Former celebrity couple Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson talk about the early days of their relationship, Jamie Dornan reveals his ‘James Bond’ moment in his latest film wasn’t quite as sexy as the photos suggest and Sigrid performs live in the studio
On tonight’s show(19th January) Graham welcomesDame Helen Mirren, Oscar-nominated Liam Neeson,Fifty Shades star Jamie Dornan and singer songwriter Sigrid.
Helen, asked about dating Liam in the 1980s after they met on the set of Excalibur, says, “We didn’t date, we lived together for four years – we were a serious item for a while. Lucky me!”
Liam, revealing how he knew Helen was interested in him, says, “Before I met her and we worked together I had read somewhere that if she fancied a guy she would imitate his walk behind his back and I turned around one day and she was doing that to me.
Recalling their first encounter, he says, “I remember being on the set and standing with Ciarán Hinds as Helen walked towards us dressed in her fullMorgana Le Feycostume and we both went, ‘Oh f**K’ and I was smitten. I think Ciarán was too but I was very smitten!” Laughing Helen says, “I never knew that. You’ve never told me that before – it’s amazing.”
Talking about her new movie Winchester, and asked if the ghostly goings on made working on set a laugh, Helen says, “I didn’t find it a laugh actually because at its heart is something I feel strongly about, which is that people make massive fortunes selling arms. I felt that at the heart of the film there was a kernel of truth so it wasn’t a laugh for me, I felt quite committed to it.”
Liam, talking about his new film The Commuter, jokes, “The train line featured actually runs past my house in Upstate New York –it would have been a great commute to work but we filmed it at Pinewood!”
Reminded by Graham that the last time he was on the show Liam had said that he was done with action movies and fighting, he says, “Did I? I got the call and I said, ‘how much? I’ll be there!”
Jamie, talking about The Fall and asked if people reacted differently to him after he starred as the serial killer, says, “Definitely there was an element of disgust from people. A lot of women told me that they couldn’t watch it alone and that I gave them nightmares, which is a compliment I guess because I wanted the character to be frightening.”
Asked about the huge reaction to the Fifty Shades Freed trailer, Jamie says, “It’s lunacy.”
Talking more about the film and the shot of him emerging from the sea in a sexy James Bond moment, he says, “What you can’t see is that it was pebbly and I couldn’t walk on it. The beach was only semi closed and there were lots of people taking photos as I struggled up the beach. It was so not cool. They even put down a piece of carpet for me to walk on but I still struggled. In the end, I had to wear a pair of jelly sandals and no one looks sexy in those!”
Asked if he was ever fully nude, Jamie says, “On set I wore a wee pouch to keep everything in. I was given a selection – for size I guess – and when I found one that fitted I took it off and noticed inside a label that said, ‘Inmate number three’ – clearly it had been worn before! I just had to grin and bear it.”
Talking about being a late developer, Jamie recalls, “I was quite small and wasn’t hairy at all – I was 15 and looked seven. On one particular day, I was in an amateur drama play and was going to a party after. For my role, I had bits of a black wig glued to my face for a beard and I decided to keep it for the party so I would look older. I also decided to cut up the rest of wig and glue it to my private parts just in case I got lucky. I didn’t get lucky and removing the bits of wig ripped out the very small amount of natural hair I had down there. It was a physically and emotionally painful experience!”
Sigrid performs Strangers live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat about winning the BBC Music Sound of 2018 award, touring and a new album.
And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the Big Red Chair.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One, Friday19th January 10.35pm.
Pictures are available from Press Association.
Notes to editors – All quotes in this release were said during the recording of the show but won’t necessarily appear in the final show.
Next week –26th January – Graham’s guests include Tom Cruise, Henry Cavill, Rebecca Ferguson, Simon Pegg and Paloma Faith.
For further information please contact Mary Collins 07769 670516 or at
19th January 2018