Robert Carlyle (Gaz) "I play Gaz, a thirty-something ex-steelworker
who has a very difficult relationship with his son Nathan. Nat is more adult
than his father and is constantly embarrassed by his dad's attempts to make
money."
Carlyle explains that two main factors drew him to the project. "The
comedy angle greatly appealed -- and the fact that I was playing a father.
The combination of those two elements swung it for me." Carlyle confesses
that both those aspects presented a challenge, especially playing in a comedy,
and describes the humor in "The Full Monty." "It's played
for real. All the best comedy I feel is played like that. It's the reality
of the situation which is funnier than trying for intentional laughs."
And on the subject of the stripping scene, Carlyle describes the experience
as "every actor's worst nightmare -- waking up on stage with your clothes
off!"
Since playing Stevie in Ken Loach's "Riff Raff," Robert Carlyle
has become one of Scotland's highest profile young actors. Following the
international success of "Priest," directed by Antonia Bird, in
which he played the lover, Carlyle has become a household name in Britain
for his award-winning performance as the title character in the cult TV
series "Hamish Macbeth" about a policeman in a small Scottish
community. Carlyle turned in the most complex and memorable of the five
central performances as Begbie, the psychopath in Danny Boyle's "Trainspotting."
He has been seen in the highly acclaimed BBC drama "Go Now" directed
by Michael Winterbottom and appeared as the terrifying Albie in the successful
television series "Cracker." Most recently he has been seen in
Ken Loach's "Carla's Song," a love story in which he plays a Glaswegian
bus driver who falls for a Nicaraguan woman.
Trained at the Royal Academy of Music and Drama, Carlyle has also worked
extensively in the theatre and in 1991 he founded his own theatre company,
Rain Dog, for whom he has directed several award-winning plays including
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Macbeth."
Tom Wilkinson (Gerald) "I play the ex-supervisor Gerald, who's
out of work but hasn't told his wife, so he maintains the pretense of still
being middle-management. When he's offered the life line, he jumps aboard."
Wilkinson was particularly attracted to the spirit of the story; "What
you see is a bunch of people who are bankrupts of hope, ambition and opportunity
and then you watch the build towards some sort of self respect. They go
through a process which brings them closer to each other and to themselves."
Soon to be seen in Bille August's "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and
Steven Hopkin's "The Ghost and the Darkness," Wilkinson is perhaps
best known for his wonderful performance in the BBC production of Martin
Chuzzlewit, in which he memorable played Pecksniff. He has recently been
seen as Mr. Dashwood in "Sense and Sensibility" and as Father
Matthew as "Priest." He has appeared in innumerable television
productions, most notably "A Very Open Prison," "Eskimo Day"
and as Resnick in the detective series of the same name. In the theater,
Wilkinson's extensive and impressive career has included all the classics:
"Uncle Vanya," "Hamlet," "The Comedians,"
"Henry IV," "Ghosts," "An Enemy of the People,"
"Three Sisters," and the lead roles in "Tom and Viv,"
"Henry V," "Peer Gynt," "King Lear" and "The
Crucible."
Mark Addy (Dave) plays ex-steelworker Dave and explains, "Dave
is a knot of insecurity about his weight, about his looks and is unable
to hide it. He has been laid off and really his life collapsed at that point
-- he sort of feels emasculated, like a lot of guys do who are in that position.
Dave also fears that his wife finds him unattractive." Mark
Addy has worked extensively in theatre and television. On stage he has been
directed by a range of directors including Tony Harrison, Alan Ayckbourn
and Richard Eyre. On television he has appeared in dramas: "The Bill,"
"Band of Gold," "Between the Lines," "A Very Peculiar
Practise" and "Peak Practice." He also plays regular character
DC Boyle alongside Rowan Atkinson in the new series "A Thin Blue Line."
Paul Barber (Horse) "Horse is a bit past it," says Paul
Barber, his alter-ego. "He's insecure about living up to his name and
other people's expectations of him."
A well known face from television, Barber has appeared as a regular in "Brookside"
and "Only Fools and Horses" and memorable dramas such as "Boys
From The Blackstuff," "Needle" and "Cracker." As
well as appearing regularly on the stage, he has previously had roles in
the feature films "The Long Good Friday" and "Priest."
Steve Huison (Lomper) Steve Huison was immediately enthusiastic upon
receiving the script for "The Full Monty." "It is pretty
rare that I read a script for the first time and laugh out loud reading
it on my own." Huison's character Lomper goes through a very discernible
journey during the course of the film. "Lomper is a sad loner without
many social skills -- one of society's casualties, really. A lot happens
to him within the course of ten days; he goes from trying to commit suicide,
gaining new friends and his mother dying -- to running naked through the
city streets and, ultimately, finding a whole new life."
Steve Huison has appeared extensively in repertory theatre and in the popular
TV series "Emmerdale" and "Heartbeat." He recently made
his feature film debut in "When Saturday Comes."
Hugo Speer (Guy) describes his character Guy as a "ray of sunshine."
With boundless enthusiasm, he is "the guy who is right on for everything
and will have a go at anything. Guy is full of beans, living life to fullest
and when it comes to the auditions for the troop, he just goes along, drops
his trousers and gets on with it. Being a dancer fulfills his exhibitionist
streak." Speer trained at the Arts Educational School and on
the day he left, found himself appearing in "The Bill." Since
then he has appeared in TV's "Sharman," "Thieftakers,"
"Heartbeat" and the soon to be seen "McCallum" -- a
series on which he is a regular. He made his feature film debut in "Bhaji
On The Beach."
William Snape (Nathan), 9, has no previous acting experience. His
headmaster was asked to put forward several boys for the role and knowing
that William was interested put him up for the part. About William, Robert
Carlyle says "I can't speak highly enough of him, he really stands
out. His ability to improvise is astonishing."
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