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00:00Lovely to see you all. It's a first time. Welcome to Sean Hayes.
00:05This is the first time I'm on the show. I'll go slow.
00:08OK.
00:09Yes, yes, pace yourself.
00:11Yeah, yeah.
00:12Lovely to see you.
00:13And unbelievably, Pamela Anderson, I think the last time you were on the show was 23 years ago.
00:18Yes.
00:19Wow.
00:20And you traumatised me.
00:22You pulled something out of a drawer that was before you were on the BBC.
00:26Yes, it was a different time, Pamela.
00:29Channel four days. Channel four days. It was vile. I can only apologise.
00:33Well, I'm glad we're still here.
00:35We're both still here.
00:37It's more surprising that I'm still here than you.
00:40Now, the rest of the couch, I don't know if you're familiar.
00:42Stephen Graham, he can't tell you this, but I can.
00:45Finest actor Liverpool's ever produced.
00:47There he is, there he is.
00:50But Stephen, Pamela knows Liverpool.
00:55I did Panto in Liverpool.
00:57Did you?
00:58Yeah.
00:59Yeah.
01:00Do you know which one?
01:01No.
01:02OK.
01:03I was a genie in a bottle.
01:04I sang Santa Baby.
01:05Oh, OK.
01:06I did all my outfits.
01:07Aladdin, yeah.
01:08Aladdin, yeah.
01:09OK, good.
01:10Solved it, solved it.
01:11I like it when the research is live.
01:15Did you manage to go, did you get yourself to a nightclub called the Grafton?
01:19No.
01:20I doubt it.
01:21There's some laughter there because there's some Scousers in the audience, maybe.
01:24I don't know.
01:25But the Grafton is a great club.
01:26Oh, I missed it.
01:27Is it, Stephen?
01:29Did she manage to get to the Grafton?
01:31No, I don't think so.
01:32Plus it was a while ago.
01:33It was the blurry years.
01:34OK.
01:36I may have been there.
01:37You were a genie in a bottle.
01:39You remembered some of it.
01:40Yeah, I remembered some of it.
01:41Well, you're not in London for long.
01:42But if you need any advice on visiting our fine city, the woman to ask is Gugu Mabataroor
01:47because you, you were a tour guide.
01:50I was.
01:51I was when I was at drama school.
01:53I was a tour guide on the London Eye.
01:55Oh.
01:56And their river cruise.
01:57Oh, you did the river cruise too?
01:58Yes.
01:59OK.
02:00So I'd be like, every Saturday, I'd be like, on your left, ladies and gentlemen,
02:02the National Theatre and the Globe Theatre, and I would always riff on all the theatres
02:06because that was obviously what I was interested in.
02:08Yeah.
02:09And then also I would do hosting the private capsules of the pods of the eye.
02:14Oh.
02:15And of course, this is Valentine's Day.
02:16Did you ever work a Valentine's Day on the pods?
02:18Yeah.
02:19I actually had a crazy, a crazy experience working on Valentine's Day.
02:24I would be serving champagne and, you know, chocolate.
02:27They do this thing called the Cupid's capsule, which was kind of, you know, for couples to
02:32have their own sort of private.
02:34Did it have curtains?
02:35Unfortunately.
02:36Unfortunately not.
02:37But, like, it takes about half an hour to get around the eye and at the top, the man
02:43sort of got out a ring, got on his knee and, like, proposed to his girlfriend.
02:48And I was, like, poised there with the champagne and the chocolates and then she said no and
02:52started crying.
02:53Oh, no.
02:54Oh, my God.
02:55Where about was it when she said no?
02:56At the top.
02:57Oh, no.
02:58I had still a full 15 minutes to go around and I sort of turned and, like, looked out of
03:03all of the windows.
03:04Oh, no.
03:05It was just, like, the worst, the worst and the longest 15 minutes.
03:09For you?
03:10For me.
03:11Yeah.
03:12So I did keep the chocolates, though.
03:16That's incredible.
03:17Yeah.
03:18Because, Sean, am I right in thinking that you nearly worked with Pamela Anderson?
03:24Yes, I think I was privy to a conversation on Will and Grace where maybe somebody offered
03:31you a part but it didn't work out with your schedule or something and I was like, oh,
03:34we were all so excited.
03:35Oh, my gosh.
03:36I always find out all these things I turn down that I don't remember.
03:39You were busy being a genie in Liverpool.
03:42Those hazy years lasted a long time, didn't they?
03:45Well, for years.
03:46Well, check your messages.
03:48Can I do it now?
03:50Yeah.
03:51Because, actually, I think you are now, I feel like my collection is complete because
03:55you're the last of the Will and Grace stars to be on the show.
03:57The story of my life, yeah.
03:58Yeah.
03:59Yeah.
04:00Yeah.
04:01No, I got so jealous when everybody else went on and so I'm finally happy I'm here.
04:05Yay!
04:06Yeah.
04:07And that show, you know, it was such a huge hit.
04:09It was about gay people.
04:11I know.
04:16Were you the first of the four to win the Emmy?
04:20Me and Meghan won on the same night.
04:22And then I think a year later, oh, my God.
04:25I look like I'm 12 years old.
04:28And I remember that speech.
04:29I was so embarrassed.
04:30I was so nervous when I got up there.
04:32I said, I'd like to thank, you know, the producers and the cast and whatever.
04:36And I'd like to thank the writers for putting such funny things in our mouths.
04:39To say.
04:40That's the part I forgot to say.
04:41So I got home and I was so embarrassed.
04:42I was like, I can't believe I just said that.
04:43To all of America.
04:44But yeah, that was my one time to shine.
04:45Very good.
04:46So listen, we're starting tonight with Pamela Anderson's return to the big screen, The Last
05:00Showgirl.
05:01It opens in cinemas here on the 28th of February.
05:06And this is such a special movie.
05:08It's so beautifully shot and everyone in it is great.
05:11Tell us what you can about who The Last Showgirl is and what's happening in her life.
05:17She's, it's about a couple generations of women hitting a crossroads.
05:21It's about, you know, people are discarded and about out with the old and with the new.
05:27How you reinvent yourself time and again.
05:30I think it's very, it's a relatable story.
05:33It was very, I had a lot of empathy for the character.
05:35I fell in love with her because she was not a perfect person doing the best she can with
05:39the tools that she has raising her daughter and making this art form so important.
05:44The nostalgia element of it.
05:45It's just a very touching story and it's, and I love that it's, it's not, you know,
05:49violence against women.
05:50It's not exploitive.
05:51It's just really beautiful human story about this woman who's living her dreams and they
05:56come crashing down and she needs to figure out what to do next.
05:59Because this is the, basically the club she's performing in is no more.
06:03It's based on the Jubilee show.
06:04The Las Vegas Showgirl is the icon of Las Vegas, but it no longer exists.
06:08I got to wear a lot of Bob Mackie costumes, which was fun.
06:11Those museum pieces hadn't left the theatre in 30 years.
06:14Wow.
06:15It was really just a magical, you know, we shot the movie in 18 days.
06:19I mean, that's insane.
06:20Wow.
06:21So it was wild.
06:22And I, and I did play, you know, Roxy in Chicago on Broadway.
06:25And so that was the warmup for this.
06:27I mean, to do all that backstage banter, which is so real.
06:29You know, everyone's talking about, yeah, 18 days.
06:31Wow.
06:32But it was, it was, everyone just dove in head first.
06:34And I love independent cinema.
06:35I love these small films because they really are true labours of love.
06:39And everybody in it was in it for the right reasons.
06:41Yeah.
06:42And dove, you know, put their heart into it and it, and it shows.
06:44So I was really proud to be a part of it.
06:46Liz, I tell you, before we talk some more, let's watch a clip.
06:48This is you as Shelley, the last show girl, getting the bad news
06:52about the show.
06:53APPLAUSE
07:00You've seen it, haven't you?
07:01I've seen it and I love the film.
07:03Oh, thank you.
07:04Congratulations.
07:05I just, I love your performance and I love all the female
07:08relationships, the mother-daughter dynamic, the female friendship.
07:11Jamie Lee Curtis.
07:12Jamie Lee Curtis.
07:13Oh, my God.
07:14It's, you know, it's really beautiful.
07:16Yeah, there's Jamie.
07:17Yeah.
07:18She is fearless.
07:19And because it was shot so fast, did you get to rehearse with
07:23Jamie Lee Curtis and Billy Lord and people or were you just
07:25doing it?
07:26No, the first time I met Jamie Lee Curtis I was terrified.
07:28And she had just gotten her second or third spray tan.
07:32And she was changing colours before my eyes.
07:35I was kind of like a mood person, like something was changing
07:37and I was just like, and she just looked at me and she said,
07:39I did this movie for you.
07:41Oh, wow.
07:42And I thought, you know, that is just incredible.
07:44I mean, just, it's nice to have that camaraderie amongst women
07:47and the sisterhood on the set was, was real.
07:49It was really touching and great.
07:51And she supporting independent cinema too, which I, I, I'm just
07:54falling in love with and can't wait to do more.
07:56And the weird thing, I didn't know that you have Vegas experience.
08:00You worked in Vegas.
08:01Yeah, I worked in Vegas.
08:02Did you?
08:03Yeah.
08:04With, with Hans' clock.
08:05You know, Hans' clock.
08:06The magician.
08:07I was a magician's assistant.
08:08Oh, wow.
08:09That's Hans' clock.
08:10I had fire spikes driven through me.
08:11I got levitated.
08:12It was so fun.
08:13But like, like regular, like weekly?
08:14Yeah, I did it for like, well, I did it for three months and they,
08:16they extended my stand another three months and I, and I shouldn't have done that.
08:17Did you ever get sawed in half?
08:18I got sawed in half too.
08:19What happens?
08:20Where'd you go?
08:21You're either on one side of magic or the other.
08:23Oh.
08:24And I, and I'm on, I'm on my side.
08:25You're on my side.
08:26Yeah, on the magic side.
08:27But I always think being an assistant must be hard because if you make a mistake, then
08:45the magician looks like a moron.
08:48Yeah, it's a... It's risky. It's actually dangerous.
08:52I was actually singed a few times and...
08:55LAUGHTER
08:57I mean, you have to be a little double-jointed too, which I am.
09:01My shoulders are double-jointed, so... OK.
09:03Yeah, anyway, I mean, it's magic.
09:05It's magic. I'm very flexible.
09:07Steve was like, so, double-jointed shoulders?
09:09No, no, no.
09:10Stephen's actually thinking you definitely went to Grafton.
09:13LAUGHTER
09:15Now, Pamela, this movie, The Last Showgirl,
09:20it has a straight...
09:22It's kind of linked, in an odd way,
09:24to the documentary that you made about your life.
09:27What was it the director saw the documentary?
09:29Well, my son Brandon produced the documentary on my life
09:33and Gia saw the documentary and thought that I should be her Shelley.
09:38The movie started out as a play 13 years ago
09:41and they never really could find their Shelley,
09:43so then they adapted it to a screenplay
09:45and it was perfect timing for me.
09:47Wow.
09:48But now... Yeah.
09:49But apparently it was hard to get the script to you.
09:51But Gia struggled.
09:52Oh, they sent it to an old agent.
09:54Old agent.
09:55Who turned it down within the hour.
09:57And then it...
09:59Along with Will and Grace and many other things.
10:00Yeah, Will and Grace.
10:01Yeah.
10:02All in the same dumpster.
10:04No, but I...
10:06Anyway, so then he finally...
10:08They found Brandon and then Brandon brought it to me
10:10and I was in my garden up in Ladysmith making pickles and jam,
10:14writing a cookbook, you know, doing that.
10:16Just thought, I'm going to make my life beautiful no matter what.
10:18But I always kind of had this sadness thinking, you know,
10:21I think I just had so much more to give in this world
10:25and I just felt like, you know,
10:27I just kind of beat myself up a little bit.
10:29And then the script came and I thought, okay, this is it.
10:31I'm going to grab this by the throat and do it.
10:33We're so happy for you.
10:34It's fantastic.
10:36The Last Showgirl is in cinemas from the 28th of February.
10:44Meanwhile, Steven and Gugu bring us a couple of great TV drama series.
10:48Steven stars in A Thousand Blows.
10:51It is streaming on Disney Plus from the 21st of February.
10:54And here's a taste of what to expect.
10:57What's extraordinary about this is,
11:00so it's based on real historical figures,
11:04people who really lived.
11:05Yeah, I think that's part of the uniqueness of it.
11:08I'd say 90% of our characters were people
11:11that actually walked the streets at that time.
11:13But there was one particular photograph that kind of kicked
11:15the whole idea off.
11:16Yeah, me and Hannah were sent, Tom sent us a photograph,
11:20one of the other producers, and just said,
11:22look, we would really like to get this made.
11:24We've got a photograph of a man who actually exists.
11:26And a paragraph about his life and a couple of other characters.
11:29We'd love you and Hannah to be a part of it.
11:31And, you know, we want you to play sugar.
11:33So the photograph is...
11:35I think we've got...
11:36..Ezekiah Moscow.
11:37I'd never seen a photograph of a black man who looked so proud,
11:41so dignified, so full of grace and so full of humility
11:44in that time period.
11:45Mostly, you know, the photographs that we do see
11:47of people of Serbditude and stuff like that.
11:49Yeah.
11:50So it just immediately struck our imagination.
11:53And it was...
11:54I can't take the credit.
11:55Hannah, my wonderful missus, she said,
11:57I know who's going to write this.
11:58And I was like, who?
11:59And she said, Steve Knight.
12:00And Steve Knight's a prolific writer.
12:01Oh, wow, like Peaky Blinders.
12:02Peaky Blinders, yeah.
12:03Peaky Blinders, yeah.
12:04Steve Knight's a phenomenal writer.
12:05And I was like, you've got no chance.
12:07And she went, trust me, watch.
12:09I'm going to get this made.
12:10And I was like, yeah, all right, love, whatever.
12:12But she sent it to Steve, the photograph and the ideas,
12:16and literally within three days, three or four days later,
12:19I was in the kitchen making another cup of tea.
12:21Doing my bit, you know what I mean?
12:23A bit of domesticity.
12:24I might have even been doing the ironing or something, probably.
12:27Probably.
12:28Knowing you, yes.
12:29I do that while I'm watching the footage,
12:30you know what I mean, while she's in the office.
12:32That's how it works.
12:33And she just went, oi, come here.
12:35And I was like, what?
12:36And she went, come and have a look at this.
12:37And I looked, and she had a response from Steve,
12:39saying, I really love it and I want to get involved
12:41and I'd love to write it.
12:42Let's set up a Zoom and let's do it.
12:44And then when did you sort of peopling the...
12:46So your character, Sugar Goodson, and the...
12:48So the 40...
12:49The 40 Elephants, that was Mary Card,
12:51and she was a real-life woman of...
12:54She was a gangster at the time.
12:56They were a notorious gang, the 40 Elephants.
12:58They looked magnificent.
12:59That's Hannah there.
13:00There's Hannah, there it is, my missus.
13:01Yeah, yeah.
13:02I was making eight a cup of tea and doing the ironing.
13:04LAUGHTER
13:05So this wonderful gang of thieves and pickpockets,
13:10but what Steve actually said, one of the beautiful things
13:13about these is that the fact is better than fiction,
13:16because he looked in the archives of what they did.
13:18Them gang of women there, they robbed Harrods.
13:21Oh, wow.
13:22Yeah, and he called them the 40 Elephants,
13:24because they'd go in with big jackets,
13:26but they'd end up stealing fur coats and jewellery and shoes.
13:29Wow.
13:30So they'd walk out like big elephants.
13:32Oh, I know something to do with Elephant and Castle.
13:34They were also from the Elephant and Castle as well.
13:36Oh, I see, OK.
13:37That was one of their things.
13:38And, you know, and Erin is phenomenal.
13:40What a magnificent actress.
13:42I love her.
13:43She's amazing, isn't she?
13:44If people don't know, she was Princess Anne and the Crown,
13:47and she was in that BBC drama about the phone.
13:49Oh, that lovely, yeah, the series, yeah, which was fantastic.
13:51Which I should know the name of.
13:52But the thing is, she's so...
13:53That's just out.
13:54What was it called?
13:55What was it called?
13:56Oh, Chloe.
13:57It was called Chloe.
13:58That's right, yeah, Chloe.
13:59Yeah, yeah.
14:00Brilliant, wasn't it?
14:01Very good.
14:02The thing is, when I first met her,
14:03because she's so good as Princess Anne,
14:05so I thought, no disrespect, but I thought she was a right,
14:08you know, a proper posh girl.
14:09Yeah.
14:10And she literally went, hello, stay fair by you.
14:12I couldn't actually believe it.
14:14So she's phenomenal.
14:16And Malachi plays Hezekiah.
14:17Yeah, he's so good.
14:18And he's a wonderful actor, isn't he?
14:20Yeah, I work with Malachi.
14:21Oh, OK.
14:22Yeah.
14:23And a lot of us might have noticed in the clip there,
14:25we saw Stephen Graham in quite good shape.
14:29You are ripped in this.
14:32I was...
14:34I was the stand-in.
14:36I was the stand-in.
14:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
14:40I wonder what you were doing here.
14:42Oh, yeah, that's what you were doing.
14:43I was doing push-ups here.
14:45How long...
14:46I mean, maybe you look like that all the time.
14:48I don't know.
14:49No, not at all.
14:50Not at all.
14:51Six months.
14:52I had six months to prepare.
14:53Oh, OK.
14:54Do you know what I mean?
14:55So we did it properly.
14:56Well, you really did.
14:57You sent us a clip.
14:58This is you.
14:59Oh, yeah, me and Rob.
15:00Yeah, my trainer.
15:01This is Stephen Graham training.
15:02This is impressive.
15:03Yeah.
15:04Yeah.
15:05I saw this clip from a distance,
15:06and I thought you were wearing a scarf.
15:07Oh, it's a shame.
15:08I didn't realise it's a giant chain.
15:10How much is...
15:11How much is that weigh?
15:1230 kilograms, 35 kilograms.
15:13Wow.
15:14So that's quite heavy.
15:15Wow.
15:16Yeah, but it was great fun.
15:17So I had Rob my trainer.
15:18It doesn't look great fun.
15:19No, it was.
15:20Honestly, to get into it, you know what I mean?
15:22I feel embarrassed, all right?
15:24I look like a...
15:25It's not my fault it's still going.
15:27I look like a...
15:28I look like a Scouse Mr. T, don't I?
15:31Hey!
15:32Well done, you.
15:33Very good.
15:37So it was...
15:38You know, it's the science of it as well.
15:40So it was eating lots of food.
15:41I had a fantastic boxing coach as well, my friend Graham.
15:44So we worked on that kind of style.
15:46I'm not the tallest of people.
15:48So we went for a kind of Mike Tyson meets, you know, kind of...
15:53Who was the great bare-knuckle fighter?
15:56Chloe?
15:57No, not...
15:58You'll have to ask them to tell me.
16:00We're looking for a great bare-knuckle fighter.
16:03He's in...
16:04He's in...
16:05Stop.
16:06Erm...
16:07Oh, let me do it again.
16:08Yeah, yeah.
16:09Oh, he's remembered it now.
16:10I've remembered it now.
16:11He's like a human googly.
16:12He's so good.
16:13Well, I've learned from you.
16:14OK, so here we go.
16:15Yeah, so I'm not the tallest of people.
16:17All right, thank you.
16:19So I went for the kind of Mike Tyson, Lenny McClain, who was that great...
16:23Lenny McClain!
16:25Yes!
16:26Very good.
16:27Yeah.
16:28And now, a bit like Stephen, you are involved in the making of your show.
16:34Yeah.
16:35This is Surface.
16:36So you're the producer and the co-exec is Reese Witherspoon.
16:39Yeah, that's right.
16:40Reese Witherspoon's company, Hello Sunshine, are the producers alongside Apple TV+.
16:45So, yeah, I came on board in the first season as an EP for the first time.
16:50And it's been an incredible learning curve.
16:52Nice.
16:53You're there from the conception.
16:54Yeah.
16:55It's more rewarding.
16:56Right.
16:57Yeah, yeah.
16:58You produce as well.
16:59Yeah, I do.
17:00Thank you for the segue.
17:01I do.
17:02It's like, finally.
17:03So, yes, I'm a prolific producer.
17:06I always think though, if you're the producer, on set, do the other actors kind of hate you?
17:15Do they kind of look at the food and kind of like, what's this shit good?
17:18I mean, people do, I think when you're the leading actor as well, like, you are the team leader as well, a little bit.
17:25You set the standards.
17:26Yeah, yeah.
17:27Exactly, exactly.
17:28So, it's kind of, you know, for me it's nice also you have that sort of, you have more of a voice.
17:33And I think people do come to you.
17:34You know, certainly younger actors, you know, feel like they can come to you if they've got problems.
17:38OK, well, Surface, the show we're talking about, is returning for its second series.
17:41It is on Apple TV+, from Friday the 21st of February.
17:46New episodes drop weekly.
17:48So, the first season ended on a big cliffhanger.
17:53So, where do we find your character now?
17:56Yes, the first season was set in San Francisco, although we shot a lot of it in Vancouver, actually.
18:01But it was set in San Francisco.
18:03This season, Sophie leaves San Francisco and it's now in London.
18:08Oh, that's good.
18:09So, yay!
18:12So, it's been really, really rewarding for me to be able to bring the show home.
18:16And it's really, you know, it picks up the pace, Sophie's kind of undercover,
18:20sort of investigating her own life.
18:23In the first season, she'd lost her memory and now she's piecing back together her past
18:28and there's an aristocratic family that she's sort of determined to take down
18:33because she thinks they were involved in her mother's death.
18:35OK.
18:36Well, listen, we've got a clip.
18:37This is you discovering something from your past in London.
18:40APPLAUSE
18:41So, is it, and I don't know, is it quite nice as an actor to play someone
18:47who can't remember anything?
18:49LAUGHTER
18:50I mean, as long as it's not your line...
18:52What do you know what I mean?
18:53It's just kind of like, no, I don't know anyone.
18:55No backstory, I don't know my lines.
18:57I don't know what I'm supposed to stand.
18:59Yeah, exactly.
19:00I mean, certainly there's not as much homework like if it would be a historical piece
19:04or, you know, the research of it, but I would have sometimes moments
19:07with our showrunner, Veronica West, where I'd be like,
19:09Veronica, what do I remember in this scene?
19:10I can't remember what I don't remember.
19:12You know, because you film it all out of context as well and out of order,
19:16so it is a little bit confusing, but there are so many twists and turns
19:19in the plot, so that's what keeps us all going.
19:21Yeah, that's really cool.
19:22And it's all properly set, I mean, it's set in London, but you film it all here.
19:26Yes, yeah, we were filming, in fact, that scene, it's kind of crazy
19:29because that scene just there on the Millennium Bridge, you know,
19:32I was saying about I worked on the London Eye and the river cruise,
19:35we locked off the whole of that bridge and, you know, it was just us
19:40and me and the director and on the first take, I'm there like opening
19:43the backpack and I see my river cruise boat that I used to work on,
19:47like going by underneath and it was just a sort of spine sort of tingling
19:52full circle moment.
19:53That's cool.
19:54Yeah, it was really special.
19:55And you spat on them.
19:56Yeah.
19:57Gave them all away.
19:58If you look up, you'll see Google, you'll find a word to her.
20:03Where did you go there?
20:05And you spat on them.
20:07Because they're open air.
20:08She said in a beautiful moment about serendipity and the journey
20:12of life and you're like, and you spat on them.
20:15That's the journey of life, kids.
20:17Right.
20:18Yeah.
20:19But you mentioned there the first one was in Vancouver,
20:22because is it Ladysmith you're from?
20:24I live in Ladysmith now, but that's where I grew up.
20:27Oh, OK.
20:28So you're on Vancouver Island?
20:29I'm on the island, yeah.
20:30OK.
20:31But where was the famous moment when Pamela Anderson got discovered
20:34at the football game?
20:35Oh, gosh.
20:36Where was that?
20:37I went to a BC Lions football game and I was wearing a La Bats
20:40beer t-shirt, because that's how you got in for free.
20:43And my friends convinced me to go.
20:45And the cameraman zoomed in on me and put me up on the Jumbotron.
20:49And I just, they said, stand up.
20:51And so I did.
20:52And they had me going like this all night.
20:54And on Monday Night Football.
20:55So that's, I became like the Blue Zone girl.
20:57I think we've got a picture, I've got a picture of the,
20:58there he was the Blue Zone girl.
20:59Oh, wow.
21:00Wow.
21:01I look like Dylan.
21:02I look like my son.
21:03Oh.
21:04Yeah.
21:05So, that's amazing.
21:06That was it.
21:07Yeah.
21:08That was the start.
21:09And then, yeah.
21:10Playboy called.
21:11And then Baywatch.
21:12And then, you know, the drill.
21:13Barbed wire.
21:14And before that moment, before you were on the big Jumbotron
21:17screen, what did Pamela Anderson want to do?
21:19What was your dream?
21:20I thought I would do something, you know, with animals.
21:23Probably be, who knows.
21:25I mean, I was a waitress slash, I worked at a tanning salon.
21:29Yeah, yeah.
21:30And I didn't know what I wanted to do.
21:32I just moved to the big city of Vancouver off the island.
21:35And that people don't really leave the island a lot.
21:37So, that was a brave move of mine.
21:39And I didn't know what was going to happen.
21:41It was my first plane ride when I went to Los Angeles.
21:44Wow.
21:45And, yeah.
21:46So, you were literally discovered in that way.
21:48Yeah.
21:49Yeah.
21:50And, you know, it just...
21:52Little by little, I went to the Playboy Mansion.
21:54I remember someone calling me and saying,
21:56Pamela, you're invited to fight night at the mansion.
21:58I said, I'm not fighting anybody.
22:00I thought there was going to be mud wrestling or something.
22:03And I was like, no, I think I'll skip that.
22:05And they go, no, no, Mike Tyson's fighting.
22:07It's a TV, Disney going to watch it all together.
22:09But, yeah.
22:10And my ex-husband's a boxer.
22:12Oh?
22:13Yeah.
22:14I like that.
22:15I'm looking at you.
22:16You guys are very, like...
22:17Pam, I think you're lovely, but my missus had killed you.
22:22It's very attractive that you're married.
22:24Very good.
22:26Now, we turn to the theatre, ladies and gentlemen.
22:29Sean Hayes makes his London stage debut in Goodnight Oscar.
22:33He'll be at the Barbican Theatre from the 31st of July
22:36to the 21st of September.
22:38Plenty of time to prepare.
22:40But, of course, you know this because you already had a huge success on Broadway.
22:43You won the Tony Award.
22:45There you are.
22:50Now, here's the thing.
22:51It is a performance of the ages.
22:53It really is extraordinary.
22:55And Oscar Levant, the man you play, in America,
22:57probably more well-known than here.
22:59Yeah.
23:00So, explain Oscar and the moment where we meet him in the play.
23:02Yeah, yeah.
23:03So, Oscar Levant was a very famous, kind of a raconteur type of guy.
23:07He was an actor.
23:08He was a musician.
23:09There he is.
23:10And he struggled with mental health issues his whole life.
23:14And he would speak openly about them on chat shows like this in the 50s and 60s.
23:18I mean, even today, we have a difficult time talking about it.
23:21But he made light of it and was so funny.
23:24He eventually became addicted to a lot of the medications they put him on.
23:28So, he would end up in these mental health institutions from one to another.
23:31And so, the conceit of the play is that it's based on a true life event where Oscar got a four-hour pass from one of the mental health institutions to appear on a game show.
23:43And then he had to go back to the mental health institution.
23:46But for purposes of our play, we switched that to the Tonight Show with Jack Parr because he was such a frequent guest on the Tonight Show.
23:52He was Jack's favorite guest.
23:54And he was always like, you know, shook America to the core with the things that he would say.
23:59So, so funny.
24:00And so, the catchphrase of the play is anything can happen on live TV and one night it did.
24:06And so, I don't want to give it away.
24:08But it's that one night that he appears backstage and before he goes on to like this on the Tonight Show.
24:14Yeah, yeah.
24:15Now, you have links to Oscar Levant in that Oscar Levant was this amazing pianist.
24:20Yeah, yeah.
24:21And so are you.
24:22Well, thank you.
24:23And one of the standout moments in the play is you, as Oscar Levant, you perform Rhapsody in Blue.
24:29Yeah.
24:30And we've got a little clip.
24:31Oh, boy.
24:32This is the finale of your performance of Rhapsody in Blue.
24:36I don't know if you noticed this when you saw it.
24:40I just, I'm blown away by the set.
24:42I'm blown away by all of it, the directing, the writing, everything.
24:45But Rachel Hawke, who's this incredible set designer, she designed the set.
24:48And if you noticed.
24:49Oh, the shadow?
24:50Yes.
24:51So, so the walls of our set are, look like the inside of a studio, of a Hollywood studio.
24:56They're always padded, but it also doubles as a padded kind of cell.
25:00Yeah.
25:01And, which I thought was so smart.
25:03The other thing, I was like me, so when I went to see it, you know, I'm blown away.
25:07No idea you could play the piano like that.
25:09And I remember afterwards thinking, if I could play the piano like that, people would know.
25:14I would be presenting this show from behind a piano.
25:19Like we, in Will and Grace, I know you, Jack played the piano a little bit.
25:22Yeah.
25:23Did you never ask them to write in like an amazing voice?
25:25No, I just, I just felt like it was a thing over there.
25:27And I felt like kind of, like you were saying Pam, like the, you know, your age and your time and your career and just life and everything just was like, let's develop this thing.
25:38This guy, people need to know who this guy was.
25:41And, and I just happened to have that in my back pocket.
25:45Because you've done quite a lot on Broadway.
25:46You, before this, you did musicals and things.
25:48Yeah.
25:49Tell me about Broadway audiences.
25:50What was the lady, was she, was she drunk?
25:53Yeah.
25:54Okay.
25:55So there was, first of all.
25:56There's a lot of drunk people in there.
25:57Well, you tell me and you tell me and you tell me.
25:59Everybody thinks it's a great idea on a Saturday night to go have dinner and drinks and then a show.
26:03It's the worst idea ever.
26:05Because what happens is you're at dinner with your friends and you're drinking and it's fun.
26:09Then you got to sit in the theater and it all stops because you got to focus, right?
26:13So they're not the greatest audiences.
26:15But anyway, everybody gets lit up and whatever.
26:17So one night I'm in Promises Promises, this woman, you know, you can see kind of everybody out of the corner of your eye when you're on stage, as we all know.
26:27And so you're kind of aware, even though you're in the scene.
26:30And this woman just projectile vomits everywhere.
26:34Oh no.
26:35In like row three or four.
26:37And all of us are like, did you just, what?
26:40Oh no.
26:41Oh no.
26:42And so we're going along.
26:44Some of us are kind of chuckling and she, you know, and you hear her just out of the corner.
26:48I'm fine.
26:49I'm fine.
26:50Right?
26:51And so the usher comes down the aisle and removes her.
26:55And we're all like, okay, so now we're kind of moving on and we're moving on.
26:59The usher let her back in and she fucking pukes again.
27:03It's one minute later.
27:07You won't find that at the Barbican.
27:09You won't.
27:10You won't.
27:11I hope not.
27:12Have a great summer at the Barbican.
27:13I hope it goes really well.
27:14It is time to meet my next guest.
27:16Next week, the BBC marks the 40th anniversary of EastEnders with a number of special episodes, including the return of Grant Mitchell himself.
27:25Please welcome actor and documentary maker, Ross Kemp, everybody.
27:30Hello.
27:31Hello.
27:32How are you?
27:33How are you?
27:34How are you?
27:35How are you?
27:36How are you?
27:37Nice to see you.
27:38Have a seat at Kamala, Stephen, Doo-doo, Sean.
27:42Hello.
27:43Oh.
27:44Hello, Ross Kemp.
27:45Hello.
27:46I know.
27:47We're just about to wrap up.
27:48Oh, yeah.
27:49So, last night, last night.
27:52Yes, last night.
27:53Last night, back on the square.
27:55Thursday evening, yes.
27:56I came back for a little bit.
27:57I know.
27:58In fact, we've got, we've got the clip.
28:00This is it.
28:01The moment you revealed yourself to your brother, Phil.
28:04Oh, look at that.
28:05And that just goes to show what being in a soap for 40 years will do to you.
28:14Now, I have to say, Pamela, are you familiar with EastEnders at all?
28:18I've heard of it.
28:19OK.
28:20Yes, I have heard of it, but I haven't seen it.
28:21But I know it's been around for a very long time.
28:2340 years.
28:24Yeah.
28:25That's a long time.
28:26But the duff-duffs, are you familiar with the duff-duffs?
28:28No.
28:29So, it's the thing, every EastEnder actor wants a duff-duff.
28:32They sort of do until they get too many duff-duffs.
28:35But basically, at the end, they tease the next episode by some reveal.
28:40I'm in love with you.
28:42I'm going to kill you.
28:43I'm going to kill you and I'm in love with you.
28:45But at the end of that, they go duff-duff-duff-duff-duff-duff.
28:49So, what actors would normally do is they'd get the scripts and they'd go
28:52right to the end to see if they got a duff-duff.
28:54What I did, I was only in it really for 10 years.
28:57But what I would go is, you've got paid per episode?
29:00So, I'd go, don't want to be in that scene, not in that scene, not in...
29:03One scene, ka-ching!
29:06I didn't care about the duff-duffs after a while.
29:08And also, what I did was, I worked...
29:10I got on well with the camera crew.
29:12I would actually get into episodes I wasn't in.
29:15So, they'd give you reams in episode 3622, reams in 3621,
29:22whatever it was, and it wouldn't be in the middle one,
29:25but they'd have you there all week.
29:26So, when I found it wasn't the episode I was in,
29:28I'd nip in with a, er, two pints of lager and a pack of lecrystron.
29:32And it took them a year to work it out.
29:35And is it weird being back, or is it quite fun?
29:45No, but you don't get a chance.
29:47So, I was making a documentary about 40 years,
29:50and I kept going back to the set, to and from it.
29:53And I started realising just what an impact the show had had.
29:56You know, it was the first time that HIV had been properly tackled.
29:59Yeah, yeah.
30:00In any kind of big drama, or big space, you know,
30:03in front of a large audience.
30:04And it was getting 25, 23 million viewers in those days.
30:07And, you know, child pregnancy, domestic violence.
30:10And also, when Julia Smith and Tony Holland first came up with it,
30:14they did more, particularly with the HIV storyline.
30:16You know, the government was putting out, you know, tombs
30:19with HIV on it, AIDS.
30:21Yeah.
30:22There was an iceberg floating towards you.
30:24They were scaremongering.
30:25Yeah.
30:26And what Mark Fowler's HIV storyline did was,
30:29it humanised it.
30:30It explained it to an audience in a way a government,
30:33I don't know, propaganda couldn't,
30:35and also in a way that possibly a very dry documentary
30:38couldn't do it.
30:39And I realised how proud I was of what it's achieved
30:42in those 40 years.
30:43Yeah.
30:44And it's continued to entertain people as well.
30:46But it's taken on some very, very heavy topics
30:49and made them digestible and entertaining.
30:51So, when they asked me to go back, I obviously said,
30:54how much?
30:55No.
30:56I said...
30:57I said...
30:58Yes.
30:59I said, yes.
31:00And how much.
31:01No, you don't get a chance to speak to anyone.
31:03As soon as you're on that set, you know, you don't go into the
31:06cafe and go, I would like a bacon sandwich.
31:08I want a bacon sandwich!
31:10You know?
31:11It starts off like that.
31:12My first day on set was wrestling a 9mm Beretta pistol off
31:17somebody as they tried to shoot themselves in the head.
31:19And it just carried on like that for three more weeks.
31:21Wow.
31:22So, when I left, I was in a very good mood.
31:25I watched my scripts just go...
31:26Normally, when you're in it regularly, they go...
31:29Then they go...
31:30So, a lot, you know, obviously people do something in EastEnders
31:35and then they make the big decision to leave.
31:37And sometimes that doesn't work out.
31:39But for you, you've had this extraordinary career making
31:41these documentaries.
31:42Yeah.
31:43But the EastEnders thing follows you no matter where you are.
31:46It does, yeah.
31:48Famously, I was in Karachi in a place called Liari.
31:50It's a no-go area.
31:52And we were meeting a guy called Uzair Baloch.
31:55He ran the Balochestani area of Karachi.
31:59And we were on a roof about four storeys up,
32:01doing a piece of the camera to my cameraman, Jonathan Young,
32:04and a bullet.
32:05I'm close.
32:06I'm about this distance.
32:07And this bullet just goes right between us.
32:09So, we hit the deck, a lot more bullets come in,
32:11and it's the actual Pakistani special forces firing at us.
32:14Wow.
32:15So, eventually, the police backed off.
32:17We left.
32:18We got in a combi van and we drove out of Liari.
32:22And on the way back, it calmed down.
32:24So, the director said,
32:25can you do some walking shots?
32:26So, I said, yeah, of course, we'll do some walking shots,
32:28get it done.
32:29And as I'm going down this kind of alley,
32:30this tuk-tuk, you know, those motorcycle vans,
32:32comes up beside me and these ladies are wearing yashmacks.
32:35And all of a sudden, one reaches out of the corner of my eye
32:38and I'm like, no, this is not happening, this is not...
32:40Yes, it is happening.
32:41And a flash goes off and it's a camera.
32:43And she goes, are you good old Mitchell?
32:46LAUGHTER
32:48Come again.
32:50She said, yeah, I've just moved here from Birmingham.
32:53LAUGHTER
32:54I met a lad from Peralchi and Elmere.
32:57Lovely, she was lovely.
32:58Love you, lady.
32:59Wow.
33:00So, yes, he follows me around the world.
33:02So, 40 years of EastEnders.
33:03The BBC are doing lots of things.
33:04As you mentioned, there's the documentary,
33:05EastEnders, 40 years on the Square.
33:07That's on BBC One at 8 o'clock on the 17th of February
33:10and at iPlayer.
33:11We look forward to seeing you in the Square for your time.
33:15Lovely to have you back, Ross Kemp.
33:17Congratulations on 40 years of EastEnders.
33:19There we go.
33:20APPLAUSE
33:21OK.
33:22It is time for music.
33:24This singer-songwriter has had quite a couple of years
33:27supporting Taylor Swift on the Era's tour
33:29and earning two Grammy nominations for herself along the way.
33:33Performing That's So True, it is Gracie Abrams.
33:37Thank you so much for that performance.
33:38It was gorgeous.
33:39Oh, my, thank you for having us here.
33:40It's a pleasure.
33:41Drink up.
33:42There you go.
33:44Are we doing it?
33:45Cheers.
33:46Cheers.
33:47Cheers.
33:48Cheers, guys.
33:49You look gorgeous.
33:50Cheers.
33:51Do you know people on the couch?
33:52I do.
33:53Well, I'm a big fan, yes, of people on the couch.
33:56And we have met before.
34:01Many times.
34:02Yes.
34:03It's frightening for your dads.
34:04You hear that all the time.
34:05Yes.
34:06OK.
34:07You're a really funny friend.
34:09But I'm a big fan.
34:10I listen to your podcast weekly.
34:11Oh, that's very nice.
34:13I don't need to be holding this anymore.
34:14I'm just like shaking.
34:17So you know, Sean, so perhaps you know that he was also very nearly a pop star.
34:23Oh, she doesn't know that.
34:24Does she not know?
34:25By the way, nobody knows that.
34:26Oh, do you not know?
34:27No, it's not a secret.
34:28Really?
34:29Say.
34:30It's terrible.
34:31It's the moment to your challenge, man.
34:32Say and say.
34:33I know, but I also...
34:34Backstage, I was watching and I didn't get to see your show, but you're obviously such an
34:39unbelievable artist and pianist and I was like, how am I supposed to like go up there and
34:43be like, la la la.
34:44You're funny.
34:45No, no, no.
34:46Wow.
34:47But what's your pop career?
34:48It was in college.
34:49I was in a band called Sounds From The Stairs.
34:54What's so funny?
34:57There's nothing sexy about, and your keyboard player can attest to this.
35:02Like it's one of the most unsexy kind of instruments because I have to stand up and demonstrate.
35:07Yes, please.
35:08Because like, you know, you're jumping around and you're like, and the second you have to
35:12hit a chord, you have to like stop because you have to hit the right notes.
35:15And then once you hit that, then you can kind of jump right away.
35:18You have to stop.
35:19So it's kind of a really...
35:20Well, now you say that, Sean.
35:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:23We have a clip.
35:24I know this.
35:25It's kind of a...
35:26It's a grainy clip.
35:27It's a grainy clip of Sean Hayes and you were finding the time to dance around.
35:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
35:32To the point where focus on the lead singer and how much he's enjoying Sean's performance.
35:36Yeah, this is something else.
35:37This is something else.
35:38So this is Sounds From The Stairs.
35:40We tried new wave just long enough for people to want the old wave.
35:45Here it comes.
35:46So there's Sean back there.
35:48Now that's a bloody man, but now he's off!
35:50He's off!
35:54Oh my God!
35:59There he is.
36:00There he goes!
36:01There he goes!
36:02Oh yeah!
36:07That was great!
36:08It could have been such a different vibe!
36:10Bring the band, get the band back together!
36:12Yeah.
36:13Such a different vibe!
36:14I'm jealous!
36:15Yeah, yeah.
36:16Wow!
36:17We were right in the intersection of electropop and electroshock.
36:22Something like that.
36:23You've never been a shy boy, have you?
36:25Clearly.
36:26That was something else.
36:27That's nothing.
36:28I love it.
36:29Maybe back here.
36:30Then look at me.
36:31It's really good.
36:32I know.
36:33I'm so desperate to be out in front.
36:35Now, back to you.
36:36That is your latest single from the album.
36:39There it is.
36:40The Secret of Oz.
36:41This is the deluxe version.
36:42Oh, cool!
36:43I love that.
36:44Album, I love that.
36:46Yeah, look, there you go.
36:47Do you listen to vinyl?
36:48I do, yes.
36:49It's fun, right?
36:50It is so fun.
36:51We have our tour right now.
36:52We built a B stage.
36:53It's a recreation of my childhood bedroom.
36:56And we have vinyls that we're switching out on tour.
36:58Oh, that's great.
36:59Got all of my favourite ones currently on tour with us.
37:00That's great.
37:01I love that.
37:02So, where are you off to next?
37:03You're here tonight, obviously.
37:04Where are you off to next?
37:05Germany is our next.
37:06Oh, wow.
37:07And you come to London in March at the O2.
37:09Sold out.
37:10Some of the people are going.
37:14Well, how lucky you really have you got to see that performance.
37:17Thank you very much, Gracie.
37:18Thank you for tolerating us.
37:19There.
37:20Good luck with the rest of the tour.
37:21Gracie Abrams, everybody.
37:26That is...
37:27I'm going to reimagine the whole show now.
37:28I'm going to be ready.
37:29So, that's it for tonight.
37:30No time for red chairs, I'm afraid.
37:32Please say thank you to the rest of my guests.
37:34Sean Hayes.
37:36Dougal Madurore.
37:38Stephen Graham.
37:41Pamela Anderson.
37:44And Mr. Ross Kemp.
37:47Join me next week with music from self-esteem and a great sofa.
37:51We've got Chris O'Dowd, Naomi Harris, Kate Hudson, and Ewan McGregor.
37:55I'll see you then.
37:56Good night, everybody.
37:57Bye-bye.