HOLDEN’SEYEFORTOPTALENT

LAST BOOK YOU READ BY A RECOMMENDED WRITER

I was sitting next to a friend of mine recently at an awards ceremony. We were talking books and he recommended the John Le Carré novel Tinker Tailor Soldier

Spy. I confessed to never having read it so he sent it to me. It’s obviously a classic – it’s absolutely gripping. It still stands up all these years later.

LAST PLAY OR MUSICAL YOU SAW?

The Painkiller. It’s a hilarious play starring Rob Brydon and Kenneth Branagh, with a lot of utterly outrageous moments. Both of them are fantastic of course, as you would expect, they have great chemistry and brilliant timing. It’s interesting watching Branagh the Shakespearean actor and director, playing such funny low farce. He’s so good at slapstick and physical comedy. He’s extremely bendy – I bet he does yoga.

FAVOURITE ALBUM?

I think The Seeds Of Love by Tears for Fears is to the Eighties what

Sgt Pepper was to the Sixties. It’s completely underrated. It came out in 1989 when I first started at Mountview drama school. I would walk to the Tube listening to it on my Walkman and the music gave me the courage for the day ahead. I would pretend I was in my own movie as it’s very anthemic.

Woman In Chains with Oleta Adams is my favourite track.

AND ONE I REALLY DIDN’T LIKE...

Last British film you watched?

Legend with Tom Hardy. I have to say the film was terribly disappointing. Although I thought his characterisation of both Krays was great and there were some good cameo roles including Charley Palmer Rothwell [Patsy Palmer’s son], it was basically a rehash of something that had already been done before, and done very well – so why bother?