Content provided in partnership with
THIS CULTURAL LIFE: Adrian Lester
Independent on Sunday, The, Jan 1, 2006
What was your cultural passion at 14?
Spinning on various joints in my body. I was really into dance. Contemporary ballet and lots of street dance. I was obsessed with hip hop " the graffiti, the music, the clothes. After school I always used to go to a place called the Powerhouse, in Birmingham. People would get dressed up in their gear, their hats and their caps and their gloves and go down and breakdance in the middle of circles.
What are you currently reading in bed?
Boring research at present: I'm involved in writing a book on the Shakespeare roles I've done " Hamlet and Rosalind and Henry V " and looking at them from an actor's viewpoint, the premise being that Shakespeare wrote for actors. So my research reading is Harold Bloom's The Invention of the Human. I rate Bloom, I think his observations are great.
- Most Popular Articles in News
- The Ten Best Laptop bags
- Tata plans cheapest-ever car for Indian market
- GLOBALIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT OF THE THIRD WORLD
- Corn is good for you; Corn is not only a tasty treat, but also a cereal that ...
- THE 50 BEST STYLISH HANDBAGS TO CARRY
- More »
Which book have you re-read most in your life?
I think that would be The Sandman books. Neil Gaiman is a master fantasy storyteller. I read a lot of graphic novels " like The Watchmen, like some of Frank Miller's stuff, like Preacher.
What are you listening to at the moment?
Classic soul, as well as some opera. In the kitchen it's an album by John Legend, Uplifted, and in the car it's the Tweenies. We're all over the place in my house.
What is the least disposable pop song?
A pop song that I cannot for the life of me get out of my head is 'Toxic' by Britney Spears. Those whiny top notes... In a good way " I think it's a very very catchy tune.
And what is the most disposable piece of classical music?
D'you know, I'd say some of the stuff that Michael Nyman did for The Piano. I know he's good but there's a relentlessness about the rhythm and the repetitive nature of the piano, it's like it's boring itself into my head and I really could do without hearing it again. It's done to death.
Which painting most corresponds with your vision of yourself?
There's a painting in our living room that's by the young artist Ria Kirby. We used it in an episode of Hustle and I saw it and I liked it. It's of a tempestuous sea at night. If that's me, it's me not being very calm! I love the ocean and I know that when I become wrinkly and move slowly up from my seat I can't be in Britain. I'll have to be somewhere warm by the sea. I just feel I can't grow old in London. Sometimes I think Caribbean, sometimes the South of France.
Which building would you like to tear down?
Parts of South London I think you should start again from scratch. It felt like a good idea in the Seventies, but those airless, small-windowed flats where running water has stained the sides... Don't like it.
Is your mind an art gallery or a porn cinema? If neither, what kind of civic building is it?
It would be the Millennium Dome, my mind " a lot of time and effort and money, taxpayer's money, has been spent on it " and it's still frigging empty!
Who should play you in the Hollywood biopic of your life?
Me. Me! I can just imagine getting a call from my agent after the meeting and her saying they loved you, you read the part really well, but they just don't think you're right for it. Knowing my luck that would probably happen.
And who should play your nemesis in the final scene?
The guy who invented strawberry-cheesecake flavour for Hagen Dazs, because I find myself weakened before him. He'd say, 'We have a tub here...' No, get away from me!
What would your ideal alternative job be?
I'd like to be a super-rich broker who doesn't seem to work for a living. I could wear braces and not even go into the office. Just receive calls and do things on the internet in my South of France hideaway.
And the realistic alternative?
In reality, I think I would be a really good male nanny, 'cos of how I am with the kids. I'm very good at plaiting hair, which I think is an underrated nanny virtue.
Your house is on fire. What is the thing (not person) you save first?
It's a toss up between my diary and my iPod. My diary has all my names, addresses, who I'm going to be today... And my iPod, just 'cos I love that thing.
You die and go to heaven, who do you want to meet at the bar? And what question would you ask them?
If he did drink, and he doesn't, I'd like to sit and have a long chat with Malcolm X " and Martin Luther King. I'd say, you helped us start off, how have we done in the past 40 years. Hopefully I'd get a positive response, not a cuff round the ear.
What do you cling onto from childhood?
I cling onto the fear that I won't be able to afford the bus fare to get to school, again. That sort of sits with me.
'Hustle' returns to BBC1 for a third series in early 2006
Copyright 2006 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
