On Tuesday 19 November on BBC BRIT at 20:00 (DStv channel 120), Graham welcomes Oscar-winner Olivia Colman, actress Helena Bonham Carter, Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, comedian and actor Richard Ayoade, lady in waiting Lady Anne Glenconner, and singer songwriter Niall Horan.
Olivia, talking about winning her Oscar, and asked if the night was completely bonkers, says, “I actually can’t remember it. The great thing about the Oscars is there is a bar just behind (the auditorium) so everyone is there. There are hundreds of seat fillers so almost everybody is in the bar getting bladdered!”
Asked about working together on season three of The Crown, Helena says, “It really is fun. We’ve been together for so long, but we still like each other.”
Talking about preparing for their roles, Olivia says, “I did nothing, though I did have a movement coach, but still I walked like me, or rather like a farmer!”
Helena adds, “I do everything to prepare and Olivia does nothing, and she ends up being completely brilliant.”
Asked if she’d met any royals since playing the part of The Queen, Olivia says, “Yes, but it didn’t go very well. I met Prince William at a dinner and he asked what I was doing at the moment before he quickly added, ‘Actually, I know what you’re doing’. I was so excited and asked, ‘have you watched it?’ His answer was a firm, ‘No.’ But he was very charming and very lovely.”
Helena, asked if she’d like to put the record straight about her recent encounter with a psychic, she says. “This story has gathered its own momentum. I actually went to see a friend about something else, but she has a talent for mediumship and she suddenly said, “Margaret is here. Does that mean anything?’ I hadn’t actually said yes (to the part) yet, but thought I’d ask her if I should take the role and she said, ‘You’ll be better than the other one’. There was actually someone else up for the part and it was typical of Margaret. I’d met her a few times and you never really knew where you were with her, she had a way of complimenting and putting you down at the same time.”
Chadwick interjects, “I had a similar experience with James Brown because I had a lot of questions about playing him. I’d actually said no to the role a few times. But after I accepted I was really worried about his movement, his walk, his voice, all of it. I went to sleep one night and when I woke up I was kind of doing his voice and ‘he’ said, ‘you’re going to be good, but you ain’t going to be better than me!’”
Asked about his new movie 21 Bridges, he says, “I can’t say much because I don’t want to give anything away.”
Talking about the success of Black Panther, he says, “It’s quite hard to grasp and quite overwhelming. I can’t go anywhere without people reminding me of it by asking me to do the Wakanda pose. People even chase me in their cars, doing the pose over and over with both hands off the wheel to get my attention!”
Richard, talking about his character in The IT Crowd, and asked if he had to do much research to play such a geek, says, “The writer Graham (Linehan) said, ‘Maurice Moss is the nerdiest person in the world and I thought of you.’ I asked if I should do a voice to make me sound like the nerdiest person in the world and he said, “No, just use your own voice.’”
Talking about his new book Ayoade on Top, he says, “I was haunted by the film View From the Top with Gwyneth Paltrow, so my book goes through it in forensic detail with things from my life intertwined. When I initially pitched it to my publisher he wept!”
Asked if Gwyneth knows about the book by Helena, Richard jokes, “She hasn’t emailed yet. She might be in the middle of a cleanse!”
Lady Glenconnor joins Graham for a chat about her memoir Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown.
Greeting Graham, she says, “I’ve always wanted to be on the red sofa!”
Asked why she wanted to write about Princess Margaret, she says, “Because I was so fed up with people writing such horrible things about her.”
Talking about writing about her colourful life, she says, “Reliving it all was like going to a psychiatrist.” Adding, “I am 87 now and I’ve never had such a good time!”
Laughing about some of the more outrageous stories in the book, including her rather unconventional wedding night, she says, “Everyone thought I’d write a lavender scented memoir. They were wrong. And, some people have told me that they are going to buy it for their mother. I said, “Well, I do hope she’s broadminded.”
Niall performs Nice to Meet Ya live in the studio, before joining Graham for a chat about his new album and his upcoming US tour.
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 Brit, Tuesday 12th November 8 PM.
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