"Hurray for Hollywood!" Trebucheting across the Atlantic to welcome enigmatic & versatile fire-ball of energy, Scottish BAFTA Award Winning TV & Film Actor, Tony Curran!

Ladies n' Genminminmin (er, min...) delighted to welcome the charismatic & enigmatic fire-ball of energy, Scottish Actor Tony Curran, to The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. Tony was 'Passed the Golden Baton' to be in the Show by fellow Scottish Actor and previous Guest, Cal MacAnininch.

Tony won the Scottish BAFTA as Best Actor for his 'devastating' performance (The Guardian) as Tully in the emotionally raw, funny & life-affirming TV Drama that sensitively and powerfully tackles the issue of assisted dying, "Mayflies".

You can also Watch/Listen to Tony Curran's interview here: https://vimeo.com/chrisgrimes/tonycurran

Tony has many TV & Film 'Bangers' under his belt: Ray Donovan; This Life; Sons of Anarchy; Boardwalk Empire; 24; The Outlaw King & Your Honour to name but some.

Tony Curran is a Scottish expat and life-long Celtic Fan & Ambassador now living in Hollywood, here talking about his life, career and his influences: The  impact of his parents, his passion for theatre and cinema, and the adventures & experiences that have carved his personality. 

Ever heard of using ADHD to your advantage? Tony has. He shares a hilarious tale about his aunt, highlighting the power of humor in everyday life, and his innovative use of LSD to prepare for a role. There's much to learn from his experience with the power of stillness in acting and the wisdom of harnessing one's unique traits.

We talk at length about "Mayflies" too, the chemistry between its co-stars and Tony's pride in the show. We also talk about the seismic effects, importance & reach of the current Writers Guild of America strike and the profound impact of AI on the entertainment industry generally. 

We also talk about Tony's approach to finding joy in his craft, through the power of vulnerability & stillness. 

Tony Curran is a true maestro of acting and this is a wonderful, heart-warming episode indeed. Enjoy!

Tune in next week for more stories of 'Distinction & Genius' from The Good Listening To Show 'Clearing'. If you would like to be my Guest too then you can find out HOW via the different 'series strands' at 'The Good Listening To Show' website.

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Thanks for listening!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

Welcome to another episode of the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me, chris Grimes, the storytelling show that features the clearing, where all good questions come to get asked and all good stories come to be told, and where all my guests have two things in common they're all creative individuals and all with an interesting story to tell. There are some lovely storytelling metaphors a clearing, a tree, a juicy storytelling exercise called 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, some alchemy, some gold, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So, yes, welcome to the Good Listening To Show your life and times with me. Chris Grimes, are you sitting comfortably here? Then we shall begin.

Speaker 1: 0:57

Welcome to a very exciting episode of the Good Listening To Show, where I actually hooray for Hollywood. We're going all the way to Hollywood where we're trebucheting across the Atlantic to speak to a Scottish expat as he now lives in Hollywood. But this is the wonderful Scottish BAFTA Award-winning actor Tony, as you've got on your name tag, bo Curran, I don't suspect. I think you've had it hijacked by your daughter haven't you?

Speaker 2: 1:20

Yes, I've had most things hijacked by my daughter. Yeah, and that's going to continue for the next number of years.

Speaker 1: 1:32

And you've just handbrake slid into the clearing because you've taken Bo to school in Hollywood. I'm understepping.

Speaker 2: 1:39

Yes, we live in Santa Monica Brentwood area and I've gone all the way on the motorway the freeway as they call it over here over to Hollywood. She goes to fashion camp, as you do.

Speaker 1: 1:56

Is that a summer recess thing, fashion camp, or are you not on summer recess there?

Speaker 2: 2:00

Well, I've got summer recess. Right now it's all summer, yeah, tennis camp, fashion camp, dance camp, and I didn't if any of those camps. When I was a child, I used to climb trees and mug people in the south side of the bar. It was an extra-curricular activity, but it was fun and cathartic, as my mother would say. You turned out all right.

Speaker 1: 2:26

You did turn out all right because, well, let's go to.

Speaker 2: 2:29

That's questionable, but anyway depends who you ask.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Well, you've turned out all right, because actually you've not just won one BAFTA. You won a Scottish BAFTA back in 2006, I believe, but you've just just just won the Scottish BAFTA for your extraordinary performance in Mayflies.

Speaker 2: 2:44

Well, actually it wasn't a Scottish BAFTA, it was an RTS Royal Television Society Award. But there you go, Pardon me. But not to be sniffed at but it's always nice knowledge for things you do, so there you go.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Talking of fashion camp, I wonder if, beau, your daughter has actually given you a bit of a makeover You're wearing for those that are watching. You can see he's wearing the most gorgeous green beret. Yes, symphony of Green today, miss.

Speaker 2: 3:13

Symphony of Green, actually the Symphony of Green. The Berry hides a bad hair day, and this also was salute to the man that asked me to do this, that put me forward to my friend, cal McIninch. Yes, he bought me this. I think Cal bought me this like 25 years ago with his hat it's a little post-miss number and I thought I'd wear it in his, you know, to honour him.

Speaker 1: 3:40

Well, that's lovely of you to do that because, yes, indeed, cal McIninch, who's rode the Atlantic, as we know, and is a glorious fellow Scottish actor he's had two rows through the clearing, actually, and he indeed passed the golden baton on to you, which I'm, I have to say, a little bit of wee came out when he mentioned your name. I was very, very excited because you've got so many bangers to your name in TV and film and I won't do you justice, but Ray Donovan, sons of Anarchy, boardwalk Empire, you've been the most brilliant Frankie the Bodyguard to Michael Stoolberg in two seasons of your Honor recently. So it's all been sort of nom nom, nom, nom, nom nom television stuff. So it's wonderful to have you here. Thank you, it's nice to be here and it's been a really lovely day spent actually researching you. I'm watching the Outlaw King Sorry, outlaw King with Chris.

Speaker 2: 4:29

Payne yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:30

Yeah, extraordinary. I've been watching that today and loving it, and I've just rewatched Mayflies, which has the most beautiful end montage which is almost a perfect ending for you, because of your love of football as well where you're doing this wonderful bit of keepy-uppy just before you swallow the last bitter pill of dignitas yeah, extraordinary montage yeah, yeah, no, it's quite.

Speaker 2: 4:53

Yeah, Peter Mackey-Berns, our director, was a beautiful crescendo, if you will, if I can call it like that, to the end of the story. A lot of people are like how is this going to end? You know, it's so, it's so moving, it's so stirring and sad. But no, it was, and there was no visual effects used, with me doing my keepy-uppies. I swear to God, that was all real. You know 22 takes later, but no, it was only 20 takes.

Speaker 2: 5:25

No but no, it was quite a poignant, you know beautiful way to end it. I thought it was yeah, a lot of people shed a tear shed more than shed a few tears at that ending. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 5:42

I mean it was described by the Guardian as being devastating, which I totally agree with. It's a memorial to youth seaforia, because there's lots of throwbacks to your earlier squad as a group of friends. And then, of course, you're the one that's been given the cancer diagnosis.

Speaker 2: 5:57

It's quite, you know, obviously in Switzerland it's legal the euthanised oneself. But it is something that's come into the consciousness and into the, you know, cultural circles of the, you know taking one's life and having that decision to actually do that if you have a terminal illness or if you have a debilitating disease. Obviously it's not for everybody, but I think the fact that it could be an option for people is an interesting avenue to go down, when many people have had years and years and years of looking after their parents or looking after someone who's ill, and it's definitely what with the greatest compassion and empathy in the world. It's not a decision one takes lightly, but I think it's interesting to have it as an option and people can, you know, can see if it's something they would want to choose. You know, as you know, in that sense it was Tully's life, it was his decision to make obviously his wife Not telling your wife in the show is never a good thing Actually actually beautifully by Ashley.

Speaker 2: 7:20

She's incredible. But yeah, it does have a profound effect on other people. But at the end of the day, I think Tully wanted to have control, as you know, grabbing death by the throat as it were.

Speaker 1: 7:36

So that's May for those of you listening the BBC. Well, it was on. I saw it on BBC iPlayer, but I can't remember exactly who produced it, but it was maybe a BBC film. Yeah, sigma.

Speaker 2: 7:46

Sigma, Sigma, Sigma and.

Speaker 1: 7:47

Brett, full circle. It's so lovely that actually Cal McAninch was one of your friends within it. Actually he was part of the squad yeah, it was.

Speaker 2: 7:55

Yeah, martin Compton, jobs for the boys Colin McCready, obviously, carl, and Sean MacDonald, another Carl's wife, a friend of mine, but she too has already, she too has been in the show already, so I'm sort of just chipping away through the cast, it seems, of that particular show may flies.

Speaker 1: 8:18

But anyway, it is my great pleasure at Tony Curran to welcome you to the Goodlix Newtose 2 show Clearing. So I'm going to curate you through the new normal journey, which is a clearing a tree, a lovely juicy storytelling exercise called 54321, some alchemy, some gold, a couple of random squirrels, a cheeky bit of Shakespeare and a cake. So it's all to play for. So shall we get you on the open road? Then let's do it, my friend. And by the way, you're such a brilliant, quintessential Scottish hard man of film and TV. I have so enjoyed watching the stuff that you do, so it's great to have you here. So thank you. Where is what is a clearing for Tony Curran? Where does he go to get clutifery, inspirational and able to think?

Speaker 2: 9:01

Well, first thing that came to mind was on top of a mountain when I'm skiing. Actually, can I say that you, can I go to Mammoth skiing or?

Speaker 1: 9:11

anywhere really.

Speaker 2: 9:13

Last year I was in Kitschbull in Austria but there was no bloody snow. Ironically, for me, just being in the mountains, being outdoors from skiing on my own which is, you know, sometimes if I'm not with the kids or they're somewhere it's just a very cathartic, meditative experience being in the mountains, being in the and did you ski as a child within Glasgow?

Speaker 1: 9:46

I know that the Scottish people get snowy every year.

Speaker 2: 9:50

I was like 14, my brother-in-law, martin, martin and Liz would take me to Glen Shea in Avymore when they had snow Before we set our world on fire, alas and then we'd go to Hill End in Edinburgh. Actually, it was the largest dry ski slope.

Speaker 1: 10:15

Hill End sounds more like a Hill End.

Speaker 2: 10:18

You've got to do the Hill End, Chris man, you get slapped in the boot. No, it was a. What a powder. No, there wasn't much snow in Glasgow, but Hill End in Edinburgh was a dry slope, but it would be quite painful if you fell. But no, I just. There's something about skiing that I love it. I just love getting outdoors and then I love getting up the mountain and for me that's a sort of a calm, free feeling experience for me, yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:52

That's a lovely answer. So you can be specific about which mountainscape you'd like as you're clearing, or you can just make it in the head-skimping.

Speaker 2: 10:59

Yeah, You've got Mammus Mountain California.

Speaker 1: 11:05

There you go, wonderful. So if I may, then I'm going to arrive now with a tree, a bit waiting for Godot-esque, existentially, to shake your tree to see which storytelling apples fall out. How do you like these apples? A couple of comedy props come out every now and again, and this is where you've been. Thank you here all week. You've been kind enough to answer the construct 54321, where you've had five minutes to have thought about four things that have shaped you, three things that inspire you, two things that never fail to grab your attention that's where the random squirrel's going to come in and then a quirky or unusual fact about you. So how would you like to interpret the shaking of the canopy of your trees?

Speaker 2: 11:40

Yeah Well, four things, that inspired me.

Speaker 1: 11:44

A shape tree.

Speaker 2: 11:44

First of all, a shape Right, okay, well, I definitely have to say my mama I'm going to be a little bit more careful with the camera Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, mary, because she's a force of nature, she's compassionate, she's funny, she's going to be 90 in November 16th. We're going over for that. So yeah, my mum has definitely been a big part of my life, shaping me.

Speaker 1: 12:11

Is your dad still with us, if I may?

Speaker 2: 12:13

ask yeah, my dad passed away when I was 27,. Yeah, many years ago. He was only 63. Yeah, he died of cancer me, cecilia, oma. But yeah, I'm still thinking about my dad a lot too, of course, edward. But also I'll throw theatre and cinema in at the same. In fact it's alright if I can throw that in.

Speaker 2: 12:37

I've always cinema and theatre shaped my life greatly. It started in theatre when I was a teenager, at school, at an anti-drama school, and cinema has always been a big part of my life as well. I've always been in well, I am an actor, I live in Hollywood, so I guess it shaped me in some sense. Old Hollywood movies and cinema in Glasgow, citizen's Theatre or whatever you know, the West End London. Going to New York when I was a kid as well Broadway I also wrote down here. Travel, travel definitely shaped me because I've been lucky enough to live. I've been on not all over the world, but I've had an incredible trip when I was a teenager, I was 17,. I was in New York. I went for a three-week holiday and I ended up staying for six months working for Bay Ridge and Benson Benson Hoist, as they called it as a labourer. Pretending I was a labourer, I had red hair and a funny accent To the New Yorkers.

Speaker 2: 13:55

They thought, oh, this kid must be good with his hands. Little did they know I was a wannabe actor. So I've travelled quite a bit. I think travelling was good. I got my mama. Theatre, cinema, travel and meditation came to mind, as my mother used to say. I was my auntie Betty. After my mum went to the grocery store one day and she came back and auntie Betty had a wee drink and cigarette. She's lying on the couch, passed out, places a mess and I'm running about like a blue arse to fly, as my mother would say. A blue, she's like Betty. What the hell's going on? And auntie Betty got up from the couch rather dishevelled and said for God's sake, mary, does he not know what his arse is for? So basically the point of that story is I don't know if I had ADHD or if I was just a mad little working class boy from Glasgow who was excited about being on this planet.

Speaker 2: 15:16

But it's a long way for an answer, but meditation as I've got older has calmed me down somewhat. How?

Speaker 1: 15:29

did you find that?

Speaker 2: 15:30

More pensive. More pensive, more relaxed helped me, you know spiral in your head and turn off the brain at times, because you know I can sometimes be a pest the whole cerebral passages, and it doesn't have to be all the time, if you can just try to manage it.

Speaker 1: 15:50

So yeah, meditation, so practice for you. How often do you get to do that? And I was interested, when you first stumbled into it, to be able to use it as a vocabulary and a methodology for yourself.

Speaker 2: 16:00

I try to do it twice a day when I wake up and when I go to sleep before about a super night or even during the day. I've got this thing called unplug meditation. It's a little app which is a place here that I go to Santa Monica as well sometimes. But I mean the meditation doesn't have to be sitting there, listening to someone talk to you, even if you're just sitting in silence. Sometimes, if you're sitting in the car, if you're just sitting there quietly, breathing can be calming, can be a meditative experience, because we've got 50 to 80,000 thoughts running through our little, between our little ears. You know, each day it's a lot of, it's a lot of baggage and you know it's just like you're a long time dead.

Speaker 2: 16:55

I think we're not. We're here for the blink of an eye and I'd rather not be, you know, thinking myself into insanity, as it were. You know I mean that's a bit extreme, but but people, people are extreme. We can be extreme and our thoughts and our feelings can be extreme, but sometimes they're not have the things. Well, 90% of the things we think about aren't actually conscious thought. They're just streams of of of unconscious, you know and I love space jump space jump is flying through our heads.

Speaker 1: 17:38

You know space jump the atoms of the good, you know, the atoms of space junk. I love the description of happy to be on this planet with ADHD. Subsequently, there was a lovely review. I read of you it when I think you're in. I think it was the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, where you had to do something as the invisible man on a blue screen and you were described as being a smurf on acid.

Speaker 2: 18:02

Yes, yes, that was part of my preparation, with taking some LSD and dressing up. I think that as a compliment, anything that you know that it's a good, it's a good, it's a good, it's a good, it's a good line. You know it made me giggle, but yeah however, you've managed to bottle it.

Speaker 1: 18:26

What's extraordinary I mean when I watch you being Frankie the bodyguard, for example, in your honor what's really powerful is just that you're doing a bit of that sort of anti-Hopkins stillness stuff, where the day comes from being still.

Speaker 2: 18:41

A friend of mine, david Brinkley, said to me. He said yeah, I really, like my friend, were watching that and then they were like that's Tony and they're like that's not Tony and he's like no, it is Tony and he goes but he doesn't speak and he's very still and it's like that's very unlike him and we said that must have been very difficult or challenge for him. But I'm know it's. I guess it was an actor. You look at the script and you go, oh right, you know, or what is the impact of this role? What?

Speaker 1: 19:15

is it?

Speaker 2: 19:16

What do I do? What does he say? Is it all of it? But, yes, no, I like the idea that stillness can be very powerful. Obviously, and you know, less is more and Frankie's case, hopefully, that was the case.

Speaker 1: 19:35

And well, the energy is lovely, and it takes one to know one as well, in the sense that I too have. I'm fairly frenetic in my energy, and I'm actually I've been told many times I ought to meditate more.

Speaker 2: 19:48

How dare they?

Speaker 1: 19:49

who told you that? Oh, most people, most of the time. So we might have ended up with the four shapings now. It's about three things that inspire you, tony, karen.

Speaker 2: 20:00

You know, the first thing that came to mind that inspired me was Mediba, was was Nelson Mandela. He's always inspired me. Just I went, I went to, I went even before I went to a shot in the middle of film called like the Phoenix, with Dennis Quaid and Giovanni Robisi to Laurie years ago, and I had a bit of a time off because I died in the film.

Speaker 2: 20:26

Like I do, and I went to Robin Island where Mandela was incarcerated for almost 30 years 29 years but I read while I was there before I led long walk to freedom. But just his whole existence and the sacrifice that he went through for for South Africa to me was always a I don't know he just his humanity, his compassion, his empathy, his, his, I don't know, it's just his soul. You could see this man. He'd such a grace under the apartheid regime and what he went through and what he sacrificed to me has always been inspiring.

Speaker 1: 21:25

I read a quote where his greatest weakness was that he always, always, without fail, saw the best in people, which is obviously brilliant. But, of course, when he resumed, that's when it would be slightly catastrophic to always, always default to that proposition.

Speaker 2: 21:38

Sure, sure. That's what he said once. That's a power phrase that we said. It's always good to see the best in people. Sometimes they act. The better for it. Yes, but it depends if you're referring to FW DeClerc or some of those other individuals that he had to confront back in the day. That's a lovely epic question.

Speaker 1: 22:06

you're filming in the Namibian desert to go to the island and to be incarcerated yeah, like a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage over there and I actually sat.

Speaker 2: 22:14

I went to his cell, his prison cell, and he sat and looked at where he was incarcerated for all those years Was kind of humbling and moving very powerful. And also the mines they used to go. They used to work the mines as well and people have been incarcerated for prisons. But for the fact that what he was imprisoned for was so horrifically unjust for the people of South Africa and what was going on at that time and for the rest of the world for many years to actually overlook it was awful in itself.

Speaker 1: 23:04

And I was at the Wembley concert when he first stood up on stage and spoke for the first time and you could have heard a pin drop in the stadium, a big music event. But it was in his honour, so I'm talking obviously late 80s.

Speaker 2: 23:20

it was Incredible yeah, I mean, he's got that humanity. He had that humanity, but he was also with a great sense of humour as well. Well, I mean, you could see that you had this levity and this sort of humour about him as well, which was always a beautiful thing.

Speaker 1: 23:38

So he's a lovely influencer. Thank you for that.

Speaker 2: 23:41

Two other influencers you know I'm going to say the Lisbon Lions. My grandfather, tommy Riley, my mum's mum, my mum's father, was the scout for Celtic from 66 to 74. He sounds players like Danny McRaean, enyu, kenneth Aglish. He was a friend of Jock Steen and he was a great friend of Billy McNeill, sean Fallon, all the Celtic team, you know, tommy Gemma, willie Wallace, jimmy Johnson, all of them really. And he was in Lisbon the night that Celtic. Some people phrase it they were the first North European team to win the European Cup outside of, you know, into Milan, or you know, real Madrid and so on. So for me, just about the story of these men, there was one Irishman, sean Fallon, but the rest of the team were born within a 13 mile radius of Celtic Park.

Speaker 1: 24:51

Wonderful.

Speaker 2: 24:52

It's kind of a fairy tale in its sense, isn't it? 13 mile radius of the park they were born and they went on to lift, arguably, you know, the greatest domestic well kind of as the greatest domestic cup in football, and they weren't given a hope in hell. Basically, against Inter Milano, the great Inter Milan, who you know were just going to show up and sweep us away.

Speaker 1: 25:25

But your Twitter feed is always so full of glee pertaining to Celtic because I know you've just had the triple.

Speaker 2: 25:32

Yeah, I'm a very proud, yeah, very proud of myself. I don't know if I see that much I'm very. It's not just about being a football fan, it's also the Celtic culture, you know. I think it's just such a warm, embracing, fun, music, art. You know, there's so many characters that I've met through football. I mean, I met Billy Conley over here, wonderful, one time at a Celtic AC Milan game. At half time he came out and said to me I said Billy, hi, he goes, how you doing? I said hi, I'm Tony, nice to meet you. He goes. I'm Billy, and I was like I'm Toby Park and you know he's still sort of down to earth like that. And he looked at my boots. I had these cowboy boots on ankle, ones that were like green and black, and he goes.

Speaker 2: 26:24

I like your cowboy boots, where'd you get them? And I said I actually got them in. I bought them in Chelsea, in London. He went I know where you got them. And I said you do, where did I get them? And he said did you get them on the King's Road? And I said I did get them on the King's Road. And he goes did you buy them in our souls? And I was like what? He went, you bought them in our souls, didn't you? And I went I fucking did buy them in our souls. And he's got a laughter. I love that name for a store, isn't it? Brilliant our souls. Brilliant, anyway, that was a meeting of and he's a big Celtic fan, anyway. But no, I've just said the Lisbon lines were, as I was growing up, the fact that my mum's father worked for Celtic and had a hand and signing some clairs.

Speaker 1: 27:21

And you're an ambassador on you as well, for Celtic, isn't it? I am, yes.

Speaker 2: 27:25

I'm an ambassador with one of the smart and comms-tem. I mean I haven't been because I was so busy in London doing that TV show Mary and George there for five months. Julianne Moore, nick Gallatse.

Speaker 1: 27:36

This is where you're doing another epic historical thing. You're playing King James. I aren't you, annette.

Speaker 2: 27:41

I am Sixth of Scotland, First of England. Yes, so we shot that for five months, but sort of segue.

Speaker 2: 27:50

But, yeah, no, the Lisbon lines were always. Yeah, you really sing. You live a walk alone at Celtic Park or at Hand in a, wherever you may be with your scarf above your head. It does bring a tear to a glass eye. So, yeah, I love that. I've actually got a plate that my nephew gave me in my and it's a little plate of the Lisbon lines. It's also next to a gnome that Martin Compton gave me. He had these little gnomes. He made these gnomes for this little company he had, and the gnome is Billy. What's called Caesar is Billy McNeill raising the European Cup above his head.

Speaker 1: 28:31

So he makes gnomes. That's pretty.

Speaker 2: 28:34

He did?

Speaker 1: 28:35

Martin made gnomes. Yes, that's a good side hustle, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 28:39

Yes, he's a little guy. A little guy making gnomes, you know, making moves.

Speaker 1: 28:44

And Martin Compton is the next professional footballer too, isn't he?

Speaker 2: 28:47

Here's Martin Clegg. Yeah, he's played a lot. In the end I played in a charity Henryx Heroes vs Lubos Legends. Yeah, lubomir Avchak and Henryk Kallasen. It was 60,000 people. It was after we won the treble, and then thingies for season. Sorry, I forgot our manager's name, the Celtic manager who's just come back, brendan Fraser. Brendan Fraser, brendan Rogers yeah, brendan Fraser. Brendan Fraser, brendan Rogers was his first season. We won the treble, the invincible treble, and the next day me Martin played with Celtic Park. It was quite an experience, you know. Shall I go on to?

Speaker 1: 29:37

my sorry, sorry. I was going to talk about your skill at doing Keepie up, even though you did confess it took 20 takes. But at the end of Mayfly it says I won the four. I was embellishing.

Speaker 2: 29:46

I tend to do that, Can you tell? Do you want me to go on to?

Speaker 1: 29:50

the last, yeah, the last influencing thing now. Well, there you go. I'm going to say James Cagney.

Speaker 2: 29:57

Okay, because I remember watching Angels with Dirty Faces, so and he's a gangster and he he's, you know, the back street kids or whatever the kids and the other, and they're basically going to become, these kids, you know, a bad influence on the rest of their life because of Cagney's the gangster. He's the bad guy but he's been put up for murder and the priest goes in, father goes in and he tries to convince them to. When he goes to the electric chair that he's going to, he's going to squeal, you know he's going to, you know he's going to cave and basically lose, you know, completely lose it and like, yeah, he's going to, he's going to become, yeah, he's going to, yeah, he's, basically he's not going to the electric chair like a man. You know he's going to lose his, his cool and he's going to, you know, become a colored basically. And that's what he asked, the priest asked Jimmy Cagney to do and it was always a real, a member of watching it as a kid and I loved other you know Cagney movies anyway.

Speaker 1: 31:21

Give us the title of that film again, just about those, the Angels with Dirty Faces. Angels with Dirty Faces and by the way only only the Scottish can say murder in the way you just did Murder.

Speaker 2: 31:33

Like Mark McManus said, I did a couple of Targets on my day but I had this been a murder, murder in the tomb. But yeah, no, he. But he ends up going to the electric chair and there's this incredible scene with the cameras following him and behind him that cuts to both and then, and he's sort of, you know, he's like nah, I'm not squealing, I'm not going to be squealing for nobody. You know what do you think I am? You know, listen here, see so, and then, is it is it, is it is it. He walks out the cell, you know, and dig.

Speaker 2: 32:04

You know I'm not going to do that for those kids, you know because if he, if he does it the kids will be like oh, he was a squealer, oh, we're not going to follow his path, he wasn't no hero. So he ends up. Just as he's getting to the chair, he starts going nah, I don't want to go down, I don't want to go down, I don't want to go down, I don't want to go down, I don't want to go down, I don't want to go down. And he start, he starts doing that, you know, and he loses it completely and like it's always emotional, and then they have to drag him. They have to drag him into the chair, and it was basically he.

Speaker 2: 32:38

He ends up, you know, he ends up. He does what the priest asked him to do. So the kids would look at him and go, oh man, he was just a coward Chicken. And so he saw the last thing he does and was it for the whole. Oh sorry, you were going to say it's a good thing. No, the last thing he does is a good thing. And he ends up going to electric chair, screaming and screaming I don't want to die, I don't want to die. Anyway, I just remember that being imprinted on my mind as a kid. I must watch it again, actually, because it was quite up.

Speaker 2: 33:10

I'm not saying it it sounds incredible. Moving moment, yeah, of cinema.

Speaker 1: 33:15

I'm assuming what you admire so much is the complete gamut of human emotion that he runs from gangster cool to complete unhinged.

Speaker 2: 33:21

No, absolutely yeah, yeah, and he wasn't a bad dancer either. I'm a ganky doodle dandy, but no, yeah, no, that was sort of yeah. So for me anyway, it shaped me or inspired me, because I, as an actor, I guess the whole idea of I mean acting for me is vulnerability. I've talked to some actors and they're like, oh, I don't like being vulnerable and I'm like you know, you like to show strength as a character, but I'm like, well, you have. I mean, you know, if you get a character that's written on the page, you know that if you get, if you're lucky enough to go offered it, or if you audition for it and you get the role and you want to do it, and if it's interesting enough to you to be part of it, then then you give it.

Speaker 2: 34:13

You give it your all and no matter what it is I feel in my I don't discriminate, if you will, when it comes to roles. It's a tough enough game, this show.

Speaker 1: 34:29

It's very profound that you, as your technique, your shtick, as the actors, you're looking for the vulnerability. So is that?

Speaker 2: 34:35

what you say. That's important to you. Yeah, no, I think you know, the human condition is there to be, it's there to be explored, it's there to be, it's there to be enjoyed, it's there to be wondered at, it's there to be and expressed.

Speaker 1: 35:02

It's there to be laughed find humour, find joy, find, you know, you know, last week.

Speaker 2: 35:05

You know we've got the strike on right now. You know, you know these fat cats, these CEOs or whatever you want to call them, and as if you're treating this as a business. Now, this is the business. You know, you're just pawns. You're a pawn. You know, rather ironically recently but the segue I was at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens, just below the Acropolis. It seemed like such a mad irony. You know I was standing there. You know the Theatre of Dionysus, where it all began, and you know thespus we're called thespians. You know where it all began and there's a strike going on in America.

Speaker 1: 35:50

This is the Scottish Right to Skill. Yeah yeah, the Screwed Act is Screwed Act.

Speaker 2: 35:54

The WGE, the Writers Guild of America, and the Screwed Act is Guild, and I was wondering, I wonder, what the Greeks would think about this. You know, but they won't pay. You know they want the 75, 125 million bonus that they gave themselves, but they won't pay some actors or stuntmen or extras what they do, you know, for the art they create, for the money they make for them. It's kind of like during the lockdown I'm not blowing the trumpet of the actor or the producer or the director or the writer, but you know what was everybody doing? Why would everybody do anyway to escape? We watch films, we watch television, we watch the theatre.

Speaker 1: 36:50

And there's a great movement of standing ground currently. Now isn't there, absolutely that's the should be.

Speaker 2: 36:59

Anyway, not to go on about that, jimmy Cagney takes me into. I wonder what Jimmy Cagney would think about the strike right now. I think he'd be on a soapbox of sorts, because also the AI in taking people's attention, using it in perpetuity, I mean there's all these different aspects, all, but they're just it's kind of human rights as well as artistic rights. You know you're taking the piss here big time. I hope something. I don't know if the government are going to get involved or they can come to the table and sort something out, but I guess time will tell.

Speaker 1: 37:51

Yes, the world has tilted, it has changed. The world of AI has changed everything, absolutely Okay. So now we're on to, if I may, and Bo, if we go down any particular rabbit holes, I've got a bell which goes it's now time to talk about squirrels. Please, what are your squirrels of distraction? What never fails to grab your attention, irrespective of anything else that's going on for you, tony?

Speaker 2: 38:18

You know, the first thing that came to mind was a snowfall. Lovely, yeah. No, I guess that's my first time on a stand, so I don't really, I've not really watched it.

Speaker 1: 38:35

There's a lovely thing about you being sort of, as you said, of your own volition as a youngster, sort of quite manic and ADHD. It's a bit like shaking a snowball, which may be why you like to just go and you calm down when you see snow.

Speaker 2: 38:52

And then the next thing I said was, because I was down, I dropped pink my daughter up the other day. We got some yoghurt and then we went down to Ocean Park, which is very nice, and then we just watched the sunset. So that's another thing that grabs my attention. Obviously, trying to get my phone off, my daughter that grabs my attention as well. I'm like, look, you live in California. It's not a bad spot. We're very lucky, we're very grateful. I keep saying that too. I'm very grateful, I'm very lucky. You make your own luck as well. But yeah, snowfall always grabs my attention and I'm a big fan of a sunset. That always grabs my attention as well, chris.

Speaker 1: 39:38

Those would be boring answers. Because of your love of meditation, they're absolutely beautiful and appropriate, and I love the fact that there's sort of harsh reality Put your phone down is in there as well, while you're trying to be an esthete. I appreciate the wilderness Lovely. And now a quirky or unusual fact about you, tony Curran, that we couldn't possibly know about you until you tell us.

Speaker 2: 40:01

Right, ok, well, maybe some people do know this about me, but I have a very, I have a massive no.

Speaker 2: 40:13

I have a huge ego. No, you know that I was playing a character once called Detac Tar and a sci-fi show called Defiance in Toronto. Look at me coming back to Celtic, my greatest love, next to my wife and daughter. But my mother and Celtic were playing Barcelona in the Champions League and I asked the producers could I go to the game? And he said what are you talking about? You're filming? And I said yeah, I know, but I'm off for the next three hours. You've got that big, you know, that scene to shoot. It's going to take a while. And I don't, you know, I'm not into that.

Speaker 2: 40:51

Fourth, fifth scene of the day I'd already shot in the morning. I had my wig on, white wig, white face makeup. And he says, ok, you can go in two conditions to the game. And I said, yeah, he goes, keep your wig on and your makeup. I was like OK. And he says and try to stay off the Guinness. So I was like well, I can see one out of two. See how I do. Now I said, yes, no problem, I won't be drinking, I'll keep the wig on so they don't have to do all that again. So I went to see Celtic play Barcelona and I put a little beanie on and I sort of sneaked in because I looked quite odd. I'm peeling up anyway.

Speaker 2: 41:35

But anyway, 142 was the ticket number. A half time Celtic were one up at half time at Celtic Park and I never won a raffle and apparently half times about 80 people in there. It's got a lot of money in the pot and 142, 142. Who's the winner? 142, 142. And I was like nobody would.

Speaker 2: 41:58

Well, he is it. You know. It's no me, charlie. This isn't to want to all these parts of Irish, some English folk, you know. Oh yeah, celtic, go on. No, it's not me. You're on me, willie. 142, 142. Come on, who's one is $125 here. So I put my hand in my pocket and I pull it out and it says 142. Wow, and they're like come up to the stage, choose one. So I go up to the stage and as I walk on I've got my beanie on and the guy looks at me and he goes Jesus Christ, son, who have you come? As you know, I was like who's this? Jimmy Savile? No, you can always cut that out. But I looked at the odd he was who have you come, as son? And I said basically I told them what I was doing and they're like this is Tony's playing an alien on a TV show shooting here in Toronto and I ended up putting the $125 in the pot for them.

Speaker 1: 42:56

I love the fact that the draiders said the two conditions would keep the makeup on and try to stay off the Guinness. So I think you probably knew what you were about.

Speaker 2: 43:05

Yeah, one out of two ain't bad. No, so I ended up. I didn't get on the Guinness and we ended up we won and you won the raffle.

Speaker 1: 43:12

So what's meant for you won't pass your raffle.

Speaker 2: 43:15

I went back to set and got my ass kicked by a fellow actor and a fight scene and yeah, maybe some people did know that fact because actually Chris was Scottish actor sported in pub dressed as alien. I think it was on the front of one of the pages of the Daily Record.

Speaker 1: 43:37

Yeah, so you kept a low profile, that's good.

Speaker 2: 43:40

I kept a low profile and obviously someone took a picture and if you can see it, somewhere there's a picture of me sitting there watching television with a glass of water.

Speaker 1: 43:50

And, if I may, I can go number 142, please, which is the raffle ticket of joy, which is wonderful, so that's a great one. So we have shaken your tree, hurrah. So now we move away from the tree, we stay in the clearing, which is your beautiful skiing mountain scape, and now we're going to talk about alchemy and gold. When you're at purpose and in flow, actor Tony Karn, what are you absolutely happiest doing?

Speaker 2: 44:16

I'm in flow. What I'm happiest doing is, apart from being with my daughter and my wife, I guess it's acting when you're on set and sometimes it's like anybody at work. You can have the on. You know, you're building your bricklayer or you're a lawyer, or you're a doctor, or you're a surgeon or you're working tech and you could be having a shitty day or things aren't good, but you're getting through it. It's a labour of love. You know, artistically, you try to create something or bring it to life or be authentic. It's the modus operandum, you know, and trying to find the truth when it's working, when you're on set or you're on a film or TV, when I'm on stage it's been a while since I've been on stage now but when everything's coming together, it's like a symphony of joy and the endorphins and the you know they get firing when that happens. For sure Dopamine.

Speaker 1: 45:19

Lovely. And now, finally, I award you with a cake and you get to put a cherry on the cake, which is stuff like what's the favourite inspirational quote that's always given you sucker. Do you want to answer that first?

Speaker 2: 45:33

I think yeah, I'm going back to Mandela, his inauguration speech. It was taken from a little woman who'd written it, but the first line is our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, our greatest fear is that we're powerful beyond measure. It serves light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Boo, that's part of a speech.

Speaker 1: 45:56

But there you go. You'll have that Lovely. What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Listen, Lovely, Perfect. And what notes help or advice might you proffer to a younger version of Tony Curran, now that you are where you are in Hollywood?

Speaker 2: 46:19

Yeah, listen, it's going to be all right. Keep fighting, don't give up. Love fighting, don't give up. I mean, I've done that anyway.

Speaker 1: 46:35

But yeah, lovely pause as you thought about that. That was so lovely watching you think that through.

Speaker 2: 46:41

I thought it was going to come out of my mouth Lovely. Don't be so hard on yourself. That's another thing. Don't be so hard on yourself. I see that through a lot of people, I guess yes.

Speaker 1: 46:56

And now we're going to ramp up to a bit of Shakespeare shortly, which is going to talk about legacy and how you'd most like to be remembered. But if you don't mind, just before we get there, this is past the golden baton, please. So from the experience, this from within, Cal passed it on to you. Who would you most like to pass the golden baton on to to be given a good listening to in this construct?

Speaker 2: 47:15

I'd like to pass the golden baton on to my old friend. I'd like to pass the golden baton on to that, martin Comston.

Speaker 1: 47:24

I know exactly who that is.

Speaker 2: 47:27

Because he doesn't work much and he's probably dying to talk to somebody about himself because he likes that kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 47:37

So your mission, should you do, to accept it. Thank you, it's to finish me with a warm introduction and thank you so much. That's a lovely baton pass. Thank you very much. When any there? Shakespeare, how, when all is said and done, this is borrowed from all the world's staged. All the bedded women merely players who would sorry. How would you like to be remembered?

Speaker 2: 48:00

I wouldn't, frankly. No, it's a hell of a question to answer, isn't it? I mean, I guess I'd like to be remembered as going to make me cry, as someone who I don't know, someone who tried his best and someone who cared about people, was compassionate about people and loved people and that wanted to. You know, through my, through my job as an actor, I guess, if you want to go there with people in some way, made them laugh, made them cry, made them think about life, who they are, what they are, who they want, what they want yeah, just made, made a difference in some way in a good way. As long as I thought about this answer and I thought I hope it doesn't come, or as a yeah, sort of as long as it comes over as remembered as someone who made a difference in some way in a good way.

Speaker 1: 49:33

It was a lovely, lovely, very, very deeply thoughtful and authentic answer, thank you. Where can we find out all about you on the old interweb?

Speaker 2: 49:45

Tony Curran, 69. That's the year I was born. Obviously it's on my hat. Look my other hat. Lovely Tony Curran on Instagram. I'm just Tony Curran on Instagram, if you want to go there and watch videos and pictures of me striking on the picket lines, because that's what I'm doing right now.

Speaker 1: 50:10

Important work to be done, as this has been your moment in the Sunshine in the Good Listening To Show stories of distinction genius. Is there anything else, actor Tony Curran, you'd like to say? I think I've said enough, chris, thank you. Thank you so much. That was a real privilege. So, ladies and gentlemen, you've been listening to Tony Curran and don't forget to check out the Good Listening To Show new website at wwwthegoodlisteningtoshowcom, and if you too would like to be my guest, then you can find out how, via the various series strands that you can look at at the site. And yes, thank you for listening and good night.

Speaker 1: 50:48

You've been listening to the Good Listening To Show here on UK Health Radio with me, chris Grimes. Oh, it's my son. If you've enjoyed the show, then please do tune in next week to listen to more stories from the Clearing. If you'd like to connect with me on LinkedIn, then please do so. There's also a dedicated Facebook group for the show too. You can contact me about the programme. Or, if you'd be interested in experiencing some personal impact coaching with me, carry my level up your impact programme. That's chrisatsecondcurveuk. On Twitter and Instagram it's at thatchrisgrimes. So until next time for me, chris Grimes, from UK Health Radio and from Stan to your Good Health and goodbye, tony. Thank you so much for recommending Martin Compton as well. That's really lovely of you. So could I get your immediate feedback on what that was like being curated through this structure?

Speaker 2: 51:39

Fucking terrifying. No, I felt I enjoyed some of the garbage that was coming out of my mouth. It felt quite authentic. It felt quite authentic and you were asking some nice questions and engaging. It was lovely and hopefully, yeah, I'll be happy to watch this one back. It's got a lot of my favourite things in it. You've got to talk about your mother, talk about your daughter.

Speaker 1: 52:12

Well, they may flies. It's so suffused with analogy and metaphor of your life because you've got your friendship group within it, but also there's the death of your father within it and there's also your own demise, and football is in there as well. So it is and incredibly I was watching it really struck with the. Now we've spoken in a deeper way, just very well further moved to talk about the analogies that are there within that programme. It's obviously very cathartic to do.

Speaker 2: 52:44

Yeah, no, I mean, I'm super proud of it, it's just the way I remember watching the second part of it. There's a scene where he's packing up to go to Switzerland, he's packing his little bag on his bed before actually his wife comes in and my daughter was sitting next to me and I'm sort of a bit emotional before she comes in, and my daughter's next to me and she was watching me, you know kind of weeping, weeping and I looked over and my daughter was crying. You know it was quite yeah, no, I was yeah you got to keep chipping away in this life.

Speaker 2: 53:35

You know, chris, doing what you do, do what you love if you're lucky enough to be doing a job that brings you joy and you know I've been lucky enough I've been doing this now.

Speaker 2: 53:46

You know, I've been doing it since I was 14 and 54 this year. But yeah, no, that was a very moving piece of television and, yeah, it could only sort of maybe it's given me opportunities to do other things, but it's definitely a show that I'm proud of. I actually it's funny because a year ago this week I was dropping my sister off in Hollywood and I was actually originally playing the Jimmy character, you know, martin's character. But then I literally was driving up to this little place in Hollywood to drop my daughter off and I got a text message from Peter Mackey Burns, the director, saying by the way, I keep rereading the script and I can't get you my head away from the fact that you should be playing Tully, and I thought Tully was going to be played by somebody else, you know, and at that point I sort of went oh fuck, really and then I remember where I was.

Speaker 2: 54:53

You know when there's something a text or a phone call, something happens, a bit of news you know exactly physically where you were and I was just pulling up to drop my daughter off at her fashion camp and remember sitting there going. Oh, that's quite scary. Anyway, a year down the line it was done, the show was done. You know I've got a wee award there, awards and what I'm on here, but actually now you've said that.

Speaker 2: 55:20

The profound effect. Yeah, the profound effect that I had, more than awards or anything like that, but the profound effect that I had on them, on so many people, is why we do what we do. I guess you know.

Speaker 1: 55:32

And now you've told that story. Actually what's meant for you won't pass you by as a sort of cheesy way of putting it, but actually the casting is perfect. It was the right ensemble and the right casting.

Speaker 2: 55:42

Yeah, no, it was great. No, it was great. Me and Martin definitely, I think, you know, because we had to hit the ground running. Those two characters really had to have a connection, chris, you know, and I think, me and Martin because we worked with each other on Red Road years ago and we'd been pals with you know, in Celtic fans or whatever that with Martin.

Speaker 2: 56:09

He's such a lovely actor and such an honest, authentic performer that you, if you hit a bum note, he's gonna sniff it, you know, and he helped me along the way many times with so many things. But I think there was a chemistry between the two of us was important, you know, the thing is the Scottish BAFTA TV Awards. I think they're coming up in October, november, so I don't know if it will get nominated again, you know, but the overlooked is for BAFTA anyway, which some of our producers weren't too happy about, to be perfectly honest but hey, it's a film and a podcast and you actually go, you get pulled into a UK health radio space as well, with an audience of about 1.2 million please, hurrah.

Speaker 2: 57:05

Wow, look at that and you get to see my big ugly mug as well, I guess.

Speaker 1: 57:09

Thank you so much it's been a real delight, and thanks for watching here on Facebook, too. Don't forget check out the new website, wwwthegoodlisteningtouchercom, and you too could be my guest through the very series strands that you will see within that site. Thanks for watching and a really, really good night.