Original subtitles

This programme contains some strong language

APPLAUSE.

Thank you so much!

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Aw.

Hello.

Hello, everybody.

Good evening.

You are so welcome to the show.

Yes, autumn is here, and like a misty September

morning, I'm back.

Cool, grey and just a little bit damp.

Hey, we've got a great line up for our first show of the season.

Look over there.

Singing for us later, it's the fabulous Raye.

CHEERING.

Love Raye.

She'll be performing her new single, Where Is My Husband?

But more to the point, where are my guests?

Let's get them on!

First up, we loved him as the crime solving vicar in Grantchester,

and we love to hate him as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley.

Now he brings us the epic succession drama House of Guinness.

It's our good friend James Norton!

CHEERING.

There he is.

Hello, sir, really nice to see you.

There he is!

James Norton.

This Oscar-winning actor and writer swaggered into our screens

in Dazed And Confused, won our hearts in How To Lose A Guy

In Ten Days and was out of this world in Interstellar.

His latest book, Poems & Prayers, is already a Sunday Times

bestseller, while he returns to our screens in a heroic true

story, The Last Bus.

It is a warm welcome back to Matthew McConaughey.

CHEERING.

Here he comes.

Hello, sir.

Really good to see you.

There you go.

Yeah!

That's Matthew McConaughey.

Yeah.

And we've got two stars of the new sports drama

The Smashing Machine.

She made her mark in The Devil Wears Prada,

thrilled us in A Quiet Place and was Oscar-nominated

for her performance in the global hit Oppenheimer.

It's Emily Blunt, everybody!

CHEERING.

Oh, so shiny.

So shimmery.

So nice to see you.

And as The Rock, he conquered the wrestling world before turning

action movie star with roles in hits like Jumanji, Moana

and the Fast And Furious franchise.

Now earning rave reviews for his performance as champion wrestler

Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine, it's the mighty Dwayne Johnson!

CHEERING.

Come here, buddy.

Hello, sir.

Lovely to see you.

Join the others too.

APPLAUSE.

Hey, welcome along.

What a couch.

Sit down, sit down, sit down.

Lovely.

Welcome along, thank you very much for being here.

Lovely to see you all.

Yeah.

Cheers!

First show back.

Cheers!

Cheers!

Cheers, everybody.

OK.

Yeah.

If you're wondering, tequila.

LAUGHER.

Now, some of you know each other.

James, I've got to ask.

Are you all right?

Because you've injured yourself.

"Are you all right because you don't know anyone?"

Well, there's that.

I feel like I know you.

I know you.

Yeah.

And you've met the others backstage?

I have.

We had a lovely time.

We've discussed tequila and other things.

Yeah.

Just tequila, surely.

I did get injured.

Am I all right?

No, I am fine.

This is the thing that's on now, King And Conqueror,

which is on BBC One on Sunday nights.

Yes.

I fell off a horse.

Cool.

Look at that.

Yeah, I fell off a horse and I broke my collarbone.

In Iceland.

Now, I was thinking, "Oh, that must be terrible,

to fall off a horse, quite a distance."

And then I saw a picture of you with the horse.

And you are taller than.

And you are taller than it.

Yeah.

So, Iceland...

Surely a pony?

It is a pony.

OK.

So, Iceland have a protective order on their horses.

You cannot import a horse, because they have this kind of gene

pool and it can't be polluted.

And so we, having committed to shoot the whole thing in Iceland,

and I was a producer on the show as well.

So we were tasked with finding the biggest Icelandic

ponies we could find.

And that was the biggest we could find.

Even though it was that small, I still broke my collarbone

from falling from that great height.

When did it happen?

It happened at the very beginning of all the stunt sequences.

That's fun.

Yeah.

Stunts, though.

If you have one of those scenes where you might get injured,

it's a good thing to schedule those at the end of the show.

End of the show.

It was actually a rehearsal.

It was rehearsal?

Yeah.

Well, producers and producers will do that.

They'll put the big stunt...

But he's producing!

He is the producer!

LAUGHTER.

It was my show!

I know.

I learned a lot, I learned a lot.

But also, looking at that, I'm thinking, Dwayne,

never do an historical epic in Iceland, because that

pony would not survive. No!

Does a regular horse make a noise when you get on it?

Does it go..."Uh!"

Oh, me?

Yeah.

Why?

Because there's a lot of muscle mass there.

I mean, a horse would be going, "Oh, Jesus, look at this."

Oh, my God, not him!

It groans, yeah.

Many things groan when I get on it.

Yes, yes.

APPLAUSE.

OK, Graham?

I'm writing that down.

I'm writing that down.

Thank you.

All right, let's get on with our first film tonight.

Dwayne and Emily are together in The Smashing Machine.

It's in cinemas from the 3rd of October, and here's just a little

taste of what to expect.

Here, could you take this picture for me?

Yeah.

What are you thinking at the beginning of the fight?

It's simple.

Am I going to hurt him before he hurts me?

This Grand Prix to crown the greatest fighter in the world.

He has come back from the brink.

Let's see if he can pull out a victory over Mark Coleman.

Have you spoken to either about fighting such a good friend

for a life-changing amount of money?

I just need you to let me in.

Always about you.

Only about fucking you.

Everything is about you!

Let's fucking go.

You're a big, strong man.

I love you.

CHEERING.

So good.

Thank you, man.

Thank you.

That's explosive.

Thank you, brother.

It is phenomenal.

It's a true story.

Mark Kerr, he was sort of the first star to come out

of the MMA, UFC world.

He was, yeah.

For a lot of you who don't know him, and a lot of people don't know him,

Mark Kerr was the he was one of the pioneers of MMA.

There he is.

And he was at one time the greatest fighter on the planet,

heavyweight fighter.

heavyweight fighter.

And at that time there were no rules, no regulations.

And MMA was different, and there was no infrastructure around it.

There was no financial planning, there was just fighters.

And Mark fought his way to the top, and he struggled.

And he struggled like a lot of fighters do.

Unfortunately, though he struggled under pressure,

and the pressure in many ways got to him.

There was addiction involved, and he wound up overdosing twice

and he was lucky to be alive.

But he's here today.

Not here in the audience, but he is alive.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mark Kerr!

LAUGHTER.

But he is with us today.

And he had this unbelievable life, and he had this volcanic

relationship with his girlfriend, who eventually became his wife.

And they have a beautiful son named Bryce.

So it was really the role of a lifetime.

So, Emily, tell us about Dawn.

Yeah.

I mean, she's an extraordinary person, you know, and I found her

when I spoke to her sort of simultaneously

heartbreaking and fierce.

And I think it is a very complex relationship

to be in when you're, um, with a very dedicated athlete

whose life is on the line constantly through his own addiction,

through actually being in the ring.

And they did have this rather hazardous relationship.

But I think the movie is less about...

You know, it's set to the backdrop of this '90s machismo,

but it's so about vulnerability and the brokenness and how

you never really know what's going on in someone's

life, you know?

And the image of invincibility is not really the truth, you know?

And we've got to talk about the Venice Film Festival,

because you took actual Mark Kerr with you.

Yeah.

So I mean, obviously emotional to watch it,

but to watch it with him, to watch it with him,

that was the first time he'd seen it, right?

It was the first time he had seen it with an audience.

So we get to the Venice Film Festival, which we're

there for competition, and we're sitting

there and watching it.

I sat next to Mark.

Mark's a big guy, and I could feel him and he's shaking.

He's shaking the entire movie, especially the fight scenes

with him and his girlfriend, who eventually became

his wife, Dawn.

He's shaking.

Every once in a while I'll reach over and grab his knee,

and towards the end of the movie, where we have the big

scene with Emily and I...

Don't ruin it.

I won't ruin it.

No, I won't.

Don't over pitch.

I won't.

Don't worry.

So anyway, you'll never guess what happened.

And then he is really shaking and crying.

And then I look over and Benny Safdie's holding his hand.

And, you know, in Venice Film Festival,

it's very ceremonial, right, as we know.

And it means a lot.

Films mean a lot to people in Venice and at the Venice Film Festival.

And before the credits came up, um, the audience erupts and they give us

a 15-and-a-half-minute standing ovation, and Mark Kerr is sobbing,

which makes us all cry, and Benny as well.

And it was just beautiful.

We've got a little bit of footage of the ovation,

and as you say, it goes...

I mean, it's incredible.

Look at me.

By the way.

Yes.

Let's wait till this is over so I can embarrass you.

Because this is...

I know.

Look at your face.

Yes.

Mark Kerr is beside me.

That's Mark.

So there I am.

Right?

I'm very emotional.

The house lights come on before they're expected.

I'm crying and I'm trying to wipe my tears away,

to try and still stay cool.

And this one is like...

"Can you believe that we did the thing?"

Whatever the joke was that you said.

Hey, what are you talking about?

You can see in the clip that he's crying.

And I went, do you remember on Jungle Cruise when you

said you never cried?

I'm in a moment!

It's like the British thing, right?

It's the British thing.

Like, it's a long time for people to be clapping,

aAnd I started to get embarrassed.

So I started making jokes because I was like, oh,

God, this is so much.

Yes, to remain humble and grateful for 15 minutes is quite hard.

Yeah, it's hard.

Thank you so much.

And here's the thing.

You know, just watching the trailer there.

You know, that idea of Dwayne Johnson disappearing

into any role, you kind of think, "Oh, how can you transform?"

But you do what?

And it's not just the physical thing, because it's

obviously this hair.

But other things went on.

It was about 22 prosthetics.

We had Kazuhiro, an Oscar-winning prosthetic artist,

and he helped me transform.

There was also a vocal transformation, too.

But the idea I think of transforming for me was something that, you know,

I didn't know that I was...

I didn't know that was for me.

And I wanted to do that, because a lot of times in the movies

that I've made in the past, the bigger movies, they're

big and they're fun, and I've liked them from Jumanji

to Moana, and I'll go back to those.

But there was something about this opportunity where there was a little

voice behind my ribcage that was just telling me, right.

So like, it's like...

And I'd shared this with Emily for years.

Like, it's just gnawing at my gut to do more and challenge myself

and grow and do something where I'm not chasing box office,

but I'm doing it for me.

Yeah.

And it wound up being the most, greatest, most gratifying thing.

And I've said this before, and I mean it.

Smash Machine changed my life.

Well, you so pulled it off.

You really do.

Thank you very much.

It really is phenomenal.

And, Matthew, I'm interested because you had a kind of similar

career pivot to what Dwayne's doing now where you had this

incredibly successful career with rom coms and you went,

"No, I'm going to search out different sorts of parts,

more meaningful parts."

How hard was it to turn your back on that incredibly successful career?

Similar to what Dwayne said, I had that 4am in my solitude,

on my own truth that hit me, that lands like a butterfly

and strikes like a lightning bolt at the same time.

That truth that you go, OK, tomorrow when the sun comes up

and I'm back in the masses and all the world's coming at me,

all all those offers, I need to remember this truth.

Now, I'd been trying to get dramas and was even offering huge pay

cuts and they were like, "No, stay in your lane, McConaughey.

"You're the rom com guy.

"You got that down."

Mind you, I enjoyed 'em, but I was wanting to do something

different because I couldn't do what I wanted to do.

I said, I've got to stop doing what I'm doing.

So I said, no more.

No more rom coms.

Called the agent, said, let the town know it's

not going to happen.

I went to Texas.

Camila was pregnant.

On the ranch.

Quiet down there.

Camila says to me, "Look, you don't know how long

it's going to be dry.

"How long are you going to not go with work?

"This could go on, but this is non-negotiable.

"We're not going back."

I was like, "Not going back."

Now, a year goes by.

Nothing.

Nothing, nothing.

I call my agent.

He goes, "Matthew, I haven't even heard your name in six months."

I'm going, "OK, I may have just wrote myself a one-way

ticket out of Hollywood."

I start to think about other vocations.

School teacher, uh, wildlife guide.

Maybe I'll go back to law school. right?

18 months go by.

I really think I've done it. I'm out.

Um, I get this romantic action comedy that comes

with an $8 million offer.

I read it. I pass.

I say, "No, thank you."

It comes back with a $10 million offer.

I said, "No, thank you."

Comes back with a $12 million offer. I said, "No, thank you."

It comes back with a $14.5 million.

I said, "Let me read that thing again."

Yay!

Same words as the £8 million offer, but it was better.

It was funnier.

I can see myself in it. This could work, right?

But I ultimately said no.

That must have been so hard to say no.

It was.

But saying no to it, I think, sent a little invisible

message to Hollywood - McConaughey's not bluffing.

We were talking about not flinching.

Oh, he's playing offense.

He is not just doing nothing. He is onto something.

And 20 months, two months after I turned that down,

the offers came in that I was looking for it,

and they came in in droves.

It went Killer Joe, Mud, True Detective,

Dallas Buyers, Magic Mike.

They came in. Everything I was looking for.

And they would not have come in if I wouldn't have

unbranded for that 20 months.

I didn't even have to unbrand.

With this steam going, I could make whatever choice I want,

and I'm going to make this happen over here.

That was a time for me when I had to unbrand it, it took 20 months.

But then I was doing...

All of a sudden my work was challenging.

I was like, there we go.

APPLAUSE.

Every actor wants to be successful, but then you don't

want to be typecast.

And James, you were so good as Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley,

you had that kind of psychotic...

APPLAUSE.

Were you just offered lots of psycho villains after that?

Yeah...

I seem to get offered roles where they present as nice

and kind of civil and then underneath they have a heart

of stone, and I don't know what that says about me, but...

I haven't had to rebrand, which is lovely.

I've been lucky, I've been able to kind of twist and turn

and I think that's the way you keep learning and keep it fresh -

that's what every actor wants.

Yeah, the villains are also really interesting.

The one I'm playing right now is a beast.

You get to play.

I have to say, I have cited you as someone who has done it,

and now you as well, Dwayne, someone who has

done it so elegantly.

You managed to go against the grain.

Because the producers, they want their job to be done easily.

You don't want your actor to have to go on these massive

transformative journeys because it costs money and you have to get

dialect coaches and everything else.

They want the actor to walk in as the character.

And actually, what we want to do is go on those journeys,

which you guys have just described so beautifully.

Yeah, it's a tough kind of struggle.

Talking of returning to a role...

We've seen a lot of paparazzi pictures of Ms Emily Blunt

recently because...

Are you still filming The Devil Wears Prada 2?

Yes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

It must be lovely to be making something that

people are so happy about.

They are so excited about it. It is incredibly sweet.

We are trying to keep as much of it under wraps as we can,

but it's not just the paparazzi, it's the fans outside.

I've never experienced this, where it's just thousands of people

waiting outside the sets, and I think we made the first one,

we thought it was funny.

We were like, "It's pretty funny.

It comes out, and I was a kid when it came out,

it was 20 years ago.

I remember my agent calling me, going, you know, this

is the opening weekend.

I was like, is that good? I didn't know what success was.

And so it had this meteoric life, and it's amazing to come back to it.

And because to make the second one, obviously

they needed the four of you - you, Stanley, Anne and Meryl.

So did the four of you have a lot of say in what the story

was going to be, or...?

We did.

I think they were very collaborative on it.

They wanted everyone to be happy.

They wanted us in cahoots with them, so it was really, really cool.

Well, we look forward to that.

But before then, do - I urge you - go see Emily and Dwayne give

extraordinary performances in The Smashing Machine in cinemas

from October the 3rd.

Very good!

APPLAUSE.

OK...

Next up...

Matthew McConaughey - he brings the latest offering

from director Paul Greengrass.

It's called The Lost Bus and it's out now in selected

cinemas, then on Apple TV+ from the 3rd of October.

Before we talk about it, here's some of the trail.

At approximately 6:30am this morning, a fire entered

the town of Paradise.

Where do you need to get to?

My son's up there with his grandma.

It's too late.

I'm too late as a father.

It's not too late.

Wowza!

APPLAUSE.

Again, this is another extraordinary true story.

These awful, awful California wildfires in 2018, and this

kind of reluctant hero.

Tell us about Adam McKay.

Kevin McKay. Kevin McKay, sorry.

In our story, he's come home because his father died.

And he's there to take care his widowed mother

and reconcile a relationship with his son from an earlier

divorce in his life.

He's got a part-time job as a school bus driver.

On this particular day, he took the kids to school,

dropped them off, was out and about, and the fires were coming

across the canyon.

It happened all the time, no one even got alarmed.

The first responders head up there and put them out.

But on this day, the winds came and the fires jumped the canyon,

so the first responders were stuck.

And while they were stuck, they called a mandatory evacuation

out of the town of Paradise.

When that happened, Kevin McKay has just made the decision,

I'm going to go back and get my mom and my son, who cannot drive.

I'm going to save them, evacuate them.

Not two minutes later, it comes through dispatch -

"I've got 23 kids stranded on the east side of town -

does anyone on that side of town have an empty bus?"

Well, guess who's got an empty bus?

Do you pick that up and say yes?

Or do you go get your mom and your son?

He picked it up.

He said, "I've got 'em."

He picks them up, there is a teacher with them, Mary Ludwig,

who is played by America Ferrera.

This is a story about the next six, seven, eight hours of what happens.

And you mention the personal side of the idea of being a dad,

and of course, that's incredibly present in this film

because it is a family affair.

Yes, it is!

Check this out...

LAUGHTER.

I go home, pitch the script to my family, as I always do.

This is what it's about.

And if it is too R-rated, you have to kind of do

it in a parable form.

The kids were old enough, I told them this one straight.

I could do the part about my son, and my son, Levi, goes,

is that part cast yet?

I said no.

He goes, you think I can read for it?

Oh, my God! I just look at him...huh!

Had he ever read for anything before?

No.

So this surprises me, but I kind of just give him a shoulder.

Like, yeah, right. He comes back.

The next day, he badgers me four times.

OK, all right.

First off, sit down, we are going to talk

about what this acting gig is.

This ain't modelling, this ain't no attitude.

All right? This is a frickin' rodeo.

You've got to go with soul and no bullshit in your bones.

So, he goes, well, I've already got a scene worked out I want to shoot.

I pulled out my camera.

It was first take. I was like, OK.

He's got presence.

He was able to behave honestly in front of the camera.

I was like, that's for starters, you need that.

We did two takes, I sent it to the casting director with a note

saying, I think this is good enough for a call back.

She writes back and says, I think it's good enough

to send to the director, Paul Greengrass.

I said, great!

And then it dawned on me... Wait a minute, do me a favour...

Can you pull his last name?

If he gets it, is he going to have an inkling

that the last name helped him?

I don't want that happening.

So she pulled the last name, he goes in as Levi, Paul

sees it, the director.

This is the kid.

She said, you know it's actually Matthew's son in real life?

He goes, even better! That's so cool.

It's lovely your son is in it.

Your mom is in it! My mom is in it!

LAUGHTER.

Tell them who she plays, tell them who she plays!

She plays...my mother!

LAUGHTER.

There she is, Kate McConaughey, 93 years young!

She's gorgeous!

APPLAUSE.

So, going through, Paul and I would get together every week

and kind of just go over the last week.

How are we doing? Are we missing anything?

Is there anything we want to do, anything special?

And the news was always good, we were always happy

with everything that was going.

About four weeks in he goes, I've got one problem -

I think I've miscast the mother.

I either misdirected it or we have to rewrite the scene.

Do you have any idea who could play your mother?

I started to think about it.

The next day he goes, what about your mom?

You're really making this a family affair, Paul!

Hang on a second... He goes, let's just cast her.

I said, hang on!

Before we just cast her, let me get her in front of you.

I said, Mom, can you send me a minute video on your phone on why

you love being a mom?

She sends me an eight-minute video. I show that to Paul.

He was like, yes! That's it!

What was the conversation like when you told your mom?

She was already into it, "let me check with my agent",

which she didn't have!

She was already like... Well, let me think about it!

This is all sounding very familiar to James Norton because your dad...

Has he been in every single thing you have done?

My dad has been in nearly everything I've ever done, yeah.

I'm terrified of him watching this because I know I'm

going to get a text saying, why can't I play your dad?

I've got my notes ready.

He mostly does kind of supporting, background work?

He does as a day as an SA on everything I do.

So here he is in House of Guinness, this is your current project.

But we have found footage of him from War and Peace.

Is that ten years ago?

He flew himself out to Lithuania to shoot this.

He flies across the world.

I did wonder how the hell he ended up in Lithuania to be in this.

So he flew himself?

He loves it, yeah, yeah.

He gets a free haircut, he struts around the set

like a peacock, he gets to flirt...

Now, you're not in this scene, but keep an eye out.

I'll show you James' dad here. Blink and you might miss him.

But here we go...

War and Peace, it's all going very well.

Lovely, very dramatic.

And look... Who's that in the moustache?!

APPLAUSE.

Bingo! Did he keep the moustache?

He loves it!

Did he keep the moustache? He didn't keep the moustache, no.

It's a new one in House of Guinness?

Is a new one in House of Guinness, yes.

In House of Guinness he had to throw a bottle at me,

and he's not the most co-ordinated.

It was a stunt sequence and he had to throw the bottle multiple times.

But yeah, he loves it.

So when he comes out, is it specifically for one scene

or does he just lurk around for many background scenes?

No, no, no.

We make sure that he's only on for one scene.

I mean, he would, if he had the choice, get an agent.

I mean, I'm terrified. But has he ever asked for lines?

He had a line in one thing. Oh, it was terrible.

I'm sorry, Dad, but he had a line in Lady Chatterley's Lover,

and I remember him...

The director said, Hugh, let's give you a line and improvise

something about the state of the coal mine.

And he looks at me and goes, what the fuck?

Like, how do I...?

And then it was, I don't know about you, but obviously your son

and your mum are obviously clearly much more talented than my dad,

because he was terrible.

And I was standing there, and I'm trying to stay in character,

and all I have is this man going, "the coal is not coming up the...".

Terrible.

Really distracting when your dad is a terrible actor.

And Dwayne, your mom, she didn't act, but she has

now done some acting.

She has.

I followed in Matthew's path, and I put her in...I

cast her in the live action Moana.

So she's in that, yeah.

Does she have lines? Uh, no, thank God.

OK! You went the Norton route.

You've talked about her before, but I love the idea of your mother.

She enjoys your fame very much.

She loves it. She does.

My mom's had a tough life, so now she's living like...there she is.

She's just living her best life.

And she does. She my biggest fan.

And she has this crazy room that's called the smackdown room.

And in the smackdown room, it's just all me.

Yes.

Everything, every little thing, anything you can think of,

she just shoves it in there.

Does your mom have something like that?

My mum has the same room. She does?

Not of you, but it's of all my stuff.

That would be weird!

So your mom is your biggest fan? Yes, but she also...

She is my biggest fan, but she also is very clear to take

credit for all of...

Wow! Every role I've ever played.

She comes up afterwards - She goes, Matthew, you did so good.

I can tell where you got it from.

Very proud. We're fine now.

My ship's stable enough where I'm like, Mom,

say whatever you want.

Now that she's got a great agent, she's good.

But also, she published a book. Yes.

Can you remember what the name of the book was?

Oh, yes.

Because she probably has already put a sticker of the title

of the book on my truck.

It's called I Amaze Myself.

I feel like every book should be called I Amaze myself.

She's a legend.

Chapter 26 - guess what the title is?

"Some People Deserve To Be Pissed On."

LAUGHTER.

What is Christmas like in your house?

It's wild.

Is it a novel? It's short stories.

It's probably helped out some people.

She's very much a...

She gets by on positive thinking and denial.

It works.

And she's 93 and not shallow and kicking ass.

Talking of books...

I must say, after the success of your memoir, Greenlights,

you now have a new book, Poems and Prayers -

number one in the New York Times.

We already know it's going to be in the bestseller list

in the Sunday Times.

Thank you.

And from what I read, a lot of the material

in here you've been working on off-and-on for years.

Yes.

So this is something you've always done?

Yeah, I've been writing poetry since 18.

Yeah. Yeah.

And I think you're going to do one for us, maybe?

Yeah, I'd love to read one.

Have you got the book with you?

Your mum is here, and she's...!

She's here in her two-piece bikini, ready to read!

I want to set up why I wrote it.

This why I wrote it and why I put it out now.

Seems to me, belief is in short supply.

Look around.

You turn on the news, you look around, there's not much

to believe in or reasons to believe.

And that's not going to work.

Because if doubt wins, we're all going to lose.

All right, so this is me looking for belief, because I found my own

self getting cynical.

I found my own self objectifying people and kind of thinking,

I guess that's just the way it is.

First, that scared me.

Secondly, thankfully, it pissed me off, and I said no, no, no.

I promised I'd never become a cynic.

That's an early death if you do that.

So I wrote this to dive into my own belief, and I've also

found a lot of people along the way going they feel kind

of the same way.

They're looking for belief.

So Poems and Prayers, instead of looking to reality

and the evidence for belief, let's look at our dreams

and our aspirations and see if we can bring those back

down to earth.

And that's why I wrote this book.

Um, there's a bunch in here.

Why don't I read one that's kind of funny?

OK.

All right.

And not that long.

How about that? All right.

It's called More Time.

I think it was about 2am.

The band played the last tune, and I said Amen.

Went to pay my tab over at the bar when the main event started

tuning their guitar.

So I ordered myself another bottle of wine.

God, I love it when I got more time.

Thought it was the year 2010.

Not a worry in sight, in the fast lane again.

Signed all my checks one year tardy, because it was '09

and I hadn't left the party.

So happy my balance wasn't in the red.

God, I love it when I'm early instead.

Met a woman I liked, and she became my friend.

We turned into lovers and thought we'd make it until the end.

But as soon as we lined up hand in hand in the queue,

my eyes started turning a lighter shade of blue.

Well, sometimes love just loses its shine,

and sometimes leaving early just gives you more time.

Shut up!

Very good.

That's awesome.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, James Norton brings

us a new epic historical drama, House of Guinness on Netflix now.

And here's a taste.

Delicious.

The death of your father has served to poke a stick in a hornet's nest.

A gift from Mr Guinness.

From a representative of the Dublin poor.

The children Sir Benjamin leaves behind are weak and divided.

Now is the time to use that weakness.

Freedom!

You think there'll be trouble today?

The man's name is Guinness.

Of course there'll be fucking trouble.

CHEERING.

And there's no ponies in that?

No ponies, big horses.

Big horses.

And here's the thing.

Obviously, the Guinness family, who were kind

of fighting for control of the brewery, they're real.

Who do you play, and are you kind of an actual historical figure?

So I'm not.

I'm made up.

The story is a kind of the father, Benjamin Guinness, is all true.

He died in the early 1860s.

Um, and he left this power vacuum.

Hence the kind of big dynasty show.

The four children then take over the brewery.

I play their, um, fixer caretaker.

Kind of the...

He runs the show.

He's the boss.

He's called Sean Rafferty, and he's a badass.

Yeah, he really is a badass.

He's really fun.

Yeah.

And it's by the same guy who wrote Peaky Blinders, right?

It's Stephen Knight.

And he is...

I love Stephen.

Yeah, yeah.

And he's firing on all cylinders. He's in his element.

You can tell he had a lot of fun making it.

Um, yeah, it's a really it's a romp, you know,

it's an amazing period of history.

It's when this brand, Guinness became this,

you know, the biggest.

I didn't realise how famous Guinness was in the 1860s.

It was global already.

Well, it was...

This story is the kind of the moment it exploded into North America

on the coattails of the Industrial Revolution.

But it's sort of smoky and sexy and it's irreverent

and it's many names, the Crown with beer.

Succession, it's been called.

Supcession.

I mean, there's many people have coined it,

but yeah, it's a lot of fun.

It's definitely a fun, fun romp.

And when I watch something like this, and you know,

you're in it and you're doing a really good Dublin

accent.

Thank you.

When you said yes to it, did you just kind of think,

"I'm sure I can do that accent," or did you know you could

do a Dublin accent?

No, I mean, I was terrified. You know, the Irish are a very..

Well, you know, they're a very proud people.

Rightly so.

They'll tell you.

They will tell you, they do. They often do.

Have you done press in Ireland yet?

I have. Terrifying, honestly.

I sat on this couch with Jamie Dornan, and he told us

he got crucified by a journalist for his Irish accent,

and he's Irish!

I was in that movie with him! And we got destroyed.

Yeah, but he's Irish.

I know, but he's from Belfast.

And they told him his Irish accent was shit, so it was like we were.

I don't know what...

But anyway, listen, the accent, the accent was terrifying

and I worked really hard at it because, you know, we all know

actors who didn't get it right and they do get held to account.

And did you have any kind of like, were you given short cuts into it?

Yes, I did.

I had an amazing dialect coach called Paul,

who basically, yeah, he, he gave me, um,

I don't know if you've ever done this for an accent,

but he gave me kind of the vowels broken down into eight sounds

and then these little poems, actually, funnily enough,

I could follow, I could follow with one of the poems,

but they were kind of ridiculous.

And I would listen to them and look kind of crazy walking around.

Can you remember any of them?

I remember, um, er, like the sound.

I mean, I'm going to butcher it, and the Irish people

are going to come.

No, they're not.

No, I'm not on set.

It was a year and a half ago, in my defence.

So like the sound, like wine, light, fine, Ireland,

it was something like, um...

"The prime height for umpires in Ireland is five foot nine."

"I'm smiling now because of the fine white wine I'm drinking."

"It makes me feel like I'm a lion flying."

APPLAUSE.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Still got it, still got it.

That's one of...

That's cool.

You've been there as an actor. Like, it's very scientific.

You've got to break the accent down into these tiny.

Have you ever done an accent, Matthew?

Yes, yeah. Tim Monarch is who I worked with.

Yeah, you give the little limericks and you just find the,

actually the rhyme and the vowel sounds along the way, and you start,

it sort of seeps in.

And James Norton, this is, it's a big action series,

big action role for you, and we've had fighting,

we've had fires. You bring us explosions.

I do.

Now, have you ever had to do walking away from an explosion before?

So pleased we can get to talk about this.

Yeah, so no. You have.

I know you have, because there is a song.

So we were shooting this scene in Liverpool, and Sean Rafferty...

My role was made very easy because all I had to do was sort

of strut and smoke cigarettes and look kind of cool.

And so one of these scenes, I was walking away from an explosion

and my business partner and my dear, dear best friend, she texted me

in the middle of this scene.

She said, have you seen "cool guys don't look back at explosions".

The Lonely Island guys. Have you seen it?

Andy Samberg, which you were in, it's a song and he's cut together.

It's so good.

It's cut together all the actors and actresses over the over the time

in Hollywood who have walked away from an explosion

and not turned back.

You can't turn back. But you were my inspiration.

Oh, cool.

This is what's actually in the series.

This is Sean Rafferty walking away from an explosion.

I'm not afraid of a bit of progress.

And wait for it. Oh, there you go.

But then do I look back, do I not?

No, you don't! No!

You're so cool.

So the rules are you don't look back.

That's a rule, you don't look back.

And I suppose the other thing would be you wouldn't look sort

of pleased with yourself for walking away from it.

Oh, no.

No, don't look back. Don't look pleased.

Don't react.

Don't just stone cold straight face. Stone cold straight face.

Yeah, "this is what I do" kind of thing.

By the way, you're a producer. Make it happen.

I wasn't a producer on this. I don't know what you're...

So this is... This is a slightly longer take.

This is from behind the scenes of Sean Rafferty walking

away from the explosion.

Oh...

So here he goes. So there's the explosion.

Not looking back.

Oh, he looked back. He did.

At least he hasn't looked pleased with himself at all.

LAUGHTER.

That's so cool.

Found out.

All right, it's time for music.

This seven-time Brit Award winning Grammy-nominated artist first set

the world alight with her debut album My 21st Century Blues.

Here performing her newly released single

Where Is My Husband?, it's Raye!

CHEERING.

I would like a ring

on my wedding finger

and shiny diamond

and talk and talk about it

is here Forgive me God

death I do I do I do I

is my husband?

testing my patience?

reviewing applications

is my husband?

of living like this

and shiny diamond

is my husband?

on my wedding finger

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Wow!

Bric putting on a show. Give it up for Raye. How amazing is that?

Hello, Raye. It's so nice to meet you.

you. That is Raye right there. Hello, Emily. I love you. Hello,

guys. First of all, thank you for that

amazing performance. It's a standing up dress. You put on a show, thank

you so much. And congratulations on everything that has happened to you

since the last time you are on the show. Broke records at the Brits,

performed at the Grammys, the Oscars. Just phenomenal.

CHEERING . Can I ask you a question? When you

look success, did you lean into being more you? Definitely, yeah.

That right there is me.

And that is the new single.

And that voice we heard at the end, is it true that that is your granny?

That is my grandma, yes. Your husband is coming. Come on, grandma!

She is my best friend. I call her every night, we pray together and we

talk about life together, that is my rock. No pun intended!

I sang a song today on the radio. It was a challenge to me, like the rap

version, because there is a rhythm to it. It was crazy. I butchered it.

I will tell her it was terrible. Congratulations. I would love to get

that footage! That is the new single.

And it's going to be on the new album.

Yes.

Now, when is the new album coming out?

So you can pre-order it. Great.

Pre-order it, but it's just not done at all - like, at all.

I'm an independent artist, right?

OK.

We put it out there.

I've kind of given myself a rough deadline.

I would like to say the first third of next year.

Definitely the first half of next year.

OK. This is not what I thought.

I thought it was kind of like, done, you were just doing

a little polishing. Oh, no.

Maybe add some horns to that - no. Not at all.

So are you writing it right now? I am, yeah.

So, it's a beautiful process, but it does take time.

And I...yeah!

I handed in Where Is My Husband eight days before it came out,

you know what I mean?

So I'm combing away at it, chipping away.

No, this could be better, we should add this.

Yeah.

When you're writing, do you sleep or are you just

always churning with it?

No, you need rest.

Being tired in the studio is the worst.

Yeah.

Yeah, you need to be on, you need to be present.

And I think it's kind of like, I imagine in your guys' crafts,

you know, when your heart starts beating and you just feel like this

adrenaline goes and you're like, I'm where I need to be right now,

I need to chase this feeling.

It's that feeling, you know?

Being tired in the studio, your songs are going to suck.

But now...

In terms of finishing the album, tell me this -

does the album at least have a name?

Erm...

..not really.

Kind of, kind of, kind of. What is "kind of" called?

Um... LAUGHTER.

I'm not sure how to answer that question.

"Kind Of" is the title, right? "Kind Of" is the title right now.

Oh, nice, nice - "Kind Of".

So if Matthew McConaughey says it, it's cool.

I need one of them... You know they do quotes...

It's just like "Matthew McConaughey - Kind Of".

But look, the one thing we do know is you are going on tour.

Yes. Yes, you are.

When does that kick off? Next year.

And we just announced a fifth O2 Arena.

Like, can you believe it? That is phenomenal.

APPLAUSE.

It is phenomenal.

It's interesting because we were talking about family a lot tonight,

and your tour is going to be a family affair.

It is. My two beautiful sisters.

Who are here. Is that them right there?

That's them over there. Get over here now.

Absolutely - Amma, come on up.

Come on, sisters!

Hello! Absolutely.

Hello, have a seat.

You did well.

So this is Amma and Absolutely, and you are going on tour.

Absolutely, you've been on tour with Raye before?

Yes, I have.

This is like some fever dream right now!

Isn't it weird, just everyone staring at you?

You sound like you're not thrilled at the idea of going back on tour.

You're like, "Yes, I have".

It's a good dream.

She is.

Abby's the shy one of us three. A bit more...

Your mother named you Absolutely?

No.

My name is Abby. Abby-Lynn.

Where did absolutely come from?

I was...that's your name?

Tequila!

LAUGHTER.

But that is what you're called? You're called Absolutely, right?

Yeah.

That's your stage name? That's my artist name.

There you go.

I didn't just make it up, Matthew!

I didn't just look at the woman and go,

"Looks like an Absolutely to me".

Abby's too short - it feels rude.

This is such a surreal moment.

I've just sat here with my sister on one side, and then you guys...

It's really abnormal.

You'll never believe who's in the lounge!

Listen, good luck with the tour.

I know you're adding lots of extra dates,

so you're going to be together for quite a long time, so enjoy it.

And Raye - thank you.

That is really a performance for the ages.

It was just fantastic. Raye, everybody!

That is it for tonight.

Sadly no time for red chairs, I'm afraid, so please thank

the rest of my guests - James Norton...

..Matthew McConaughey...

..Emily Blunt...

..and Mr Dwayne Johnson...

Join me next week with another great line-up.

Lewis Capaldi, Domhnall Gleeson, Jodie Turner-Smith, Greta Lee,

Oscar-winner Cillian Murphy and the one and only Taylor Swift.

I'll see you then. Goodnight, everybody - bye-bye!