Merry Christmas.
I'm Graham Norton.
Welcome to my show.
CHEERING
Hello!
Good evening.
You're all so welcome to the show.
Yay, we're great.
Hello to our virtual audience watching at home.
Hiya!
Yes, we're back in tier three.
It's the best one.
But, hey, it's nearly Christmas.
Time to sing those traditional songs, the One Day of Christmas, No
Mistletoe and Wine, and I Saw Mummy Kissing Santa Claus Because She's
a Filthy Super Spreader.
There is some good news, though.
Yes.
It looks like there might be a Brexit deal
after all.
The only sticking point now is fishing.
There's Boris with the UK's quota for the next ten years.
Actually, Boris does love a photo opportunity with a fish, he really
does.
Here is manhandling a herring, kissing a cod, and almost groping a
sturgeon.
APPLAUSE
All right, who is on the show tonight?
With me here in the studio, it's the star of the Crown and
Mission Impossible, Vanessa Kirby is here!
She is the co-creator and star of This Country, it's Daisy May
Cooper!
They are two of our greatest actors, back together for a new
series on the lockdown stage, it's Michael Sheen!
And David Tennant!
Shortly, we'll be joined by Hollywood great George Clooney.
CHEERING
I know.
And Oscar winner Viola Davis will be here.
Plus we'll have music right here in the studio from
Michael Ball and Alfie Boe!
It must be Christmas.
It's Christmas.
Can I just say, well done on everyone
getting the Christmas memo.
It's very...
I mean, think you got the memo twice, Daisy.
Oh, God.
No, you look very Christmassy, it's nice.
And do you know what?
I managed to pack the Christmas stuff, but I've got two left
boots.
So I've had to wedge my foot into it.
Do you have two pairs?
Do you have two pairs of the same boot?
Yeah, I've got two pairs the same.
But as you can tell, the laces, they're completely different.
It's either that, or just really bad shoplifting.
Or they'll all left.
What's nice is, David and Michael, you have
been working together in
lockdown.
Is this your first time seeing each other in the flesh?
Well, we have, since we were on this show,
promoting Good Omens, a year
and a half ago...
When we were allowed to sit close to each other.
Yeah.
This is only the second time we have physically seen each other
since then.
And yet, I have stared at this face almost daily.
I have seen more of him than my own family.
And lockdown, I mean, it's been so strange.
I know in your flat, Vanessa, someone's been doing DIY.
This isn't you doing DIY.
No, this is my brother.
It kinds of sums up how good our family are at DIY.
Before I show you his DIY, how old is your
brother?
He's 34.
OK.
That sheds a new light on it.
His girlfriend asked him to put up, like, a towel rail
thing.
I don't even know what it's called.
I doubt he does either.
I think it's just a towel rail.
It has like a hook.
Coat hooks.
OK.
There are just so many things he got wrong
in this.
This is the coat hook thing he put up.
How?
I mean, wrong wood, too high...
I know.
I mean, you either can't open that door, or you
can't shut it, one or the other.
And he used a drill, which was worrying
as well.
Yeah, I don't think that man should have a drill.
I can't...
I still can't work out which way it should go.
Well, not that way.
I like the fact that he did that and then still went ahead and drilled
it, like he didn't go, "That can't be right."
He thought, "That looks about right."
No, I think he was quite confident.
Plus, it's not really in the centre either, is it?
I think that's the least of your worries.
It's the least of your worries.
Does everyone come home and just throw their hat at it like James
Bond, like Sean Connery as James Bond?
Just catch them like hoopla?
Listen, we start out with series two of Staged.
It stars Michael Sheen and David Tennant as Michael
Sheen and David Tennant.
It begins on the 4th of January on BBC One.
So if people didn't see the first series, what is kind of the premise?
And how has it changed and developed in season two?
Go.
Well, season one was the idea that lockdown
happened and we were supposed to be rehearsing a play together, so we
decided to try and keep doing it, over Zoom.
And then it was basically just an excuse for us kind of
moaning at each other.
The premise for both series is two actors being
crap at home.
That is essentially the premise.
Yes.
And the second season, do you leave your houses?
Well...
Well, that would be giving stuff away, wouldn't it?
I think the first series, I think it reflected that
time when you were literally locked in and you couldn't leave and you at
least knew the rules.
The second series exists in a world that we are
all in.
We are going, yesterday I could do that but today I'm not allowed,
or I'm allowed if I go with my Gran, I'm not sure.
I can go out but I have to be back at six o'clock.
It's very much reflecting that confusion that I
think we are all in, but we are still mostly
staring at each other.
We're constantly on the verge of going somewhere.
But maybe never quite getting there.
Listen, we've got a clip.
This is Michael.
Michael has a plan.
Has this never happened to you before?
Once.
You got recast?
I did.
Why?
Don't want to say.
But you know.
I know.
Go on.
No, no.
Why not?
Because I am doing something about it.
What?
Can you keep a secret?
Evidently.
I am befriending him slowly and methodically,
engineering ways for us to work together, insinuating my way into
his life, the better to exact my slow and decisive revenge.
Very good!
That makes it look rather dramatic.
It does.
And there's a confusion because your real partners
are also in it.
Yes.
They are.
Which is great.
But when lockdown started, there wasn't anybody else.
There was no choice.
Charming!
Yes, darling.
You can be in it.
No, I was thrilled, because Georgia and I have
been trying to work together for ages, and suddenly nobody could
argue.
It was like, well, we're here.
One of David and Georgia's 20 children appeared at one point in
season one.
In silhouette only, yeah.
By mistake.
But we just kept it in.
Because the other thing is in the show,
you only ever see me in
one place.
I'm in my kitchen.
In that clip, that's all you ever see.
David is in a different place every single shot
almost because there are so
many children in his house, he has to keep moving around the house.
Yes, pure expediency, but of course people
think it's a choice.
Oh, I love what you did - you're always moving,
Michael's always steady.
Interesting.
No, it's just...
It's the only choice we had.
So the tribe is harder to work around than the
new...
Well, not quite newborn.
How old now?
She's 15 months now.
Oh, wow.
She'll have a line soon.
Exactly.
I mean, we really wouldn't be able to...
If we filmed any more, she now runs, she propels herself through the
house, there's no stopping her, she's a force of nature.
Yeah.
But there are scenes that Georgia and I
do together which would always have to be,
which we just do ourselves in
the house, and that, that would be very tricky
because you could get the baby down for a nap, you get one
on an iPad, one on a film, one on a colouring book.
You'd have about 20 minutes to sort of...
There's always one you're not sure where they are,
isn't there?
If it's only one, that's fine.
That's fine.
Just send Myrtle out to find her and come
back.
Do you count them up to bed at night?
Like Fagin in Oliver?
Watch them go out and watch them come back
in.
Now, in lockdown, we've all had challenges, and Daisy May Cooper,
you love a challenge.
You love a challenge.
Well...
So you saw this...
Was it on Instagram or Facebook you saw this challenge here?
Yes, I found that on Instagram, and I
thought, I've got to take that on.
And I'll just say, Daisy May Cooper, she did pass that test, and then
some.
But now the other pictures we have, did people send them to you?
So, it just kind of went mental and I think people were just really,
really bored.
And it got...
I mean, I don't know what you've got to show,
but my favourite one was a woman sent me a picture of an entire car
parcel shelf under her tits.
It's just insane.
I mean, how strong are they?
We've got a nice lady here.
She's got the entire Godfather collection.
And then this woman...
I mean, this woman can fly Ryanair anytime.
Look at that.
God!
That's impressive, isn't it?
Oh, yeah.
That's a rack.
LAUGHTER
Hey!
APPLAUSE
Oh, you've been
working in lockdown.
Very good.
Very good indeed.
Let's meet our first guest tonight.
He's a double Oscar-winning actor, director
and producer, all of it, Hollywood legend, it's
only George Clooney, ladies and gentlemen!
CHEERING
Yay!
Graham, nobody said that it was special sweater night.
Clearly.
Clearly, they didn't.
Why don't I just wear these flowers?
LAUGHTER
You've got a roaring fire.
It looks nice and Christmassy.
It does.
Watching the clip...
I've got flowers all over me.
Watching the clip...
Comedy's terrible.
Watching the clip, Michael, it looks like I'm in your
kitchen.
That's what I just said to David, why is George Clooney in my
kitchen?
Yeah!
By the way, your wife says hello!
LAUGHTER
By the way,
can I just say this?
This is a very illustrious group you're there with.
David and Michael, by the way, it's too much
talent in one room, for you two to be doing a show
together is ridiculous.
Is my wife telling you to say that?
Hang on a minute, let me ask her.
And, Vanessa, my wife and I, but my wife
in particular, yes, you've had this
extraordinary career, but the
Crown is literally her...
We both are fascinated by it, and you in
that are spectacular, spectacular, and I'm
just excited to see what the
rest of your career is going to be because you're just an extraordinary
actress, and, Daisy, I just saw David Copperfield and it was
fantastic.
I haven't seen your show yet, but now that I'm aware of it, I
will definitely see it.
Oh, my goodness!
That's a lot of talent in that room.
That was worth showing up for, right?
George Clooney, you're here to tell us
about your latest film, The
Midnight Sky.
It's out on Netflix from Wednesday, the 23rd of
December.
And this is your baby.
You've produced it, directed it, you're in it.
So tell us about the story.
It's based on a book, right?
It's based on a book.
Let me see.
How can I get to it quickly?
Everyone dies in the end.
How's that?
LAUGHTER
Oh...
I was going to say something, but no, I mustn't spoil it.
It's basically the idea of what mankind
is capable of doing to itself if we don't pay
attention, quite honestly.
It's as film about regret and redemption and, in some ways,
about whether or not this whole struggle
is worth it, and I think the argument is it is, but we're not
going to get out of it alive, but we might get out of it intact.
It's sort of set in two places.
Part of it is in space and part of it is
kind of the ends of the earth.
Yes.
I'm the ends of the earth part.
And we're about to see a clip.
This is you and this is your character,
Augustine, making contact with the spaceship for the first time.
This is Lake Haven weather station.
Lake Haven, I can't tell you how happy I
am to hear your voice.
For some reason, you're the only person who
wants to talk to me.
We've lost contact with NASA and everyone
else.
Do you have information on our transmission blackout?
Lake Haven, are you there?
How much do you know about the conditions on Earth?
We have received nothing.
I'm sorry, Lake Haven.
I missed that last transmission.
Is that mission control?
Late Haven, are you receiving this?
I don't know all the details.
I know it was a mistake.
APPLAUSE
Ooh.
Graham, I have your...
I have your beard.
Yeah!
I like to think you've modelled it on me!
LAUGHTER
Our very own David Oyelowo and Felicity Jones are in there.
Yeah.
And tell me this, as a director, when did you kind of come
to the realisation that you might be able to play the gnarly old guy?
LAUGHTER
That's funny!
I did an interview, Graham, you'll enjoy this because you're
now the gnarly old guy.
Oh, yeah.
And so, I was doing an interview the other day and they said,
"You used to be in all these movies like Out of Sight
and Ocean's Eleven."
And they go, "Is this the...
Is this what you want to now do with your career?"
I was like, "No!"
LAUGHTER
I don't want to be the old, old gnarly guy!
It's old age, there's nothing I can do about it.
If I could go back to 1998, I would.
But the young actor playing the young Augustine, Ethan...
Is it Ethan Peck?
Oh, there he is.
Yeah.
There he is.
That is me as a young man.
And I'm directing, and I'm casting, and so he's six foot
three, great looking.
And I'm like...
I can't cuss on this thing, but I said, you know, "Screw it,
I'm hiring that guy!"
LAUGHTER
But now, we can see how accurate he is, in terms
of being you at that age, because we've got a picture
of you at that age.
Here you are.
Look at you!
Oh!
WOLF-WHISTLES
That wasn't that age!
You are a rat!
LAUGHTER
Are you...
Are you younger there or older?
I'm 22, look at the mullet!
You don't have that mullet when you're 30!
LAUGHTER
That's a 22-year-old mullet.
But here's the thing, here's the thing.
We can go further back, George, because your father,
your father recently, he revealed this
picture of you at 11.
Now, if anyone at home is thinking, "God, my children
are so ugly," er...
This is, no, this is really cheery, because this
11-year-old grew into George Clooney.
LAUGHTER
Yeah.
APPLAUSE
Oh, my God!
Hope for all!
In fairness, we didn't have a lot of cash and my mom cut my hair.
And, clearly, that's not her skill.
LAUGHTER
She was in a hurry that day!
Ray Charles could have cut my hair better!
LAUGHTER
You're 11 in that picture, George.
Were you already a prankster at 11?
Were you one of those kids?
Yeah, I thought things were funny.
I mean, I think...
Yes, I thought there were things that were funny to do,
got in trouble in school a lot.
I guess.
And I hear even your kids now, they're three, they're
already being pranksters?
Yeah, I...
So, look, my kids are clearly my wife's children, right?
They are three and they speak fluent Italian.
And they're way ahead...
My wife's a genius, they're brilliant kids.
It is my job to dumb them down.
LAUGHTER
It's my job to put, you know, the actor in 'em a little bit.
And so, I teach them horrible things...
Because remember, it's only the four of us,
so I just want to hear the shriek from my wife and I
know I've succeeded.
You know what I mean?
So, I taught them to put Nutella in their nappy,
and then go upstairs and take it off, and then pick it up and eat it.
LAUGHTER
APPLAUSE
And the sound you hear...
Who has a 15-month-old?
One of you guys does.
Michael.
Yeah, both of us.
Both of you do?
OK.
You guys are very elegant.
Teach 'em this move.
I promise you, it's going to be good.
You should do it.
But weirdly, Daisy May Cooper, your daughter has been...
Is she pranking you?
No.
I think she's a psychopath.
LAUGHTER
There's this thing.
OK, so throughout lockdown, basically what she was doing,
and I don't know why, but she was going out
to the shed and pooing in the shed, and then...
How old?
Nearly three.
OK.
So, I mean, she knows not to do that.
She knows what a toilet is, yeah?
Yes.
So, I mean, we had, like, this sort of weird VE street party
down our street and people got, like, little cakes and stuff.
And little...
I mean, it was a bit depressing because of Covid.
My daughter had taken one of these little flags out of the cupcake
and put it in her poo, in the shed!
LAUGHTER
And I was in tears.
I said to my husband, "I think we've sort of got a bit
of a Dennis Nilsen on our hands!
What's the next step from this?"
But you got her to stop, right?
Well, I had to...
Because she's obsessed with Frozen, so I had to get this Elsa to do this
video Zoom to say, "OK, so I've spoken to Olaf
and he said that you're pooing in the shed."
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
It could be worse, George.
It could be worse.
I feel better about myself right now.
LAUGHTER
George Clooney, so good to see you again.
Good luck with The Midnight Sky.
And a very happy Christmas to you and your family.
George Clooney, everybody!
Bye.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Hey!
Let's just love George for a bit.
Aw!
Yeah.
Because George loved all of you!
Yeah.
Well, he didn't really know who I was.
LAUGHTER
He Googled you.
He Googled me!
He Googled you!
If he dies tonight, his search history
will include Daisy May Cooper.
LAUGHTER
And he knows you now as the mother of the girl
who puts flags in her poo!
That's how he'll always remember you.
"Is that the woman with the Christmas gifts on her head?"
Also, you can relish the knowledge that the next time
George Clooney does a poo, he's going to think
about putting a flag on it.
It's going to cross his mind just for a moment,
and that's because of you.
LAUGHTER
Now, let's turn to Vanessa Kirby.
Already creating Oscar buzz...
I know it's embarrassing, but you are.
..with her latest movie, Pieces of a Woman.
It's out on Netflix from January the 7th.
January the 7th.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Yes.
Yeah.
And it's getting amazing reviews.
And you've already won awards.
Here you are at the Venice Film Festival, with your lovely prize.
It is quite the prize.
It's impossible to carry.
Is that marble at the bottom of it?
I think maybe.
Yeah.
It's like a kind of football trophy.
Don't complain about it.
I'm not complaining.
No, but it's quite hard to hold.
It kind of like clangs like a cowbell.
LAUGHTER
Yeah.
So, if people haven't heard about this film -
and there's been a lot of press already - who do you play?
Tell us about the story.
So, I play a woman called Martha who, at the very
beginning of the movie, there's a kind of
30-minute birth scene.
Continuous take that we did.
And then, she kind of goes through an unspeakable tragedy.
And then, the film is really about how we all go through such
difficult times in different stages of our lives, and how you kind of...
when your world falls apart, how you kind of manage to get
through it and pull yourself together and get, you
know, get through...
Sometimes, where it feels like an eternity, how do
you overcome it and come out the other side, basically?
And it deals with grief and how different people react
differently to that grief.
Yes.
We've got a clip.
This is you and your mother, played by the great Ellen Burstyn,
basically kind of butting heads about how best to move forward.
She has to pay for her incompetence.
Is this about money?
No!
Is it about what people think?
It's about you.
It's about you having to face this.
I am facing this!
I am facing it!
I am facing this!
Well, I don't think you are!
We need...
We need some justice here.
No, you need.
That is what you want, that is what you need, that is...
That is your way, that is not my way!
That is what you need!
Martha, if you had done it my way, you'd be holding your baby
in your arms right now.
Huh...
You know what?
You...
You're ashamed.
You're so ashamed of me!
You're ashamed because I failed!
Ah, what a disgrace!
I failed!
APPLAUSE
Oh, sad!
Very.
It is an extraordinary film.
It's got scenes like that, but then it's got really such quiet...
Yeah.
..beautiful moments.
That's like one of the crescendos.
Yeah.
But the...
I mean, I knew what it was about before I saw it and I knew
that there was going to be this half-hour, one-take,
you know, labour scene.
But it's kind of beautifully done, and it's frank, but it's not
impossible to watch.
I mean, how many times did you do that one take?
The birth, yeah.
We did...
We did it over two days.
We did four takes the first day, two the second.
And actually, to be honest, when they told me that they wanted
to do that, I thought, I was relieved because you can't...
You know, as actors, you're always trying to be present,
in the present moment, and things come into your head
about, "Oh, this is happening."
You know, you get taken out of the moment.
But at least in that, you could sort of, I wouldn't
have to break it up, or go to lunch, then come back
and pretend that I was six hours into a labour.
You know what I mean?
GRAHAM LAUGHS
Which is like, you always feel like such a phony
when you do stuff like that.
So it was kind of, it was sort of exhilarating really,
because you got to just like do the flow of it.
And it was kind of like a play really.
And you've worked in theatre a lot, but you were in the very,
you know, lauded production of Streetcar Named Desire,
which won lots of awards.
But you were working with a revolving stage,
which is no-one's friend.
Yeah, which is no...
Especially not mine, I'm not very coordinated,
so that was already a risk.
Yeah.
But did you get stuck in it or something?
I did, I did.
Oh, my God!
It was one show.
So...
And it was a really unfortunate moment in the play because...
So, the stage is obviously going round.
It goes round in every scene change.
And I had a big birthday cake because my character was...
It was Blanche's, Gillian Anderson's birthday.
And the stage was going round and I did my normal route.
I think they maybe changed the times or something,
or I'm just not coordinated.
And as I stepped onto the stage...
I also had a fake pregnancy bump as well, which was quite heavy.
As I stepped, my foot got stuck under the moving revolving
stage, and I thought, "Shitting hell!"
LAUGHTER
And it was moving.
And as it was moving, I was, like, getting dragged.
I was just trying to get my foot out of it.
And it was a good 20 seconds of me trying to, "Uh!".
And then I couldn't.
So I fell.
As I fell back, the cake went all over me!
LAUGHTER
And all over the...
And I was being dragged along.
Oh!
And I sort of went, "Help!
Help!"
And I think the audience thought it was part of the play.
And eventually, like, no-one...
I was hoping the stage manager, because, you know...
And I ended up saying, "Frankie!", who was the stage manager,
"Frankie, Frankie!"
And no-one came!
LAUGHTER
And eventually, I managed, somehow...
It was so bruised for, like, a month.
I managed to yank it out, get up.
Wipe the cake off.
Like, rescue a bit of it.
Go on stage.
And the lights were sort of semi-dimmed, and then
the lights came up, and then we just carried on.
And all the while, I was thinking, the audience
are wondering, "Who's Frankie?
Is this some kind of...?
Is this part of the...?
What an unusual interpretation!"
And why is no-one mentioning the cake is shit?!
LAUGHTER
And why is she a hunchback?
Because, David, you had, well, you did it yourself.
You were playing Romeo.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
I was playing in Romeo and Juliet and, one night,
as I went to the tomb at the end and Juliet's laying
out in the crypt all supposedly dead, and I...
Don't spoil it for people!
LAUGHTER
And you have a bit of a fight with Paris just before that bit.
You know, dispatch him.
And then you find Juliet.
You do a bit of a death aria.
Take some poison.
You die, she wakes up.
You know?
That...
That old one.
Yeah.
So one night...
And I was wearing this beautiful sort of white, all in white...
I think we've got a picture of you.
Do you?
There you are.
There I am!
Yes.
Oh!
Look at the youth!
Oh!
So I was off to the crypt, all in white.
Paris comes up.
Dish-dash-dosh.
And he just caught my finger.
Oh.
You can still see the scar.
He just cut my finger and I thought, "Ooh, that was..."
But at the time, you thought, "A bit nippy, but it's fine."
You know, dimmed footlights, you keep going.
So I get into the crypt, he's dead, get into the crypt.
Juliet's there, she is in a long white gown, laying out.
I get down.
I just take her in my arms, "Oh..."
And then I realise, this is bleeding.
I mean, a lot.
There's, like, it's coming down my white suit quickly.
Going very Amityville horror!
It's all...
And of course, it's also dripping onto Juliet as well.
LAUGHTER
And then as the blood starts coming, I start going, "Oh,
no, I'm going to pass out!
I'm a bit squeamish for blood anyway and I was losing
a relatively large amount!
LAUGHTER And I'm thinking, "Oh, what have I got, 20 lines left?
Can I do this?
Am I good?"
So I sort of quickly galloped to the end of this piece,
just about got through it, swigged the poison and
then merciful death.
And of course, by this time, of course, Juliet's been asleep
through the whole thing.
She has no idea that she's now looking like...
Carrie.
Sissy Spacek in Carrie!
Yeah!
LAUGHTER
And she wakes up...
I can't remember the lines, what are the lines?
"Thus with a kiss, I die."
That's what you say.
I do that, I'm dead.
She wakes up, shits herself!
LAUGHTER
Oh!
APPLAUSE
Not the most romantic thing between Romeo and Juliet.
But the schools parties in that night, they remembered it.
Yeah!
"It was really good, it was better than I thought
it was going to be!"
What an effect!
Did any bit of your mind think, I am actually going to die?
Properly die.
I'm very much in character, Michael, so I'm always thinking...
Yes, of course.
Of course.
Stupid of me, sorry.
Yeah.
Silly, silly.
Now, here's an odd...
I mean, not an odd thing.
Just, I did not know it.
Daisy May Cooper, you went to RADA.
Oh, yeah.
I did, yeah.
So did he, don't...
Me too.
Did you?
Yeah.
How was your experience?
They were still talking about you.
Oh, no!
That doesn't work, does it?
Sorry.
LAUGHTER
I loved it.
I had a great time.
Yeah.
It wasn't for me.
Did you do the whole...
Was it two or was it three years?
Three years, yeah.
And did you do the whole thing?
Yeah, and I hated every single second of it
because I don't...
I mean, I...
It was like the Shakespeare and stuff, I was just terrible.
I mean, I was trying really hard to do Lady
Macbeth, and the director started laughing, and I
said, "What's wrong?"
And he just said, "Your face."
No!
Wow.
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, it was an experience.
Yeah.
But we're all such huge fans of This Country.
Give This Country a round of applause.
And This Country is going to America.
Yeah, I mean...
Apparently so, yeah.
I mean, I'm getting some money for it, but I've got nothing
to do with it particularly.
And did America come to kind of woo you?
Yeah.
I mean, no, it was amazing.
We had Paul Feig come over to Cirencester, to my hometown,
and we sat in a pub that did, like, two for one
meals and he said, yeah, I'd really love to direct this.
And it was bizarre.
It was absolutely mental.
And are they the same scripts?
Where's it going to be set?
Obviously in America somewhere?
It's set in America somewhere.
I said that.
I was hoping for some more detail.
Do you know what?
I don't really know.
It's got Stifler in it.
Stifler from American Pie is playing the vicar, which is a bit mad.
But, you know, I've been paid.
It's all right.
You've got your American money now.
Who cares?
OK, it's time to call LA and meet our second
remote guest of the night.
She's the Oscar, Emmy, and double Tony star
of Doubt, How to Get Away
with Murder, and Widows.
It's Viola Davis, everybody!
APPLAUSE
Yay!
Oh, it's so...
I'm so sorry you're not here, but I love you,
Viola Davis.
I'm so thrilled you're on the show.
No, thank you.
I love the love.
Oh, do, do, do.
We've been talking about lockdown.
You went full lockdown.
You got the dog.
I got the dog, Graham, and let me tell you something, before, I said,
we're not having any dogs in this house.
I'm not going out.
I'm not picking up dog shit, I'm not doing
anything.
But let me tell you, the minute that puppy came, I'm up at
three in the morning with my hazmat suit,
picking up doggy poop.
This puppy, it has been an elixir to ease my anxiety.
It's good, isn't it?
You have to worry about something else, it's great.
Yeah, I mean, when I'm wiping his ass, that's
another story.
And I'm a very serious and passionate and committed
ass wiper.
Now, Viola, this is the time of year when normally all of
the great films are coming out, and sure enough, they still are,
because Viola's film is Ma Rainey's Black
Bottom.
It's out today on Netflix.
So tell us, Ma Rainey is a real person.
Tell us about her, tell us about the story.
Ma Rainey was considered the mother of the blues.
That was her label.
And she sang around the turn of the 20th century.
She was a bisexual.
She was a woman who had a lot of gold teeth in her
mouth.
She sang from her gut.
She probably would be considered to be
the original sort of feminist during that time
the original sort of feminist during that time because she literally,
towards the end of her career, she bought
a theatre, bought a house in
Georgia, a lot of these travelling shows came to perform in this
theatre that she owned.
So she was sort of an anomaly, a woman who was before her
time, she was before
Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, all of them.
But yet she is the one who is not known.
Let that land.
She has this extraordinary sense of her own
value.
And she's not going to compromise that.
Yeah.
I always say to people, it's not just that she
knew her worth, she had to remind people of her worth.
She wasn't hustling for it, she wasn't
bartering with it, you know?
She just walked in the room and said,
let me remind you who the hell I am, OK?
Let's start from the beginning.
Which, for me, Graham, those are the black women I grew up with.
I grew up with a black woman who would be
beating up a 200lbs man in a juke joint on Saturday
night and on Sunday they
would be at church.
So I grew up with those women who were bold and
when they walked into the room, everybody had to feel their presence
or else.
You just didn't know who you were in the presence of.
So that is what I channelled a lot with Ma.
Viola, your performance is sensational and we've got a clip.
This is you as Ma Rainey, really reminding your manager of some of
those things.
You've been messing with my song.
If you haven't got what the people want, let them take
it somewhere else.
I'm singing a Ma Rainey song.
I ain't singing no Levy song.
Now, that's all there is to it.
Get my nephew on down there, introduce him to the band.
I promised my sister I'd look out for
him, so he's going to do the voice intro to the song, my way.
We just figured...
Who is this we?
What do you mean we?
Come here talking this sweet stuff, we?
We decided...
You decided, huh?
I'm just bumbling along.
I'm just going to go whichever way the river drift,
is that it, you decided?
No, we just thought...
I got no good sense, I
don't got my own music, I don't know what a good song is,
and you know more about my fans than I do.
It's not that, Ma.
It's more of what the people want.
I tell you something, Irvin, and you can go up there and
you can tell him too.
What you all say don't count with me, you
understand?
Ma listen to her heart.
Ma listen to the voice inside her.
That's what count with Ma.
APPLAUSE
There aren't
many of us here, but we
are all clapping very loudly.
We must mention, Viola, the next project.
You are playing another real person.
Slightly more famous.
Share with the group who you are going to be.
Michelle Obama.
I wish somebody had taken me aside when I thought about that and said,
Viola, let me give you...
Let's have a little bit of vodka and really
think about this because people love Michelle Obama.
They feel like they know her.
They feel like they own her.
And they don't want anything that's negative to touch
her.
Now, as an actor, you're like, where is the mess?
Where's the complexity?
I don't do that with Michelle Obama.
Has she given you her blessing?
Oh, yeah, she's...
Listen, everything you think, feel, see with Michelle is all that she
is, OK?
We know that.
But I always say, you can talk to my husband,
you can talk to my daughter, you can talk to my mom about me.
If someone were going to play me in a biopic,
but you would still only know 40 or 50% of me.
You could not get to know some deep, dark secrets that I
wouldn't even share with the people who are closest to me.
And it's all that info that you gather as an
actor to create another human being.
So now I got Michelle Obama, what do I do with that?
I mean, what do I do with that?
I mean, she didn't kill her husband.
He's still very much alive.
Yet, yet!
But, weirdly, we have got some people here who played
very famous real people.
Michael Sheen, you did Tony Blair three
times?
Yeah.
But you didn't meet him until after the third time, is that
right?
I met him just before I played him for the third time.
OK.
I thought...
Because normally, people I have played
who are real people, I
have chosen not to meet if there has been the opportunity to meet them,
because I have sort of not wanted to, and this, I would imagine,
would be very tricky thing for you, Viola,
as well.
Because you feel beholden to the person.
Like you said, the thing you're interested in is the
mess, the complication, and the warts and all stuff,
and if you meet them, then you feel like, well, now I feel
like I can't do that and...
So I waited until just before the third
time, and then, just by chance, I was...
I had the opportunity to meet him at a dinner party, and so I
went along, and he still, to this day, says that he has never seen
anyone who has played him, not just me, but any of the things.
And I'm not sure about that.
He's quite interested in his image.
Yes.
And, of course, Vanessa, Princess Margaret,
I mean, you went deep in
your Princess Margaret research.
Like, you brought her home.
I brought her everywhere in my home, yeah.
You must have driven your flatmates mad.
Well, I was just so nervous.
It's so scary playing someone real, especially, you know,
someone new, who people knew generally, and I just covered my
house with her, to try and absorb as much of her as possible.
I did sort of like what Vanessa did the other night.
I said, I'm going to be Michelle Obama
even at home, and I told my ten-year-old daughter, I said,
Genesis, you're going to be sitting with Michelle Obama tonight.
And she goes, oh, my God!
Mommy, I am?
I said, yes!
We're going to go into the movie theatre and we're going
to watch Becoming with Michelle Obama.
She was like, oh, my God!
When is she going be here?
And I said, it's going to be me.
And she went, aww.
Listen, Viola, it's been such a pleasure meeting you at
last.
Good luck with Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
Please come and see us when you can.
Have a lovely Christmas.
Viola Davis, everybody!
CHEERING
How nice is she?
Lovely.
Can I just check, though?
Are you supposed to wipe a dog's arse?
I mean, I didn't like to say anything.
She's a new dog owner.
I'm pretty sure she read the wrong book.
OK.
Look, it'll shortly be red chair time, and we're back
with a virtual audience, so has anyone elected to be in the chair?
I think it's me.
Is it you?
Well done.
Thank you very much.
It doesn't hurt.
Sure.
I don't know.
OK.
It's time for music, and it's a festive
treat.
Here performing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,
please welcome Michael Ball and Alfie Boe.
# Christmas future is far away
# Christmas past is past
# Christmas present
# Is here today
# Bringing joy that will last
# Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas
# Let your heart be light
# From now on
# Our troubles will be out of sight # Have yourself a Merry Little
Christmas
# Make the Yuletide gay
# From now on
# Our troubles will be miles away
# Here we are
# As in olden days
# Happy golden days
# Of yore
# Faithful friends who are dear to us
# Gather near to us
# Once more # Through the years we all will be
together
# If the fates allow # Until then, we'll have
to muddle through somehow
# So have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now
# Here we are
# As in olden days
# Happy golden days
# Of yore # Faithful friends who are dear
to us
# Gather near to us once more
# Through the years
# We all will be together
# If the fates allow
# So hang a shining star
# Upon the highest bough
# And have yourself
# A Merry Little Christmas now.#
APPLAUSE
CHEERING
Michael Ball and Alfie Boe!
Well done and well done to the band, the
orchestra!
Come in, come in, sit down.
Oh, Michael, Alfie.
Well, there you go.
Look at that.
We're bubbling.
Is this all one bubble?
I just did the whole performance with my flies down, by the way,
I just thought I'd let you know.
Rudolph was about to pay a visit.
Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
LAUGHTER
You are bubbling, because you have
just been on stage.
Not that stage.
The West End.
Yes, we were doing Les Mis up until Tuesday, and then we
got the news that we had to close down.
We did ten performances.
We were that bad.
I knew it wouldn't be a hit.
No.
The Government stepped in!
It's got to stop!
It really sucks, it sucks.
We had an extraordinary opening night.
Kind of unique.
And then ten shows later, we have a closing night.
And it was so emotional, I can't tell you.
And who knows?
I mean, we're hoping we'll be back on January 9th.
But do you know what, who knows?
We should just say, that album, there it is, yes!
Together at Christmas.
It is out and it is the number-one album, ladies
and gentlemen.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
I love the people you beat to number one.
Well, BTS.
BTS were the big one, who are, well, the
second biggest boy band in the world!
LAUGHTER
Yeah, I mean, it's extraordinary.
They have this...
I love the people going up to BTS kind
of going, "No, sorry, guys, you're number two."
And they're going, "Who's number one?"
Yeah, and then they still don't know!
Well, boys, thank you very much for giving us that
Christmas treat.
I'm sure the album will be number one for many, many
weeks.
Probably not in January!
I wouldn't be surprised!
I really wouldn't be surprised!
Michael Ball and Alfie Boe, everybody!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
Right, that is nearly it.
Before we go, just time for our visit to the big red chair.
As you know, it's going to be people virtual in the chair.
But, David Tennant, very, very kindly...
You look perfect.
Thank you.
Perfect.
Thank you, I'm poised.
And it's nice and Christmassy back there, it's nice.
Who is telling a story for you?
Oh, hello!
Oh, now!
Now!
That's a face!
Hello, sir, what's your name?
Hi, Graham, my name's Darren.
Darren, we have high hopes for you, Darren.
This is David Tennant.
Hi, Darren.
Do me proud.
Hi, David.
And where are you, Darren?
I'm in Queensland, Australia.
Excellent, very good.
And what do you do there?
Well, I was a sheriff, but I got a heart
condition, so I'm now on disability pension at the moment.
Wow, already, that's a story!
It's already a story!
OK, off you go with your story, Darren.
OK, so, a few years ago, we were going to a New
Year's Eve party and it was eight o'clock at night and I had a bit of
time on my hands, so I had a couple of model planes and cars that needed
fixing.
So, I decided I had a bit of time, go and do it.
So, I grabbed some superglue, went into the living
room, started glueing.
Did one or two models.
And then I dropped the lid of the superglue bottle under
the table.
So I figured that I could put my hand under the table.
So, as I was reaching for the thing, I
grabbed the lid after a couple of attempts and I was like, "I've got
the lid, woo-hoo!"
And anyway, I stuck my head to the table.
So, I glued my head to the table.
LAUGHTER
Four hours at the hospital.
With a table?
The doctor came in and said, you know, "I'm Doctor such and such.
How can I help you?"
And I'm saying, I've got a coffee table stuck to my head!
LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
You can walk, Darren, you can walk!
Very good!
Yay!
That really is all we've got time for.
If you'd like to have a go in that chair
yourself and tell your story, you can contact us via our website
at this very address.
Please say a huge thank you to all of my guests.
David Tennant!
CHEERING
Yay!
Michael Ball and Alfie BoE!
CHEERING
Daisy May Cooper!
CHEERING
Viola Davis!
CHEERING
Michael Sheen!
Yay!
CHEERING
Vanessa Kirby!
CHEERING
And George Clooney!
CHEERING
We'll be back on New Year's Eve with
double-Oscar nominee
Jessica Chastain.
Disco Queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor.
Comedian Nish Kumar.
Foodie Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Film stars Jamie Dornan and Emily Blunt.
And the one-and-only Tom Hanks.
Until then, have a very happy Christmas.
Goodnight, everybody, bye-bye!
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE