"We are all so excited to see you in Appearences. We are curious: how many cameos did you end up doing with Jayden? Also, if you and Jayden were painting a wall together, how much paint would end up on Jayden? Last, do you have any book recommendations?"
Deadkidsongs by Toby Litt
Trish Arnold by Lizzie Ballinger
And of course, A Study in Scarlet
Transcript by the always excellent @pipwasreal
Hello Synne! It's George here, accompanied by my dog Raffy. Um… thank you so much for reaching out, it's lovely to hear from you. I really hope you're doing okay, as we truly, truly approach the most festive of festive periods.
Um… let's get into this. So, you've said: "We are all so excited to see you in Appearances." Thank you, Synne. I'm very excited to do Appearances, written by the wonderful Christian Tucci, who was part of our Dead Boys writers team.
Now, you've said: "We are curious, how many cameos did you end up doing with Jayden? Also, if you and Jayden were painting a wall together, [laughs] how much paint would end up on Jayden?"
How many cameos did I end up doing with Jayden? I… wish I could tell you. I think we lost count. Um… there were a fair few, though. There were a fair few.
If we were painting a wall together, how much paint would end up on Jayden? I think… [laughs, whispers] I think a lot. [Normal volume] I think a lot. Um… because we'd probably be throwing paint on each other.
Having said that, it is worth mentioning Jayden is a very skilful painter. There's a scene in the pilot of Dead Boys where he is, where Charles is preparing the sheet with all the runes on, to trap the demon in the tube carriage. And Jayden was actually, he actually painted. I mean, he had a kind of model to go off, and his artistic skills are such that he actually improvised some of it and they then had to match the continuity according to his work, so that was, um… funny. I was just walking around him in a semi-circle, coz they were only capturing Edwin's boots in that shot.
Last, do I have any book recommendations? Well, conveniently, my books are right here.
Well, this one sticks out because it's yellow. This one is deadkidsongs by Toby Litt.
Toby Litt was the writer… is the writer of the Dead Boy comics that were released in… I wanna say 2015? And we met up for a coffee, in between the pilot and the series' filming. He was lovely, and he had so much interesting stuff to say about Charles and Edwin. And he is, he is actually the creator of Crystal Palace. And this is his book. He lectures creative writing at Southampton Uni and he also has published works, such as this, and he very kindly sent this. So that's a little Dead Boys family shout-out.
Is there anything else… William Shakespeare: The Complete Works, no. [Laughs] Let's not do that.
Maybe I would recommend one more, actually. [Holds up a large pink book, Trish Arnold: The Legacy of Her Movement Training for Actors] This is book by my movement teacher at drama school, Lizzie Ballinger. And she bases all of her teaching on a practitioner, Trish Arnold. I'm pretty sure Trish Arnold taught Lizzie. Lizzie is Head of Movement at RADA [Royal Academy of Dramatic Art], a drama school, and she taught me at LAMDA [London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art]. She's… her… I, I, I used her, I used Lizzie's work every day when I was filming on set. And this is a book that, kind of, just, kind of, takes you through some of her methods. So if there are any actors out there, I couldn't recommend this highly enough. It might be a bit late for Christmas, but you know…
Um, is there anything else? [Hums a little thinking tune] I mean, this is literally the first one on the pack [holds up a blue paperback, A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle] but I think that's fitting, isn't it?
Thank you for your wonderful questions, Synne. It's lovely to hear from you. Have a lovely evening.
