2023-06-14 08:06:00
“The Full Monty” followed the story of a group of men in Sheffield, a small town in the Yorkshire area of northern England who, as a result of de-industrialization and the closure of metal factories, had been left without work. Most of them saw each other daily at the unemployment office, looking for an ever-elusive new job and a Social Security check that would keep them going. With no prospects in an impoverished town, no future at an age where it’s hard to relocate, Gaz and his friend Dave (Mark Addy) were in a true existential crisis.
However, following seeing a male stripper show triumph among the women in the neighborhood, a crazy idea shook their lethargy: they would put on their own striptease number. Between unforgettable gags and the drawing of various difficulties, the group ended up performing before a crowd of unbridled ladies, but not before strengthening their community ties and exalting good humor as a recipe in the face of adversity. That wonderful film story returns today, turned into a series and with the same actors, on the Star + screen.
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some kind of doubt regarding it,” admits Scottish actor Robert Carlyle, who returns to play Gary “Gaz” Schofield, a full-fledged jerk with a good heart but not so good manners. The Glasgow-born British interpreter has a long list of both film and television credits, but his career was marked in the second half of the ’90s when he starred in the two titles that perhaps best represent the stamp of English cinema of the time: the first It was Danny Boyle’s “Trainspotting” in 1996, which also had a sequel, albeit as a feature film, in 2017.
The second was “All or nothing” (“The Full Monty” in its original version) in 1997, directed by Peter Cattaneo. The characters that touched him were not alike, but they filled the viewer’s eyes when he was on screen and contributed to the fact that both films, which pointed out in their own way the crisis of the post-Margaret Thatcher conservative era, became testimonials of that United Kingdom without course.
“It’s not going to happen once more, nobody wants to see that once more!” Carlyle warned with a laugh in how much talk there was with the press in the preview, regarding the possibility of the characters taking off their clothes once more in the eight episodes of the sequel series. Instead, the proposal returns to Sheffield to see what became of the group of working-class friends as “seven prime ministers and a hundred broken political promises later” still face different problems in the health, education and employment sectors.
The new series will star the original cast, which includes Carlyle and Addy, as well as Lesley Sharpe, Hugo Speer, Paul Barber, Steve Huison and Tom Wilkinson, as well as screenwriter Simon Beaufoy at the helm of the project.
The cast includes Wim Snape, who also reprises his role as Gaz’s son Nathan, who grew up to join the Police instead of being his sidekick, and young Talitha Wing as Destiny, the teenage daughter of Carlyle’s character. .
Interview with the actors
-Robert, what did you think when the idea of this sequel series was proposed to you? Did you say yes immediately?
Robert Carlyle: No. There was sort of an email back and forth with Simon Beaufoy, the writer of the original screenplay, because I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some kind of hesitation on this, because the movie is loved by so many people all over the world. the world and you don’t want to do anything that’s going to detract from that. But through these conversations that I had with Simon, and particularly when I saw the first few scripts regarding two years ago, I thought, “I can see exactly where this is going.” It’s 25 years later. It’s a good time to address not only where these characters have been, but also what kind of social, economic, and political changes have or haven’t happened in the country, and what has this country done to these characters.
– It was important for you that not only the original cast was present but also the writer himself.
– That was imperative, it wouldn’t have made sense to do it with anyone else. I think Simon is one of the best writers, certainly one of the greatest talents. And he has a remarkable ability, he’s able to weave all these socio-political things into a world that can be a lot of fun at times. He can balance comedy and tragedy remarkably well.
-And you, Wim? What was it like to return to this character 25 years later?
Wim Snape: Just a dream. I never thought they would come back so when I got the call it was like “what? oh really?” And then I thought regarding this thing that Bobby said; there was a slight fear because you don’t want to cloud any of the legacy that the original film had, and also I am originally from Sheffield, and the people of Sheffield hold this film especially close to their hearts.
There was definitely some unease there, but being able to see Nathan once more as an adult, following my own experiences throughout life, was a challenge I wanted to face.
-Gaz and Nathan’s relationship was very tender; in the movie that guy was what kept Gaz trying to do the right thing. How did that relationship evolve?
RC: It’s hard because despite all the good things regarding Gaz, one not so good is his parenting skills. He’s been a kind of absentee father probably for a lot of Nathan’s life and that obviously has ramifications down the line and I think that’s what we see is that there’s kind of a wall that’s been built between them, to the point where… how do you rebel once morest a rebel? Becoming a policeman.
So Nathan has completely moved away from the type of man that Gaz has always been. Gaz is still proud and loves his son, but how well they get along is another matter. And of course he now has a daughter as well and he’s done the same thing there, he’s been an absentee father and I think now he sees this as an opportunity to redeem himself a little bit in her eyes and try to do the right thing.
WS: Also part of Gaz’s goal throughout this whole new series is to get enough money to buy Nathan’s son, his grandson, a wheelchair. His intention is there, his heart is there; it’s just that sometimes the way, the way he does things, is not necessarily correct (laughs).
-And you Talitha? What would you say is Destiny’s impact on this already very complex family dynamic? She seems like she’s a lot more like Gaz than she’d like to admit…
TW: Yeah, it’s definitely “like father, like son”. It’s like a Gaz mirror in a way. She is very feisty and at the same time her heart is in the right place. She gets into a lot of trouble, but she means well. Like her when she breaks the windshield of her mom’s boyfriend’s car, but because she’s mad that she stole her younger sisters’ money to eat at school, so it’s not just that she’s acting without reason That being said, I think she also shows the best side of Gaz. Gaz is nice to her and she also becomes nicer to him.
RC: I think these three share the same sense of justice, which is very interesting. Although there is a big difference between them, the sense of justice, in the sense of what is right and what is wrong, is very strong in the Schofield family, so that is what unites them.
1686730872
#cast #returns #series #streaming