In Conversation: Christopher Eccleston

In Conversation: Christopher Eccleston

Home, Manchester Sunday 6^th May 2018

Review by Brian Gorman

“It's Manchester; I thought it was gonna be raining!” says Christopher Eccleston, in that famous, gruff, Salfordian accent. On one of the hottest days of the year, the star of some of TV's grittiest, uncompromising, and groundbreaking drama (Cracker, Hillsborough, and Our Friends In The North among them) took a seat, and effortlessly entertained his attentive and appreciative audience. In conversation with Dr Kirsty Fairclough of The University of Salford, the 54 year old actor was in town as a guest of The Pilot Light TV Festival, and fresh from a highly-acclaimed RSC production of MacBeth currently running in Stratford-Upon-Avon. Looking every inch Shakespeare's sinewy, coiled spring of a warrior, Eccleston was a pretty fearsome presence, with that famous chiselled profile, boxer's physique, and awesome Roman nose. Admitting he had always been a bundle of restless energy, you could certainly imagine him in the great classical roles, and it was good to hear that he wants to do more live theatre, following a hugely successful career in television and film.

In conversation with Kirsty Fairclough   (photo: HOME)

Eccleston is very proud of his roots, and credited his family with providing him with a secure upbringing, and a solid set of values. Raised on a poor housing estate, the youngest of three children, he remembered the huge impact that television had on him. His parents regarded the box as an educational tool, and watched many a quality drama, and documentary. Soaps were ignored, as were the everyday lowest-common-denominator fodder. Though not particularly academic, Eccleston was always curious, and determined to question the world around him. Reflecting on his drama school years, he was obviously very concerned that he would probably have never had the opportunity of an acting career if he was starting out today. After graduating from the Central School of Speech and Drama, he initially struggled to find acting work for some years, until his big break came as Derek Bentley in the 1991 film 'Let Him Have It'. He remembered being inspired by fellow cast member Tom Bell, who was impressed at the young man's levels of concentration. Eccleston went on to star in Danny Boyle's low budget thriller 'Shallow Grave', and a regular role in TV's 'Cracker' raised his profile even further. Eccleston credits writer Jimmy McGovern for much of his success, and felt very strongly that an actor should seek to do good work, and not just go after the money. The actor was very candid about some of his more recent roles, and regretted going against his instincts to star in 'G.I. Joe' and 'Thor: The Dark World'. He jokingly blamed his agent for persuading him to do the high-paying, blockbuster films, and enjoying their percentage of his fee, while he would always know that the DVDs were out there.

Asked by an audience member about working with the notoriously volatile Nicholas Cage, Eccleston was very complimentary about his co-star of 'Gone In Sixty Seconds'. He told of one instance when Cage turned up on a hugely expensive motorbike, having bought it on the spur of the moment on his way to the set.

Signing for a young fan   (photo: Simon Ibison)

There were a number of obvious Doctor Who fans in the audience (judging from the TARDIS dresses, Tom Baker t-shirts, etc.), and he seemed happy and relaxed to talk about his time on the show (which he left, after only one series, back in 2005). Never having been a fan, he'd been intrigued to hear that the show was coming back, and was to be written by Russell T Davies, whom he admired after they'd worked together on the epic religious TV fantasy 'The Second Coming'. Trying to get a handle on the character, he'd been out running when he realised that The Doctor would be a pretty lonely character after becoming the last of his race (The Time Lords). With a huge grin on his face, Eccleston proudly stated “And, I can do lonely!”. He regretted his overall performance, though, admitting that he never felt comfortable with the comedy elements, and that he'd played the part “too broad”. No mention was made of the circumstances under which he left the show, but he did remark that he considered every actor to play The Doctor as having been stronger in their second season (apart from the great Tom Baker, who hit the ground running). He'd taken the role as he felt he needed to broaden his range, and prove that an actor should be able to play all kinds of characters. Taking his life in his hands, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he said “We all know Doctor Who is for kids, don't we?” Following a low murmur of good-natured discontent, he pushed his luck further by saying “Come on, it is, isn't it?”

Eccleston wears his heart on his sleeve, and has often been criticised for being outspoken, prickly, and rather straight-laced. However, he was on excellent form here, and genuinely seemed to be enjoying himself. He indulged one young fan (Richard Lloyd), when demonstrating a laser engraved portrait of himself as The Doctor, by shining the light from his mobile phone through the piece, and delighting the audience when his face appeared on the white surface of his chair.

The Doctor appears!   (photo: Matthew Rimmer)

Eccleston as MacBeth    (photo: RSC)

 A discussion about his current role as MacBeth saw the actor energetically striding about the stage to describe the RSC set, and the fact that a huge clock, counting down to zero (and the end of his character's life), was visible at all times. This necessitated the actors getting their timing spot on, but Eccleston said he was never aware of the countdown during the performance, and it was up to MacDuff to kill him either slowly or quickly at the end.

This was a passionate, charismatic, yet relaxed and immensely good humoured Christopher Eccleston. A man with his feet firmly on the ground, and an undiminished energy and desire to do good work. “I don't want to do rubbish. But, sometimes, I've ended up doing rubbish when I've gone against my instincts”. He insisted that an actor should look for good writing, and that it would always show them in a good light. His nightmare, he joked, would be for him to be forced to watch a DVD double bill of 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'G.I. Joe'!