After almost 40 years in film and television, get ready to hear Richard E. Grant sing. The Oscar nominee has done so on the stage, most recently in a stage production of “My Fair Lady” in 2017, but his role as Hugo Battersby in the new movie musical “Everbody’s Talking About Jamie” will be a first for most viewers around the world. Oh, and it’s also the first time he’s played a drag queen.
READ MORE: “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” is gonna make Max Harwood “The One”
The Amazon Prime release is based on the beloved West End musical of the same name and centers on Jamie (Max Harwood), a 16-year-old who dreams of graduating school and taking on a drag queen persona for a living. He gets some sage advice from Hugo, aka Loco Chanelle, over the course of the picture. And, as you’d expect, there was one particular aspect of getting into drag Grant wasn’t head over heels over.
“I found tucking the worst because you can’t go to the [bathroom] for 14 hours,” Grant says. “You have to take time to sit and you don’t want to put on weight and mess up your waistline. I found tucking the most challenging thing to do. And then there are the heels that are six inches tall.”
In a conversation conducted last month, Grant discusses the love for his Classic Loki character in Disney+’s “Loki,” his upcoming role in a new film adaption of Jane Austen’s, “Persuasion” and more.
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The Playlist: I know you’ve done stage musicals before, but I was looking over your credits, and correct me if I’m wrong this is the first film musical you’ve ever done, right?
Richard E. Grant: Yes. Yep.
Was that one of the reasons why you wanted to do it?
Yeah. And also to play a drag queen that I thought was such a challenge. Because I had never done anything like that before. So, I thought that if the director, Jonathan Butterell, thought that I could pull this off, then I have to believe him. And he got me a great team of people to help me with the scene and the dancing and the makeup and the hair and the attitude of how to walk and talk and do the accent. So, I felt like one of those racing cars, like an old Ferrari and Monte-Carlo pulling into the stop. And the whole team of people suddenly come out and take the tires off, they change the oil, they change the costume, put you together, send you f**king off down the race track again. That’s what it felt like.
You’ve been in all sorts of period films, genre films, “Star Wars” films, “Loki,” all sorts of stuff. What was the most uncomfortable part of being in drag compared to, no doubt, other uncomfortable costumes you’ve worn in the past?
Greg, have you been in drag?
Yes, I have.
O.K. Do you find tucking comfortable?
You don’t really need to do it, but it depends [Laughs.]. I feel I find the wig very hot and that’s what drives me nuts.
I found tucking the worst because you can’t go to the [bathroom] for 14 hours. You have to take time to sit and you don’t want to put on weight and mess up your waistline. I found tucking the most challenging thing to do. And then there are the heels that are six inches tall.
You pull it off wonderfully though! I heard through the grapevine that you watched every episode of “Drag Race” before you did the film for research. Is that true?
Greg. I watched 11 seasons in three weeks.
Oh my god. [Laughs.]
Can you reckon how many hours of the day that takes? That’s dedication.
That almost “Games of Thrones” binging all eight seasons sort of stuff.
Oh yeah.
Was there, I have to ask as a fan of that show. Were there any queens that you were fans of, watching that series? Or that you learned something from?
So many, and because I hope to meet them down the line at some point, I don’t want to have my neck strangled by somebody’s bra strap or by somebody’s stiletto because I chose one over the other. So, I’m going to play it safe. No, I think their honestly, their courage and their creativity are off the chart. I am in awe of what they do absolutely, genuinely in awe. Their place in society and the things that they’ve got to overcome in their family lives to pursue their dream. That takes real balls.
It totally does. Because this shot pre COVID, I’m assuming you saw the stage musical before you filmed the movie?
No, I saw the documentary on the BBC about Jamie Campbell about five, six years ago. And then I’d read the reviews and I’d seen that it’s this huge, big hit musical. But once I knew that I’d been offered this part, I thought that if I go and see the guy who’s doing it in the theater, I won’t have the courage to do it in the movie version. So, I thought it’s best not to go and see it. So, I’ve never seen it.
There is a change from the musical to the film with the sort of key song that your character plays. Originally, it was “The Legend of Loco Chanelle (and the Blood Red Dress)” but it was replaced in the movie by a new track, “This Was Me.” Did you know that from the beginning, was that something that happened that you found out after you agreed to do the part?
Yeah, they told me that it was new and that it was to cover this whole VHS section where you get the montage of Hugo’s life of when he had been a drag queen successfully in London and the hedonistic days of gay club life in the ’80s and then how that was decimated by the onset of AIDS. And then he loses his partner to AIDS and his career just goes down the toilet. So, I thought that was really helpful in kind of anchoring the story because it’s a very linear, straightforward kind of, coming of age story for a teenager. And I think that’s the history of what had happened in that, to Hugo’s generation, which is my generation. And I lost many friends in the ’80s and ’90s to that disease. I thought that it gave real heft to the middle of the story and I thought it was a really smart idea.
Did you enjoy the song? There’s no way you were singing live with the way it’s shot, right? Did you enjoy that process?
Yeah. And then you do sing live just with playback in your head. So, the whole crew hears you. I think it’s the equivalent of when you see people on the subway singing along to something, anything, what the fuck do they think they’re singing to? Because they can hear the orchestra but you can’t when you’re on the outside and then you rerecord it again subsequently to according to how it’s edited. I had a brilliant senior teacher who really helped me and gave me the courage to do it.
There are a number of songs that are cut from the original show. Did you shoot any other scenes or any other numbers that didn’t make it into the film?
Not that I’m aware of. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t say, but I know from the post SYNC and the ADR dubbing that I did afterward, that I wasn’t aware that something had been filmed and then cut. So I don’t know.
This is also Max’s first project basically ever, and he’s so impressive in it. I’m curious what you thought about working with him and especially for the competence he has, in carrying this whole film as his first film or TV project, sort of ever?
He was still in his final year of school and he was so open, accommodating, and incredibly well-prepared, and professional that I genuinely think Greg, that he’ll never work again.
Never. That’s it. [Laughs.]
I don’t think he’ll get another job. [Laughs.]
Fans loved your “Classic Loki” character in the “Loki” series…
Even without the muscles?
Even without the muscles. Can you talk about what you liked about that experience and is there any hope for Classic Loki to return?
I was told that I was in one episode and that’s the last I saw and heard from anybody there. But I think that there’s a great opportunity as Classic Loki speaks like “Dr. Dolittle,” fluent alligator. He’s the only one that can understand alligator speech. I think there should be a spin-off for a sub, sub, sub-genre of classic Loki and alligator. So, who knows? But, nope. Nobody’s come up with [anything new].
Well, we need to put that out into the ether so that they’ll think about it. And then also, I know you just shot a new version of Jane Austen’s, “Persuasion.” Is it done in a period style or is it a modern take?
No, it’s completely period. And it’s with Dakota Johnson and Cosmo Jarvis playing the two leads. And it’s all shot on location in England, in all the costumes and the architecture of that time. So, to me, it looked like the real thing.
Did you enjoy the experience?
I played the vainest man in all of English literature called Sir Walter Elliot, who has pictures of himself over every surface and wall, despite his daughter’s and his wife’s. He only cares about himself, so that was hilarious to play somebody who was a complete narcissist. I loved it.
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie” is available on Amazon Prime Video worldwide on Friday.