Saint Nicholas

This years Christmas list was a little different to my usual one, as all I wanted was an interview with Santa. To be honest, I was not hopeful I would be successful in my quest to question the world's busiest man, but it was worth a try.

On the 12th December, twelve days before his sleigh would frantically dart from chimney to chimney, my request was posted, alongside my two sisters Christmas list. All I could do now was sit and wait for a bit of Christmas magic.

Days past, and my dream of speaking to Saint Nicholas looked as likely as snow on Christmas Day. Nevertheless I remained upbeat. Although I had received no post, I thought I should check my emails, just in case. Still nothing. To my surprise, however, I had been left a voicemail from a mysterious caller. It was him. I knew it.

After listening to the message Santa explained, "Dear James, I'm sorry I have not been in touch sooner but, as I am sure you are aware, I have been rather busy. Nevertheless, I would like to invite you to my home, in Lapland, on Tuesday, 23rd December, for a quick chat and a mince pie. Please arrive at 4pm. Yours, Santa Claus."

It felt as though all my Christmases had come at once, after offering me the chance to do a world exclusive, a full and frank sit down interview at his home in Lapland.

But would he, Rudolf, and his Elves live up to my expectation?


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An interview with Ricky Hatton

 James and Ricky 

When Ricky Hatton was beaten on points by Floyd Mayweather Jnr, in Las Vegas, last December, many critics said it was time to throw in the towel and retire. Hatton said no. When he scraped a win on points over Juan Lazcano in May of this year, many said he was past his best. Hatton, unsurprisingly disagreed.

Then, having hired Floyd Mayweather Snr as his trainer, 'The Hitman' returned to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and wowed spectators and pundits alike with a thrilling eleventh round victory over Paul Malignaggi. This win proved the doubters wrong and has led many to state that Hatton is back to his best.

As I peered over the hoards of people who had assembled, to get a glimpse of Ricky Hatton, at the launch of his autobiography, I wondered what the man at the centre of all the fuss thought of the attention.

After all this isn’t something your average lad from the Hattersley council estate, in Hyde, or any other lad, from any other place, for that matter, is likely to experience. The signing was only supposed to last an hour, but Ricky was adamant he would sign for every fan that had come to see him.

People of all ages, races, backgrounds and sexes had congregated from all around the country for a squiggle that apparently read Ricky Hatton ‘Hitman’. Two long hours past and the crowds of people who had come to see their hero were finally ushered out of the busy book store on London’s Oxford Street, by the burly security men.

But instead of going home, many opted to stay, singing a catalogue of songs, including ‘Blue Moon’ and ‘Hatton Wonderland’ that are synonymous with the pint-sized boxer, on fight night, outside the front of the building, on the busy shopping street. This was something ‘The Hitman’ clearly enjoyed, and took enormous pride from. With his baseball cap pulled over his thick eyebrows, covering much of his face, he began to jump around, firing jabs into the air. He evidently worships his fans, as much as they worship him.

As I made my way over to the man who is as well known for his hard-drinking lifestyle out of the ring, as his boxing in it, he put out his cut and bruised drinking hand saying, “Your hands are soft. Can’t be a boxer.” To which we shared a mutual grin. Despite his publicist wanting the interview to be conducted in one of the many back rooms, Rick, as he wanted to be called, decided he would rather wonder around the cd section as we chatted. As soon as the shop floor was cleared we made our way passed the menacing security, towards the music section. “Can you see any Oasis?”, he asked.

Reflecting on what he had seen, and heard, during the course of the afternoon, the people’s champion looked up and smiled. The steely glare that is so prominent during his weigh-ins was replaced by a look of almost childlike excitement, that made his face come alive. He explains, “I feel no different to the man in the crowd, but it’s nice to reward them. I don’t think there’s ever been a British boxer with a fan-base like mine.”

There is no question, he is a talented fighter, but it is his character as much as his skill that has made him one of the most loved of all the British boxers, followed by Hollywood stars and adored by the likes of David Beckham and the Gallagher brothers. “A lot of fighters shut themselves away. I’m not like that,” he said. “As long as they’re not getting in the way of my training, anybody, who wants, can come to the gym, especially those from my local area. I like to think I’ve done the area proud, and people shouldn’t be excluded, especially kids.”

Despite his fame, wealth, and superstar status he still likes to drink a pint, or two, of Guinness and play darts at the New Inn, the pub his parents once owned, on a Thursday night, with his legion of fans, who he now refers to as “my friends”.

This part of his lifestyle, however, is often criticised. In between fights, Ricky has seen his weight balloon to an astonishing 180lb, 40 over what it should be. Often only making the weight he needs to weeks before the fight. This has resulted in his fans jokingly renaming him ‘Ricky Fatton’, which the affable boxer likes to play along to, opting to wear a fat suit into the ring. “I’ll still go down the pub with the lads, and eat my fry ups. That will never, ever change. That’s me, and that’s what makes me who I am. I like to let my hair down. I know I do it a bit more and a bit heavier than most, but if I only had to lose 3lb before a fight I’d probably go out drinking the week before anyway.”

Still wondering through the music section, Ricks attention is drawn to a C.D called ‘Footie Anthems’, which immediately brings us on to his love of Manchester City, the club for which his father and grandfather both played, and the team he supported as boy. He, too, might have been a footballer, as he was on City’s books as a teenager, but he was a better boxer. “A lot of people like watching football, but I’m a die-hard. When City get beat on a Saturday, that’s my weekend ruined,” he said. “When we play United, I’m just as much up for that as for my fights.”

‘The Hitman’, who has come from the heart of working-class England and represented his community with intelligence, humour and decency continued, “I go to as many away games as possible. It’s nice at away games because I stand in the queue, buy a ticket and then sit with the rest of the City fans. People find it strange, you know. I will be in the queue for a pie and Bovril at half-time and fellows will ask, ‘What are you doing here, Ricky?’ But if they knew me personally, they would know I don’t see myself as any different to them.”

This said it all. Success, fame and wealth have not turned his head, nor have they diluted the straightforwardness that has always been his way. It is this sort of attitude which has undoubtedly assisted Hatton in his comeback after the Mayweather defeat and has now, after beating Malignaggi, helped him to restore his reputation as one of the greatest British boxers of all time.

The Natioal Student - December 2008

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James Davies welcomes Jeremy Irons to Southampton

 Click here for BBC Article 

James Davies' first televised appearance, interviewing Oscar winning actor, Jeremy Irons, on receiving his Honorary Doctorate, from Southampton Solent University, for Solent Productions, shown on BBC South Today.

From one interviewer, to another

 An interview with Sir Michael Parkinson, ‘The King of Chat’ 

 My interview with 'Parky', as it appeared in 

 Cardiff University's Gair Rhydd newspaper in 2009 

Interviewing Sir Michael Parkinson, as a humble trainee journalist, I imagine feels incredibly similar to the feelings felt by a school teacher waiting for an inspector during the first day of Ofsted.

As my stomach churned at the prospect of speaking to the ‘crème de la crème’ of journalism, there was a firm knock at the door. After a brief pause the door swiftly swung open. It was ‘Parky’. Well Sir Michael minus that theme tune, ‘Dat-diddly-da-da-da!’, his big-band intro and jaunty descent down the stairs that were synonymous with his long running hit television chat show, aptly named, ‘Parkinson’.

Entering the room with a certain air of authority, Sir Michael settled any early nerves I'd had with a simple smile and a firm handshake, saying jokily in true ‘Parkinson’ fashion, “It makes a change doesn’t it, to sit here and just wait for the other poor bugger to ask the questions.”  At which I nodded and shared a mutual grin.

As we sat down to start the interview, with both seats facing each other as he always so famously did, I felt compelled to ask what had happened to those black swivel chairs that he, and pretty much everyone who was anyone, had sat on while he conducted his interviews.

“I actually bought two of the chairs that we used on the set, for £2,000, after we had finished the last show”, he said, shuffling in his seat as he tried to get comfortable. “I bought the interviewing chair, which I sat in, and the one I call David Beckham’s chair”, explaining, “His bum was on there.”

The thing that is so refreshing and charming about Sir Michael, the son of a Barnsley miner born in 1935, is that he is so perfectly human. As we begin to talk about his childhood, the room comes alive. He has a fascinating story to tell, and one that is just as enthralling as any of the celebrity guests he has questioned during his 36 years as ‘The King of Chat’.

But for all the names, anecdotes and unrivalled insights into the world of celebrity, he humbly attributes his success to the efforts of his parents, who made him promise he would never go down the pit for a living.

Despite his Headmaster telling him he would ‘never amount to much’, he defied those who said he wouldn’t be anything other than a miner, by listening to his mother, and not only reaching for the stars, but talking to them too. His mother was, according to Sir Michael, “the engine” of his ambition. As he said, “She channelled all that ambition into me.”
Sitting back in his chair, he explains, “When you educate the working classes, stand back. Things will change."

Adding, “It was our generation that produced the 60’s, that wonderful explosion of working-class talent that overtook the arts and changed things. I couldn't have got a job at the BBC as a doorman, with my accent, for God's sake. But because of what happened, after a while you had to have an accent like mine to become a journalist at the BBC. That was transformation.”

Sir Michael, however, wasn’t the only one of his childhood friends to make a name for himself. It is no secret Sir Michael is a huge cricket fan and spent most of his youth playing in the same team as Geoffrey Boycott and Dickie Bird. “We were all at Barnsley together. It’s extraordinary now to look back on those days and to think we all had all the same ambition of playing cricket for Yorkshire and England, and to see how those two achieved their ambition and I didn’t.”

Flicking through his autobiography, the most eagerly awaited showbiz memoir of the year, it is difficult to ignore the beautiful photographs, featuring those he has interviewed over the years. It gets me thinking whether there are ever situations where, for all the research he’s done, he’s met a guest and they’re completely different from the person he expected to meet.

After a short pause, Sir Michael leans back, shuffling around in his chair once again, and says, “I thought I'd fancy Meg Ryan more than I did. And vice versa (laughs). There was just a total lack of sympathy between the two of us.”
So what is it, I wondered, that separates those in the limelight from the rest of us, mere mortals in the background of life, rather than the forefront? “They have an indefinable quality that I describe as will power. If you look at Muhammad Ali, Nelson Mandela, Billy Connolly, there’s something that separates them from the rest of the human race. Although they are, of course, human, like the rest of us, they are special people, with an overwhelming drive to achieve something. I never had that drive. I just always wanted to be a good writer, a good journalist. That has been my motivation throughout my life.”
Despite being known as ‘the man who has met everyone’, there are a few, believe it or not, who escaped his charm. “I would have loved to have interviewed Sinatra. And, of course, the Queen! Just imagine what an interview she is. Think about all the people she has met and the circumstances she has met them in.”

So now that the ‘Parkinson’ set has been put away for the last time, never to return, I was curious as to how he feels looking back on his time in front of the camera, laughing with Billy Connolly, grappling with ‘that bird’ Emu and sparring with Muhammad Ali, as well as all the other captivating moments that were created by the man who turned the practice of two people sitting in chairs, chatting, into something quite magical?

“My father, being a miner and a Yorkshire man, once said to me he didn’t really understand what I was doing. He was waiting for the time I had a proper job. He always wanted me to play cricket for Yorkshire and because I didn’t, he thought I was a failure.

“Just before he died, he said to me, ‘you've had a good life haven't you? You've interviewed some beautiful women and you've made a bit of money. Well done. But think on, it’s not like playing Yorkshire cricket is it?’

“And what he was defining was the difference between fame and immortality. I mean if you play cricket for Yorkshire you’re immortal. But if you're merely famous it doesn't matter.”

‘Parky’ My Autobiography, by Michael Parkinson, Published by Hodder & Stoughton.

An interview with Justin Langer

 Justin with James 

Looking out over the County ground, from the Sir Ian Botham stand, in Somerset, I start to lose count of the number of times Justin Langer has run around the edge of the boundary.

The domestic match, in which he had been playing against Lancashire finished over an hour ago, but instead of packing his kit bag and leaving like the rest of the team, the Somerset skipper was out on the pitch, as he always is after a day’s play, circling the lush playing field in the beautiful surroundings of Somerset’s idyllic ground, in Taunton.

“I like to finish a game with twenty laps” he panted. “I believe if you have a healthy body you’ll have a healthy mind.”

Adding with some gusto, “When I finish cricket, I’m defiantly going to run a marathon.”

This, perhaps, is one of the reasons why the man once called ‘the best batsman in the world’, by Mark Waugh, has frustrated many of those on the opposing team. His focus, determination, passion and desire is paramount, and clear from the minute you look into his steel blue eyes. This man means business.

First to practice every morning and the last to leave, Langer who has a black belt in Taekwondo, explains, “The pain of discipline is nothing like the pain of disappointment. I don’t see enough of it really. If you really want to be the best at something, you’ve got to be disciplined in your choices for what you want to achieve.”

He continues, “I’ve always been fascinated by boxers. They train so hard and get so switched on, you can actually see the focus and all the hard work they’ve put in. I’ve always found that interesting because that’s how you’ve got to be when you walk out to bat. It’s not rainbows and butterflies. You’re going out to fight. Unless you’re aggressive as an opening batsman you’re going to get injured or even worse, out.”

But walking around the edge of the pitch with the man himself, as he warms down, I fail to understand what it is about this gritty player that has enraged England’s cricketers over the years. Far from being an ominous figure and someone Nasser Hussain, openly, said he could have strangled, the Aussie legend is rather genteel and softly spoken.

When we’re not discussing his illustrious cricketing career the pocket sized philosopher chats longingly about his family, his garden, which he calls his “sanctuary”, and his love of writing. “In my rose garden”, he explains. “I’ve got an apple tree, a peach tree, a nectarine tree, a big olive tree and my herb garden.”
Like a philosopher, the man who is small in stature but tall in enthusiasm asks me, “Do you know how good it is to pick your own herbs, from your own garden, for your own cooking?"

He continues, “We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle and the business and the stress of everyday life, that we don’t make time for the things that really matter. It’s a cliché, ‘wake up and smell the roses’, but it’s true.”
He assures me, “When you smell a rose it really gets you back living in the mould.”

Although the proud father of four is always in his garden, back home in Perth, he assures me it isn’t always to inspect the roses, or pick herbs for his tea, as it is here, at the bottom of his backyard that he has his own, custom-built gymnasium, that he claims won back the Ashes. “I use it for training”, he says with a huge smile. “It’s a great place to meditate and just escape from everything. It’s like my own little world.”


Although his wife, Sue, was aware he intended to build a place to train, she visualised something small. A place that could house a treadmill, a couple of weights and perhaps a stretching mat. He failed to mention the punch bag, the custom-built boxing ring and how a former SAS soldier, covered in tattoos, would arrive every morning to supervise his work-outs. It is here that he prepared meticulously for the last series in which England were white-washed.

Langer, who is a huge boxing fan, explains, “The fight is won before you get in the ring, so I trained like a heavyweight fighter. Losing the Ashes was a big kick up the backside and the catalyst behind us regaining that little urn. It gave us determination and a new lease of life.”

The gym is a shrine to his all-time sporting hero, Muhammad Ali.
“I love him”, Langer says with a smile. “He was such a brilliant, beautiful athlete.”
With a certain amount of vigour he says, “The walls are covered in scribbles from a black felt marker.”

“I’ve got quotes everywhere. Quotes about courage and discipline. When I walk in there and look up they keep me going in the right direction. Sometimes I’ll read something and think to myself, ‘I’ve got to have that on my wall’.”

Although the left handed batsman recognises his hard work has helped him achieve what he set out to accomplish, he also regards his close bond with, fellow opening batsman, Matthew Hayden as a key factor that helped him turn from yesteryear’s ugly duckling into a stroke-playing swan.

The duo who “missed each other” when they were apart would openly exchange bear hugs in the middle, and always gave the impression of two boys living out a dream. “Matthew Hayden’s my best mate, and I think that’s why we formed such a successful partnership at the top order for so long. How many people can say they go to work with their best friend? It’s always going to motivate you.”

As we get towards the end of our second lap around the boundary, Justin, ever the philosopher, turns leaving me with this, “Remember James, twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the things you did.”

The National Student February 09

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From Scotland With Love

 Sir Sean and James 
Picture taken by Ivon Bartholomew

James Davies, was left ‘Shaken but not stirred’ after spending the morning with Sir Sean Connery, on his (00)78^th Birthday.

Getting up at 4am to go to Bristol International Airport is not the start most people would choose on a Bank Holiday Monday, particularly when you have been on a booze cruise the night before and outside it is dark, cold and pouring with rain. I, however, have not jumped out of bed faster.

Although it is often said you should never meet your heroes, I took the risk when I hopped on a plane and met James Bond. Well, the finest actor to play Ian Fleming’s ‘00’ agent, anyway.

Ever since I saw the film, Dr No, at the tender age of six, one Christmas, and heard Sir Sean Connery utter the words “Bond, James Bond”, during that famous casino scene, the Hollywood legend has always been someone I have greatly admired and a star I have always wanted to interview.

I wondered whether a character such as Bond existed, and was even more curious to find out whether Sir Sean Connery was anything like the cool and charismatic hero that made him a sex symbol, a multi-millionaire, a worldwide superstar and a cultural phenomenon.

The one time coffin polisher is a notoriously private individual who, at times, likes to shy away from the glitz, glamour and relentless fuss that goes with his job. In fact Sir Sean’s craving for privacy was one of the reasons he decided to hang up his Walther PPK. Therefore, arranging ten minutes with this highly sort after star would not be easy.

After contacting both his publicist and agent in Los Angeles, with the request to do an interview with the great Scot, I was met with a firm no, explaining, “Sir Sean does not do interviews”. To my dismay I really thought it was, ‘Goodbye Mr Bond’.

But, like any good secret agent, I had a Plan B. After scrawling through the internet and reading, ‘double 0, several’ articles, I came across a name- Murray Grigor.

Murray, a lifelong friend of Sir Sean, and co-writer of his long awaited book, simply entitled Being A Scot, seemed the perfect person to lend a hand. Immediately I set to work and emailed the film maker in the hope he could help arrange something.

At first, it would seem even this attempt had failed as the first lines of his reply read, “James, your timing couldn’t have been any worse”.

By this, Murray was referring to the recent press Sir Sean had received and been unfairly subjected to, during the last couple of weeks.

Nevertheless I remained upbeat. Although, it seemed a full blown interview was unlikely, a meeting was not, after Murray kindly invited me to Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, and the place of Sir Sean’s birth, where he was making a special appearance at the city’s International Book Festival to give a talk on his (00)78th Birthday.

After arriving in Edinburgh, the city where life began for the proud Scot back in 1930 and where he rose from humble beginnings to become a Freeman of the City, early on Monday, 25th August, I excitedly made my way to the hotel, where both he and Murray were staying. After getting on one of the capitals luxury buses, which takes you from the airport to the city centre, an elderly lady I was sat next to gave me a firm and rather sharp nudge. “You look like you’re going somewhere special”, she said.

To which I smiled and replied, “You could say that. I’m going to have breakfast with James Bond. It’s his birthday you know?”

Judging by the strange look she gave me, I think she was pleased it was her stop. Two short minutes later, I had arrived in the centre of Edinburgh. With its stunning scenery and incredibly beautiful backdrop which sees Edinburgh Castle overlook the city streets, I could have quite easily been on a Bond location. The place really is a sumptuous visual spectacle, and no doubt would not be so captivating without its stunning back drop.

Walking through the revolving doors, of the hotel, I tried to run through what I would say to the Oscar-winning actor. Perhaps, ‘Ah, Mr Bond, I’ve been expecting you’. On second thoughts, maybe not.

After gathering a couple of realistic thoughts, I proceeded through to the elegant stairwell which looked into the dining room. There sat Sir Sean with his wife, the beautiful Micheline, whom he met playing his beloved golf.

To be honest, it seemed somewhat strange to see Sir Sean eating breakfast, and doing something we all do. But why should it, he, like everyone else, is human?

After being shaken, and stirred, I soon met Murray, who promptly introduced me to the imposing actor, who still stands at an impressive 6'2".

The aura that exudes the proud Scot is incredible and one I have never experienced before, with any other A-list star. His confidence and self assurance was clear to see as he roamed the hotel reception.

“Sean this is James. James, Sean”, Murray said.

Although I had worried about what I would say, I really did not need to. Sir Sean immediately put me at ease, making me feel welcome instantaneously. Far from saying “Do you expect me to talk?”, like he tells his nemesis, Goldfinger, in the 1964 epic, Sir Sean was a gentleman with an un-denying presence.

The last great movie star put out his hand and lifted that famous eyebrow, saying in his broad and unmistakable Scottish accent, “Ah, nice to meet you James.”

Adding, with a wry smile, “I was a James once”, to which we both laughed and shared a mutual grin.

Sir Sean, 78, dapperly dressed in a white sweater, navy blue jacket and smart tartan trousers with matching scarf, oozed all the sophistication and charm he showed during the 1960’s while playing the Martini drinking, British agent. Standing together chatting really was quite a surreal moment. Although Sir Sean had obviously aged it was, as strange as it sounds, like talking to James Bond.

After a short chat, Murray, Sir Sean and I made our way to the book launch. Surprisingly there was no driver waiting to take us. Sir Sean rather humbly opted to walk through the city streets where he once delivered milk.

On seeing Scotland’s most famous export, people just stopped and starred. After all it is not every day you see a Hollywood star. Sir Sean laughed and joked the whole way, putting out his hand for anyone who wished to say hello. As well as telling me about the wonderful dinner he had, had the night before, and how a street cleaning device had kept him awake most of the night, the Oscar winning actor confessed, to my amusement, “I keep all my awards in the bathroom. Including the Oscar.”

Once we arrived, we were all ushered in through the back entrance, where the world’s press were waiting. It was time for Sir Sean to disappear. But before he did, he turned to me and said, “Thanks for coming James”, raising that eyebrow once again, that often doubles as a smile.

Far from being the ‘overgrown stuntman’, Bond’s creator Fleming once allegedly called him, Sir Sean was a star who made my day. With my mission complete, in true Bond style I left and went to see my Bond girls (pictured below).

 Keira Knightley, James Davies, Sienna Miller 

James Davies interviews Film Director, Tarsem Singh

 Tarsem with James 

Sports fans will associate the word ‘googly’ with cricket and, if asked what a ‘googly’ was, they would almost certainly say a type of cricket delivery. This, however, is due to change, as film director Tarsem Singh’s ‘Googly Films’ present his latest picture, ‘The Fall’, bringing a new meaning to the term.

The self-financed film, which I found to be stunning, is a sumptuous, visual spectacle, full of bright vibrant colours. It was shot in a number of countries covering almost every continent, with Tarsem leaving his best camera work to capture Northern India, the Taj Mahal, Udaipur, and several sweeping shots of Jodhpur, ‘the blue city’.

‘The Fall’, which is Tarsem’s second feature film, made its debut at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and is essentially two stories in one.

Alexandria is a young Romanian girl who lives and works in the orange groves of 1920s Los Angeles with her family. After falling and breaking her collarbone, she is taken to hospital and, while convalescing, meets Roy, a paraplegic, suicidal man, who begins to tell her a fantastic story about five mythical heroes or, as he describes it, “an epic tale” of heroes, villains, action and adventure.

Thanks to his hallucinatory state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances, with Alexandria using people she interacts with at the hospital as characters in the story.

Tarsem who began his career directing music videos, including “Hold On” by En Vogue, “Sweet Lullaby” by Deep Forest and the music video for R.E.M.’s smash hit “Losing My Religion”, which won ‘Best Video of the Year’ at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, was unable to get funding for the project because he wanted it to be written by a four-year-old.

He explained “All the investors would ask, ‘When will the script be ready?’ and I’d say, ‘Actually the script is going to be written by a 4 year old, so there isn’t a script.’ They didn’t think it would work, so in the end I just said, ok it’s my money and we’ll go off and do it when we find the girl. At that stage I didn’t know if we would or not.”

Travelling from country to country over the next 17 years, provided cricket loving Tarsem with the opportunity to scout for locations that were perfect for, what he called, his “dream project”.

“I had been putting together photographs of locations because I wanted to shoot in a style of filming that I didn’t think had been exposed to too many people. I decided that it was not going to be a piece that was CGI’d (Computer Generated Image), so I had to find all the locations, which took a long time.”

With the suitable and incredibly beautiful back-drops ready to work with, the charming director’s next task was to find the child actress. For 8 years, Tarsem, who once made more money in one day shooting a commercial than his father did in 30 years as an aircraft engineer in India, searched for his ideal star. “I didn’t think there was anywhere on the globe I could find a child that hadn’t been exposed to cinema. Every year I was sending out the casting scout with a camera to pick out a few kids and film them. He would tell them a tale so I could see what their response was like.”

After what seemed an age, Tarsem received this tape from a girl in Romania which, he claims just: “blew me away”.

“I immediately flew to Romania and told my brother, Producer Ajit Singh, ‘We’ve found the girl’. She was six at the time and didn’t speak a word of English, which was perfect because her trying to understand the language made her more natural. The only problem was we now had to find a real location as I didn’t think we could shoot in the studio."

After more searching, Tarsem, a self confessed squash addict, found a lunatic asylum in South Africa, which he decided could double for the hospital. “We took one wing of it and dressed it exactly so I could always explain to her things visually. I would say, ‘you are here, he’s here, you’re bored, you throw this to him.’ In every scene I was telling her things in sequence. The first time she saw him is the first day she sees him in the movie. The second scene is the second time she sees him. So she did write the script.”

During the twelve week shoot, Catinca Untaru, who plays the part of the little girl, was led to believe actor Lee Pace, who portrays the paralysed stuntman, really was unable to walk in order to maintain this illusion to the junior actress. “Everything had to happen that way, because the little girl's magic was required. It wasn't the cliché of a method actor wanting to stay in a wheelchair the whole shoot but, when you're on a film set, no matter how dire a situation you're putting across, when you're on that set for long enough, it gets jokey. I didn't want it to get to a stage where people would walk on Lee's bed, or tell handicap jokes, as I knew it would filter down to the girl, even in body language.”

The director, whose films are renowned for their operatic colourful beauty, deserts, horses, exotic locations, lack of digital animation, extensive costume design and sets, found keeping the secret harder than the exquisite filming itself. “Once I came into it, my immediate thought was, ‘How long can we carry on this façade?’ It was such an audaciously big lie. Lee was caught almost everyday because he went to the gym most mornings. He'd go there and see a number of the crew and, think to himself, ‘Oh my God, I'm caught!’ But they'd walk right by him. They didn’t recognise him out of the wheelchair!”

The chemistry between Catinca and Pace is undeniable, with many of the hospital scenes yielding some poignant footage. “Magic happened between the two of them. I almost decided not to go and shoot any of the fantasy stuff after it happened. I thought it was a complete film.”

But a personal hardship changed the affable director’s mind, “My whole life fell apart after my girlfriend and I separated. I decided to go on a magical mystery tour. I called my brother and I just said, ‘Sell everything. I have no idea if this little light I’m seeing at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train or what but we’re going in it. If you have to sell the home, call me.’ Four and a half years and 24 countries later I called him and said, ‘I’m almost done.’ He said, ‘The house is almost up for sale,’ so I said, ‘I’m finished.

Tarsem, a graduate of the Art Centre College of Design, in Pasadena, California, says he owes everything to film school. He explained, “They had to use a shovel and an axe to get me out of school. I didn't want to leave, and I would go back in there in a heartbeat. I just absolutely adored and loved it. You have to understand, I'd never held a still camera in my hand before that! They taught me everything. How the damn thing works, where to put it, everything!”

So what’s next for the affable film maker?

“I’ll go where the road takes me: the long, the winding, and the yellow.”

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James Davies meeting Sir Sean Connery

They say you should never meet your heroes, but I did when I met James Bond. Well one of the six actors to play Ian Flemings “00” agent.

Ever since I saw the film, ‘Dr No’, at the tender age of six, and heard Sir Sean Connery utter the words “Bond, James Bond” during that famous casino scene, the Hollywood legend has always been someone I have greatly admired, and someone I have always wanted to meet.

I’m not small, standing at six foot, but the Edinburgh born actor was huge. Not only was he tall but he was incredibly well built.

After telling the star he was my favourite actor he gave me a nice broad smile, shook my hand and said in his famous Scottish tone, “Thank you”.

Sir Sean, 77, who was dapperly dressed in a red sweater, navy blue jacket and smart grey trousers, oozed all the sophistication and charm he showed during the 60’s while playing the elegantly dressed, Martini drinking, British agent.

Sir Sean, who is a patron, along with Tilda Swinton, of the Edinburgh Film Festival, gave a lot of time to his fans, particularly the young ones, stopping to talk to anyone who had the confidence to approach the likeable actor.

Although our meeting was brief, it is something I will never forget. Thanks Sir Sean, you made my day. What a gentleman.




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James Davies interviews Ira Sachs

 James with Ira 

Like most young men, I like action films in the form of James Bond, Indiana Jones and Batman. So I was unsure what my reaction would be after seeing Ira Sachs latest film ‘Married Life’, starring Oscar winning actor Chris Cooper, one time Bond, Pierce Brosnan, Saturn award winning, Patricia Clarkson, and the beautiful Rachel McAdams .

However I was pleasantly surprised, that I could add this film to a long list, of those, I had thoroughly enjoyed this year. Ira Sachs, who directs the film, won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, for his film ‘Forty Shades of Blue’.

Since that “life changing” experience, three years ago, the Memphis born director has gone from strength to strength. “In order to be successful, you have to believe in yourself. I think, for me, that has a lot to with my family. Some people become very successful with bad families but I had a loving family who made me believe I could do something with my life.”

Ira, who has lived in New York City since 1988, had been working hard a decade before he attained the recognition he deserved.

He explained his greatest influences and inspirations came while he lived in Europe: “In 1986 I lived in Paris while I was in college and spent most days in the movie theatres. I saw 195 films in a three month period.”

But things weren’t always easy for the ambitious teenager: “I took myself seriously from a very young age. I was fighting with Fassbinder in my head when I was 16.”

Ira, along with Oren Moverman, co-wrote the screenplay for ‘Married Life’, adapting John Binghams novel. Ira said: “People often say that you can make a movie out of a pulp fiction better than a movie out of a classic because there's something more you can play with. I think in a way that's the tension in the film, because it is a genre film on some level and yet it's told in a naturalistic fashion.”

‘Married Life’, is a film that follows the life of a married man who falls in love with a young war widow. He believes that it would be kinder to kill his wife than to leave her. Pierce Brosnan plays his best friend, who finds himself learning secrets from all three of the other characters. It is a story set in 1949 Seattle, and is the first film the award winning director has set in another period.

Ira interestingly explained: “Every time you make a film, you create a world. You make decisions about sets and costumes and you create a universe connected to reality but not reality itself. The year 1949 was a choice that we made and we were authentic to that choice. But as William Faulkner said, “The past isn't dead; it isn't even past.” Our parents, our grandparents, are like ourselves; they were full-blooded full-bodied people who had sex and fights and relationships and were not different from us. So even though it is set in another time, it is about us.”

Throughout the film there are some magnificent performances, particularly from Pierce Brosnan, who is still trying to shed his James Bond persona. This, however, wasn’t something Ira was particularly worried about as he admitted: “I have never seen him as James Bond.”

Despite his admission, Ira described Pierce as: “delicious”, adding: “I think he’s amazing. He is a great actor and a real gentleman."

Ira, who was last in Edinburgh at the age of 13, decided to cast Pierce after he had seen him in the ‘Matador’: “I was very taken with the humour in his performance in that. It was a really rich role for him in terms of humour. He’s a great physical comedian as well as an actor. He brings a lot of emotionality and vulnerability in his performance, which was important for a lot of reasons but especially because of his voiceover.”

Ira, 43, mentioned that Pierce Brosnan’s part would have been perfect for Cary Grant had the film been made in the forties: “Yes that’s true. I think Cary Grant and Pierce have a lot in common. They both have a physical charm. I also think that Chris Cooper has a certain quality you could associate with John Garfield or Edward G. Robinson. He’s vulnerable, easy to identify with and he has drive.”

By the end of the film I was slightly confused as to whether it had a happy ending. Ira gave me his thoughts saying: “I do think it is a happy ending because the characters understand themselves better. It is not insignificant to me that Cooper’s character knows very little about the three people he is intimate with at the beginning of the movie, but at the end he knows the most. At the end he says “L'chaim”, which means “To life!.” There is almost redemption here. It’s not scott free from the problems of human life but there is a better chance at an intimate relationship with the person you are with.”

Although it is a reasonably small production, its cast and director pack a strong punch, and hopes for success are high. Ira said: “It is about adults for adults. People used to go to movies to see their own lives played out on screen; now they go to TV for identification and movies for escape. This is a combination. It has glamour, movie stars, clothes, and fun; that brings people in. Underneath is something people can hold onto and that will resonate.”

So what’s next for the incredibly talented and friendly director: “I’m working on a film called ‘The Goodbye People’ based on the work of Gavin Lambert, a British screenwriter, who lived in L.A in the sixties. He wrote wonderful books about sex, drugs, cults, and movie stars.”

Before I left, Ira humbly said: “We’re all average Joes. Everyone came from somewhere to get where they are now. I started after becoming a theatre director throughout college."

He also offered a bit of advice for any wannabe film directors. “I would say to see everything you can see, particularly things that have been made in the past. I think it important to be passionate, and go out of your comfort zone.”

Married Life is released in U.K cinemas nationwide from 1st August 2008.

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