Matthew
Horne
If
you don’t know the name Mathew Horne, you’ll recognise the
face. And if you don’t recognise the face, you soon will do. Horne,
who has starred in The Catherine Tate Show (as the grandson
to Nan) and Teachers, was recently nominated for Male Comedy
Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards for his role as Gavin
in the hit comedy Gavin and Stacey. He also writes comedy,
and presented a week of Big Brother’s Big Mouth during
the summer with his friend and G&S co-star James Corden.
In short, he is hot property.
Indeed, Horne’s star is so ascendant that he and Corden have been
summoned back to present the entire run of Big Mouth this January
as part of E4’s inspired new take on the format, Big Brother:
Celebrity Hijack. In the Big Brother house, a group of
hand-picked young talents from a range of fields will undergo the Big
Brother experience with a difference - Big Brother will be represented
by a range of celebrities, each one setting their own tasks and bringing
their own flavour to the show.
One thing that will definitely remain, however, is the anarchic feel
to Big Brother’s Big Mouth - a show that has always been
wild, unscripted and hilarious - never more so than when Mathew and
James are in charge. Here, Mathew looks at the task ahead, and also
reveals that he doesn’t speak a word of Icelandic.
When
did you realise that you wanted to pursue a career in showbiz?
When I was about 18 I really decided that's what I wanted to do. I'd
wanted to be an actor my whole life, and I decided I definitely wanted
to pursue it when I was 18 and I saw Steve Coogan do his live show.
That made my mind up for me.
You
studied drama at Manchester. Have any of your contemporaries there gone
on to be famous?
I was at college with an actor called Benedict Cumberbatch [Atonement,
The Other Boleyn Girl] who's now fast becoming a big film actor.
He was at college. And a lot of people are acting. They might not be
particularly famous, but they're doing well. And various people have
gone into directing and stuff. It was quite a successful course to do,
actually.
What
role would you say was your big break?
In terms of raising my profile? It would be Catherine Tate,
then, definitely. It's great fun working with her. It's hard word, because
she's very meticulous and specific about what she wants. That's a very
good thing, it's a good environment to work in.
Is
it difficult not to crack up during filming?
No, not really. That's what I'm paid to do, to not laugh, so I've managed
to do okay with that.
You've
worked with some top comedy talent. Who's the funniest person you've
worked with?
I'd have to say Alison Steadman. She plays Gavin's mum in Gavin
and Stacey, and she's absolutely brilliant.
Is
it true that you can speak Icelandic?
No.
Have
you been asked that before?
Yes.
Where
did that come from?
I have absolutely no idea. I really don't know what happened.
How
was it working with Kylie recently (on the ITV variety show The Kylie
Show?
Oh, amazing. Yeah, it was incredible. She's so fit!
So
in the flesh she's as attractive as in her videos?
Better! She really is.
You've
done a lot of voiceover work. What's the strangest thing you've had
to do?
I've done a lot of very strange things. Oh, I know: Thorpe Park! I had
to be a man screaming on a rollercoaster. I had to scream at various
different levels and pitches for ages. That was a bit strange!
Gavin
and Stacey has been a phenomenal success. Did that take you by
surprise?
It did, yeah. I mean, I knew it was good, but I didn't quite realise
it was going to do what it has done. It really took me by surprise.
I thought it would do well, but I didn't realise it would be the hit
it turned out to be.
Were
you and James already friends before you filmed Gavin and Stacey?
No, we met through the show.
So
it wasn't written with you in mind?
No, I was just someone they both thought of when they were auditioning.
They asked me to come in and have a read. I'd never met either of them
before.
You've
gone on to become good friends, haven't you?
Yeah, very good friends. It was clear from the start, really. He got
hold of my mobile number from a mutual friend shortly after I'd been
offered the role of Gavin, and he sent me a little text, and straightaway
I rang him back. We must have spoken for about an hour. I knew from
then that we were going to be good mates, and it was going to be a lot
of fun. I didn't know we were going to end up working together on other
projects, and taking the relationship further, but I knew we were going
to be mates.
You
went on to host Big Brother's Big Mouth together in the summer.
Did you enjoy that experience?
Yeah, it was one of the best jobs I've ever done, really. We had so
much freedom, and we were working with a fantastic team - our producers
were amazing. The freedom we had to write what we wanted to write, and
work together outside of Gavin and Stacey, was a real thrill.
And it was a totally exhilarating format to work in, it being live TV.
So to get to write some filthy jokes with one of your best mates, and
perform it every day, live, is a real thrill and an honour.
You
mentioned the live aspect to it. Was that nerve-wracking at all?
I didn't really find it too bad, to be honest. I suppose my four or
five years of doing stand-up helped me get through that. It was quite
nerve-wracking, of course, but perfectly manageable.
Who
were your favourite housemates last summer?
I would say probably Liam, although I liked Carole as well.
Who
were the best guests you had on Big Mouth?
Arthur Bostrom from 'Allo 'Allo! He was amazing. And we had
Dermot on - he was great. Who else did we have? Oh, Charley came on
when she was evicted. She was big fun.
What
can you tell me about what you're going to do with the show on the forthcoming
run?
We're doing the whole series this time. There's going to be some slight
changes to the format of the show. Just to make it more our own, really.
We're going to concentrate on it being an entertainment show. And I
think the audience is going to be slightly smaller, so we can hear what
everybody thinks - everybody gets a say. We're also going to bring forward
the elements that we tried to introduce in our initial four nights,
and make it more of our own thing, really. I think that's the best way
forward for us.
