you talkin’ to me?
Film quotes pose as questions. Film stars try to cope.
You talkin’ to me?
Yes, I am. We met on Free Fire, right? [TF confirms we met on set]. Well, after Free Fire, Ben [Wheatley, director] and I stayed in touch. He was filling me in on the next project, which was gonna be this sci-fi movie, Freakshift. That didn’t work out. So he texted me one night saying, “I’m thinking of doing a version of Coriolanus called ‘Colin, You Anus’.” I replied with a laughing emoji, and he was like, “Well?” And I realised he was being serious.
Do you feel lucky punk?
I do. I feel like I jumped the food chain with Control [playing Joy Division singer/ songwriter Ian Curtis]. I went from being in a fairly unsuccessful though genius rock band in Leeds to landing a lead role in a rock biopic with a black-andwhite poster and a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. They were looking for someone unknown, so my band being unsuccessful worked in my favour. [laughs]
You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk?
With characters, it’s important to have a body language as well. In Free Fire, Ben chose two lads from Bradford to play the only two actual Boston people, so the talk was very difficult for that! But once I had the costume on… Steve-O had an arrogant strut that helped me get into character. It’s all about the costume and the shoes. But Ben obviously sees the arsehole in me because he keeps hiring me to play those characters. [laughs]
You either surf or fight…
I remember watching Apocalypse Now for the first time. My father was a huge film buff and he always used to let my brother and I stay up late if there was a great film on TV. In those days, there were only the four channels. When Apocalypse Now was on BBC Two, he let us stay up all night. It’s a long film! It had a huge effect on me. I remember going back to school and drinking mouthwash and listening to ‘The End’ imagining I was in Saigon. I couldn’t get hold of alcohol in those days. That’s why my [cracked, husky] voice sounds like this – drinking mouthwash.
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
Yeah, a few times. Certainly during my band years. But it’s been a while. One doesn’t remember a great deal of it. Which is probably for the best.
When you can live forever, what do you live for?
I think all actors dream of immortality, in some way. [Upon being told the quote is from Twilight…] I remember working with Kristen [Stewart] on On The Road, and her trying to explain the story to me. She was about to do, I think, the last Twilight. It sounded so bizarre. Babies growing in an incredible period of time, werewolves and vampires… It seemed bonkers to me.
What’s your favourite scary movie?
I’m not a huge horror fan. I enjoyed watching the documentary on the making of The Shining almost more than The Shining itself. It was fascinating to watch how Jack Nicholson behaves on set, it’s such a rare insight. And Kubrick. It didn’t look like Shelley Duvall had much fun. I love Kill List. That was the first film of Ben’s I saw, and I wanted to work with him as soon as I saw it.
If you could change something in your life, anything at all, what would it be?
God. [long pause] More facial hair would be useful, sometimes. I just did a movie called Radioactive with Rosamund Pike, and because I couldn’t grow a full beard, I had to have yak hairs screwed individually onto my face every day, for three months. I know nobody wants to hear the woeful stories of a luvvie, but it wasn’t particularly pleasant.
What would you do if you knew you had less than one minute to live?
Um, shag my wife upstairs. It wouldn’t be enough time, obviously. [laughs]
Existence. Well, what does it matter?
That was one of the first scenes I had to shoot [in Control]. Well, they started off with easy scenes where I didn’t have to say anything, as it was my first film. That was an intense, incredible experience, really. Just the whole film. If people do ever say anything to me in the streets, nine times out of 10, it’s something about Control. And the other time is, “Are you Pete Doherty?”
ETA | dEcEmbEr / hAppy nEw yEAr, colin bursTEAd will Air on bbc Two This chrisTmAs.
‘I HAD To HAvE YAk HAIRS SCREwED INDIvIDuALLY oNTo MY FACE EvERY DAY’