About reuniting for new BBC1 comedy series, Staged It’s been a pleasure to create these ghastly versions of us
David Tennant and Michael Sheen talk to KERRI-ANN ROPER
DAVID Tennant and Michael Sheen are back on screen together after teaming up last year for Good Omens. The duo star in Staged, a new BBC1 comedy about a cast trying to keep their West End production on track during lockdown.
We caught up with them to get the lowdown on the series.
What can you tell us about the show?
MICHAEL: Well, it’s about two young, plucky, upcoming actors David and Michael. We play ourselves - David Tennant and myself – we’re the best casting for it.
The premise is that we were going to be doing a play. Then lockdown happened and the director, Simon, who also plays himself, wants to try to keep things going whilst we’re in lockdown and puts forward the idea that we can rehearse using video calls.
Then when lockdown finishes we’ll be ready to go into a theatre before anyone else.
That idea goes down better with David than it does with me. The rest of the episodes are about how that plays out.
Was it good to work together again?
MICHAEL: Absolutely! I mean, that’s the main reason we wanted to do it – to do something together again.
Having never really worked together before Good Omens, it was such a pleasure to discover that there was a good chemistry between us and then do something else together without playing those characters, exploring the dynamic between us in a different way has been great. DAVID: Last time I worked with Michael I had to wear tight trousers and snake eye contact lenses and fly halfway round the world – this time I tumbled out of bed, put on a tracksuit and barely brushed my hair. A joy from start to finish.
It’s been a particular pleasure to create these slightly ghastly versions of ourselves, and a slight concern to worry how close they might be to reality.
Both of your partners – David’s actress wife Georgia and Michael’s partner Anna – appear in this. What was it like working with them? MICHAEL: It’s interesting that we’re all playing ourselves, really, or versions of ourselves. So it is sort of odd to be doing scenes with your partner when it’s a different version of yourself and your partner.
Our baby, Lyra, is eight months old now. She doesn’t appear in it but you can hear her in the background now and again, which is great.
It’s been lovely to do stuff with David’s partner, Georgia, as well as working with Simon Evans (writer and director). I hadn’t worked with Simon before and that’s been great, along with Simon’s sister Lucy, because, you know – you have to work with who’s in the house. DAVID: It was odd filming with my wife in our own kitchen pretending to be a (slightly) pathetic version of myself. But I loved it. I may never leave the house again.
You filmed at home, so how was doing your own hair and make-up?
MICHAEL: I can’t speak for David – I don’t know how much make-up he’s putting on, or how much he’s doing his hair.
Our hair is getting longer as it’s gone along. So it does require a bit more sorting out but no, no hair and make-up this end.
DAVID: I have a hairstyle left over from the job I was in the middle of before everything got shut down, I’ve got half extensions in my hair which are beginning to fall out and I haven’t really shaved in weeks.
I look like Stig of the Dump. Helpfully a lack of vanity suits the situation.
How was filming with kids and families around?
DAVID: The kids found it all a bit annoying, I think. There are a couple of outtakes where one of the children would wander in and ask for a snack or want help with something, but mostly they were pretty disinterested. Because both Michael and Anna, and Georgia and I both have very young babies, the schedule had to work around bath times and bedtimes. MICHAEL: My partner is in it playing herself so that makes it sort of easier, although it is quite difficult. If we’re both in a scene together then there’s no-one to look after the baby, so it does get a bit complicated. Lyra doesn’t always understand that you have to stay quiet whilst mummy and daddy are filming. You can hear bits of her voice coming onto certain scenes.
If there are scenes between Georgia and Anna, I can look after the baby. Obviously when Anna’s not in scenes she looks after the baby, but it gets a bit complicated if we’re both in a scene, so that takes a bit of working out.
What’s your take on video calls? DAVID: They are an amazing thing. What opportunities they give us in this weird weird time.
They are not without frustrations and limitations, but we wouldn’t have been able to make this without them and I feel like our family home is much less locked down than it would be without them. MICHAEL: Well, they’ve been a blessing on this because they’ve allowed us to do it in the first place. So, I’m all for them, and long may they continue!
Can you talk about filming yourself and the technical aspects of using Zoom etc?
DAVID: The scenes on video calls are fairly straightforward. There aren’t a lot of options, the computer is recording the frame as if you were on Skype or Zoom or FaceTime.
The scenes away from the computer did require a bit more finesse and use of video capture technologies. My wife and I figured it out together. I miss crews, though!
MICHAEL: I was certainly a bit nervous about the technical aspect because I’m not great with technology, but we kept it pretty simple.
Ultimately for the scenes between David and myself when using just our laptops, we used a software programme that we downloaded that helps create better quality.
It’s pretty straightforward and then I used an app on my phone for the sound – even that took me a little while to work out. It has got easier as we’ve gone along.
Originally, we tried a few camera angles, so using a phone as well as the laptop, but ultimately, we realised that we didn’t really need that, so we just kept it simple.
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