The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton. Credit: So Television, Christopher Baines
The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

  • TV chat show
  • BBC One / BBC Two
  • 2007 - 2024
  • 494 episodes (31 series)

Comic chat show presented by Graham Norton. The biggest names in showbiz join the host on his sofa.

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Series 19, Episode 7 - Tom Hiddleston, John Malkovich, Samuel L Jackson, Sara Pascoe, Chvrches

Tom Hiddleston talks about 007 and The Night Manager, Samuel L. Jackson says he'll find his way back into Star Wars, John Malkovich reveals he originally thought Being John Malkovich was really bad, Sara Pascoe talks about her book, while Chvrches perform live in the studio.

Preview clips

Further details

Tom Hiddleston, talking about the success of The Night Manager, and asked if there will be another series, says, "The truth is we came to the end of the adaptation and there is no more night to be managed thus far. It's in the lap of Le Carré himself. But you never know."

Asked whether he will be the next James Bond, he says, "What can I tell you? The thing is the position isn't vacant as far as I am aware. No one has talked to me about it. I think the rumours have all come about because in The Night Manager I play a spy and people have made the link."

Revealing his first review wasn't great, he says, "I feel quite trepidatious telling you this, but I was in a play in Luxembourg. It was my first theatre role and I'd never been professionally reviewed and in the paper the next day was a British critic who said that I was completely out of place, too young, too RADA and projecting about as much masculinity as Graham Norton!"

Talking about singing in his new film I Saw The Light, Tom says, "I'd never done it before - I was never in band and never in the choir. Singing was done exclusively and badly in the shower. I honestly don't know what would have happened if I couldn't do it."

Asked how easy it was to yodel for the role he says, "When we recorded Love Sick Blues, which has a very technical yodel in it, I just couldn't get there. If I was in time, I was slightly off pitch and if I was rhythmically right, the melody was wrong. I am my own worst critic and the recording took 56 takes!" Demonstrating he's now cracked it, he yodels for Graham.

Asked if he watches his own work, Tom says, "You have to get past looking at your own face and wondering why your face is doing certain things. When you do get past that it can be very instructive and you learn from your mistakes."

Samuel L Jackson, revealing he loves to watch his own films, says, "I watch them religiously, but I like to watch in a theatre with normal people to see how they react. If you go to a premiere everyone kisses your butt and says it's great." Adding, "And, if there's nothing else on TV I'll search for 'Samuel L Jackson' and see what comes up."

Asked if he is bothered that he was recently knocked off the top spot of highest grossing movies, he jokes, "It's Harrison Ford - he displaces me and then I displace him. It's only $70m and he's lucky I'm not in Captain America!"

And on why he wasn't in Star Wars, he says, "I was waiting for the call. I had a conversation with Mark Hammil about it when they were auditioning people for Jedis and I said we should go over to the studio and see if we could get in the movie. He didn't even know there was a movie and then he ends up in it! But who knows, there's like thirty more movies coming - I'll find my way back in somewhere!"

John Malkovich, revealing he never watches his own work, says, "I made an exception with Being John Malkovich. I saw it on the day it was being submitted for the Cannes Film Festival and it wasn't funny at all. It was not good. It was really bad. I called Spike [Jonze] and told him I really disliked it and said, 'Please, please cancel the screening at the Cannes because if you show that you are not going to work much any more.' It was a terrible phone call! It was rejected for Cannes and he eventually he took my advice and cut the movie down. It was then excellent."

Talking about Dangerous Liaisons, he says, "Someone thought I might require some tutoring in historical notions and customs and they brought in the count of something or other. In one scene I had to bow and the count came over and said 'I know 2000 bows from this period and that doesn't seem to be one of them.' I said, 'Well now you know 2001.' And we never saw him again!"

Sara Pascoe, talking about her new semi-autobiographical book, Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body, she says, "I didn't realise how honest it was until people's reaction to it."

Chvrches performs Leave a Trace live in the studio, before joining Graham for a chat.

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 6th May 2016
Time
10:35pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Monday 9th May 2016 11:30pm BBC1

Cast & crew

Cast
Graham Norton Host / Presenter
Guest cast
John Malkovich Guest
Samuel L. Jackson Guest
Tom Hiddleston Guest
Sara Pascoe Guest
Lauren Mayberry (as Chvrches) Guest
Iain Cook (as Chvrches) Guest
Martin Doherty (as Chvrches) Guest
Writing team
Rob Colley Writer
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Steve Smith Director
Jon Magnusson Series Producer
Rina Dayalji Producer
Pete Snell Producer
Vicky Taylor Producer
Graham Stuart Executive Producer
Perry Widdowson Editor
Chris Webster Production Designer
Jonathan Whitehead (as Trellis) Composer

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