Oops, and while I was writing the previous post, a new interview with Richard for SC dropped! It’s a video interview, so don’t be fooled when you go to Hello! Magazine’s website and find a written text. That is basically just the transcript of the interview.
The interview is a conversation between RA and fellow actor Martine McCutcheon (Love Actually), done via Zoom. They talk for eleven minutes, and it goes in depth about RA’s process with working on Ray Levine etc. Also some more private questions about Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
So – have you watched it? Goodness me. I am not #TeamPatio at all, but whoa, has Richard once again fallen into the fountain of youth? That picture in the attic is getting uglier and uglier! Clean shaven, he looks so good. Despite (or because) of the grey temples. Nice to see that they are still around.
Also, glasses. Hello again, mykita. I diagnose presbyopia 🤭😉.
Where is Park City? And have you booked your flight there yet? Better get on your skis, though. He’ll be up on some mountain on New Year’s Day, whizzing back down again.
And I am now really curious about the show. Ray may actually be a more interesting character than I thought. (Have not read the book.) But maybe I won’t be disappointed… Also, RA mentioned he studied a photographer to prepare for his role, Tim Hetherington. (Might get into that in a separate post. Hetherington was a very well-known conflict photographer – which makes him a somewhat surprising choice as a model for RA’s character in SC, I think – but I do not know what backstory they have given Ray in the Netflix show… Maybe his “documentary photography” was indeed conflict photography… I always assumed he was a street photographer.)
Anyway – nice interview – and hopefully we’ll get more to come!
Guylty Pleasure 
Oh my, I missed the video! I only read the text! Thank you!!! Looking forward to watching the interview when I’m back home.
Park City is in Utah, where he was skiing before the Sundance film festival. No travel outside the country for me, I’m afraid 🤨😊
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That video was well-disguised. They should’ve made a proper thumbnail for it because as it is, it looked like the usual trailer for SC which we have already seen umpteen times…
Ah, Utah again. Nah, no travel for me, either. Or skiing full stop. Not my cup of tea at all.
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Thank you for alerting us to the video. Probably wouldn’t have clicked either. I really enjoyed it.
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Hello! Mag really missed a trick by not plastering a proper thumbnail on their video. With the Stay Close logo on it, it just looked as if it was the show’s trailer. I only checked because I had noted the article writer’s name when I opened the website – and then there was the conflicting info that the interview had been conducted by Martine McCutcheon. Phew. I couldn’t believe our luck when I saw that the clip was 11 minutes long!!
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A really nice Monday treat.
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What a lovely and surprisingly revealing interview! As a now-tattooed person myself, I love that Richard himself came up with the idea of the tattoo sleeves for Ray. And although I haven’t read the book either, I’m not surprised about RA studying Tim Hetherington. Something about Ray being a “failed documentary photographer” made me think of journalism or conflict photography. And I’m not surprised either that he’s returning to Park City! It was obvious from his time promoting The Lodge at Sundance that he felt quite happy there. It cracks me up about the sherry, mince pie and carrots. We leave out milk and cookies for Santa here, with carrots for the reindeer. I guess Americans aren’t quite as into the booze, lol. Thank you for sharing the interview!
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Hehe, you have RA sussed then, LoLo. I was surprised by lots of things in this interview, not least his choice of Hetherington. For some reason I didn’t picture Ray as *that* kind of documentary photographer. But all the better for RA that he dug deep and found an inspiring photographer to help him flesh out this role.
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I can’t wait to watch this when I get home.
I will admit while I LOVE the silver fox temples, I prefer longer, shaggier hair.
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Yes, a little more hair on top – and on face – would be nice… But well, he’s not exactly disfigured with short hair and clean shaven 😂
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I don’t mind close shaven or even 5 o’clock shadow. I DO like something to run my finger through tho….
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Nape curls all the way, please.
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Super. Thank you, Sherlock 😉 😊. I thought it is trailer again.
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Hehe, you’re welcome, Watson!
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Lovely interview
Hope it’s nothing like Lucas North /John Bateman amnesia!
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*eeek* Oh, I hope not. 🥴 That was so lame.
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Nice interview 🙂 As for Watership down.. oh god. I saw it in the movies as a kid and it was horrifying experience, I think I got my worst nightmares from it. Never going to watch it again and in the library when parents borrowed the video I always told them to be aware of it.
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I don’t think I have ever seen that film – and frankly, after all the hints I have heard today, I don’t feel inclined to do so. However, to go back to the interview, for some reason I had the impression that RA had no idea what to answer to that question, and just came up with the first couple of movies that popped into his head. (I often have the impression that he simply answers *something* during interviews, and not necessarily the truth 😂)
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Lol, I thought he’d answer “Love Actually” because he was talking to Martine McCutcheon who was in it.
As for Watership Down, having had to read the book as a student, it wasn’t a movie I wished to watch. Ever.
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I was actually thinking to myself “don’t say ‘Love Actually’ – that would be sooo predictable. However, Indiana Jones was really totally UNpredictable. He had to think about that one for so long, I wonder whether he just chose to say the first “classic” movie that came to his mind…
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Every time I hear him say things like the tats are “something interesting to distract” from his face, I want to scream, “don’t you know how beautiful you are, inside AND out?” He did laugh when he said it, but I’ve heard him make enough self-effacing comments to believe he honestly feels that way. Or is it just that all Brits are modest to a fault? Sure, it’s better than being egotistical, but come on Richard, look in the mirror!
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Oh yes, I kind of rolled my eyes, too. It’s just along the lines of his recently oft-repeated “I am old now, thank god, that means I don’t have to take my kit off anymore”… Ha, he is coquetting, if you ask me… Cos if he didn’t want people to look at him, he shouldn’t have become an actor.
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Not the first time I’ve seen him do an interview after months of silence and had all of my admiration for him awakened again. Not that it was completely dormant, maybe just snoozing a bit lately. Definitely brightened up my dreary Monday.
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He is so very good at these interviews, it always fans the flames again. Same with me. It’s just a pleasure to see and hear him.
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Thanks for clarifying about the video – I had also missed it and only read the text!
What a treat – I’m having trouble getting into the Christmas mood this year, and every little encouragement is welcome!
I wish I could afford to go to that resort in Utah, but it is ridiculously expensive! I just hope Covid doesn’t prevent him travelling for that.
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The video was really worth seeing, right. It’s always nice to hear him speak…
Hope you’ll get into the spirit of the season now – even if you are not going skiing in Utah 😉
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I confess to missing the stubble/longer hair already (*whispers* and I’ve never been a fan of those glasses) Regardless, I loved the interview, it’s always an absolute joy to see him like this after a long absence.
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The longer hair really makes him look movie star-gorgeous…
It’s just lovely seeing him as *himself*, not a character…
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He is so lovely, warm and engaged – and smooth-chinned! Thank you for the link. Hopefully it is the first of more Stay Close press items with RA.
When I was a teenager I took my neighbours small children to see Watership Down, thinking it was a cuddly bunny film. It really upset them and when their mother collected them, they were both wailing inconsolably!
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I am already wondering whether there was one of those round-table kind of interviews, where we will get the same content, packaged in different words….
Hearing you all describe Watership Down, I really do not want to see it now 😢
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Yes, that occurred to me too
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Stay Close only gets a tiny mention in the Radio Times Christmas special
The small photo is of James Nesbit
But Richard’s episodes of The Vicar of Dibley are on over Christmas and North and South is on the Drama channel
On the 27th December
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Oh, so there will be a happy RA Christmas…
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Une photographie non mémorable, selon moi.
Merci pour ce post Guylty!
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I think the pose is funny but the location isn’t nice and the picture would’ve looked better if the background was blurred out.
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I think RA is pretty adept at not giving away too much personal info in interviews (not that I blame him for that). He did reveal he would be off to ski in Park City, Utah for the new year. Lucky Richard! Lucky Jim too?! 😉
I wonder whether he is still based in NYC?
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Touché. And he also has been true to this attitude for a very long time.
I’ve been wondering about his place of residence, too. If Jim is still on the scene, then I would imagine he is still based in NY.
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