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INTERVIEW WITH RALF LITTLE (HOOKY) ON 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE
We speak to our kid playing Hooky...
Ralf Little is of course known to millions as the affable son in the Royle Family. But with 24 Hour Party People, Ralf is given a chance to move onto the next level, playing charismatic Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook. We caught up with Ralf on the set of the movie and pummelled him for answers:
How did you feel when you were first approached to play the bassist in New Order?
To be honest, a little nervous, I found out when I was on the way to the airport to go on holiday with my girlfriend - I went away, I was in Jamaica, which was very nice. I found out when I was on the way to the airport, then we got on the plane, went on holiday, came back thinking "Okay, let's talk to Caroline [Aherne, co-creator of the Royle Family and former spouse of Peter Hook], see what her take is on it." but by the time I got back it was in the papers. I thought 'well she obviously knows now' and at that point I decided not to actually speak to her in any way, because then I thought it would just make it easier for when I met Hooky. to actually chat without any kind of biased things. I've just spoken to people round here about him. So I just hope I do it some kind of justice, really. It's great to work with Michael [Winterbottom, Director], because he's good. I think it's a bit of a worry when you don't know what Hooky actually sounds like. I couldn't find anything really where he talked. There was only the New Order story footage, where there's plenty of footage of him playing but hardly any footage of him talking. That was a bit of a pisser.
What the prospect of having to learn an instrument daunting for you?
No, because basically the bass lines were simple enough. He's arguably the best bassist ever, but the basslines themselves are simple enough for it not to be. It's just a case of getting it, just fiddling round and practising. I was a bit worried, I mean 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - anyone that plays the guitar will just laugh at how untricky it is, but when you've never played anything, it's a little bit tricky, so I just gave that a bit of practice, but it was alright.
What's Martin Moscrop [ACR guitarist and movie musical teacher] been like, teaching you?
He's been great, he's great... I've never heard of A Certain Ratio - you've got to remember this whole thing is not my generation, passed me totally by. So Martin was just this really pleasant fellow who was teaching me to play the guitar, and it was great. Paul [Popplewell] came in, walked in, and I walked in going "I've not really played" but I'm one of these people that picked up his mate's guitars and then fiddled with them, for a few hours about once a year. So I have held one and messed about with one before. Apparently Paul was playing, and Paul Ryder walked into the band rehearsal room, and went "Alright Paul" and held aloft this great crate of beer and went "Let's go!!" so Martin just went "Oh Christ!". Character acting, we're back! So he couldn't do a thing at first, but it all worked out great.
Tony said the film was becoming part of the Factory story itself?
Well he would say that, wouldn't he? I think, it is quite current but for someone like me, I just feel it's quite educational, it's like a history lesson to me. I just think the whole thing is so laughable... I mean, really, they had one of the most popular clubs, a club that became a legend, Factory Records had New Order, which had the biggest selling twelve inch of all time, and it never made any money. Factory never made any money, and the Hacienda never made any money, and it's just... there's got to be a certain amount of crapness for that to actually happen. Somebody, somewhere along the line has got to be crap, so I just think the whole thing's quite funny. I'm not sure I agree it's part of the Factory history, I think the Factory history is finished, I think that's just him going on about himself, saying the Factory history is this fantastic thing. Personally, I've never heard of him before, and no one of my generation had... possibly a bit of a generalisation. I wonder if that's a bit of Wilson Bollocks. I've never met the guy, I'm not going off experience. The script may be unfair, but from what I've read in the script, he appears to talk a lot of bollocks. So there you go.
Will you be returning to another series of the Royle Family?
Well we thought there was always going to be another one. I went through a period a couple of months ago going "I don't know", then I got checked for dates, but I still didn't know there was going to be one. I was like "I've been checked for dates" but I've always said that you never know until the actual day, and even sometimes then it's not necessarily going to go ahead. I think Caroline's knackered at the moment, she's done a lot, her and Craig haven't really had a break for ten years, really, they've always been writing, producing, editing, or acting in something. I quite like it, it's very Royle Family that ... all they've said is "We're not doing one this year", which means there might be one next year. I quite like it, it's quite Royle Family that the whole thing would depend on whether Caroline and Craig can be arsed - I quite like that. It's not like studio politics, and whether the contracts can be renewed, and it's not this and that and the other, and it's not funding, it's just literally - can we be bothered? And if they can, there'll be one, and if they can't, they won't. It's a shame, but then on the other hand, maybe if there's never any more ever, maybe it will stand it in good stead in the future, and it might go down as a legend, or maybe it's worth doing a few more, or maybe if we don't do one this year and then do one next year, people will be really hungry for it. Caroline and Craig haven't made any mistakes with it yet, so there's no reason to think that they will - if they don't think that it's worth doing one this year, then it isn't, just accept it and get on with it.
Do you have a career plan?
I'd like to have a career plan, because I'd like to think I was good enough to need one, but to be honest, my career plan so far has been to take jobs that come my way, and not stop working. I just happen to be very lucky that they've been good jobs. Now, with a bit of a luck and... I don't want to say this in case it doesn't work, with a bit of luck now, maybe off the back of this and another film, it's possible that I can be slightly choosier about my work anyway. There are very few actors who have the privilege of being able to go "I won't do that and I will do that cos that's better and that isn't". Any actor that you read about that goes "Oh yes, I chose this role" and it's like "No, hold on. You chose this role because you went to the audition and got offered it. That's why you chose the role, so bullshit!" Now, hopefully I might be able to pick and choose a little bit more. So yeah, I'd love to do a bit of Shakespeare, in fact I was not definitely, but there was an idea that I might have been in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I couldn't do it because I was doing this... that's great because it means that while neither were guaranteed, neither this nor that, I had an option of maybe saying "I want to do this". Working with Michael is just fantastic. John Simm was saying he would have done one line. As it turns out, we've both got... I mean it's all about Tony Wilson and we all just come in and go round him, but we've done better than most people in that we both have a decent part.
What is it about Michael that makes everyone want to work with him?
His CV so far. Look at his films - they're fantastic. He lets you get on with it. It makes perfect sense, it's very clever because he just relies on good casting. That's not to say he doesn't do it himself, he has to meet people, but if he thinks you can do it, then he employs you to do it, that's what he does, it's like ... he doesn't employ you to tell you what to do, he employs you because you can already do it, which is very clever. And he just lets you get on it, which means you get to do what you want, you have these eight hour days and you don't have that thing of over-running and waiting around. There's barely any waiting around at all. Everybody wants to work for him. Running lunches, eight hour days, total freedom, improvisation... no script. I've not learnt a line since I've been doing the job. Not learnt a line, just read what goes on in the scene and get there in character. It's fantastic. I just hope that I'm not crap in character!
---
Reproduced with Permission, please visit the official website for more interviews.
Ralf Little is of course known to millions as the affable son in the Royle Family. But with 24 Hour Party People, Ralf is given a chance to move onto the next level, playing charismatic Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook. We caught up with Ralf on the set of the movie and pummelled him for answers:
How did you feel when you were first approached to play the bassist in New Order?
To be honest, a little nervous, I found out when I was on the way to the airport to go on holiday with my girlfriend - I went away, I was in Jamaica, which was very nice. I found out when I was on the way to the airport, then we got on the plane, went on holiday, came back thinking "Okay, let's talk to Caroline [Aherne, co-creator of the Royle Family and former spouse of Peter Hook], see what her take is on it." but by the time I got back it was in the papers. I thought 'well she obviously knows now' and at that point I decided not to actually speak to her in any way, because then I thought it would just make it easier for when I met Hooky. to actually chat without any kind of biased things. I've just spoken to people round here about him. So I just hope I do it some kind of justice, really. It's great to work with Michael [Winterbottom, Director], because he's good. I think it's a bit of a worry when you don't know what Hooky actually sounds like. I couldn't find anything really where he talked. There was only the New Order story footage, where there's plenty of footage of him playing but hardly any footage of him talking. That was a bit of a pisser.
What the prospect of having to learn an instrument daunting for you?
No, because basically the bass lines were simple enough. He's arguably the best bassist ever, but the basslines themselves are simple enough for it not to be. It's just a case of getting it, just fiddling round and practising. I was a bit worried, I mean 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' - anyone that plays the guitar will just laugh at how untricky it is, but when you've never played anything, it's a little bit tricky, so I just gave that a bit of practice, but it was alright.
What's Martin Moscrop [ACR guitarist and movie musical teacher] been like, teaching you?
He's been great, he's great... I've never heard of A Certain Ratio - you've got to remember this whole thing is not my generation, passed me totally by. So Martin was just this really pleasant fellow who was teaching me to play the guitar, and it was great. Paul [Popplewell] came in, walked in, and I walked in going "I've not really played" but I'm one of these people that picked up his mate's guitars and then fiddled with them, for a few hours about once a year. So I have held one and messed about with one before. Apparently Paul was playing, and Paul Ryder walked into the band rehearsal room, and went "Alright Paul" and held aloft this great crate of beer and went "Let's go!!" so Martin just went "Oh Christ!". Character acting, we're back! So he couldn't do a thing at first, but it all worked out great.
Tony said the film was becoming part of the Factory story itself?
Well he would say that, wouldn't he? I think, it is quite current but for someone like me, I just feel it's quite educational, it's like a history lesson to me. I just think the whole thing is so laughable... I mean, really, they had one of the most popular clubs, a club that became a legend, Factory Records had New Order, which had the biggest selling twelve inch of all time, and it never made any money. Factory never made any money, and the Hacienda never made any money, and it's just... there's got to be a certain amount of crapness for that to actually happen. Somebody, somewhere along the line has got to be crap, so I just think the whole thing's quite funny. I'm not sure I agree it's part of the Factory history, I think the Factory history is finished, I think that's just him going on about himself, saying the Factory history is this fantastic thing. Personally, I've never heard of him before, and no one of my generation had... possibly a bit of a generalisation. I wonder if that's a bit of Wilson Bollocks. I've never met the guy, I'm not going off experience. The script may be unfair, but from what I've read in the script, he appears to talk a lot of bollocks. So there you go.
Will you be returning to another series of the Royle Family?
Well we thought there was always going to be another one. I went through a period a couple of months ago going "I don't know", then I got checked for dates, but I still didn't know there was going to be one. I was like "I've been checked for dates" but I've always said that you never know until the actual day, and even sometimes then it's not necessarily going to go ahead. I think Caroline's knackered at the moment, she's done a lot, her and Craig haven't really had a break for ten years, really, they've always been writing, producing, editing, or acting in something. I quite like it, it's very Royle Family that ... all they've said is "We're not doing one this year", which means there might be one next year. I quite like it, it's quite Royle Family that the whole thing would depend on whether Caroline and Craig can be arsed - I quite like that. It's not like studio politics, and whether the contracts can be renewed, and it's not this and that and the other, and it's not funding, it's just literally - can we be bothered? And if they can, there'll be one, and if they can't, they won't. It's a shame, but then on the other hand, maybe if there's never any more ever, maybe it will stand it in good stead in the future, and it might go down as a legend, or maybe it's worth doing a few more, or maybe if we don't do one this year and then do one next year, people will be really hungry for it. Caroline and Craig haven't made any mistakes with it yet, so there's no reason to think that they will - if they don't think that it's worth doing one this year, then it isn't, just accept it and get on with it.
Do you have a career plan?
I'd like to have a career plan, because I'd like to think I was good enough to need one, but to be honest, my career plan so far has been to take jobs that come my way, and not stop working. I just happen to be very lucky that they've been good jobs. Now, with a bit of a luck and... I don't want to say this in case it doesn't work, with a bit of luck now, maybe off the back of this and another film, it's possible that I can be slightly choosier about my work anyway. There are very few actors who have the privilege of being able to go "I won't do that and I will do that cos that's better and that isn't". Any actor that you read about that goes "Oh yes, I chose this role" and it's like "No, hold on. You chose this role because you went to the audition and got offered it. That's why you chose the role, so bullshit!" Now, hopefully I might be able to pick and choose a little bit more. So yeah, I'd love to do a bit of Shakespeare, in fact I was not definitely, but there was an idea that I might have been in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but I couldn't do it because I was doing this... that's great because it means that while neither were guaranteed, neither this nor that, I had an option of maybe saying "I want to do this". Working with Michael is just fantastic. John Simm was saying he would have done one line. As it turns out, we've both got... I mean it's all about Tony Wilson and we all just come in and go round him, but we've done better than most people in that we both have a decent part.
What is it about Michael that makes everyone want to work with him?
His CV so far. Look at his films - they're fantastic. He lets you get on with it. It makes perfect sense, it's very clever because he just relies on good casting. That's not to say he doesn't do it himself, he has to meet people, but if he thinks you can do it, then he employs you to do it, that's what he does, it's like ... he doesn't employ you to tell you what to do, he employs you because you can already do it, which is very clever. And he just lets you get on it, which means you get to do what you want, you have these eight hour days and you don't have that thing of over-running and waiting around. There's barely any waiting around at all. Everybody wants to work for him. Running lunches, eight hour days, total freedom, improvisation... no script. I've not learnt a line since I've been doing the job. Not learnt a line, just read what goes on in the scene and get there in character. It's fantastic. I just hope that I'm not crap in character!
---
Reproduced with Permission, please visit the official website for more interviews.
