Kate Winslet talks about being 40, Michael Fassbenderreveals how he became Steve Jobs, Julie Walters says she couldn’t compete with Dolly Parton and 50 Cent talks about being fat at 40 and Ellie Goulding performs live in the studio
On this week’s show (6th November), Graham welcomes Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, Hollywood heartthrob Michael Fassbender, actor and entrepreneur 50 Cent and British singer Ellie Goulding.
Kate, talking about recently celebrating her 40th birthday, and asked what gifts she’d received, she says, “I got two pigs, called Mabel and Socks. They are a little bit of a nightmare as they keep escaping. The other day they were found up the lane trying to break into the local cafe.” Asked what she is going to do with them, she says, “Play with them, they are pets. They are seven month old and you call for them and they come – it’s really very sweet.”
Talking about the making ofThe Dressmaker and working with a topless Liam Hemsworth, she says, “We struggled to keep a straight face during that scene. Poor Liam, for 12 hours straight we kept making him take his clothes off. We didn’t mean to!” adding, “My teenage daughter was furious that I got to be the same space as him and at that moment. She just made a series of sounds!”
Revealing she went to some lengths to secure the role of Joanna Hoffman in Steve Jobs, she says, “I look absolutely nothing like her and the producers seemed reluctant to send me the script because of that so I thought I would give them a bit of a nudge. My lovely husband Ned, on my request, went to a wig shop and while FaceTiming me selected three wigs. We shoved my hair under a short dark wig and put some glasses on, took a selfie and sent it to the producer and it did the trick! Danny Boyle offered me the part. It was fantastic because I am 40 now and as you go along in your career the moment to audition for things doesn’t really come up that often.”
Talking about winning an Oscar, she says, “It was a fantastic moment – one of the biggest in my life. I keep it in the loo so people can practice their acceptance speeches. You can always tell when they flush and then don’t come out for five minutes!”
Michael, talking about his new film Steve Jobs, in which he plays the co-founder of Apple, “It is a film of three acts and because I don’t look anything like the man so we just went for the essence of him. But in act threesomething strange started to happen – everything started coming together and the iconic version of the man was there. It wasn’t a planned thing but I thought we should roll out the roll-neck, jeans and glasses – it all happened organically and we had a wig on standby!”
Talking about his accent in the upcoming X-Men film, he says, “For the first one I used my own accent, for the second one I did Ian McKellen’s accent and for the third one,it is a bit of a hybrid between the two, a little confused actually,” adding, “I did listen to lots of tapes,” before doing a perfect Ian McKellen voice.
Michael reveals, that somewhat unlikely,Julie’s iconic Mrs. Overall’s Two Soups sketch was the inspiration for a scene in his upcoming movie Assassin’s Creed. Asked to explain how, he says, “It’s not the whole thing but elements of it. You’ll have to go and see it.”
Asked about an unfortunate incident with the horse he had to ride while filmingJane Eyre, he says, “He used to get quite aroused every time I got on his back.” Julie interjects, “I can understand that!”
Julie, talking about playing characters that are much older than she actually is, says, “I think I was 35 when I played Mrs. Overall. Now I am playing characters that are my age it doesn’t hold anything for me – I’ve done it all. It’s kind of weird that I can just be me!”
Talking about finding it harder and harder to remember lines, she says, “It does change. I have to commit everything to my long-term memory. I used to be able learn everything the night before but now if any changes come up I panic. It’s scary.” Asked how she learns her lines, she says, “I go out with the dogs walking around the woods talking aloud. It can be embarrassing if you meet someone.”
Revealing Educating Rita might have been very different, she says, “When they made the movie I was told I might not get the role because they wanted a star. They went to America and it was suggested that Dolly Parton and Paul Newman do it! There were two very good reasons I couldn’t compete with Dolly! When they got Michael (Caine) they told me I could be in it because they had their star!” Talking about the film coming out, she says, “I saw myself and thought, ‘Oh no,’ and went into the toilet and wept.”
Julie, proving herself to be a huge fan of 50 Cent, and to his delight, reels off all her favourite albums and songs and serenades him with a rendition of In Da Club.
50 Cent, who also had a milestone birthday this year, says of the cover shot of him on Muscle and Fitness magazine, in which he is posing topless and showing off a very toned physique, he says, “I decided I wasn’t going to be fat and 40. I’d just finished shooting the Southpaw film and I was cuddly and nice and soft for that one. So it gave me the excuse to go and get in shape.”
Talking about the inspiration for his song 9 Shots, he says, “I got shot nine times at the same time. I didn’t see the person coming because I would have avoided it at all costs! I was trying to write a song that would conceptually define who I am so I picked nine painful moments that happened in my life and use each shot as a metaphor.”
After he revealsthat a fragment of one of the bullets is still lodged in his tongue Julie insists on examining his mouth.
Ellie performs On My Mind live in the studioand joins Graham for a chat.
Talking about the song’s video, in which she rides a horse through a Las Vegas casino and which she described as, “Surreal and bizarre,” she says, “People in the casino seem to think it was pretty normal. I guess anything goes in Las Vegas. It was hard but I wanted to make something sort of ‘Thelma and Louise,’ quite epic.”
And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Red Chair.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One 6th November at 10.35pm
Pictures are available from PA
Notes to editors – all quotes in this release were said during the recording but won’t necessarily appear in the final show.
NB – Because of Children in Need on Friday 13th Graham’s show returns on Friday 20th Tom Hanks, David Walliams, Peter Capaldi and Duran Duran
For further information please contact Mary Collins 07769 670516 or at
6th November 2015