The Full Monty - About The Cast

The Full Monty: About The Cast

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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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