2019s delightfully absurd. It\u2019s Downton Abbey meets Airplane! so it\u2019s very fun \u2014 lots of laughs, lots of silliness, and lots of really, really clever jokes as well. But at the center of it is this heartfelt tale about forbidden love.<\/p>\n
\n\tI play Eric, an orphan boy from the streets, and he lands himself a job at this manor house full of aristocrats. He ends up falling in love with the oldest daughter of the house, which is obviously a relationship that can\u2019t happen. It\u2019s kind of beautiful at the heart of it. This story, I think, is what sets it apart from those other spoof comedies like Airplane! and Naked Gun. They\u2019re so funny, but the actual storylines\u2026 I mean, I couldn\u2019t tell you what happens in Naked Gun. [Laughs.] And Thomasin McKenzie plays Rose, the lady of the house that I fall in love with, and she\u2019s just brilliant. She\u2019s so, so talented and everything she delivers, even though it\u2019s absurd comedy\u2026 It\u2019s entirely truthful, and I think that\u2019s what makes it so funny. I\u2019m excited for it to come out. I hope people react to it well. I mean, it\u2019s my kind of film.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/themes\/vip\/pmc-hollywoodreporter-2021\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe and the cast of \u2018Fackham Hall.\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Bleeker Street<\/p>\n
\n\tHad you worked with Thomasin before?<\/p>\n
\n\tNo, I hadn\u2019t worked with her before. There was actually no one on this film that I\u2019d worked with before. It was entirely new, but an amazing cast and such a vibrant cast. Everyone\u2019s so different and brings a different flavor of comedy or different kind of performance to the roles.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt really is a cracking cast. Damian Lewis, Tom Felton and Tom Goodman-Hill who was in Baby Reindeer recently.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe\u2019s really funny in it.<\/p>\n
\n\tWas it cool for you, as an actor relatively early on your career, to spend time with more seasoned creatives like Damian?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, it was cool to talk to Damian, because he was obviously in Band of Brothers and a couple of years before [Fackham Hall] I\u2019d done Masters of the Air, which is kind of the next thing that team made. It was cool to hear all the stories about what happened back in the day, because we worked with a lot of the same people on the project. Like Dale Dye, the military advisor, and iconic people that we worked on the same stuff with. But they\u2019re all just professionals. Tom Felton, he\u2019s a really, really good friend. We now play golf every week!<\/p>\n
\n\tYou\u2019ve done more TV than film so far. How have you found the two experiences, comparatively?<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s actually a very different experience. This isn\u2019t the case for all of them, but when you\u2019re doing a film, it\u2019s the director\u2019s project and they have full ownership of it. You really feel you\u2019ve got this good, strong leadership throughout the entire process. And we had that with Jim O\u2019Hanlon. He was the perfect director for this film. He\u2019d done other projects that were similar to this. But TV is fast. Movies are also fast. It\u2019s hard to describe!<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a really interesting point. There\u2019s such a vision with a director, whereas on TV show they work in blocks, right?<\/p>\n
\n\tExactly. And you know your character so well. I was doing The Witcher, for example, last year. And by episode four or five, you know your character so much better than a director coming in does. So it\u2019s a tough job for them, to give you direction, give you ideas and stuff when you know who you\u2019re playing so much better than than they do. Then you have really good ones that collaborate with you as well. But [with] movies, you\u2019ve just got such a strong captain and I like that.<\/p>\n
\n\tWould you like to do more film?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, for sure. It\u2019s a bit quicker as well!<\/p>\n
\n\tThat\u2019s actually a great pivot because I want to talk about The Witcher and your reaction to landing the role of Giselher in such a big-budget Netflix show.<\/p>\n
\n\tWell, at the time when I got The Witcher, it was kind of ideal. I\u2019d felt like what I really wanted to do next was something really physical. So when The Witcher came along, it was like, \u201cThis is perfect.\u201d Giselher is the leader of this gang of hoodlums. We\u2019re called the Rats and we just go around causing chaos which was really, really fun. We\u2019ve got to do loads of cool stunts, [we had] great costumes and really amazing sets.<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s obviously a big season, because Liam Hemsworth [has come] in and he\u2019s done an amazing job. He\u2019s really, really brilliant. I mean, it\u2019s just a humongous cast, a huge operation, and they\u2019ve done an incredible job with it.<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd you had your own spinoff, as well: The Rats: A Witcher Tale.<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, there\u2019s a one-episode special. That\u2019s all about the Rats and our backstory.<\/p>\n
\n\tNo spoilers, but if Netflix ever offered you the opportunity, would you want to show more of the Rats\u2019 prequel story?<\/p>\n
\n\tI feel like that was such a fun experience that is done now. I\u2019ve moved on to different things. I like new stuff. I like seeing what happens next, and so revisiting that character would obviously be amazing, because I love all of the people that I filmed that with, but I\u2019m more excited about what happens next and what projects there are in the future.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tBen Radcliffe as Giselher in \u2018The Witcher.\u2019<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Netflix<\/p>\n
\n\tAs we\u2019re speaking, you\u2019re filming The Age of Innocence in Prague. Are you allowed to discuss the audition process for that?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, the audition process was quite an intense one. Actually, it\u2019s probably the most intense audition process I\u2019ve ever done. But I\u2019m a really big fan of the director [Shannon Murphy], so just meeting her and working with her was really, really exciting. I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve seen her show that she did recently called Dying for Sex, but it\u2019s incredible. It\u2019s so, so good. But I have a lot of trust in the entire team behind this, and I know Netflix is putting a lot of faith in this project, so it\u2019s a big deal, and I\u2019m excited about it.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat kind of roles are appealing to you at this point in your career?<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s interesting, because this year felt like the first year where I didn\u2019t feel that pressure as an actor to book a job. First of all, it\u2019s hard enough in itself to get any job, but if you have, then about three weeks goes by after that one\u2019s finished, and you\u2019re like, \u2018What am I going to do next?\u2019 You kind of worry about where your life is going to go. This year was actually the first year I didn\u2019t really feel that and I was just excited. I felt trust in myself and my career, [and] that something exciting would come along. That was a really nice feeling. But I\u2019ve been very lucky this year. I\u2019m currently doing a film called The Face of Horror out here in Prague as well.<\/p>\n
\n\tOf course \u2014\u00a0I talked to [Good Chaos founder] Mike Goodridge recently who was out in Prague for that one.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe\u2019s really funny. I like Mike. But yeah, the character I play in that is so different to anything I\u2019ve ever done. I\u2019m basically playing a dandy. He\u2019s very flamboyant and lavish and fun, and that\u2019s been interesting. I like that I\u2019m doing stuff that\u2019s so varied and different, and this is a really exciting project. We\u2019re shooting it all on film. We\u2019re working with [director] Anna Biller who is an absolute artist. So this film is going to be very unique and definitely worth a watch.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe cast is such a talented bunch. You\u2019re all the same age too, and doing such impressive things. It\u2019s an encouraging sign of things to come for British talent, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, it\u2019s a nice experience when you do a project and everyone\u2019s a similar kind of age and similar kind of vibes. We all got along really, really well, and that\u2019s good fun. [Biller\u2019s] got such a unique style. It\u2019s this old Hollywood style of performance, and the visual style is just so bright and vivid and opulent. I think it\u2019s gonna be cool. It\u2019s been a great experience working on it and my character is very, very fun.<\/p>\n
\n\tYou\u2019re really getting through a lot of genres, too. So it\u2019s fair to say you\u2019re feeling a lot more confident about what the future holds?<\/p>\n
\n\tYeah, that\u2019s the feeling I\u2019ve been chasing. I\u2019ve started to feel confident and comfortable in my career and what I\u2019m doing and what will happen in the future. I mean, it\u2019s easy to say when I\u2019ve got six months of work lined up, but I do feel confident right now and excited about what\u2019s going to happen. I feel very lucky right now.<\/p>\n
\n\tAre you feeling optimistic about British film and TV?<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s weird. In the past, when it was COVID \u2014\u00a0the past four, five years \u2014\u00a0our industry completely shut down for really long periods of time. So there\u2019s obviously going to be a huge recovery period. But since the actors\u2019 strike, I mean to me, it really feels like things are coming back. All the studios in the U.K. seem like they\u2019re packed and busy and things are happening. I feel very optimistic about the future of film.<\/p>\n
\n\tThere\u2019s so many streaming services and platforms. Film is a slightly different thing, going to the cinema. What\u2019s always been the thing that draws people to the cinema is these massive blockbuster films, but I think these smaller projects are actually taking over a little bit and there\u2019s a lot more appeal to go and watch smaller budget films that have been made by a really unique vision and team. I think that that\u2019s where the money is going to go in the future. Less to these 100 million dollar films, and a bit more to some cool art and hopefully more stuff like Fackham Hall. I hope they make more films like this, because that genre of comedy is something that hasn\u2019t existed for a really long time. There was the Naked Gun reboot and Spinal Tap II, so there is a resurgence of this kind of comedy, which I know people love. It\u2019s stupid and silly, but it\u2019s also genius. It\u2019s my style. I love it.<\/p>\n
\n\tWhat would your dream role be, or dream director to work with?<\/p>\n
\n\tI\u2019m jealous of Austin Butler\u2019s career, because he\u2019s just amazing and everything he does is just cool as fuck. So working with Darren Aronofsky would be insane. I love his work. And I really want to make another one of these films [a Fackham Hall sequel]\u2026 They had discussions about bringing back the same group of actors, but doing a spoof about something else \u2014\u00a0maybe Lord of the Rings next. That would be a dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Radcliffe is in the middle of a whirlwind year. The British actor wrapped his starring role in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166123,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[70569,99193,458,146,85,399,46,99194,400,10802,52044,1299],"class_list":["post-166122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bleecker-street","tag-bleecker-street-media","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-international","tag-israel","tag-jimmy-carr","tag-netflix","tag-the-witcher","tag-thomasin-mckenzie","tag-united-kingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}