Should I Delete That? - Casting Bridgerton with Kelly Valentine Hendry

Episode Date: June 30, 2024

This week on the podcast, Em and Alex are joined by iconic casting director, Kelly Valentine Hendry! Kelly has cast for, as Alex put it, a shit tonne of stuff, including: Bridgerton, Fleabag, Broadchurch and even High School Musical! Kelly talks the girls through the casting process, how she is planning to make the acting world more inclusive and what it means to be the 'Bridgerton type'. They also discuss the reaction to Nicola Coughlan's infamous Bridgerton sex scene and why we have a long way to go with body diversity on our screens. The girls are obsessed with this peek behind the curtain and they hope you are too!Follow Kelly's work on Instagram @kvhcastingFollow us on Instagram @shouldideletethatEmail us at [e-mail] by Daisy GrantMusic by Alex Andrew Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People saw her and felt represented because she's not super thin. I certainly had a tear in my eye. I'm not a small person. I looked around at the premiere and there were people with wet eyes. Hello and welcome back to, should I delete that? I'm Alex Light. And I'm M. Glaxen. and I apologise for my audio quality.

I've broken my microphone, so I'm recording on my iPhone. How like 2001 of you? Well, you know, it's the cable that's broken. And when I tell you, I've gone through the tech drawer, you know, every house has a tech drawer full of useless cables. And I thought, thank God I have a tech drawer, because it's the cable that's broken. So I just need one of my useless cables to make themselves useful.

And obviously I've got every single, H-D-M-U-S-C lightning apart from this one. The worst. I hate tech drawers. It's, I hate them. Oh, I, I've had to give my computer to a tech man. And it's only occurred to me this morning that I ought to be really anxious about that.

I gave it to him yesterday, password everything. I was like, oh my God, I could, this is like my, this is anxiety. Because I don't, I haven't taken nudes. But in my head, I'm like, what if you find my mood? I can't wait for them to appear on a website somewhere. Oh, God, don't. I literally got this mad anxiety. I'm like, oh my God, I've just given them a laptop to a man.

Yeah. No, it'd be okay, right? My good on the back of that was just a lull that I got yesterday. Because these guys are called geeks on wheels, like the tech guys. And they just come and, like, fix your computer. Basically, I know, I've got a very specific problem with my laptop was that it doesn't connect to my Wi-Fi at home. Connected to every other Wi-Fi, but it won't connect to my Wi-Fi.

So I was like, this is a, this is, this needs to be sorted at home. Anyway, that's a long and boring story to say we booked these guys. And then yesterday, when Alex was driving us home, we got a phone call and it was like, ring, and he answered. And he was like, hello, and the guy was like, hello, is that Leslie? Alex was like, no. It's Alex. And he was like, no, this is not Leslie, Andrew?

And Alex was like, no, it's Alex Andrew. And they were like, well, sorry, you've got an appointment at 3 o'clock with one of our tech guys. And Alex was like, yeah, that's me, but I'm not called. Why have you, why are you calling me Leslie? Leslie? And he hung up and he went, he went, did they just call me Leslie? And I went, yeah, and he went, no, they called me Ludley. And I went, why would they call you Ludley?

And he was like, no, I swear it, I swear out on my life, they called me Ludley. And I was like, why would they do that? They definitely called you Leslie. And I was like, you know what? I can't even be bothered to have this fight with you. so I just rang them back. Like, I had his phone on the Bluetooth. So I rang him up and he's like, there's no way you're actually doing it.

And then it was like, ring, ring. And then he had to answer. And he was like, hey, mate. Sorry, what did you just call me when the phone rang? And he was like, Leslie. And then Alex was like, okay, thanks, dude. Thanks for nothing. Oh, they must have thought it was so weird.

Oh, well, these I've got all my moods to make up for it. Geeks on wheels. I love that. That's so good. I know. I felt really bad when. he arrived. I was like, Alex, the geek, Leslie, the geek's here. And I was like, no, I can't call him that. And I also thought, let me see your feet. Are you wearing rollerblades or heelies?

Like, don't disappoint me. Oh, wheels. I get you. He's always a bit gutted. He just had trainers. I was like, oh, that's not what I hoped. That's really funny. Can I just swap my goods for bads? Yeah, that's the spirit. It's because of sunshining, isn't it? That's going to be your bad. You're not going to allow yourself a good. It is one of them. Does one of them. It is, it is one of them. My other bad is I keep having this recurring dream and it's so horrible. Well, it's a nightmare actually. I think, I don't know at what point dreams become nightmares, but I think this is definitely nightmare. Tommy is in a hotel room by himself. He's locked in a hotel room and I am in the hotel but I don't know what floor he's on.

I know the room number, but I don't know what floor he's on because the room number doesn't correspond to the floor number. He's always in room 535 but he's never on the fifth floor. Like 535 is never on the fifth floor. So I have to go up and down this hotel. And I'm asking people and I'm asking people who work there and they're like, oh, try this floor. So I go to that floor and then I can't find him and I ask someone else. And it's horrible and it's really horrible. And it's making me very anxious in my sleep. And I don't need to be anxious in my sleep. Sleep is respite. I do that enough in the day. Like sleep is no. That's a horrible dream. It's horrible. It's horrible. I just can't find him. No, yeah. That's that's really bad. I'm very sorry for you.

Oh, God, I haven't done one of these in ages. I've, like, forgotten, sorry, everyone. I haven't even acknowledged that I haven't been here, but I've, like, forgotten how to do it. Awkers. Oh, my God, I've got such an awkward for you. So I was in Ireland last week. Yeah. Which is why you did the GBA for me, because I was on the flight.

And honestly, you think you're going to multitask as a mum. You think I can work. It's fine. I'll be on my phone. You can't, you can't. Like, not on the flight. You've got your kid kicking off. Anyway, so I over, I over, I overestimate.

myself last week, said to Alex, don't worry, I can work, couldn't. Anyway, and we went to Ireland, had a really nice few days, we rented a car. So, rented the car, everything was fine. I've rented, actually, I've had my car for four years, not a scratch on it, not a dent, not a whisper. It's, it's an unlikely thing, you know, car, whatever. We rented this car, had a nice four days, got back to the airport in a rush. My kid's kicking off. It's hard. It's hard. hot. I've already missed one flight that day. So I'm on my second flight of the day. And we... Wait, I'm going to Ireland. You missed the flight? On the way back. We sort of deliberately missed it. It was like logistically hell. It was like, oh my God, we're just going to need to get...

Like, anyway. So we were flustered. Like, flustered with a capital fur. And we got there. And the guy did the inspection of the car. We were like, okay, cool, can we go? Like, really tried to chivvy him on because we were, you know, in a rush. And he was, like, really, like, going slow. And it was like, yeah, no, go. And then all those, like, screaming and it's really hot. I was like, oh, my God, again, I'm going to go sign on the shade. And he was like, before you go, there's a scratch here. And I was like, oh, my God. Now, hand of my heart, not responsible for the scratch. Also, can't have been responsible for the scratch because it's clearly where somebody else has opened their car door and, like, scratched it with a white car. So it's

like someone's opened and gone like dunk. Anyway, I am such a guilty person that even though I knew nothing about this scratch, when it happened, I was like, oh my God, I'm, I'm a criminal. I've done something terrible. And then I was like, I don't know how to display my innocence in a way that seems plausible. So I started really overthinking it. And I was like, oh my God, I knew nothing about that. And I was like, yeah, but I would say that. Even if I did know something about it, this is exactly what I'd say. So then I was like, no, come on, you're fine. Just act like you didn't know. And then I was like, no, you don't need to act like you didn't know. You didn't know. And I just got myself in such a state about it. And I was like, no, I really didn't.

Did you start crying? No, I honestly, I just don't have an energy to cry at the moment. But I literally just, I really ever thought so. I was like, you know what? I'm going to go and stand over here. Just get me the bill because I can't, I can't do this with you. I was like, well, obviously I looked so guilty. Do you know how much they've said it's going to cost? Oh my God. How much? 100 pound. $1,200 euro. You are kidding me It won't necessarily cost 1,200

And that's like worst case I think anyway, it'll be less But we've also called the hotel We were staying in because there was a car park underneath it We've asked for the CCTV to see if Because it was like that was really good So I actually think it's going to be fine Because I think we'll be able to get it dealt with

But in that moment And I was really cool I was like you know what These things happen, you know I've got my health, I've got my baby Everything's fine, we've had a nice few days not a big deal cars get scratched blah blah blah and then Alex came over and he was like

it's 1200 euro and I was like it's fucking what and like all my Zen just like flew away it was a really bad time shit that's a planga I know yeah I know and I just I couldn't

I couldn't prove my innocence in enough like I just I didn't know but that's exactly what I would say I've never overthought my innocence so much really hard that's very difficult I feel for you that's extremely difficult thank you

acting innocent when you are innocent is harder than acting innocent when you're guilty completely agree because if you're guilty and you're acting innocent you've had a lot of time to think about it exactly you can feign the surprise a scratch oh my god what she thinks done that okay that's really interesting your response is considered yes you've thought you've had all

you've had days to prepare it but off the cuff improv Improvisation? I've never looked guilty yet in my life. I want CCTV of that. You're like, nah, I'm not. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't know. Oh man. I'm so sorry. Here's 1,200 yours. Do you just take me for everything? What do you want? You want a deposit? Take the child. Oh, God. It's so bad. So bad. Well, my awkward suddenly doesn't feel so bad. But we had a meeting. I had a meeting.

today. A big meeting. Oh, a meeting that I didn't realize was going to be as big as it was. I think that's an important detail because it, because it was a big meeting. We didn't know what we were walking. It was a very big meeting. How many people, I'm not good at guessing that, but like 20 people? At least, maybe 30. And we walked in not knowing that, I actually thought it was like two or three people. We just didn't anticipate. We weren't ready. We weren't ready. And in my mind, a sales team is five to six people tops. God, I didn't even think is that. I was thinking two to three. I thought we were going into a board. room. We were not. No, no, no. We went into like the whole ground floor of a workspace. Like the

entire floor was full of people. And when I did, I thought it was just people working there until I realized, no, no, they're there like as the audience, an audience for us. What the fuck? And when we sat down, they clapped for us. And I died. I died or everything inside me died. But when I see people clap, I can't not clap as well so I also clapped for us I had to ask her not to clap it's like it's not right that you're don't clap us

like you're clapping yourself I honestly it's like it's like a re I don't understand it's just like a reflex isn't it like you can't not clap I can see people clap you can't well working on it so that was awkward

and then I was flushed for the rest of the meeting because I was like that's really horrible so that was fun And we were late as well Which is so bad Not that late Few minutes Yeah

Bad enough Long enough Yeah long enough It was all horrible It was horrible And then we had to Everyone was very nice But

Really nice But then we had to like talk about ourselves And I just wasn't prepared to do that And it was fine But it just wasn't prepared You know And I just I'm fine talking about myself

Ourselves's hard It's hard But we don't talk about ourselves In a professional capacity That we were selling ourselves To the sales team yesterday And for some reason and I word vomited

about all the people that have rejected us who's like who's your dream guest for the podcast and I was like we've learned to manage our expectations

because we got rejected remembered by Rebel Wilson remembered by the astronaut but remember by oh and she said no and she said no and I was like yeah

why did I tell that story I was like oh I sent a message to Victoria Beckham's PR like that's embarrassing if nothing else this is it we've got a loser

we've got way too comfortable sharing the most embarrassing parts of our lives with people that we don't know I know, I know. We should have practiced really. Just didn't know what we were in for. But anyway, that was my awkward. That's happened now. So, our guest today, her name is Kelly Valentine Hendry. She's the casting director for Bridgeton. And we were like, what better time to talk about Bridgeton and the cast of Bridgeton right now with all the hype there is around Bridgeton, but also around Nicola, which we kind of delved into the way that kind of people are talking about her body in this series, in this year's series. So it was cool to check about that. But it was all. Also just very cool to chat to a casting director because I had no idea what they did, what they were, like what their job entails. It's super fascinating. I like to know how the sausage gets made, not literally speaking, as somebody that's not eating a sausage for very many years. But like, there are so many industries, so much, so impressive. And like, there are so many careers that are so massive. And I just have no idea about. I'm like, what do? Like, there's just, I don't know, there's a million careers and you may never meet one in your life with someone who does it.

And it's a bit of a thankless job that, isn't it? A casting director, that must be quite tough because we never think about what goes behind like seeing the people on our screens. No, no. At least I'd never thought about it, never. No. And it's like, anyway, it was just really interesting

to learn like what a massive process it was and it's really cool. These are the kind of interviews that we just love doing so much with it where it's maybe an interview that you haven't heard before or wouldn't really expect to hear and just learn loads from.

So we loved it. Guys, enjoy the interview. We will see you on Thursday. Hi, Kelly. Hello. Thank you for joining us today. We're very excited to talk to you.

You're welcome. This is my first proper podcast in a proper room. Amazing. Do you know what? We nearly had headphones as well to look even more profresh. But fake ones. Yeah, they are fake. They won't see.

Yeah. It's all right. I'll cope. We said it was akin to wearing glasses when you don't need, really need glasses. You know, it's probably. I have a pair of them, yeah. We all do. We all do.

we are really excited to talk to you there's a lot to talk about well okay so you are a casting director and you have done an absolute shit ton of stuff sorry I didn't need to swear there sorry you've done an absolute ton of stuff you've done broad church

which is so fucking cool which is so cool I loved broad church and I think I've left it long enough to rewatch it you know if you do that with a series I said that to Dave the other day he's never seen it and I was like I've left it long enough good should you do it the same time yes do it and when you're watching it

Like, honestly, look at the cast and that, blow him on trumpet here, but you wouldn't get those people on a show altogether again. It was great because you had Olivia Coleman. Yeah. David Tennant. Who else was in that? Phoebe Wallerbridge. Phoebe Wallerbridge?

Of course, she was. Because you also did Fleaback. Yes. Wait, where was she in? She was second season. We need to rewatch it. She's in the lawyer section. Yeah, we had Jody Whittaker.

Oh, God. You've had all the Doctor Who's. Well, there's a connection there, isn't there? Was that Olivia Coleman's like, I mean, she was peep show right but that was that her like breakout she had Olivia Coleman is one of the hardest working actresses that this country has ever seen and she's that's why it's amazing that she is where she is because she has done that by just being brilliant and getting her head down and working and doing different I've been in meetings where this is years ago where a producer

has declared which she doesn't do drama she's just funny it always my response but yeah so she's a brilliant example to all actors of like you can do it if you just get your head time Because she did the favourite as well. Yeah. And that was really serious, drama. Didn't she win an Oscar for that? Yeah, she was so good in that. She's so good.

She deserves it. Yeah, I'm obsessed with her. You also did high school musical. Is that right? I did. I did a bit. I did one bit of casting on that. That's so good.

Yeah, it was pretty cool. But I was an assistant and an assistant to associate with Gail Stevens. But yeah, I did. The choreographer came over and the actress that we did end up casting. the choreographer this is cool he came up with the lift in dirty dancing he was the choreographer

on dirty dancing so Kenny I think he's called Kenny Ortega and when we went to that recall it was in like a dance studio with glass you know the glass walls and he particularly liked this actress who went on to get it and watching him choreograph her and doing that whole kind of like

to the wall as she pamp her palms on the you know doing her freestyle dancing it was very cool God, I can't believe you actually knew that I did that. That's weird. Well, I think it stood out because I was like, it's very different from the other stuff on your CV, right? It feels, I don't know. There are these little gems.

I did a bit on Corrie as well, not that long ago. I did one role on Coronation Street because I knew my mum would like that. I love that. Coronation Street was such a staple in our house. I'm so basic. I love it. It's brilliant. It's so many great actors come out of shows like that.

They do they do, they? EastEnders, Coronation Street, Casualty. you know, loved casualty. Yeah, completely... No, it's come out of Holyoaks, actually. Totally respect that, yeah. Anyway, what we really, really are excited to talk to you about because it's everywhere at the moment is Bridgeton.

Well, that little show. Yeah, you heard of it. That you did the casting for, and it really is everywhere at the moment. It's like you cannot move for seeing things about Bridgeton, as you should. It's a really, really good show. Thank you. It's a very, very bingable show.

That's what my husband said about it. He was like, it's just got everything. everything. And that was like, you're not wrong. It's got the soundtrack. It's got the costumes. It's got the cast. It's got the romance.

It's got the plot. It's got the sex. Like, what more do you have? Got a bit of everything. A little sprinkle, sprinkle. Oh, I mean... Has it been a mad period for you? Yeah.

It's because Bridgeton is just consistent for me usually. I mean, we have downtime on it. But I'm always like keeping my eye open of like, hang on a second. They're definitely Bridgeton type or what... And the great thing about the Bridgeton type is that it's not. what everybody thinks the type is going to be it's like what is attractive what is sexy what is intelligent i mean intelligence intelligent isn't it so and it's i think they're really fantastic at the inclusivity of you know you know you watch bridget and you feel seen and it's

we haven't got it right for everybody yet and that is absolutely on the agenda so you can't do it all at once but you know you what kind of i love the fact as well that each season is a different kind of love, forbidden love, friendship love, you know, what else? It needs to love us. Yeah, it's pretty good, isn't it. Just do you wait for the next season. Oh, don't. I'm not talking about it, but there we are. Was that your intention then casting, I mean, casting the first season of Bridgeton was to like make everyone feel seen that was watching it? Yeah, so when you, I get hired, obviously, by production company, so I'm hired by Shondaland and Netflix. And when you work for

a company like Chondaland and obviously Netflix as well but specifically when Chondaland comes you know that you're going to be working with something that their absolute kind of motive is to make sure that everyone feels seen and that was why I absolutely love working for them and they're super open as well to who that is when I work on things God you could talk to you for hours about the process but you know a lot of time we're name led an algorithm led and who means what and you know people want different types of actors on their network or platform so that they can entice you know people to pay for their subscription but with this i don't have to do that it's like let the best person win and people audition people chemistry and people get the job so they

so going back to your original question shonda a shonda rhyme show is going to be inclusive yeah because she's yeah she's like i remember reading her autobiography a couple of years ago randomly and she's amazing but yeah gray's anatomy has always been like her sort of biggest it was her original baby wasn't it because she did scandal how to get away with murder which is one of my favourite shows ever and they're so good for representation I mean grades and asked me like has the series have gone

it's just like she's she's followed through so many plot lines that don't and haven't particularly had air time so that's I was really excited when I saw Bridgeton like the first season that was that it was her production company but Lisa Walker's like it's just so cool to see a woman who's got such good intentions do so well.

You don't normally see that. Like, someone who puts their money where the mouth is and then gets the money, like, gets success from that. Yeah. And it's unusual. Yeah, and she's, they stand, like, she's got a wonderful team around her. I love this production team. They're really accessible and you can have really open conversations with them

and that allows you to do your best work. So therefore, I think that's why the casting is so good because it really is a brilliant collaborative. You know, we all, we've got, I think the cast is fantastic. And from all walks of life and from, all over the world too so and that will continue i have a practical question though if you're not if it's not name led the casting and if it's like you've just you get to pick whoever you want where on earth do you start you just got a pool of everybody in the world see all these lines on

my face that's season one that season two season three and this might be season four i have more than four lines um yeah it's when you're a cast and director it's you're just a sponge for people in general and you have to have a love of theatre and film and everything and you just always consistently are going huh who is that person I wonder if they can act

do you give people opportunity and I would admit that I'm an overcaster which is a thing which is I see a lot of people for roles I don't present all those people I present eight you know I'll see 150, 200 a thousand we'd be shit at that

I'd be like I want you all And it is hard when you're sitting there because I've got a big team and they work really hard and I like them having their opinion too because I have one lens. I am a white woman who's 47 who's queer that's my lens.

That's how we look at the world. Whereas people in my office look at it completely different so that's really important to me that I let them have their opinions too. So they go off there and we put big breakdowns out. We do open calls. We look depending on the role. Like say we're looking for a boxer

and I can't find it within the act community I'm going to look in boxing clubs like I'm everywhere yeah yeah even though those people have no acting experience yeah well it's a big that's another big conversation because who are we to say you have to go to drama school to be an actor yeah like it's another big conversation don't get me wrong I went to drama school myself I did a stage management degree and I respect what drama school does and it definitely gives you a certain um oh god it gives you a training for sure and it gives you um it gives you a lot of discipline but acting has been for the privileged

over for many many years and you know we've got it if you want true inclusivity I never say that word properly inclusivity you know what I mean then we have to be able to look for talent wherever we want to and that can be anywhere now but what you have to do with that is put on a huge

amount of duty of care I do not believe in streetcasting bringing in someone off the street putting them into a massive movie and then just leaving them how do you cope with that many? Yeah, of course. You know, because when you are, I mean, I had my first experience in front of the camera this year. Well, I filmed last year, but I did bring the drama for BBC too. And I got the taste of what it was like to be talent.

And I loved it. Getting picked up and getting brought things and just like, I just, it was great. So I can imagine on a massive scale, you can't just drop people into that and then just put them back to where they came. So there's a lot of, I think, that's why there's a lot of women are cast and directors and good cast and directors. and good cast and directors. I'm not saying that men can't be. There are wonderful male cast and directors out there. But, you know, we're very good at care.

More maternal. Yeah. Yeah. And that's one of our big things. I can see that. And it's really interesting on the inclusivity point that it's not accessible. Like theatre, schools, the career of acting, it's if you can't afford, because it's such a risk.

I've talked to my husband about this yesterday, actually, about university, because he wanted to do music more than anything in the world he wanted to do the arts and it's like he's like it's too big a risk it was my whole you know my mum gave everything

to get me there and then what like it's such a risk if it doesn't you know like to follow that dream is your privilege to be able to do that

and to feel safe in that decision absolutely where there are so many more safer options than to go into acting and acting and this is a big thing

for me anyway is that acting is so subjective so subjective so when you're I personally think it's oversubscribed and I think it's a massive money making machine, you know, our industry and I feel really sort of, I think actors are treated

appallingly in general. I really do. You need a headshot, that's going to get you an agent. You know, you need to do this course. That's going to make you better. That will make you better. Promise, promise, promise. And people just want it because you're so close. You don't know if tomorrow you're... It's quite exploitative, I guess. It's hugely exploitative. We have to take care of our actors. They're very fragile people as well.

Putting yourself out there into an audition room, it's like it's massively it's yeah it's yeah people are hard push to have sympathy for actors or six I don't know it's a weird thing where if you'd say like just which makes so much sense of course they need like

of course they're just normal fragile people and whatever but if you ask people for kind of empathy on that level people struggle to give celebrity or actor or anything like that any empathy to somebody in the arts I suppose yeah I agree I think once you get to a certain point you have the money then you're in control of that

and maybe that's separate. Obviously, mental health is like, for actors, must be absolutely. Because how can you put on the layers of another person if you don't know who you are? Yeah. So I think as an actor, that's the advice I give to actors all the time is like, do you need to be in a mentally fantastic space

to be a, you know, to survive being an actor? There's plenty of actors out there. They're not okay and they're fabulous and they use, you know, the elements of themselves that are dangerous and, like, unhinged and you get a performance out of them. But you also see those poor people like, have a shocker in front of us it's not like sport like if in sport it's not subjective is it

you're either going to win yeah or you're not you're going to be the fastest you're going to win the tennis but with acting it's not isn't it's like tomorrow what about tomorrow what about tomorrow yeah it's kind of it's a gambling isn't it and cost a fortune and constantly navigating those like ups the highs and lows that I imagine an acting career comes with because you're only I mean relevance is it's fleeting isn't it yeah anything to do with validation consistent right you can't validate yourself yeah you could be the second choice on every single job and not get it never worked but you could be the second choice i mean that wouldn't happen you'd probably get it eventually but oh it's just so hard and then of course you've got the massive

conversation of self-tapes and in the part you'll have come across this it's a lot of the big acting communities are up in arms about the fact that we are now putting people on asking people to self-tape rather than bringing them into the room to meet us and that's happening for loads of reasons and that's a huge conversation for another day and it needs we need to take responsibility for it but self-tapes are here to stay and it is a way of opening up the platform to people who don't have to get child care for the day don't have to pay you don't have to be London centric you don't have to come down from Scotland and pay a hundred-something quid yeah that first round could be done in your own home yeah it's free it would rule us out the game pretty quickly

wouldn't it if we had to do a self-tape imagine sending off oh that one's good enough oh god I would I would never have the self-confidence. You did mention like unhinged and like bringing that into your acting there, so I feel like I could do that. I've got a lot of bit of hinged in me. Like you mentioned, like you could be the second, what did you say,

second choice for like tons of roles. And it made me wonder, is there a duty of care also to people that nearly get parts and don't get them and who are understandably gutted and they've gone through the process? and because that must be devastating. Yeah.

Honestly, when you get to that final three or four, it's really difficult to give critical feedback because it'll be something about, it's not really about the talent. It won't be about something that you can really describe sometimes. It's just in a way like, can you describe the person that you fell in love with over the person that you, you know what I mean?

It's like, what is it? Fibes, exactly. Chemistry. Well, that's crushing. You can't say to someone sorry. You can't say it's got the vibe. Yeah, imagine. Yeah, that's hard.

So it's hard saying to an actual, look, you didn't get it because of. And look, it can be as simple as that person looked way more like the family member or that person. You know what? You can't say to an actor, well, that person's better looking. And that wouldn't be the, you cannot. And nor would I ever cast someone that was better looking and led, well, maybe, I don't know.

I've got to ask about the, sorry, to just go on good looking. Because it's like a widely discussed point on TikTok, the glow-op that the Bridgeton boys have. And I have like a two-fold question. First of all, how are you doing? Second of all, how is it not a bit of a risk when you cast a child actor, or not a child, but like a young, and I know like Anthony and Collins characters are all like in their 30, late 20s and 30s, so it's fine.

But like the younger boys that you're casting, if they're going to have their seasons one day, is that a bit of a risk that you've employed a child? If you can't make it work with an adult. It's a really good question. Probably one that I can't answer. Sorry. but yeah i mean like they're all great actors and they'll be on their journey and you know i don't know

what's coming down the line yeah um but they've already glowed up the glocks were i'll tell if it's just the hair cut if it's just the confidence but like they really like i don't know it's quite something isn't it colin bridgeton yeah did don't i mean he's changed he has jonathan bailey come on jonathan bailey's he's always been i'm so bad of the name he was he was he's season two stars He's Anthony, yeah. I love him so much. He's so fit. He's just...

But he's also... I'm so obsessed with him because he dresses so well, not as, well, not as it, not as Anthony, but in real life. Yeah, he does actually. Yeah, he's so cool.

Well, he's the lead in the New Jurassic Park film now. Is he? Yeah. That's really cool as well, because he's a gay actor, isn't he? It's really cool to see him like just in straight roles and like that's... Well, Johnny said something to me.

He wouldn't mind me saying that's like something that was really interesting. We were about to do chemistry tests for Bridgeton season two. And Johnny was like, I can have chemistry with anyone because as a gay man, you know, in a straight world on telly, I've had to have chemistry with no one I find, you know, that I would ever be with. So it's just something I've had to learn to do. Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, because he had chemistry in season two.

Oh, yes. Yeah. I was really good. I was like, I was hooked. This feels like a surprise because in my head, I'm like, they're in love. In real life, they've gone back. They've had so many babies, they must have done. Going back to, like, the good-looking thing,

like, obviously that's been, um, that's kind of been a prerequisite for a leading, do you say, lady, leading man in the, in the acting industry, like, forever. Like, everyone we've seen on screen, even, like, the friend of roles or, like, the lesser roles, they are all, like, everyone's just, like, really good looking. And it just feels like it's just been a thing. Like, that's how the industry works. Do you think that we are moving away from that at all?

And I guess this applies to body diversity as well, you know, because we've never really seen a plus size protagonist, really, have we? And I feel like there's been some exceptions, it's been like shrill. There was that TV was shrill. Girls, yes. But that was so unique, really, in the way it was. I think we're not, yeah, if we can get to a place where it's not discussed, that would be amazing, wouldn't it?

Because, you know, obviously Nicola's had some, I mean, It annoys me on her behalf that the questions that are heading towards her about her body shape. She's a beautiful, sexy woman who's smart. A moment about her boobs made me lost. She's so good. Exactly. She's got beautiful breasts, you know, as she says to herself. And that's all that she'd be about.

Yeah, I know. Yes, to answer your question. That's a sad reality, isn't it? It is a big deal. Yeah. Which is crazy because I don't even think, I mean, we could, I don't know about classification really, but I don't even think we can call her plus size. She's not as about to say.

She's just an normal, an average-sized woman. Exactly. We're just so used to seeing very thin people on our screens that it is a big talking point because it's new. It also meant so much. Novelty, yeah. It's meant. Yeah.

I haven't seen any criticism though. I don't know if I'm just, like, I've only seen, like, genuine, like, love and gratitude from fans. Yes. They've seen themselves. Just the occasional silly question that gets directed her way when, hence, she's talked about her boobs, you know, like, leave her alone.

Like, it's not even, it's not even, it's not even, It's not even a thing. It is a thing that people saw her and felt represented because she's not super thin. I certainly had a tear in my eye. I'm not a small person. I looked around at the premiere and there were people with wet eyes.

And I know it was not just because it was actually really beautiful, the sex scene and the mirror scene. But it was just done so, I don't know, and they took their time with it as well and they allowed Nicola and Luke to kind of show what it. It wasn't a wham-bam, like everyone's, you know, ripped. Those are the lookers. And I think it was just really beautiful to show that.

I think that meant a lot to a lot of people. But it shouldn't all be about that. It's ridiculous. She's such a good actress. She's such a good actress. I know, she is. She's brilliant. And it's even like, I feel about even bringing it up with you

because it's like, on one hand, we should just not be, and just talking about how talented she is as an actress and not like, I guess, adding to the, you know, fueling. the noise around it I will say this on the history of Bridgeson we've never we've never ever

not cast someone because of a shape of their body ever we in fact the opposite we have had conversations about that we need more body diversity on the show in general which I think you can see already

is there a problem with in adding more body diversity to the acting industry is there a problem of like self-selection in that people who live in big bodies don't necessarily want to put them for, like, they're not in the industry because

they just don't feel like it's for them. Is there an element of that? So it's actually difficult to cast bigger actors. There's that. And then there's also the fact that I think that people, if you are a fool of figure, let's think about the things that have been written for people. If you're a fool or figure, you're always portrayed in a certain way. Yeah, a silly sidekick.

You're the silly sidekick or you're lazy. All the stuff that go with it, it's infuriating. So I don't think no one has been, should necessarily be. writing roles, but just casting people that have got body diversity. So more people we see, it goes without saying for everybody, the more people you see like you on screen playing sport, playing

music, the more likely a little kid's going to go, I can do that. And that's what it comes down to. You know, we've talked about Love Island every year when it comes around, and you think the reason, obviously that's a specific casting process as well, but on a self-selection front there, to be the only one then, to be like the token plus size person, it puts such a light, on you.

Brutal. Yeah, it's so brutal. And it's, yeah, it's a really cool shift to see, I guess, Grae's Anatomy's been doing it for ages. So the sort of like Shonda Rhyme's effect is obviously just like seeping, which is lovely. But it is really, although there is a commotion around Nicola's body, you hope that it's just, I don't know, with everything that, with every move like that,

it just pushes and pushes a little bit more. Yeah, it becomes more and more normalized. Yeah, can you sound like the idiot in the corner if you're asking about her figure. Yeah. It's ridiculous. Well, yeah, the question, you know, the reply she gave made the journalist sound so stupid. Exactly. What does she say?

Because the woman said like, oh, were you not nervous about showing your body type? Basically, were you not nervous about showing your body? And she said, oh, yeah, but like I feel like I've got perfect breasts and I feel like people with people who also have perfect breast should see themselves represented. Good for her. It's done it. It makes you sound like such a dork. Oh, God, I'm so bad with the names. I watched the show

but I can't remember the names of the star of season two. What was her name? Simone Ashley. Yes. She won't have been asked about her body. Absolutely. I bet she didn't get one question about her body

in the whole of the... It's not brave for a straight-sized woman to do a sex scene, but it is brave for a... She's not even plus-sized, for not even plus-sized woman. It was so fucking beautiful, though. It was.

It was just great. I just loved. loved it. And also, I don't know, like, the carriage scene as well. I was like, that's like, that was, that was left beautiful. That was more just like, like, like, Colin Fingering. Yeah, exactly. That's a fingerprint. There's something, there's something that I really love about the fact that she's fingered. It's like, old school. It's like, that's a right of passage, isn't it? It is a right of a party. Yeah. She's just one of us. You're a child. I love that she lives across the road, though.

I know. It's all of it like, oh, God. Not on your own doorstep, love. So good. It's so good. So, okay, so, so the, I guess the idea, I think, it's safe to say without putting words of your mouth, like, the idea is that the acting industry eventually will be, or, like, what we see on screens will eventually be, like, a true cross-section of society, like, true representation of, like, the world rather than...

I think so, but then, having said that, you know, everyone's on a Zen pic. Or, you know, so whilst we're all like, isn't it good? We're all looking normal on television, but we still strive to just be thinner. Can I ask a question? Can I go back to asking a question about Flea Back? Yeah. I'm obsessed with Flea Guy.

Andrew Scott and Phoebe Wallerbridge and real life are like BFFs. As a casting director, do you get involved? Are they, were they, like, if you've got like the writer and the producer, it's like, cast the person and you just go with the casting of the person? I don't know, like, how that happens. Yeah, so disclosure, I'd set up this series, did series one and then didn't do second season. That situation that you're talking about happens a lot whereby people go, you know, I want someone in my show and you don't fight it. Yeah.

Unless, yeah, you don't fight it because that person has probably created it or they're a leading actor and there'll be a good reason for it. And when you get natural chemistry with two people, you know, go for it. Did you see the clips of the Taylor Swift gig last week? Were they together? They were together. They were going out for a drink. And then the song came on and they like lost their mind And they like ran back

I was like oh my god It's so relatable I'm pretty sure she knew Olivia as well So when we did season one We took it from her one women show Into like a pub readthrough Olivia was there Phoebe You know

It was a slightly different cast at that point And then we made the pilot And then we managed to get it to season one Yeah And then yeah and then of course Season 2 really kicked off And you know sadly I didn't win that Emmy for it but it's okay

half there with them yeah yeah no that was great she's very clever lady yeah she's incredibly generous and lovely and very brilliant to work with and everything that goes with it she is not disappointing no I can imagine

whereas you know some others are yeah I can also imagine that none of which I work with you must come across some horrors that must be quite difficult but I imagine you just don't work with the horrors or do you have to Yeah, it's funny because our business is so heated

and there's a lot of pressure and a lot of egos all the time So whilst you say I'll never work with them again Sometimes the horror has actually come out being some of the best jobs You know, when it comes out on screen So yeah, you just get used to it But I won't have anyone treat my office In a negative way And I can take a fair amount

I'm from a not that it's right But I'm from a generation that did take a hell of a lot You can't get away not that you want to get away with something but you can't do that to people anymore what happened to us which is great yeah which is absolutely right

and I advocate for it and I would never behave in the way that some people have behaved with me but that's just duty of care again like every industry you'd be the same you did gangs of London as well didn't you I love that show yeah that's really cool

I actually stalker alert listen to a podcast that you did and you were talking about it and the work that you did around that trying to I mean it was crazy you went to like every borough

you went through every borough of London didn't you to try and to try and get the job for myself to try and land the job yeah yeah yeah I had a little book when I went for my meeting and I went through every I had personally gone through every borough and worked out what the you know the racial

you know ratios are in that borough and if you're you know if you're in Camden what would that look like genuinely and at the time I lived in East London I used to come in the central line and I would look around the carriage and I'm like this is London and this is what I need to make sure I mean languages everywhere

are different types of people from all over the world so yeah I love gangs of London we finish the next season so it should be out in a bit I don't know when it's coming out but I'm delighted because I haven't watched it and I've been looking for a new season a new series which is a horrible task because you're investing your time

which is precious into a new show yeah the beginning bit the last three nights we've not committed to anything we've just sat in silence because we couldn't agree so I'm happy to bring a suggestion been home fully committed to traitors at every level yeah I am obsessed with that show that's interesting from a casting perspective because casting reality TV yeah that's a whole different have you ever would you ever do that so it's not my area but because I saw how it worked when I was doing bringing the drama yeah I saw what it was like to do reality casting because

they brought me in at the last minute so they saw thousands of people at walter wall was a production company. So their casting research teams did that. I'd never really thought about it before. I never taken it seriously, if I'm honest. Boy, do I take it seriously now. Their work is unbelievable. They have, they brought me in when they brought it down to 50 and then I took it down to 23 and then I took it down to 8. So that's when I came in. But they saw thousands. So they're amazing because they have ins with all the different communities, deaf communities, blind communities. If you say, I spent a lot of time with them because I was on the show for so long and you know if you said

I need to find, we're missing someone that we need representation for like we need someone in their 50s who is half from Yorkshire and maybe grew up in Malaysia they will go and find that person. Really? Yeah yeah. It's a bit like it's not a bit like casting it is casting it's just

you know it's just real people so I'm in all of them actually. I think they're incredible. I couldn't do it myself I mean I'm too long gone down the other route but I think they don't get enough credit and the duty of care with that must be massive as well oh my gosh yes

there's people on set all the time just because these people are it's not they're not trained for this no and they're not act that you can't hide reality TV I think so many people think they can play the game or think you can do it or they'll be the one that can and it's like you realise after a minute that you can't like you can't hide it and you can't play it and like

and it's not on your terms it's a really weird scenario that I felt myself in because I'm doing this and it is reality television in a way the format I've seen on television before with like, you know, Bake Off and things like that, but this was an industry that's never had cameras in it. You know, cast and artists get asked all the time to do documentaries or can, you know, can you kind of follow the casting process on Bridgetency? Absolutely no way.

No. For many reasons, obvious reasons you can, you know, can intellectually agree why not. Such unbelievable, like personal information that we know and hold about people. And also the process itself is crazy. So I was very, very, very. on my toes all the time going this is the first time

we're really going to see proper auditions and how it is actually in the casting room which is one of the reasons I said yes because I thought if I do it at least I'm in control of it and we can show the acting community even and show the process in an actual

proper light and show the duty of care that us cast and directors take and that we're not these monsters that just are like no next you know because we do get the blame for quite a lot of things when the truth is we just want an actor

to do well and the quicker we find an actor the quicker I'm out the door. Yeah. So, you know, I want to do my... Yeah, exactly. Thank God. But, yeah, so it was really interesting.

And I'd never been in front of a camera before, so it was kind of... And then all of a sudden, Bill Bailey is standing next to me and I'm in the spotlight. And it took a week or so, but after that, I loved it. Did you? Yeah, I really did. It was just so refreshing just to be doing something else.

But it was a strike, so something different. What... Okay, I've got a couple of questions. Yeah. What has been your most unexpected casting moment in your career? Yeah. Sorry, that's a big question. I'm putting you on spot. Unexpected is a difficult one because we're on it for so long that nothing is a surprise by the end. It's just relief. But I could tell you like a little cute story about a film that I did. I was an assistant on it. And this is a long time ago, it was like 10, 15 years ago. And we had cast a young child actor from the States to come over and play the daughter of a very famous actress in a movie. And they arrived. and they started filming

and she didn't couldn't do all the things that she said that she could do and it was really apparent that this had to be a recast but we had cast another little girl to play her best friend a couple of lines here and there

and she had done really well on set so we're like can you just get her in quickly and just can you run her through the scenes read and tape her and see if she can actually step in and Sears your own in today is doing not too bad no way! No way! That's so cool.

That was a sliding point. twist. Yeah, right? Wow. So you have things like that that happened. And quite often it is children that it happens to and then you look at them now. But, you know, you could go through the roster.

It's like, you know, you see these people come through. You know, Emily Blunt used to sit and meet. She used to be consistently in the waiting room. This is years ago, obviously. Really? We've seen Taryn Edgerton. We cast them in the Sky Show called The Smoke, you know, and he had to audition.

And I remember that day with Taran and Vanessa Kirby, like they all come through the doors. And at some point, they just then all of us. sudden become stars. I think about Bill Nahi all the time. I think I bring him up all the time. Just because he, I can't think of him as a young actor because I know he did stage, but he only kind of made it in films as like an older actor. I always think that's amazing. Ray Winston as well, I think he started really late. There's quite a few of them. It's so cool. It's so cool. It's a real like, take him up on your dreams.

There is definitely a market, by the way, for ladies of a certain age. Really? Yeah. Well, because it's the same ones every time, which I, there's an immense comfort in that for me. I like knowing that when an old lady appears, because there's an actress what is her name? She's in she's in Brighton. She's in Downton Abbey. She's not Maggie Smith, she's the other... Penelope Wilson? She's so bad that I'm going to say the next bit

who reminds me so much of my granny. My granny was also from Yorkshire and they had a really similar accent, really similar temperament. Every time I see her in anything, I'm just delighted. I'm like, oh, yes. It's like my grandma in them. That's what Penelope Walton does to people through, isn't it? That's why she's so great. I love that

because it's the best thing is like Marigold Hotel like yeah because they all like it was like they brought out

everyone I was like oh yes well you've got Richard Dolsman's murder club coming soon

oh is that yes my friend Carmel's casting that yeah oh my god sorry

thinking about things that coming up which we haven't even talked about yeah you're casting for Jilly Cooper's

we are finished we're done I've seen you have seen so excited I am such a Julie Cooper fan I started reading

those books way too young well you're gonna it's genuinely look at me I'm getting excited. It is brilliant.

It's brilliant. You cast Rupert. He is... This is the thing, right? When you think about, like, the... When you think about, like, the use Harry Potter as an example, because I read that at a time that was like...

I was reading them as the books came out. Like, I was exactly the right age for them. And I had such an image in my mind of them and of the Dementors and of Hogwarts. And then the film has to match the magic. With Jilly Cooper, you have to do that, but backdated, you know, like, for us, it was like,

you just had to appease, like, a few 10-year-olds. But like with Jilly Cooper, it's like you have got like decades worth of women who have imagined Rupert like completely in their minds and you've been making real. It's not a pressure. It was not easy. Yeah, we had to cast the most attractive man in Britain. I mean, they say it all the time.

It's like Rupert Campbell Black is the most attractive man in Britain. So, okay, so here's the thing. Like, you know how people are attractive because they're good at something as well? So when you, with acting, you can't just put a super fit person in a role or just a disaster if they can't act. Forget it. They're not going to be able to do anything. So we had to find both.

So I had to find someone who can lead a show. And that, all of those things. Right. And he has to be, he has to be stunning, beautiful. And on top of that, you've got a storyline that's archaic in a way because you've got a man who's of a certain age who, as you know, the books, falls in love with taggy 17 or 18 in the books

isn't she she's super young it's not great it's not okay full stop no it's not aged brilliantly so we've got that in mind as well so we've got to make that slightly merged a little bit more that's acceptable

which is fine so yeah it's I'm really I mean the actor that we have cast Alex Hassel is an unbelievably fantastic actor and he is not bad on the old eye

really oh my goodness look at I'm blushing already Plus he's so lovely And you can't put any old guy in with Again it comes back to duty of care Like you've got to cast an actor That's going to be gentle and delicate And be kind to women

When you've got an awful lot of sex scenes And you know There is a lot of nudity Can I ask about casting When you're casting a romantic couple Do you and you're doing the chemistry Do you have to do the like sex stuff To see that they've got the chemistry for that

Or can you just trust them to work that bit out Oh my God I don't think about that. So you can do it a couple of ways. With chemistry, you can just tell. Okay. When you just can tell, it's one of these things you can't describe. If we wanted to go further, then I would have to have an intimacy coordinator in the room.

And they would have to be talked through things. Our next guest has to be one of them. We need an intimacy coordinator. I can sort out with an intimacy coordinator. No problem. I'll give you the number of the Bridgeton intimacy coordinator. Oh, thanks. She's amazing.

We did a live together in Insta. Sorry, in lockdown. She's great. Lizzie. That's so cool. Yeah, yeah. They're really interesting. Yeah, I'll bet. But you have these amazing games that you play. So if I'm looking at you right now, I know people can't see us, but what you do is that I'm going to tell you where I'm comfortable with you touching me touching me touching me. So it would be like, I'm comfortable with you touching my forehead. And then you repeat that back and you do it and you go down. I'm comfortable with you touching my knees. And you say, you are comfortable with me touching your knees. I am not comfortable with you touching my stomach area. And then you would repeat that back and also touch, you know, that area. of your own body and it just goes in and then you're very ready to work with an actor if they agree

then you now know that you don't like, some people don't like being touched the back of the neck so it's just there's lots of little thing that you can put into place that in the of itself is an intimate thing to do but I'm not allowed, yeah exactly right and I'm not allowed we're not allowed to have kissing or actors will ask each

other sometimes if they're chemistry going would you mind if I touch your elbow or your knee and they have to ask us as well because we read in all the time my poor assistant she's not an assistant she's associate cast and director Jess who works with me we've been doing some fairly punchy recall scenes recently not for Bridgeton

for something else and she was being clambered over poor woman by the actor she was like yeah you can touch me it's fine and then they're just not like that yeah yeah so it's really difficult but you can just tell with chemistry you just can't you just can't

you've seen it with your friends and you're in a pub you just go look at the end of the same thing it's just a human nature at the end of the day and then you got hope that they act well together actors it's like an energy

you know you give and you take when you're acting with someone and if you get someone sorry I think you're going to ask the same question I don't think I am

I've gone rogue because I'm thinking Bridgeton because I think I can't remember who I've watched a TikTok I mean I've literally watched every Britterton TikTok

but about how they had to learn to ride horses for the show that would have been season two because they were and then obviously Jilly Cooper's cast have got to be a hell of good at riding. Yes. Would you cast someone that was bad at riding with the idea that they'd learn it?

Or have they got to be good at riding as well? I have been in situations where we've cast people who can't ride. And then we've had to teach them. But actors are like sponges, honestly. They really genuinely are good. Yeah. You'll notice when you see it like, Luke, for example, Pasculino who's in it

who plays what's his name again he plays Rupert's best friend Oh Billy Yes And he's he's the Argentinian The half Argentinian polar player Yeah

No Baz Baz he's Tony Baddingham Oh not being my mistake Yeah he's Tony Baddingham's half brother Who says that he got the better looking jeans But he can ride horses Because he was in musketeers

Cool So you can really tell when he's on his horse that's cool because riding is a thing it's like you've got it or you don't with the confidence of it like some people can navigate a horse and sometimes sit there like

and also you get rogue horses you know oh you're with insurance I mean it depends where you film as well if you're filming out in Eastern Europe I've been on some dodgy cheap house films back in the day when I was just starting out

and the stories that come back of the actresses coming back going with those awful horses that were two pee on the side of the road that they're on there's just danger everywhere but yeah it's thankfully nothing to do with me yeah that's good but yeah we do we do go like when you're reading scripts

you're breaking them down you do notice you go right they're on a horse they're driving cars that's one of the big things that gets me all the time especially if you're doing like a show like Grandchester they're driving these huge big cars it costs a lot of money put them on top loaders if you're going to fake it so quite often you want someone to drive

that actual car down the streets and if you can't drive you can't drive but everyone's a bit guilty we've all got that friend that goes, yeah, I can drive without the licence. But they can drive, you know, that friend. Or the one who's got the licence. And doesn't drive. It's just a terrible driver.

It won't drive. Fair enough. So, yeah, so like riding, driving cars, water. Quite often you see people in the water is quite often. It's just a thing that you know. Yeah, my case as an actor, you'll just say, I'll do anything. Yeah, to get the part. Yeah, I'll do anything.

And then it's like, oh, fuck. Say yes, panic later. Yeah, we cast an actor in Last Kingdom. first season right at the beginning amazing actor and the scripts went through to him and he read them and he was like oh right

so here's the thing I'm allergic to horse well I'm allergic to everything everything dogs cats chickens hens the works I'm allergic to everything so I notice I'm meant to be riding a horse here there's no way I'm not allergic to a horse I'm like well are you well I've never met one so I don't know

oh god can you just go and chemistry test yes chemistry with the horse they were they come from a, like, they've just never been anywhere that had horses. Well, wasn't he allergic? Well, we couldn't just let him go and meet one because he could have been

deadly allergic, so we brought him down. Allergy tested the works out of every single thing right now. Horse, totally fine. Oh! So he was able to do it? He was able to do it. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that was always an epipen on site anyway. Oh, God, I was

like, here we go. Six months of casting is allergic to horse grave. God, that's so funny. God, there's so many pop, like, the human condition God damn our floors. How annoying. You just need perfect people who can just do everything. You need Ken's, Barbies and Kens. Yeah, total opposite to how we started this conversation. Yeah. Let's show us up. Let's make it inclusive. Let's have, yeah, like everyone. No. I want you to perfect and amazing everything. Just robots. No. I, random question to finish on, sorry, but I want to know

how many people try and contact you today. Because when I typed in your name into Google to do my research for today. I typed in your name and the first thing that comes up on email is email, on Google is email. Yeah, because I guess everybody wants to. And I was like, oh, I didn't think about it until I saw that and I was like, oh, I bet she gets absolutely hounded. I spent a good hour yesterday going through, like having to delete because I was at 90% capacity every day. So it is every day. And yeah, and I get the most unbelievable videos unsolicited, like it's sex, basically. Oh, actual sex, but it's quite punchy. I get the stuff that it comes. comes through to me and not nudie pictures but not far off it's sad really it is sad and it's like

that's and there's like a school of thought with that like old school like you've got to stand out like be the one I don't know like yeah be the one that's different but that's so and we're also technically not allowed to accept anything it's considered bribery but I don't mind the occasional yeah I'll be bribed a little champagne sent to my office next very much does that happen a lot not you being bribed but does that happen a lot with casting directors so just kind of like Not as much as you would think it used to

like folk don't have money anymore and I don't even you think I'd get loads of thank yous I tell you who I get thank yous from one line parts that's where I'll get like a bottle of champagne

or a beautiful box from Fortinam saying thank you so much for the opportunity I know I know what I've just paid them I'm like sweetheart you have just blowing

your whole fee on a thank you for me and that's where we get our thank yous not not the big money ones which is I was a bit like really real shame

but we're technically like I said, not allowed to accept it. But yeah, I don't get the gifts. That's annoying. I know, right? But it's also annoying to know that you're, I guess you just have to live your life being like, am I being used? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

God, it's such a fun job. I love that for you. It is, but I do, I do sense, like, not sense, but like I would feel a huge amount of pressure. And also just having to let people down and that's hard. You can't be an indecisive person. Yeah, but it's not. really my decisions truthfully the cast and director

if anybody listening is interested in it you can't get into the business you just need to write to the cast and directors you just need to be available and you can do work experience and you know quite often people don't want anyone with experience it is like most jobs it's admin admin admin and that's what you've got to be really

good at like I need to see a train hurtling towards me I need to think six steps away of something because if I make a mistake I can cost a production hundreds of thousands of pounds yeah because if you cost somebody's got to be recast. Yeah, I mean that, you learn your mistakes when you're younger and you never do it again.

And it's just, you've got, there's like 20 people have to all be on the same page to cast someone. Yeah. Sorry, I was just seeing my famous recast. I was thinking that first episode of Gossip Girl with the pilot, the mom, Blair's mom in the pilot is completely different to Blair's mum and all the others.

Oh, really? Yeah, I was sort of really bad for Blair's mom in the pilot. Is it quite an American thing? So everyone thinks you get to the read-through and you're all sitting there and everyone's sort of a little bit more slouchy read-through type of outfit vibes. And the truth is, is that everyone's sitting there going, any of you could go.

Really? Yeah. So is it beyond the pilot, really? Yeah. We don't do so much pilot sort of situation here. Usually it's just, you know, green, let him, off we go. But, yeah, you can get replaced, and that's really sad. So we have to do, sort of remind the actress that.

Like, you were cast because you're the best person for the job. But today, you really, it's not over yet. I couldn't handle that. Savage. Imagine if we were like that with each other. You didn't bring your A game today. You're out. Couldn't handle it.

This has been amazing. This has been so fun. Thank you so much. Just touch the surface of the nonsense. I know. I actually do have like a thousand more questions to ask you, but we... Get me back another day when rivals has come out. Yeah, please.

Yeah. Yes. I'm going to reread it. Yeah, maybe I will. I think it's time. I think I'm at a good point in my life to bring back to Julie Cooper. All I'm going to say is, Just do you wait for the Danny Dyer revival?

Not that he needs to be revived because he's just so cool anyway, but he is so good in it. Is he? He is so good in it. Okay. So fun. His chemistry is off the chart. Oh, God. When is it out?

October, I believe. Okay. All right. It's honestly, you're not going to know what to do with myself. You're in for a treat. You know how we have water cooler shows now? We really do like Succession and Bridgeton, obviously. I've never worked on something so British.

that is a bit more like Broadchurch in a way but very different because it is really naughty and it's got no murder children in it but a bit lighter but yeah it's everything that you want fun though as well to do something

problematic like to do a problematic thing with the age thing and to modernise it and to bring it into modern world that's quite exciting big they've done it so well the production company that did it Dom and Alex it's unbelievable it actually feels quite feminist weirdly, even so the things that are happening are decidedly not.

But I mean, yeah, there's, yeah, there's an argument for like, you know, Jilly's, well, this isn't a conversation for now, but. Yeah. Yeah. Jilly's success. It's like, I mean, that's she's amazing. She smells so good. And she knows she knows them all. She knows everybody.

And she's at every party. Is she? Oh, yeah. Longer than everybody. I already told you both that before, but I'm telling you again with a microphone, because I feel like it's my cool same member Stephen Boehyeyeye. It's a claim to fame. That's very cool

She was the coolest Did you say hi to her? Did I fuck? Obviously not You must go up Go really close You can smell her No, that's even weird

No She's only little You have to be close You haven't got to loom over her No please do Honestly Sorry Julie I'm on the strict instructions

To sniff the top of your head Oh it's divine She smells so expensive I can imagine Chill and just Oh she's But she wears like Baccarat Rouge Actually probably

probably something even more expensive than that actually. Maybe she's a La Labo girl. Maybe she mixes. Do you think? Or maybe she's a classic Chanel.

Should I find out? Should I find out for you? I'll have been great. I'm not going to rest. Wow. Comedian. Thanks very much. Thank you, Kelly.

This has been absolutely brilliant. You're so welcome. And I think you've got to come back. Yeah, we've loved it. Got to come back at the end of the year. All right. Thank you so much. You're so welcome.

Thank you. Cheers bye. Should I delete that is part of the ACAS creator network.