Q: Can you tell
me about the role you play and a little bit about your character?
SP: I play Gus Dickinson. He’s kind of a sweet little
con-man really. He’s a bad boy but he’s not totally
evil. I think his schemes aren’t within the realms of
hurting people, he quite likes breaking the law but he doesn’t
mind if the person he’s conning isn’t such a nice
person. But of course he gets into huge trouble because he’s
not as clever as he thinks he is.
Q: What was it about this character that appealed to you?
SP: I got the script sent to me by Jean-Baptiste Andrea
and when I read it, it just really came off the page. The script
was really artful and funny and exciting and full of twists
and turns which is great. It’s always nice to be surprised
by something and Gus just seemed like a sort of loveable rogue – a
sort of a chancer and a drifter and it was a real challenge,
particularly as he’s American and it means doing an American
accent which isn’t easy but it was all there on a page – it
was fantastic.
Q: How did you work on the American accent?
SP: I could sort of do an American accent before, but we have
a voice coach on set with us called Judith Windsor. Judith
will come up to us between takes and work with us on the right
pronunciation which is brilliant. Everyone thinks they can
do an American accent but it’s actually very difficult.
They really chew their words around because they have a very
specific way of talking and it’s very gymnastic. People
think that American accents are quite lazy and drawly but they’re
not, Americans have muscular jaws because they are constantly
rapping their R’s. It’s nice to have Judith around
to come and say no, you’re wrong”.
Q: Can you smell cigars?
SP: Er... yes I do smell cigars and Billy Asher told you to
say that! Did he explain the massage thing? I had a massage
on Saturday in the spa at the hotel we were staying in. The
masseuse was massaging my neck and said “You feel like
you’ve got quite a lot of crystals of lactic acid and
toxins in you shoulders, did you have a cigar last night?” I
had had a cigar, and I was amazed at the fact that she had
identified the specific nature of the toxin in my body. It
turns out Billy was in before me and had told me to say that
so I am now on my guard. You got me Asher!”
Q: Tell me a bit about working with the rest of the cast?
SP: It’s been great fun. It’s a brilliant, very
industrious cast and crew who are totally dedicated to the
project. But they also know how to have a good time, so the
level of industry completely matches the level of hedonism
which takes place after hours! It’s very hard to keep
up some times I go back to my hotels and stay nice and centered
for the next day, whereas they are all out getting pissed…I’m
joking they don’t really, but they are fantastic – David,
Alice, Jon and Mimi have just been fantastic, and it’s
been a real pleasure to work with these people, they are extremely
hard working.
David’s the centre of it and Alice is just the biggest
pain in the arse I have ever worked with in my life… no
she’s not really! She is incredible, tenacious and a
bundle of energy and when the camera turns over she utterly
delivers, her accent is fantastic and it really raises a bar
in terms of not slipping at all because she seems to be able
to switch it on effortlessly. She’s also great fun and
she doesn’t mind being teased. I have a younger sister
so my relationship with her is similar to that in a sense.
Our first scene together was pretty weird though – it
was a full-on naked sex romp, so that was quite a strange way
to start: “Hi I’m Simon, I’m Alice, climb
on board…!”
David’s great – he has a real professionalism about
him. He’s been in this business intensively for a long
time and you can see it. He really knows what’s going
on, he’s fantastically focused and very, very, funny,
and he really contributes. It’s a joy. I’ve worked
with him once before but I didn’t really get to know
him properly then, but this time we’ve really hit it
off, and we’ve had a great time. He’s fun.
Q: How’s it been working with Jean-Baptiste
the director?
SP: Jeb or Jean-Baptiste Andrea as he’s known on the
credits is brilliant. He’s a very, very fine director
and he’s a complete geek just like me. We geek out about
shit together, and his sensibility is a wonderful combination
of European French and American which is fantastic because
there are wonderful elements of humour in all those cultures
and he seems to have it all. He’s very laid back and
great to work with. I’ve loved every minute of working
on it.
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