Ben Whishaw: ‘Maybe Hugh Grant and I could fight in Bridget Jones: The Musical’
Do you still think you would be working in a bookshop or as a painter if you hadn’t made it as an actor? EtienneJI think I’ve got too much energy to work in a bookshop. But I’ve never worked in one. Maybe it is really energetic. I loved painting up to my early 20s, but completely dropped it. When I’m old, or no one wants to give me an acting job, I’m going to pick it up again, because it’s something I still love.
Your grandad was a British spy in the German army who changed his name from Stellmacher. Can I set you up with a scriptwriter and your next role? jesserileyThat is true. He was a spy. He had a Ukrainian mother and a German father. We don’t know how he got to work as a spy for the British.
After the war, he changed his name to Whishaw. It’s something I’m really interested in. My Auntie Ingrid and I are trying to research it, but we keep coming up against dead ends. If we could find a proper story, I’d be very interested. Spies fascinate me and I’m fascinated by my grandad. He was a mysterious and forbidding man.
What was the goriest operation you had to perform in This Is Going to Hurt? Did the series change your perception of the NHS?Dantadanta and CarterPThere was a really gory scene where we had to deliver a baby from a dead woman. It was horrendous, even in a pretend way. She came back to life when another doctor put his hand up inside her ribcage and massaged her heart. Even I couldn’t watch that bit. The series did change my perspective. I had to really think about what it’s like