Quotes And Soundbites

On Shakespeare (2008)

I wholeheartedly support the Stand up for Shakespeare manifesto. My own education included next to no contact with this beautiful material and it was by luck that at 17 years old I was dragged kicking and screaming to take part in a.... more college production of Othello. My first experience of Shakespeare was 'on my feet' rehearsing a truncated version of the play and others around me complained it was 'boring'. I am guessing they had spent time behind desks 'studying' Shakespeare at school. I had not and had to keep quiet so as not to appear 'uncool' as this language immediately set my heart and mind on fire as we rehearsed the play.

On Hamlet (2008)

Harold Bloom's book 'poem unlimited' is great on all this. I'm having a crack at it myself this year at the Stafford Festival. I've seen 14 Hamlets. Rylance bought my heart with laughter. Russel Beale seemed to be speaking inside my head . Olivier and Branagh made me want to play it. In this year of Hamlets I am hoping no one takes too much notice of my first attempt, but I really hope it wont be my last. From here

On Fatherhood (2007)

I am filming the Doctor Who spin off series for kids. We did the pilot which was played on New Years Day. We did 12 episodes. I am such a fan so I am thrilled to be doing it, and it's nice to be doing something that my kids can watch.

On Casino Royale (2006)

"They let me off for a week to do the new James Bond film," he said. "I was 009, which sounds like a big part but is only a couple of lines. Blink and you'll miss me. But I did do my own stunt, filming in the Bahamas".

"I had to jump 14 feet into an empty swimming pool and land on my back. It hurt, and I got whiplash. The director kept asking me to do it higher, and I overran it, missed the crash mat, and it would have been the end of me if I hadn't landed on the cameraman and broken my fall. So I get my first movie premiere in November - if anyone wants to sponsor my suit or shoes I'd be very happy to hear from them!"

On Comedy (2006)

Dad-of-two Joseph, 32, says: “With Much Ado, the music and laughter carry you through. You get a bounce off laughter. It is similar to doing a musical. You can so not be in the mood to do a show and then the overture starts and you suddenly go ‘oh all right, let’s do it’. I did an Ibsen before this and scraped one laugh out of it. If that laugh didn’t come I was furious.”“You are a gag whore,” Tamsin Grieg says. “Yes that’s true,” Joseph says affably, “I’m a gag whore.” Gag whores make for good comic theatre, and unsurprisingly this is a very funny Much Ado About Nothing. Joseph, who cites Benny Hill as a comic hero, admits that an entire section of the play is stolen from Harold Lloyd.

On his family (2006)

Joseph has toured seven times with the RSC and played virtually every venue, except Live, and admits that part of his family, called Irwin, live in Newcastle and Durham and adds that one of his grandfathers is a Geordie who now lives in Cornwall and he's only met him once. The only reason I want to get famous is so that I can do Who Do You Think You Are? because my family is such a mystery to me," he says.

On his role in King John (2006)

Joseph responds: "Out of all Shakespeare's bastards he's probably the nicest fella. He's the only part I've ever played which does remind me of me. More than anyone else I've ever played."

On fatherhood (2006)

"I worked at the National for Marianne Elliott, who also directed Much Ado, and through most of it I was able to be at home with the children." He had no qualms about coming back to Stratford for the Complete Works Festival, after spending time with his children last year. He said: "I auditioned for all the season's companies because I wanted to come back. The only qualms I had were because we're a single-income family and, contrary to what most people believe, we don't actually get paid very much.''

On himself (2004)

He says people seldom recognised him as clean-cut Dr Sam Morgan even at the height of his Peak Practice fame. I didn't really look like the character off-screen,he grins. People would look twice and say 'it can't be him, he looks too much like a slob'.

On Shakespeare (2004)

"I remember when I was young being taken to see the RSC on tour in some hall and we threw a whole packet of Smarties at the actors," he admits. "I hated Shakespeare at school and refused to read it. I didn't know what I was missing. The first part I played at school was Othello. I had been on holiday and came back with a tan - and that was it."

On fatherhood (2004)

"I'm a very hands-on dad, I'll happily tackle everything - except the breast feeding and I'd do that as well if I could." "When I am away from home I miss my little girl, even if I'm away just a few days."

On Acting (2002)

 

A lot of actors think that knowledge is power, but I agree with David Mamet who says that ‘It’s a bit like teaching the pilot of an aeroplane to flap his arms in the cock-pit’. I do do research but for me it’s not the most important part of rehearsals.

On fatherhood (2001)

We hope we will be lucky enough to start a family in the next few years. I really love children and I've been broody since I was about 16. My father, who is dead now, was the best father you could have hoped for. If I turn out to be half the parent he was I shall be happy.

On meeting his wife (2001)

"I followed Caroline around like a puppy dog the whole time. I finally realised that we were having lunch together, tea breaks and even dinner. Suddenly I realised that she must be getting sick of me. When she told me she wasn't I was delighted."

On leaving Peak Practice (2001)

The dramatic storyline marks Joseph’s exit from Peak Practice, after two years. ‘They were keen for me to stay but I’m only 26 and I felt it was too soon in my career to be in one show for a long time,’ he explains. ‘It was a wrench to leave though. I had a wonderful; farewell party and, to my surprise, I cried. I didn’t think I would but people said so many nice things. I couldn’t help myself!’

Next on the agenda is a theatre production called Shared Experiences, which, after a run in the west end, will be taken on tour. America and China are just two of the countries Joseph is looking forward to visiting with the play. ‘It’s going to be fantastic because I’m not very well travelled at all,’ says Joseph, who’s married to actress Caroline Fitzgerald. ‘I’ve only been abroad three times, on holiday, so I can’t wait.

On fatherhood (2000)

Children are on the cards although I think I'm slightly more keen than Caroline. Not that she's against them it's just that I'm the broody one - in fact I've been broody since I was about 16. I've always wanted children, I'm just a sucker for the little darlings. So if a happy accident befell us, well I'd be chuffed to bits. Then again, we're probably at least a year away from having children if we're lucky enough to be able to have them."

On modelling (2000)

Joseph's looks have earned him a few modelling jobs although, as he admits, it's not something he particularly enjoys. I'm not very good at it," he laughs. "In fact it makes me feel very uncomfortable. "I did some when I was at drama school to make some money. "I did one catwalk job and a couple of photographic jobs. I once earned pounds 50 modelling some baggy hip hop clothing in a nightclub. "It was really embarrassing especially when one bloke saw his girlfriend looking at me and threatened to beat me up. No I don't think modelling's for me, I'd have to give up eating ice-cream for a start."

On being a TV heart-throb (2000)

Joseph Millson has revealed how besotted fans bombard him with raunchy letters and X-rated photos. The 26-year-old star's mail bag swells after he appears in love scenes. Joseph, the Carlton show's Dr Sam Morgan, said: "One woman sent me an incredibly intimate Polaroid shot of herself with the message 'Help yourself' and her number." Women even write pleading with the hunk to marry them, even though he's happily wed to actress Caroline Fitzgerald, 30.

Joseph was also terrified when he was mobbed by frenzied women after signing his autograph for a girl in a supermarket. Another woman pinched his bottom in a crowded pub. "I didn't enjoy it," he said. "My bum's private."

"The hunk bit makes me laugh," he says. "Of course I'm flattered but it's all a bit of a giggle really. There was one time at Sainsburys which was a bit bizarre when it took me about an hour to get out of the shop - the staff wouldn't let me go until I'd signed dozens of autographs.
"But I haven't had the attention to the extent that it's really changed my life. I never had any big ambitions when I was starting out as an actor so the higher public profile and money has been like an unexpected lottery win.

On his passions (1999)

''I love anything where you stand sideways and go forwards,'' he laughs. ''Skateboards, snowboards, surfing - I even used to earn money with the skateboard, doing exhibitions. But bones kept breaking so I slowed down a bit.''

On love scenes (1999)

"There is nothing as unsexy as doing love scenes in front of a film crew. It's the biggest turn-off in the world. You're supposed to block them out, but I can't. I don't see how any actor can enjoy a love scene - they're so technical. I was too busy choreographing my body to make sure my arm was hiding our little bits. I've been nude on stage a few times, in Romeo And Juliet when I was about 19, for example."

On his family (1999)

Describing his childhood as ''totally free, hippie style'', Joseph is revelling in being back in the countryside after years of working in London. ''My parents were a couple of old hippies. They got married at 16 and they are still together. I remember lots of naked bodies around when I was growing up. Clothes weren't necessary.
'

'Then when I was in my teens we lived in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It wasn't uncommon for my parents to come home to a kitchen full of young lads making toast and a sitting room full of bands rehearsing. It was just open house and it was great. They just gave over the house to us.''

On becoming an actor (1999)

"I wasn't stage-struck as a kid," he says. "I was 18 before it crossed my mind that I would be an actor for a living. Before that I thought I was going to be a professional footballer - I had trials for Reading. But I wasn't good enough. Then I was going to be a professional surfer or skateboarder.

" But now that he has settled on acting, he's sure he's made the right career choice. He was on TV for just six weeks during his first series of Peak Practice, but the fan mail is still coming in. "I've never been recognised in the street," he says. "Maybe that will start to happen after this series. I'm getting quite a good gay following, which is fine by me, very flattering. And lots of polite letters from teenage girls.

On school (1999)

"My parents had very different spells of income. For two or three years, they were extremely wealthy and from eight to ten I went to Brockhurst public school. But then my dad went bankrupt and I was sent to the roughest secondary school in Berkshire. It was such a culture shock. I was speaking very poshly and called all the teachers 'Sir' until one of them said, 'No, my name's Phil'. I said, 'Sorry, Sir'.

"I had a terrible haircut and I did get beaten up. But it was a very good education because I saw both sides of the track. I was a very naughty boy and I skived off school a lot. The only lessons I bothered turning up for were English, drama and history."

"His time at school ended abruptly at 16 when he was suspended shortly before he took GCSEs - for punching the headmaster. "When he arrived he changed the colour of the school shirts," says Joseph. "My mother said, 'Don't be ridiculous, you're leaving soon, so just wear the old blue shirt'. "This headteacher, called Mr Dick, used to grab me in the corridor because I was wearing the wrong shirt. One time he nearly knocked me down a flight of stairs so I clouted him, giving him a bloody lip. My parents had taught me to stand up for myself. If there was a dispute with a teacher, my father took my side. He'd threaten to clout the teachers".

On the film La Belle Dame Sans Merci (1996)

"COLD! COLD! COLD!!!!!!! Snow on the ground, ice everywhere and there am I in a real bloody suit of armour which takes an hour to get on and off (very inventive toilet breaks!). Now, metal conducts cold as well as heat and after a few hours lying on the damp waters edge or trying to control a stubborn horse many bits of me were going numb! Truly, I had chilblains, for two weeks afterwards!"

"I remember a gorgeous make up lady trying to make me feel better by squeezing a hot water bottle between me and the armour (a definite high point), and feeding me my lunch through a straw as it was too big a job to take the neck piece of the armour off.”

"I also remember the excitement of many of the takes, particularly the long, long master shots we did at the waters edge where Elizabeth and I would do the whole poem, the concentration from cast and crew was fantastic."

"I seem to remember a runner persuading a complete stranger who owned a nice house near the reservoir to let us warm and clean ourselves in their house after we wrapped."

"I received my copy in the post and I went round to my girlfriends to watch it as I didn't even have a telly, her flatmate (an actor) was with us as we watched it in silence, it was a proper bloody film, the music, the photography, I had no idea it would be that good, and I remember when the credits finished this actor (who I hardly knew) turned to me and said, "you bastard, you lucky bastard". And I was."