And you play Old Deuteronomy, and - I'm right? - normally,
that's been played by a man - is that in the original?
Yes, Brian Blessed. OK. And very beautifully.
But they didn't need to change it, did they?
I suppose it doesn't change the idea that this is some old kind
of clapped-out old cat... who keeps everything in order.
But the thing is, with the CGI, you know, you're wearing a green
leotard and spots all over you,
and I thought I knew the kind of cat I was -
I've had cats all my life.
But when I saw...saw...myself,
I suddenly realised,
I had turned into this cat I had of my own called Carpet, once.
A huge kind of orange bruiser.
LAUGHTER
Jennifer Hudson, who are you? Grizabella, the glamour cat. Yes!
And of course, you get the big number, Memory.
And I whispered to you backstage, when she does Memory,
how amazing is that? It's fantastic.
It's... It's just fantastic. Thank you.
And I wonder, in terms of...
The Tom Hooper thing, you sing live, is that right? Yes.
Doing it, because...
When you see the film, you're so emotional,
singing that song, you're just raw and wrecked,
and yet you are hitting all those beautiful notes.
How hard is that? That was challenging.
Sometimes I say, "Do you want me to cry or do you want me to sing?"
Because I couldn't do both at the same time,
so I had to find a balance,
to be able to sing and give you the song,
but bear the emotion, too.
You know? Which can be challenging.
But you are just a great big sobby mess by the end.
Yes. Yeah. And you do have form -
Dreamgirls, I Am Telling You... is another one of those numbers.
Was that harder than this or was this harder than that?
With Dreamgirls, it was pre-recorded. Ohh.
With Cats, I sang the song live, with the emotion and all,
like, 30 times.
So, every time... It was more draining from the tears.
Singing the song, I could do this all over again, but the emotion...
That drains you.