Ben Whishaw on A Very English Scandal & meeting Norman Scott | London Live
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
- Ben Whishaw plays Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal, opposite Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe.
Toby Earle spoke to Whishaw about what he wanted to evoke in the role, how Scott shouldn't be perceived, and what happened when he met Scott when preparing for the role.
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Ben Whishaw is a brilliant actor, love the fact that he gets a bit obsessed with the characters he plays. In this interview at least he seems to be part himself, part still in character as Norman Scott, And It's not the only one...in his interviews for 'Bright Star' he appears very romantic and melancholic, for 'Brideshead revisited' sensitive and a bit fey, for 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre' quite confident and funny, for 'Perfume' quite tense and almost autistic, and for this interview very fidgety, impulsive and slightly defensive. He can be as odd in interviews as he likes, he still tends to outshine his co-stars in every film he's in!
Absolutely. He’s a sweetie!
"almost autistic"
as an autistic person i want to say - WTF??
... isn't he just high?
😃👍🌹🌿
Ben's still in character! He looks every bit the flibbertigibbet!
You are right. He looks that , I think he has liked this character
Ben is one of them special people that make our world a brighter place
Ben Whishaw is one of the finest, most professional actors of our age. He brings enormous originality to every new role and studies each character in great depth before creating his performance. I saw his Hamlet at the Old Vic when he was starting out on his career. It was astonishing. I knew then that a great actor had arrived in our midst.
It was wonderful, Ben was wonderful, Hugh was wonderful - if was funny and sad in equal measure - I loved it.
Does vulnerable really well.
Reading interviews with Scott, he seems to be more unhappy that his ex-boyfriend tried to have him killed and got away with it than about his NI card as such.
Just finished watching.
Ben killed it.
Marvelous series.
Ben is superb in this excellent drama.
0:24 *when someone eats pizza in front of you.*
AHHAHAHAHAH
He reminds me of his character in this interview; lots of nervy little ticks, and a certain intensity. What a sweet guy, and very 'sensitive', going by the rules of Chinese face reading. Seriously.
He cannot stand easy for 2 seconds
I think he's still in the chracter of Norman Scott as this is the way he is in the TV show but not the way he is in normal life in other interviews. He has said that characters take him over until he has finished the shows they are in.
Ben was also great in a BBC production called "The Hour"
Congratulations to Ben on his well deserved Golden Globe
I saw him on Broadway a few years ago in the CRUCIBLE. He was AMAZING.
You fortunate.😃👍
I first saw him in "Lilt". I was impressed even more when I read that he shuns the idea of fame as acting is simply his job and deserves no pedestal to pretentiously hold him up high above other more noble vocations.
i noticed normans missing national insurance card was not in the credits surely they should give it a bafta next year it played such a vital role even in absentee but due credit too bbc a brilliant drama which happened
Now one of my favorite actors. Top 2 . Awesome mini series. His acting is absolutely adorable. Organic.
Ben Wishaw was EXCELLENT in "A very English Scandal"
He doesn't look a day older from when he was in the masterpiece film PERFUME, in 2006. He looks 28. Such a gifted brilliant actor.
I adore this actor ….his brilliance/wit shines in all he does...congrats on ur awards sir. bless ur honesty...
What an amazing performance he did.
All of the other points made here are well taken. Nevertheless, Ben is one hot man!!!
Low key thought he was on coke lol
Ben is on another planet in this interview.
He's got a touch of the Tom Courtney about him, quite a sixties figure.
Ben Whishaw is very like the Norman Scott he portrays... beautiful.. but very twitchy and uneasy... feel the programme plays it too much for comedy
Brian Eduardo I agree. It's well acted and accurate but the comedy is at the expense of the pathos and tragedy.
There were a lot of farcical things in the story though it was tragic at the same time. I'm not sure that it would have aroused people's sympathy for the characters if it was just played as tragedy because Thorpe is both an exploiter and a man who became obsessed with trying to arrange the murder of Scott, while Scott is a manipulative and obsessive character in his own way.
I agree but trying to have someone murdered is a serious business - I think it suffers for the way it is portrayed and scenes in Dublin were ludicrous... I don't know where it was but it was not Dublin ... ditto California I would say
Good point.
But there was a green postbox in every scene! It MUST have been Dublin!
I remember when Thorpe was found guilty, not many believed the verdict in reality, many thought it was a whitewash of Britain's legal system....
found "not guilty" I mean....
He sounds and looks as good as NS - very unnerving
The whole scandal is complex and confusing if you ask me....!!!!
IAN PAYNE, just like every other British scandal.
Ben Wishaw didn't play Freddie Mercury after being considered but I can see how he can easily do a biopic on various legends and icons. He looks like a very versatile actor.
Hubiera sido un gran Egon Schiele.Pintor genial.
I like Ben Whishaw but he's terribly uncomfortable & slightly odd here.
Yes it's very noticeable...he seems to be still in character during this interview. I think he mentioned in another interview that the characters he plays often take possession of him during filming and that he misses them when the shoot has finished :-)
An actor's main job is to act. Often they're very uncomfortable doing anything else. Many years ago, that great actress Anne Bancroft appeared on a BBC chat show. She was so ill at ease that the host could barely get a word out of her, she just clammed up.
Stormwitch2000, I think it’s much more the case that he played Norman Scott as himself. He was very very good. And he’s a very good actor.
I can’t help but find the affected-ness rather tiresome and a little bit cloying after a while though. Just saying.
I think he’s probably uncomfortable to the point of anxious about being interviewed
N T Yeah, as someone with anxiety myself, I can see that it's pretty visibly pouring off of him in waves. The fidgeting, the shifting from side to side, the way he keeps looking anywhere and everywhere except at the interviewer. Good on him for still soldiering on, though.
why can't he just say he lost it and get a new one ??
You probably could now but then, until you submitted it when full, the only proof that you'd paid your stamps was on the card itself. There was no other record of it until it was submitted to the National Insurance Office. However I'm sure you could get confirmation of your NI number and a new card so it's hard to believe that he would have lost more than a year's worth of NI contributions. It shouldn't have affected his pension that much, but I don't think he was the most practical of men and he was prone to getting obsessed over things it seems. To me, Ben Wishaw still seems to be acting in the character of Norman Scott in this interview.
I lost mine shortly after receiving,there are tons of different reasons why people can't get previous employers to sign. I simply rand up,filled out a form and got another. The card was just an excuse for Norman... One of Thorpes underling could have sorted it for him, without there being a tie to,him
Yes he could have! He was using it as an excuse to get money from people
Because he was a drama queen.
Is this just a running joke. I lost mine soon as i had it but by a miracle i had memorised it.
Not for one moment do I believe that he still does NOT have a National Insurance card or number .
Having seen Ben Whishaw in this and the Hollow Crown a few years ago I think he's finest British actor of his generation.
I agree
Me too
Norman Scott is just so unlikable. He is like an unfunny gay version of Sheldon Cooper.
Just love him. A phenomenal actor
amazing actor. He should play Mick Jagger in his life story.
He actually once played Keith Richards in the 2005 biopic, 'Stoned'
Golden Globe 2018 Nomination! Congratulations Ben!
i loved this mans acting..he played Norman Scott very very well
Great actor and played the character brilliantly, but doesn't look like Scott. I tended to sympathise with Ben more than I did with Scott because Ben played him so vulnerable-y. Scott had an arrogant, sneering quality - I can see how he might have rubbed the judge up the wrong way (pardon the expression).
Horrible portrayal of Norman, in no way anything like him, very sad he created someone that does not exist. Very disappointing.
I think he still in the same character. Hey mate get up!! He has liked this Fucken character
is Ben still in character in this???
El pibe se impregna de sus personajes...y aun fuera de la ficcion continua perfumando su entorno con ellos.👀👍🌹🌿🌹🌿🌹🌿
the damn comments complaining about him being fidgety are pissing me off because he could be socially awkward or anxious and that doesnt make him a freak :^) but to each his own i guess (evn tho he has had trouble with calming down for interviews before like,, just let the man live)
They filmed this in Bridgend in South Wales, it was used as Dublin.
I love him in everything I've seen him, and his character in Cloud Atlas has stayed in my memory as one of the most touching characters I've seen in a movie.
he does seem unusually uncomfortable
It would of been interesting to have a coaltionregardless of party I sometimes wonder if we should change all the voteing idea
Is he high? Stand still stop stuttering !! Very animated odd interview!
Its not uncommon to act like that without drugs. I am just like this when I'm either restless, anxious, or distracted. So, you never know.
Ben is so over the top on ....caine its funy!
I expect BAFTAs galore next year. Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Drama, Best Screenplay at least. The music was great as well.
He was brilliant
He's such a good actor you would never know if he was being true to himself.
Ben Wishaw looks as if he has a drugs issue here.
ABC DEF 😂😂🤣 😂😂🤣
This drama is bloody brilliant! Fantastically dark potentially - yet at times, laugh out loud funny. It has a wonderful warmth and charm - especially when considering the subject matter. A wonderfully produced and well acted thing to behold. On part 2 right now and loving it!
Marry me ♥️
He appears to be displaying behaviour consistent with having just taken cocaine. Possibly to help with the interview or to cope with whatever activity he was doing immediately prior to the interview.
What an evil thing to say.
Nice shirt
I wish he would have stand still in this interview!
Why? Shouldnt he just be comfortable? He’s refreshingly real
I like Ben Whishaw but he's terribly uncomfortable & slightly odd here.
He isn't uncomfortable.
He's on coke.
He’s always odd. The oddest he’s ever been is an interview for Brideshead, where he seems like an autistic seven year old.
He's still in the character of Norman Scott to my mind. This is how he plays him on the show and he has said in the past that characters take him over until he has finished filming.
Master Race....How do you know? Do you have incontrovertible evidence, or are you his dealer?
Young David Essex....
How fascinating to read some of the comments here, demeaning about the personal traits that this incredible actor displays. I bet you people making them were the school bullies in the old days, weren't you. The kind of kids with ego so delicate that they had to take it out on those who were different from you; threatened by the merest hint of that difference you had to bolster your flagging self-esteem with barbed comments. Of case later you grew up, but deep inside you were still the same emotionally needy kid who had to find fault in others. None of you stutter when searching for words, look away when thinking how to answer, scratch your heads without thinking. You are all perfect humans, never a twitch or a scratch in sight; anodyne, banal and as dull as ditchwater. Perhaps you would like to post yourselves being interviewed about your achievements and we could all pick you to bits in public - you would not like that very much would you!! There are those who accuse him of taking cocaine - we can only assume that their expertise comes from personal experience that they might wish also to share with us. In the meantime, let us celebrate everything that makes this man so gloriously individual.
Jeremy thorpe was a strange man gay in politics well I don't think that matters why the government has rules yet all MPs are gay u don't know the full story on norman Scott but gay mpsno issues naturally all politicians cover up likeall things I like portilo when he atmitted he'd had gay things so does it really matter if thorpe was gay
he IS paddington
he reminds me a bit of Peter Hammond
He is good in the James bond films
FFS - Scott still hasn't got a NI card - bollocks, any Chinese student can get one in a 5 mins.
What an odd boy
How were those coke lines Benny boy??
No, he's still reacting in the character of Norman Scott
what a mess
What a stupid comment.
I love ben
He seems to have ADHD because of he is constantly moving and finds it hard to keep eye contact.
He said once he had anxiety issues and famously finds interviews uncomfortable.
Was his father a giraffe? That's the longest neck I've seen.
为什么不给他保险卡！
He sounds a bit affected.
Anyway, I'm keeping my NI card in a safe place!
There are no NI cards now. The records are digital and held online.
I always found it amazing how calm he is when he performs compared to how twitchy and alarmed he is when he’s off stage.
I have no idea where mine is- probably in storage.
Someone needs to tell Norman.
Is he on the bizzo?
what's that? he is very twitchy
He looks to be still in character to me. Watch the show, he plays Norman Scott in just this way.
I agree
There is something very beguiling about Ben Whishaw as an actor. I could watch him all day and I am a straight woman. In this clip however he made made feel sick with his rocking from foot to foot, lay off the speed man.
He's just still in the character of Norman Scott.
Ella Taylor What does your sexuality literally has to do with anything?
sex is what it is all about
He’s always like this.
Mai Chan *cough* he's gay *cough*
Norman Scott reported Thorpe to the police for being a homosexual when that was illegal in the UK. This risked Thorpe's political career, which he had spent his life building up, and his marriage, and meant he could have gone to jail, all because he dumped Scott. That's pure wickedness. Scott is a malicious cretin.
chel3SEY That still puts him a great many rungs down (or is it up?) the moral ladder than conspiring to commit murder, don't you think?
Yes. I didn't say so because it just seems too obvious to need saying.
chel3SEY And yet you said that Scott's behaviour (given that he has a lifetime history of psychological/emotional problems) was "pure wickedness." If that's the case, what term would you apply to Thorpe's behaviour?
What do you think? Pure wickedness too. You seem to think they couldn't both be wrong here. You seem to have your head up your arse.
chel3SEY Ah, the behaviour of both Scott and Thorpe was "pure wickedness" _now_, but you only thought to use the phrase in connection with Scott? I see ...
he’s on coke here
he should monitor his consumption, because we already see several indications that the '' products '' have begun to do damage to him ... the dry mouth, the nervous movements, his formulations, his slow reflections ... the dark circles around him eyes, are all well known to consumers ...
il devrait surveiller sa consommation, car nous observons déjà plusieurs indices que les ''produits'' ont commencés à faire des dommages sur lui... la bouche sèche, les mouvements nerveux, ses formulations, ses réflexions lentes...les cernes autours des yeux, sont tous bien connus des consommateurs...
Tiresome production on a tiresome subject. Pure drama? More like poor drama.
s tanner Glad you enjoyed it 📺
You may find the subject tiresome - wonder why? It has hardly been 'done to death', in fact it hasn't been in general discussion for decades. However you cannot describe such a brilliant production as tiresome. You may say you didn't like it, but your criticism of the actual production has no foundation.
You are in a minority
Laura Lauristan
Firstly you could not know that stated in your comment. Many who watch the dross spewed out on tv have little analytical ability or knowledge and simply go with the flow on the current whim of the day so that they feel important. Comparable to those who blindly believe media interpretation of current affairs even when to the sane it is obviously lies.
You may be right in general but by any criteria this was a superb 3 part Drama, little of which I suspect you actually watched,
Thorpe. Did. Nothing. Wrong.
Norman had made such a big deal over his spilt milk, he still felt for Thorpe, but in life you had to move on. Moving on was something Thorpe was very good at, but Norman couldn’t leave it all behind.
EVILBUNNY28 so the plotting to murder his ex was all fine, then?
Laura Lauristan he was acquitted, and rightfully so.
I think you are being deliberately contentious in order to provoke. He was patently guilty, the jury being grossly intimidated and mislead by a wholly unprofessional and biased judge. And quite apart from conspiracy to murder, he was a particularly unpleasant person, riding roughshod over the lives, dignity and feelings of TWO wives, badly misused his best friend, and lying continually to just about everyone. No, I'm glad he never recovered from the trial because that was really the only justice he got. Norman Scott was a detestable weasel (though played delightfully by Ben Wishart, as a far nicer chap than he was), but he was not the one with the power or wealth, and other resources. Thorpe was a monster.
EVILBUNNY28 you know full well that trial was a farce.
Ben Whishaw, you’re an outstanding, credible, and genuine actor buddy you were funny as shit in “A Very English Scandal” you absolutely nailed that role you had me laughing hysterically more than once……… “I bit the pillow”……. 😂🤣😆🙂…... If you voyeuristic children of Babylonian harlots out there have not watched that 3 part series I highly recommend it Hugh Grant was funny in it too every actor and actress nailed their respective roles. It’s on Amazon Prime and it’s binge watch worthy.