Series 1 Press Pack - Philip Glenister plays Quinn
Surprisingly, Philip Glenister rarely insults passers by and almost never says ‘fire up the Quattro.’ Indeed, in Mad Dogs he’s playing the exact opposite of DCI Gene Hunt – a mild mannered psychology lecturer called Quinn. He’s playing against old friends – Life On Mars and State of Play co-stars John Simm and Marc Warren.
As he told us, this is no co-incidence...
I phoned my agent up and said, “What are the chances of trying to find something for me, John and Marc to do together?” She got in touch with Marc and John and they were up for it. Suzanne Mackie, who is producing this, is a mate and I’ve worked with her on Calendar Girls. She was leaving Harbour Pictures and took this to Andy Harries at Left Bank and he said, “Christ yeah! Let’s do it.” John was away so he couldn’t be involved so it was just Marc and I for the first few months. The original idea was a band and then we thought - it’s kind of been done. Spinal Tap. Still Crazy. But we liked the idea of this group of people from very normal backgrounds that find themselves in extraordinary circumstances and the choices that they make within a very short space of time.
By getting Adrian Shergold on board, a real coup for us, he came up with a very distinctive style and flavour. It’s very exciting to have that kind of maverick approach when it’s somebody that you trust who’s got the experience and knows how to tell a story. It’s all happened so quickly - in the space of a year. And you feel that rather than just turning up, hitting your mark and saying your line it’s become a bit more than that. It’s something more invested, which is quite nice. A little bit more in control.
So were you involved in shaping characters? Is Quinn from your own head?
A little bit, yeah. We had a few meetings about what we wanted with our characters, what their story would be, where they were going and then Cris shaped it and put it together brilliantly. He got us to a ‘T’ - up to the point where we’re almost playing ourselves, you know? They’re all kind of flawed in many respects but then human beings are, aren’t they really?
What’s Quinn like?
He’s a quiet one. I suppose he hasn’t really achieved what he should have set out to achieve, for whatever reason. It’s not that he’s unhappy but he’s at a crossroads in his life. His marriage is broken down, his kids have grown up and they’re now at university so he’s got time on his hands. He doesn’t quite know what to do with it and where to go next. This whole journey in the story, acts as a catalyst for where he goes next, really. It sparks something.
How’s that, being the quiet one after Gene Hunt?
It’s a nice contrast to be the mousey figure as opposed to the lion, for a change. But I haven’t actually been offered that many Gene Hunt parts. I got sent one film script that was a really poor imitation but not as many as I expected.
Do you think that women want to sleep with Quinn and men want to be him?
No. Probably not, actually. He’s a bit of a sad fucker.
Which leads to the obvious question; earlier on you said that the characters are quite like the people that play them, so do you think...?
Am I a sad fucker? Probably. No, I don’t know. Just in terms of the way that we play and deliver it I think I meant. We’re not putting on accents and John has got his glasses and his goatee, and his false nose, and his hump. But other than that, we’re playing very naturalistically.
What’s it like working with John and Marc again?
It’s been great. When you’re going to spend eight weeks together you’ve got to get on, really, otherwise it would be a nightmare. That’s why when we were talking about the three of us working together in the first place. Then of course, we had to get Beesley involved. The new boy. “Fetch me my tea, Beesley.” We did some shooting on a boat. Logistically, it’s quite tough. It was getting a bit choppy and we were coming against the waves and listing quite sharply and old super Beesley was like, “Fucking hell! We’re going over!” and he was grabbing lifebelts and like – “If I’m going over mate, I’m fucking staying floating. Move!”
Have you got a gang of friends from the old days, the way this gang are?
Yes I have. I don’t see as much of them as I used to, but I have a friend of mine, Paul, who I’ve known since the day dot. We’ve grown up together, stayed in touch and now he lives in Cambridge. There was a group of us that used to go on holidays together and we all keep in contact. It’s very sweet and they follow some of the rubbish that I do on TV and send me notes.
Talking of notes, as you’re producing did you get involved with script and direction during filming?
No. That would be like an ego credit, do you know what I mean? When you see an actor credited as an executive producer. It’s just ego. So we didn’t see the point, really. There are too many people, making too many decisions and deciding who should do this and who should do that. I think if you have the expertise and you know the people you’re comfortable working with and around, you should trust them to get on and do it.
Will all this make it hard to go back to being an actor for hire?
There are very few good, bold, innovative, original scripts out there. Everybody seems to be either remaking something or doing costume drama. The only way forward, it seems to me, is to get on that development table and start finding projects that you want to do.
View full press pack
As he told us, this is no co-incidence...
I phoned my agent up and said, “What are the chances of trying to find something for me, John and Marc to do together?” She got in touch with Marc and John and they were up for it. Suzanne Mackie, who is producing this, is a mate and I’ve worked with her on Calendar Girls. She was leaving Harbour Pictures and took this to Andy Harries at Left Bank and he said, “Christ yeah! Let’s do it.” John was away so he couldn’t be involved so it was just Marc and I for the first few months. The original idea was a band and then we thought - it’s kind of been done. Spinal Tap. Still Crazy. But we liked the idea of this group of people from very normal backgrounds that find themselves in extraordinary circumstances and the choices that they make within a very short space of time.
By getting Adrian Shergold on board, a real coup for us, he came up with a very distinctive style and flavour. It’s very exciting to have that kind of maverick approach when it’s somebody that you trust who’s got the experience and knows how to tell a story. It’s all happened so quickly - in the space of a year. And you feel that rather than just turning up, hitting your mark and saying your line it’s become a bit more than that. It’s something more invested, which is quite nice. A little bit more in control.
So were you involved in shaping characters? Is Quinn from your own head?
A little bit, yeah. We had a few meetings about what we wanted with our characters, what their story would be, where they were going and then Cris shaped it and put it together brilliantly. He got us to a ‘T’ - up to the point where we’re almost playing ourselves, you know? They’re all kind of flawed in many respects but then human beings are, aren’t they really?
What’s Quinn like?
He’s a quiet one. I suppose he hasn’t really achieved what he should have set out to achieve, for whatever reason. It’s not that he’s unhappy but he’s at a crossroads in his life. His marriage is broken down, his kids have grown up and they’re now at university so he’s got time on his hands. He doesn’t quite know what to do with it and where to go next. This whole journey in the story, acts as a catalyst for where he goes next, really. It sparks something.
How’s that, being the quiet one after Gene Hunt?
It’s a nice contrast to be the mousey figure as opposed to the lion, for a change. But I haven’t actually been offered that many Gene Hunt parts. I got sent one film script that was a really poor imitation but not as many as I expected.
Do you think that women want to sleep with Quinn and men want to be him?
No. Probably not, actually. He’s a bit of a sad fucker.
Which leads to the obvious question; earlier on you said that the characters are quite like the people that play them, so do you think...?
Am I a sad fucker? Probably. No, I don’t know. Just in terms of the way that we play and deliver it I think I meant. We’re not putting on accents and John has got his glasses and his goatee, and his false nose, and his hump. But other than that, we’re playing very naturalistically.
What’s it like working with John and Marc again?
It’s been great. When you’re going to spend eight weeks together you’ve got to get on, really, otherwise it would be a nightmare. That’s why when we were talking about the three of us working together in the first place. Then of course, we had to get Beesley involved. The new boy. “Fetch me my tea, Beesley.” We did some shooting on a boat. Logistically, it’s quite tough. It was getting a bit choppy and we were coming against the waves and listing quite sharply and old super Beesley was like, “Fucking hell! We’re going over!” and he was grabbing lifebelts and like – “If I’m going over mate, I’m fucking staying floating. Move!”
Have you got a gang of friends from the old days, the way this gang are?
Yes I have. I don’t see as much of them as I used to, but I have a friend of mine, Paul, who I’ve known since the day dot. We’ve grown up together, stayed in touch and now he lives in Cambridge. There was a group of us that used to go on holidays together and we all keep in contact. It’s very sweet and they follow some of the rubbish that I do on TV and send me notes.
Talking of notes, as you’re producing did you get involved with script and direction during filming?
No. That would be like an ego credit, do you know what I mean? When you see an actor credited as an executive producer. It’s just ego. So we didn’t see the point, really. There are too many people, making too many decisions and deciding who should do this and who should do that. I think if you have the expertise and you know the people you’re comfortable working with and around, you should trust them to get on and do it.
Will all this make it hard to go back to being an actor for hire?
There are very few good, bold, innovative, original scripts out there. Everybody seems to be either remaking something or doing costume drama. The only way forward, it seems to me, is to get on that development table and start finding projects that you want to do.
View full press pack
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