The very meta lockdown antidote
Michael Sheen and David Tennant on returning to play Michael Sheen and David Tennant in STAGED
AT THE HEIGHT of the first lockdown, Michael Sheen and David Tennant did what everyone had been doing: they had a chat on Zoom. The two stars workshopped some ideas and the result was Staged, a six-part series for the BBC about two fictionalised versions of Sheen and Tennant struggling and failing to rehearse a play. With a second series imminent, Empire jumped on a Zoom call with the pair — for what, it has to be said, felt like a spin-off episode of the show.
How has 2020 been for both of you?
David Tennant: Well, it was not as advertised in January, that’s for sure [laughs]. The great joy of it, though, is that we’ve got to do Staged twice, which was a thing that didn’t even exist before.
Michael Sheen: If someone had said, “You’re gonna do two TV series in your kitchen,” I wouldn’t have ever believed them.
What can you tell us about series two, then?
Sheen: Series one seemed to connect with people in two ways: people really enjoyed having a laugh, which was nice, and without being too heavyhanded about it, we tried to reflect where everyone was with the whole pandemic stuff. Which is difficult when you’ve got two poncy actors to do the representing. But I think by revealing how stupid and feckless the two of us are, I think maybe that helped. Is that fair, David?
Tennant: I think that’s probably worryingly fair!
Where do we find the semi-fictional versions of David and Michael this time?
Tennant: You find us in a very different place, and yet exactly where you left us.
Sheen: When we did the first one, everyone kind of knew where they were: you’re stuck in your house, you’re not going anywhere. By the time we get to the second series, the rules keep changing. So we’ve tried to reflect that in this series.
Tennant: We’re all slightly drowning in the ever-changing new normal.
Judi Dench telling you in the first series to “stop fucking about” was a highlight.
Tennant: Judi Dench swearing is one of the wonders of the modern world. There’s something totally and utterly beguiling about it, isn’t there? Sheen: One of the things that I think people really enjoyed about the first series was having the occasional guest coming in. We’ve pushed that much further this time. I mean, we start big. Without giving anything away. We nail our colours to the mast very early on.
Tennant: We splurge and keep splurging, really! Sheen: There are some very Empire audience-specific things that are going to be really enjoyed. One episode in particular, I would say, is probably going to become a bit of an Empire favourite.
Michael, in an unusual move, you signed a petition calling for Staged to be cancelled...
Sheen: [laughs] It may be a bit late in the day to have the second series stopped now, because we have actually shot it. But there’s still time for it to not go out. I’m still holding out for that.
Tennant: [laughs] This came from someone on the internet, did it?
Sheen: It did. I think there was a lady who decided to let me know, personally, that it was terrible, self-indulgent wank. I read that, and just thought... “Yeah! I think you’re right. Let’s get rid of it. Let’s get rid of it forever. So that nobody has to watch it.” Because clearly this poor woman was forced to watch every episode.
Tennant: Well, she’s not wrong about it being self-indulgent wank. But people don’t seem to mind that.
Sheen: Exactly.
STAGED SERIES 2 IS ON BBC ONE FROM 4 JANUARY