‘It’s been a joy to work together again!’
Spandau Ballet brothers Martin and Gary Kemp on reuniting for their hilarious mockumentary
If you happened to tune into BBC2 on Sunday night, you may have been shocked to see Martin and Gary Kemp, former boy band heartthrobs turned-ever-so-serious actors taking the mick out of themselves in mockumentary film All True. And you might well have found yourself laughing your head off as a result.
The Spandau Ballet siblings left their egos at the door to star in comedy actor/director Rhys Thomas’ one-off film, documenting their lives and careers following the band’s 40th anniversary celebrations – and royally sending themselves up in the process.
But if you didn’t manage to tune into the funfest, fear not! The programme is currently available on iplayer, meaning there’s plenty of opportunity to see Martin and Gary back together, reliving the good old days.
Of course in real life the brothers are still exceptionally close, even though their careers have followed different paths since the glory days of fame and excess in Spandau Ballet.
Martin went on to star as villain Steve Owen in Eastenders and now appears in Celebrity Gogglebox alongside DJ son (and I’m A Celeb hero) Roman. He’s also released an album with wife Shirlie and has been helping promote daughter Harley’s debut single, too.
Meanwhile, Gary, who’s married to costume designer Lauren Barber, is hard at work on his forthcoming solo record, so it’s all go in the Kemp households! Still, there’s always time for a chat, so here Gary, 60, and Martin, 58, tell us why they were happy to poke fun at themselves and why their laughter held up filming!
This project felt very different for you guys. How did it come about?
Martin: I had worked with Rhys Thomas a few years back, so I knew how great his work is and his style of comedy, and he gave the draft script to me and Gary and said let’s make this something special. We all threw ideas at each other for about nine months before we had a draft we were happy with.
Gary: It seemed to suit that strange place Martin and
I occupy, of being actors as well as musicians with a public family story and a band story that goes from the sublime to the ridiculous, to the sometimes out-and-out self-destructive. We also loved the idea of sticking a pin in the ego of our own celebrity!
For those who haven’t seen the show yet, what can they expect? Martin: The show is made to make you belly laugh, not a sly grin or a puff of the cheeks, but proper laughter, which is perfect at the moment.
Gary: Yeah, it is funny! We corpsed a lot on set which was great fun, but it held up the shoot a bit. It’s basically a mockumentary about our lives and relationship, presented by Rhys’s character, Rhys Thomas OBE. I’ve seen it a few times now and I’m still discovering stuff that Rhys has subtly put in! He researched us both brilliantly and we loved taking our different character traits and puffing them up into caricatures and exaggerations. At least I hope they’re exaggerations! There’s a lot of blurring between what is fact and what is fiction. At times on set even I forgot which was real and which wasn’t.
How much was scripted and how much of it went off-piste?
Martin: A bit of both. In each scene we would improvise the beginning and end to see if we could find a comedy moment, but always nail what was on the page.
Martin, what was it like working with Gary again?
Martin: Brilliant! Watching G take the mickey out of himself was so nice. He made me laugh so much!
Was that the same for you, Gary? Gary: Oh yeah, it’s a total joy to work with Martin again. Mining our own histories for comedy and pathos as well as building on the fiction that Rhys had given each of us. We both went into this head first with a lot of trust. It felt totally mad at times, but we knew we had to commit to the idea 100 per cent or it wouldn’t work.
Which of you is more like the version of yourselves we see in the show?
Martin: I think what you see on screen are heightened versions of both of us – or at least I hope so!
And what’s coming up next for you? Gary: Like everyone else we’ve been isolating and I’m finishing up my solo album as much as I can. Martin: I’m working on a new morning show called Sunday
Best with my boy Roman – at least I don’t have to go visiting on a Sunday!
The Kemps: All True, now available on BBC iplayer