Interview with Cucumber's Vincent Franklin and Cyril Nri

7 January 2015

 

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Explain a little bit about Cucumber and Banana and what the concept is behind the series.  

Vincent: Cucumber, Banana and Tofu are three programmes that look at sex and relationships in the modern world, and they do it predominantly through characters who are not mainstream in their sexuality. For Cucumber it is gay men and it’s a brilliant vehicle for looking at relationships. Then Banana follows characters that popped up briefly in Cucumber and follows their stories in half-hour episodes, and you see how everyone’s lives interweave. Then Tofu reminds us this is all about sex. Which is what we’re all obsessed with. Every interview I’ve done for this people have said “I probably shouldn’t ask, but are you gay?” And the answer is no, you probably shouldn’t ask, but of course you want to know the answer because that’s what we all want to know when we meet a new person, are you straight, are you gay, might you sleep with me?! 

Cyril: I also think it’s about love in the end. The outside thing is the sex; the inner journey of these characters I think is the important one. In Cucumber we concentrate mainly on the relationship of two middle-aged characters and what happens when that fractures. Where do you go after a number of years? Is it love? Is this someone you’re going to end up at the end of your life happy with, or 14 years later wake up and be like “Who the hell are you?”

Vincent: And Banana focusses on the younger characters and it’s interesting to see that contrast. Henry as a middle-aged man is suddenly thrust into this very young world with people full of attitude, confidence, and an inner belief. Henry was someone who had to come out in a world when that wasn’t easy and the reason he’s drawn to them isn’t because they are young and sexy, it’s because they have the confidence in who they are that he lacks.  

Cyril: I think Russell has captured a time where things are bubbling up and changing so rapidly. When you look at the younger characters and how they communicate, there’s something missing from those relationships because it is so immediate. We’re in an age when sex is around the corner and you can find out where 50 other people in your mile radius are wanting sex.  We’ve also moved into a period where homosexual relationships can work, you can get married, you can adopt. It’s opened up a whole new world for a lot of gay men and lesbians. This series looks at that, and what interesting is you also get Julie’s [Hesmondhalgh] character, Henry’s sister Cleo, and she also has mid-life decisions to make as a single mother.

Vincent: The whole project is very funny and touching.  It’s at times very exciting and dangerous and dark. There’s richness to it. It isn’t about issues, it’s about people. It doesn’t set out to shock because I feel that’s quite childish. But it does set out to be honest and honesty is quite hard to take - but that doesn’t mean it’s shocking.

 

Who do you play?

Vincent: I play Henry Best who is a middle-aged gay man living with his long-time partner of nine years. He has a little itch that makes him think this life for him isn’t really the way it’s supposed to be. He is forced into making a decision about the rest of his life, and he makes the brave but perhaps brutal decision to change things. He’s a man who’s always looking to set off little fires, to provoke. He says very early on “I hate gay men” and as soon as he meets his gay friends a minute later he says “I hate you all”. He’s very honest, while also funny and desperately vulnerable. He goes on this journey into the wilderness where he doesn’t know the rules and has to redefine himself and find out what he wants. The trouble is he might find this out a little bit too late.

Cyril: I play Lance Sullivan, and he is a man who has found he wants to move it to the next stage with Henry, his partner of nine years, and wants all those normal things, to get married and live his life with this man. And he finds his partner is not ready, and is quite cruel in the way in which he rejects his proposal, so he is forced into a situation of relooking at his life and going out to find the love that he wants. He ends up, whilst never fully leaving behind this love for Henry, trying out various other relationships. He’s a loving man who knows who he is, he’s comfortably-off and buried most of his demons about who he is and why he can’t get this person that he wants.

 

What attracted you both to the project?

Cyril: For me, the writing was so brilliant. It was the first time since I read the scripts of This Life that I thought “I’ve got to be in this, I don’t care what I do.”

Vincent: To read a script that is so well written – Russell punctuates dramatically, he tells you the rhythm and what the characters are thinking from the way he breaks the rules of punctuation – is really compelling. It’s also the braveness and honesty of the writing. He also gives characters speeches as opposed to it being in looks and glances, which is quite complicated.

 

Russell wrote Queer As Folk 15 years ago, do you see this as something written by someone 15 years older?

Cyril: I think Queer As Folk was definitely of its time. I don’t think Cucumber and Banana is about Russell being older I think he’s just honest to the time and deals with the issues of that time. So this is definitely of now - he's dealing with characters of his age in the now. But it’s not about the characters from Queer as Folk having grown up, it’s about the sexual politics and where we stand today.

 

What was it like filming in Manchester for 5 months?

Cyril:  I loved it. I loved visiting Canal Street, it’s very different from what I remember before.  I worked in Manchester in the theatre 30 years ago and we were there for five months, it was a company and we were close. 

Vincent: Manchester is a big character in this. It’s a brilliant vibrant city. The shows are such an homage to this city.

 

Vincent this is your first TV drama where you are the lead, how was the experience?

Vincent: It was really exciting because as an actor you always want a chunky thing to do. It’s also terrifying as it’s a really exposing piece and a lot of hard work. But I remember before I went thinking “I can’t control how good I am as an actor but I can control my behaviours”.  So I always made sure I was on it and working hard which gave me an extraordinary energy. I managed to lose two and a half stone throughout too – to show Henry going through this trauma I thought I could lose weight. I was going to the gym and keeping fit. But you do feel that huge weight of responsibility. I wanted Henry, however brutal he is, to still have a wit, a charm, a twinkle and a humour that you could find strangely attractive. I have had the best time working on this, with such brilliant people and everyone has brought their best game. Lead or no lead, it is about doing a job that you think is a brilliant piece of work and everyone had that about this so I also think there are 30 leads in this show.

 

Cyril, you have done a lot of work with the RSC and you were also in The Bill for a few years, how does this compare to working on those?

Cyril: I don’t normally compare work, but this for me is the best TV job I have ever done. You can’t really compare Julius Caesar to this as they are so vastly different but that is the joy of being an actor – doing stuff that is so different. There is a moment in one of the later episodes when we are in bed and it is a flashback to the moment when they first ended up in bed together and it was just so beautifully touching. It made me cry inside, the beauty of that moment. I feel blessed to have worked on this.

Vincent: This is not a “we have a slot to fill” drama. Russell is a man who has a story he has to tell, and has wanted to tell it for a very long time.

Cyril: It is beyond compare, so I hope everyone enjoys watching it as much as I enjoyed reading it.

 

Did you guys feel protective of the younger cast members?

Vincent: I did to an extent. My first day filming was with Fisayo and that was his first day ever on a telly set. So the director said to me “do you want to do your close ups first?” and normally I like to do mine second at the end once I’ve rehearsed it, but I looked at Fiz and he looked utterly terrified. So I went first. But what was brilliant about Fiz was that he is talented young man and after six hours it was like he had done it all his life, and after three weeks I am sure he was doing close ups first. Confidence without arrogance is a brilliant thing that he has.

Cyril: I didn’t really because my character went for the more age appropriate individuals in his life, which is a shame because Fiz and Freddie are so gorgeous, and they are right on their game. They are so much more grown up and professional than I was at their age. It is just a different world for me as I trained in theatre so I look at them and think that’s how it’s done - that’s how you plan a career.

Do you think Queer As Folk changed people perceptions of homosexuality or changed the nature of what was acceptable on a TV drama?

Cyril: Good drama doesn’t beat you over the head with the issue. One of the most interesting things I remember someone saying to me that after they saw Queer As Folk, they asked someone they knew, who wasn’t too openly gay and didn't have a wife and kept himself to himself, if that was what it was like for him growing up. And I think similarly these shows will prompt questions and discussion - is this what it is like now?

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Cucumber launches on Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday 22nd January with Banana following at 10pm on E4, and a serving of Tofu at 10.30pm on 4oD