I'm going to start by asking if you're much of a much of a basketball fan.
Well, I'm more of one now
that I've got to learn the game even more from playing this role.
I was a Lakers fan, you know, I'd watch a game here and there,
but I wasn't really into the game.
And now I have a much more serious interest in it, naturally.
What would you think is about this sport that lends itself so well to cinema?
There's something about the kind of construct
of a basketball game that when I see on the kind of the big screen,
it just kind of feels so cinematic, I suppose.
Well, you know, like
all professional American sports, they tend to lend themselves
very well to the big screen because they're very exciting to watch.
Yeah, some of them are much more exciting than others, in my personal opinion.
But I'm not going to not going to point out which ones are. But
basketball particularly is very exciting because, you know, it's very quick and
it's a game of
enormous skill where people are running up and down the court.
And and so you have to be an athlete in terms of
being able to run and pace yourself.
And also you have to be able to throw that ball and hit back
net after doing all of that, you know?
To me, it's an extraordinary game.
I mean, I could never play it myself,
but I'm fascinated by it every time I watch it.
Yeah, there's often a fast pace as far as a reason
why it not many really successful cricket films.
No, no.
Nobody wants to watch a six day movie
because, you know, in between takes, you spend a lot of time in this kind of,
you know, near the court which have a shoot
a few hoops just just in your own sort of spare time.
I did.
I managed to get one on,
you know, when they were filming, so that was nice.
So I managed to get that and that's all I needed.
The one who Stefan to prove that I wasn't the complete schlo.
But so, I mean, of course Ned Irish was a real person,
but not necessarily kind of well known to regular person on the streets.
I'm interested to know as an actor, like about the
the balance in playing the role on the page
and researching the real person and trying to be as a as possible.
Because if you play someone in the public eye like a musician
of a sports venue, could it be a little into doing a familiar impression of them?
But when you're playing someone in the background, so to speak, does it
give you kind of more freedom to find your own route into the character?
A little bit,
because there wasn't a lot of footage of that,
and it was kind of interesting enough for a guy
who started out in promotion and in the press.
He was kind of shy about being on camera, which is extraordinary.
But yeah, I kind of relied a lot of interviews
with his contemporary and friends and even people who weren't fans of his.
And so I kind of used all of that.
He was a contemporary of Damon Runyon,
so I kind of brought a little bit of that to him.
And, you know, I think what I discovered was that Ned,
the color that Ned was really interested in was green.
Yeah.
So his initial reaction to the idea of having
an African-American playing on an all white basketball
team was at first about, you know, was it economically viable?
And it
wasn't really until, you know, Lapchick started to work on him,
and then he met Sweetwater himself, that he realized this guy was more
than just a flash in the pan, that this guy really was a serious player.
And and it had the potential of changing the game.
Yeah, I was just looking out my window there because it is radio.
It's made me think.
Do you do you ever get back to London?
Do you miss England at all?
You know, and I was just there.
I was just shooting Mission Impossible. So.
And then I'm coming back to shoot a Guy Ritchie movie next month. So.
And then more often now than I have been in the past.
And when I speak to sort of people who have lived from England,
that kind of eventually find their way to the state side,
they always claim the tea there is never the same.
Is that the truth?
Is that it?
Have you ever found a cup of tea in American?
They don't sell PG tips here easily.
You have to go find it.
Yeah, it's a it's a different
you know, the tea, you know.
But it you know, there are many other things
that are fabulous about America that I know.
So I don't have to worry too much about in terms of
beverages and food.
So, you know, I was I was able to look ahead because I
there's some there's some incredible, great, exciting roles coming up for you.
I mean, obviously, you mention you're working with Guy Ritchie, soon.
And I just I think just what I've seen recently.
Is there a kind of a distinctive rhythm to a Guy
Ritchie Shoot, because there's something about his films, especially in the dialog.
There's a kind of sharpness to it.
They're so distinctive to his filmmaking.
I just wondered, when you're in the middle of a Guy Ritchie film in that moment,
does it feel like you're making Guy Ritchie film, if that makes any sense.
Sure, yeah, because it's guys energy, you know, that,
you know, everything you see on the screen is really the essence of of his energy.
And he has,
I mean, an excess amount of it.
The guy has a stamina like no other director extraordinaire.
And, you know, his films reflect his
not just his energy, but his sense of humor.
Yeah. That they're really his personality.
I mean, people have also kind of said that similar things of kind of Zack Snyder
in the way he's kind of a meticulous attention to detail, kind of
sort of needs itself to those kind of big screens or productions.
How was that experience working, working with him, too?
Yeah, Well, I've been fortunate, you know,
in the last few months I got to work with some really great directors.
Chris McQuarrie, Guy,
and they really the directors I've been working with of late
are secure enough in their role and confident enough in their own talent
to to really allow the actors to, to do their thing
and really create an environment that's conducive to creativity.
And so that's really all you can ask for as an actor, you know?
Yeah, I mean, and enough.
One thing is so kind of, I don't know, ties them all together.
Is that how hard working they all are?
But I mean, you've worked recently with Tom Cruise.
You mentioned Chris McQuarrie.
I mean, he is one of those kind of actors who had this kind of unwavering
and kind of commitment to just pure entertainment.
Is it how infectious is that on a film set?
Oh, my gosh. It's it's totally infectious.
You know, I harmonized the first time we worked together in 31 years.
We did Days of Thunder all those years ago.
And he's the same guy, you know.
I mean, I learned a lot from him and
he's terrific to work with.
But, you know, like I said, the directors that I've worked with
have been enormously encouraging
for me as an actor because they they have given me the freedom
to really explore the character and try different things.
And like I said, that's really all you can hope for as an actor, you know?
Does it does it feel like quite an exciting time in your career
at the moment? I mean, from the outside it feels that way.
Does it feel like that for you at the moment?
Yeah.
I mean, I like I said, I'm very fortunate I get to work in an England.
I haven't worked in England in a long, long time, you know, living in the States.
And so
to finally be
working in the country of my birth is is a thrill.
I get to spend time with my my, my family who live there.
I get to see my friends that I don't get to see so often.
And so, yeah, I get to drink PG tips
and I get PG tips. Yes.
So that's my final question because you just mentioned, you know, of
working at home 30 years ago and days of fun.
But I mean, you've
got this kind of incredible kind of back catalog of wonderful films.
Do you ever are you a nostalgic person?
You ever find yourself sort
of reflecting back over your career, or are you one of those people?
It's always very much about kind of what's coming up in pretty much
what's coming up. I don't I don't look back too often.
You know, it kind of gives me a strain next year.
I kind of live in the moment.
And, you know, that's that's how I roll
by the moment having you very well.
Some great stuff coming up.
I look forward to projects, I suppose, for your time today.
Much appreciate pleasure. Thank you, Stefan.