From
brilliant masterminds Simon Peg and Nick Frost along with James Serafinowicz
and Nat Saunders comes an eight-episode series about a paranormal investigating
team who look for ghosts around the U.K. The panel moderated by Chris Hewitt of
Empire Magazine gets the scoop.
Nick
says what the show is about, "It's about a man seeking - lets look at
another clip! I think its about Gus, he's lost I think and he's looking for
some truth in many aspects of his life. He gets put together with a lovely man
at work and together they form a wonderful alliance and pick up lovely friends
along the way."
Simon
says, "I think you have to not make fun of the horror. It's fairly easy to
parody something and you can fold your arms and go 'naaww'."
James
"We started talking about this, me and Nick, along time ago. We've always
been interested in ghosts and UFO's and all paranormal stuff. We are always
texting each other stuff we've seen. So we thought how could we harness our
obsession with the paranormal with the show. We started just talking about it.
We tried to couple the world of fascinating broadband with ghosts".
Nick,
"Simon and I talked about how it would be cool to have a ghost hunting
job. This has all been building for a while really".
Influences
are, for Nat, "A mixture of X-files and pulling from different places and
like Simon was saying we wanted to take the horror seriously and make the
comedy funny. There might be things that you recognize from films and other
television shows but hopefully we have put a spin on them and add some laughs
to it. James brought this collection of leather paranormal books and we spent
hours pouring over these books looking. There is spontaneous human combustion
and an old ladies foot charred in a fireplace.
Simon,
"I thought it was amazing that those images of people who died of
spontaneous human combustion but they were always near a fire. There was always
a telling thing next to a fire or something."
James,
"They were always these silly names of people Arthur C. Clark and
mysterious powers."
Nick,
"Like watching exorcisms on YouTube and you get a chill wondering if that
is real."
Pegg,
"There are a couple of good scares that you might find in a horror movie
that look real but they are not."
The
character Gus is a YouTuber, "Gus with his YouTube he just likes it and
not bothered about followers. He is desperate to be taken seriously but Gus is
alone. He lost someone very close to him and his love of the paranormal came
from her and when she died he picked up the reigns so to speak for a chance to
see her or hear her again in another realm. That's his drive, he has to get up
and go."
Simon
as Dave is Gus' boss, how is that, "I was the one deal breaker for me in
playing Dave is that I wear a terrible wig that made me look like a mannequin.
There are reasons for everything in TRUTH SEEKERS and there is truth behind
every façade. It was a lot of fun. He is relentlessly positive. I crop up in a
few scenes every episode and gives Gus their assignment for the episode which
is usual to install broadband somewhere. He works for a company called Smile, a
multinational broadband provider which may or not be nefarious in their
deeds."
Nick,
"That wig cost us eight grand!"
What
was it like reuniting on this? Pegg, "It was alright".
The
old time horror show feel to it says James, "There was going to be a lot
of practical effects versus CG. We looked for haunted places, and even the
lens' were used on Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's got an
old feel and there is something really authentic about it".
"It's
always fun, its like coming home. I always feel cozy when we are on set
together. It's very easy. I didn't do my bits till the end of the shoot so Nick
and the gang were very much ensconced and it was like walking into a new
school. Him being there made it very easy. It's my baseline."
Nick,
"It's like wearing an old pair of pants and sliding right in. It's always
nice to have Simon on set. It's always nice to see him. I love to look on the
call sheet and see that Simon is in because you are always going to have a
laugh and chat and work with my best mate."
There
are other characters like Elton, Malcom McDowell, Emma Darcy who plays Astrid,
Susan Macoma as Helen playing an agoraphobic slightly tense sister of Elton's
character - everyone is great says James. Doing strange and weird roles is
something they are proud of and won't say more because they want it all to be a
surprise. "Everyone bought into the spooky, creepy fun of the show and
brought something special to their part".
Nat,
"It was a joy working with Malcom McDowell to listen to his stories."
Pegg,
"Me and Malcom bonded over Star Trek and he told me a funny story about
William Shatner from Generations. It's not repeatable."
Nick
on stories on the set, "Once Simon came in we did some comedies. We got to
shoot in great places. There was a ladies house with a Tudor interior and we
shot a lot of stuff there."
James,
"We shot in a bio-lab once and the terrifying chilling clinical cages and
gas chambers within was strange.
Simon
and Nick went ghost hunting, did you find any? Simon, "We'd go to an Abby
or church and knock on the door saying 'hello ghosts'.
Nick,
"There was a place where a bell rang constantly and there have been a lot
of thing. The one where we found the station in the forest."
Simon,
"It was like we stepped into this unknown world. It was like Brigadoon, it
just appeared".
Nick,
"It was just waiting for us".
Simon,
"Nick knocked himself out and I left him there, he's never forgiven me for
it. I thought he's really committed to it. I left and he came knocking on the
door saying 'You left me!'."
Do
you believe in ghosts and the paranormal?
Pegg,
"No, well I believe in aliens but if an alien died I don't believe he'd
come back as a ghost. Nick and I went to Area 51".
Nat,
"I believe in UFO's and aliens. A friend and I saw a UFO landing at an
airbase and we recorded it as proof and found out if was an FO".
James,
"I've seen a UFO. Me and my friend and these two girls went down to the
beach to look at the moon and it was all overcast on the sea and couldn't see
anything but this big shining light. It was almost like it was strobing and
lightening up the sea. It went faint and then came right back and went over our
heads. It was like a big rectangle and had domes on the side and lights. Not
only did I see it but all the people there saw it. It was a shared experience.
That's why I believe in it.".
No comments:
Post a Comment