The king speaks: Timothy Spall

By Lorraine Crighton-Smith on February 27th 2011

You know how sometimes you get in the back of a black cab at the end of a stressful day, only to emerge 20 minutes later with hardly a care in the world? There’s a certain kind of cabbie whose rolling south London accent and gentle conversation can be almost as therapeutic as a spa visit on its day.

Talking to Timothy Spall delivers exactly this effect; he’s one of Britain’s most famous acting faces and his voice is unmistakably his own, but with his quick ability to chuckle and spin anecdotes, he’s a man born to make friends with whomever he meets.

Having appeared in over 50 feature films and TV series, his CV is broad and deep, with acting credits that range from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, to Hamlet, Harry Potter to Sweeney Todd, and Quadrophenia to Our Mutual Friend.

The week that we speak, Oscar favourite The King’s Speech has just registered opening weekend box office receipts unprecedented for a British period drama. Timothy plays Churchill, a role that came with its share of trials and tribulations.

“I mean, he’s such an iconic and important figure in the lexicon of British life and survival,” he says. “He’s such a huge figure, played by so many people before. Obviously you’re mindful of trying to do it in your own way. It’s a great responsibility. In a weird way, given that it’s only an extended cameo to a certain degree, the stakes are higher because you don’t want to turn up and get it wrong.

“I’m such a great admirer of him as well. I was only seven and I remember sitting up watching his funeral on black and white telly on my own thinking, ‘My God, something important’s happening here. You’re always going to annoy some people who don’t think you’re their version of Churchill, but I’ve been getting some nice compliments in the street, which is nice given it’s a small role.”

The other big story of the week is the announcement that the actor will receive an honorary fellowship from Goldsmiths. “I don’t know if that’s big news!” he chortles. “But I’m absolutely, utterly and totally thrilled by it.” When I ask how it differs from the stacks of other awards he’s won, dating back to the Bancroft Gold Medal he received as most promising actor in his year RADA, he’s quick to correct me. “I’m very highly nominated and very under-awarded,” he grins. “I’m often the bridesmaid and never the bride. But that’s not me carping – I don’t mind!”

But what about the OBE, I wonder? It turns out this very nearly might not have been. “I got a letter saying, ‘The Prime Minister has in his mind to put your name forward blah-de-blah.’ I was away in French Guiana so I got it three weeks late. I got a message from my agent saying ‘Number 10 wants to know if you want this bleedin’ thing or not because you haven’t answered!’ I said, ‘Well, I’ll have that, yeah, that’d be very nice thank you!’”

There was no such hesitation – accidental or otherwise – in the case of the honorary degree. “My wife went there as a mature student and got a double honours 2:1, and my daughter on the same day that I get my fellowship will be receiving her postgraduate certificate of education. She’s now a primary school teacher in the area. So it’s not only an accolade that I’m really humbled by and proud of, but it’s my local venerable seat of learning. Maybe they’re only giving it to me because they know I’m only up the road!” he jokes.

While he has spent most of his adult life in south east London (first East Dulwich and now Honor Oak Park), his formative years rooted him firmly in the capital’s south west. “I was brought up for the early part of my life, until my late teens, early twenties, in Battersea, renowned for its dogs’ home, power station – and me!” he banters.

This upbringing helped to feed his current passion for the sea. “Battersea has quite a famous river called the River Thames very close to it. I could always see it if I needed to. I grew up in a council flat; we were re-housed in a tower block when I was 11. I only had to go up to the top of the flats and look out to see the River Thames resplendent before me. I’ve always loved the Thames and I’ve always had an affinity for water.”

He bought his first boat just as he was recovering from cancer in the Nineties, and has since upgraded to his current seagoing barge, the Princess Matilda, named for his granddaughter. “Ours is a quite large flat-bottomed boat that has a big space for living accommodation. It looks a little bit like a canal boat, but actually we’ve done nearly 2,000 miles on the coast of Britain now. We’re halfway round, and we’ve got the rest of Britain to do next summer.”

The circumnavigation has given the Princess Matilda a few hairy moments so far. “It’s seen some action, put it that way. There’ve been a few moments, yeah. ‘Are we going to die… Um no I think we’re going to be all right… Yes we’re all right…’ But that’s an encapsulation of seven hours. The Irish Sea is not a stretch of water to be trifled with.”

Timothy Spall’s Somewhere at Sea on BBC4 last year documented the first leg, and the second series covering Cardiff to north east Scotland has just been completed. So all that remains is to retrieve the vessel from north of Aberdeen and navigate it down the east coast and back into south London.

“The south – as in S-A-R-F – is very much through my body,” says Mr Spall. “Like a bit of Brighton Rock, if you cut me I’d have ‘South London’ written all the way through. Wouldn’t be a very nice thing to look at,” he laughs, “but that’s what it would say.” 

You know how sometimes you get in the back of a black cab at the end of a stressful day, only to emerge 20 minutes later with hardly a care in the world? There’s a certain kind of cabbie whose rolling south London accent and gentle conversation can be almost as therapeutic as a spa visit on its day.

Talking to Timothy Spall delivers exactly this effect; he’s one of Britain’s most famous acting faces and his voice is unmistakably his own, but with his quick ability to chuckle and spin anecdotes, he’s a man born to make friends with whomever he meets.

Having appeared in over 50 feature films and TV series, his CV is broad and deep, with acting credits that range from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, to Hamlet, Harry Potter to Sweeney Todd, and Quadrophenia to Our Mutual Friend.

The week that we speak, Oscar favourite The King’s Speech has just registered opening weekend box office receipts unprecedented for a British period drama. Timothy plays Churchill, a role that came with its share of trials and tribulations.

“I mean, he’s such an iconic and important figure in the lexicon of British life and survival,” he says. “He’s such a huge figure, played by so many people before. Obviously you’re mindful of trying to do it in your own way. It’s a great responsibility. In a weird way, given that it’s only an extended cameo to a certain degree, the stakes are higher because you don’t want to turn up and get it wrong.

“I’m such a great admirer of him as well. I was only seven and I remember sitting up watching his funeral on black and white telly on my own thinking, ‘My God, something important’s happening here. You’re always going to annoy some people who don’t think you’re their version of Churchill, but I’ve been getting some nice compliments in the street, which is nice given it’s a small role.”

The other big story of the week is the announcement that the actor will receive an honorary fellowship from Goldsmiths. “I don’t know if that’s big news!” he chortles. “But I’m absolutely, utterly and totally thrilled by it.” When I ask how it differs from the stacks of other awards he’s won, dating back to the Bancroft Gold Medal he received as most promising actor in his year RADA, he’s quick to correct me. “I’m very highly nominated and very under-awarded,” he grins. “I’m often the bridesmaid and never the bride. But that’s not me carping – I don’t mind!”

But what about the OBE, I wonder? It turns out this very nearly might not have been. “I got a letter saying, ‘The Prime Minister has in his mind to put your name forward blah-de-blah.’ I was away in French Guiana so I got it three weeks late. I got a message from my agent saying ‘Number 10 wants to know if you want this bleedin’ thing or not because you haven’t answered!’ I said, ‘Well, I’ll have that, yeah, that’d be very nice thank you!’”

There was no such hesitation – accidental or otherwise – in the case of the honorary degree. “My wife went there as a mature student and got a double honours 2:1, and my daughter on the same day that I get my fellowship will be receiving her postgraduate certificate of education. She’s now a primary school teacher in the area. So it’s not only an accolade that I’m really humbled by and proud of, but it’s my local venerable seat of learning. Maybe they’re only giving it to me because they know I’m only up the road!” he jokes.

While he has spent most of his adult life in south east London (first East Dulwich and now Honor Oak Park), his formative years rooted him firmly in the capital’s south west. “I was brought up for the early part of my life, until my late teens, early twenties, in Battersea, renowned for its dogs’ home, power station – and me!” he banters.

This upbringing helped to feed his current passion for the sea. “Battersea has quite a famous river called the River Thames very close to it. I could always see it if I needed to. I grew up in a council flat; we were re-housed in a tower block when I was 11. I only had to go up to the top of the flats and look out to see the River Thames resplendent before me. I’ve always loved the Thames and I’ve always had an affinity for water.”

He bought his first boat just as he was recovering from cancer in the Nineties, and has since upgraded to his current seagoing barge, the Princess Matilda, named for his granddaughter. “Ours is a quite large flat-bottomed boat that has a big space for living accommodation. It looks a little bit like a canal boat, but actually we’ve done nearly 2,000 miles on the coast of Britain now. We’re halfway round, and we’ve got the rest of Britain to do next summer.”

The circumnavigation has given the Princess Matilda a few hairy moments so far. “It’s seen some action, put it that way. There’ve been a few moments, yeah. ‘Are we going to die… Um no I think we’re going to be all right… Yes we’re all right…’ But that’s an encapsulation of seven hours. The Irish Sea is not a stretch of water to be trifled with.”

Timothy Spall’s Somewhere at Sea on BBC4 last year documented the first leg, and the second series covering Cardiff to north east Scotland has just been completed. So all that remains is to retrieve the vessel from north of Aberdeen and navigate it down the east coast and back into south London.

“The south – as in S-A-R-F – is very much through my body,” says Mr Spall. “Like a bit of Brighton Rock, if you cut me I’d have ‘South London’ written all the way through. Wouldn’t be a very nice thing to look at,” he laughs, “but that’s what it would say.”

Members Comments

• Comment by: davidg1 01 March 2011 - 12:04

  Hi Timothy you always do well in your what ever part you play it'a long way from Auf Wiedersehen, Pet . from one Brummie to another well done Tim

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