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What made you want to get involved in the Yellow House? It's not a massively populist topic. So why did you take it on?
I thought the script was fantastic. I read the script and thought it was a really unusual way of looking at it and thought, it was also something I didn't really know anything about really. I knew that Gauguin stayed with Van Gogh and I knew that Anthony Quinn had played Gauguin in the film Lust for Life, with Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh. I remember seeing it as a kid, and I remember Anthony Quinn arriving and saying this kitchen's a mess, I remember that. And I adored the character Gauguin. I mean he was an extraordinary piece of work, as was Van Gogh, obviously. And then I heard John Simm was playing Van Gogh, and I’ve never worked with John, so that was tempting as well.
Am I right in saying that you were filming on location where the paintings were actually done?
Yeah we were on location in the South of France, so we filmed in some of the exact spots where they stood and painted some of the most famous works in the history of art.
I thought the script was fantastic. I read the script and thought it was a really unusual way of looking at it and thought, it was also something I didn't really know anything about really. I knew that Gauguin stayed with Van Gogh and I knew that Anthony Quinn had played Gauguin in the film Lust for Life, with Kirk Douglas as Van Gogh. I remember seeing it as a kid, and I remember Anthony Quinn arriving and saying this kitchen's a mess, I remember that. And I adored the character Gauguin. I mean he was an extraordinary piece of work, as was Van Gogh, obviously. And then I heard John Simm was playing Van Gogh, and I’ve never worked with John, so that was tempting as well.
Am I right in saying that you were filming on location where the paintings were actually done?
Yeah we were on location in the South of France, so we filmed in some of the exact spots where they stood and painted some of the most famous works in the history of art.
What do you do in the way of research? Do you look into what Gauguin was like and what their relationship was like, or do you trust the script in what is down there in black and white?
I read bits and pieces. I got Gauguin's letters and read all of them. It's really interesting to learn about it and look at it. And John and I also did a bit of painting, which was interesting.
And what were you like at painting?
Crap! Then again, I shouldn't think Gauguin was much of an actor. It was great fun to paint though. You just realise how incredible these guys were with a brush in their hand. It gives you a fresh perspective on just what amazing painters they were. Creating a painting and starting from scratch it's a real achievement.
I read bits and pieces. I got Gauguin's letters and read all of them. It's really interesting to learn about it and look at it. And John and I also did a bit of painting, which was interesting.
And what were you like at painting?
Crap! Then again, I shouldn't think Gauguin was much of an actor. It was great fun to paint though. You just realise how incredible these guys were with a brush in their hand. It gives you a fresh perspective on just what amazing painters they were. Creating a painting and starting from scratch it's a real achievement.
