The TV favourite's feeling zen over his MC duties at Britain's biggest night in film... as long as the autocue doesn't go down. Report by Nelsonj. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 David, there's no point being coy on days such as today. I love the jumper and I'm a huge, huge big fan of your work.
00:07 Thank you.
00:08 It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Quaylen.
00:09 Do you prefer the jumper or the work? Which are you leaning towards?
00:12 I would have leaned towards the work initially, but the jumper's growing on me.
00:15 It's doing a lot, isn't it?
00:17 I remember seeing you kind of emerge onto screens in Casanova and Blackpool back in the day,
00:24 falling in love with The Doctors as much as the rest of the nation and all these interesting and exciting choices
00:30 such as Stanford Broadchurch and Dares and a show called Recovery you did years ago and Jessica Jones and everything.
00:37 I just hope that whilst I'm sure the trappings of fame might get old at times,
00:43 I hope you still get that warmth from people that we've all felt and I've certainly felt that.
00:48 Well, I certainly felt it from you just now, thank you. That was an excellent introduction which makes me feel very humble, thank you.
00:53 So I always wonder when somebody's been successful over such a long period of time,
00:58 what keeps the pep in their step? What still excites them? What still scares them?
01:03 And I can only imagine hosting the BAFTAs.
01:06 Yeah, I mean, it might do that. By the time we get there, it probably will.
01:10 Right now, it just feels like a lark. I think it's partly because I'm being asked to do something that is not what I do.
01:17 This is not hosting the BAFTAs, not my day job. So I feel quite liberated by that, that I can just enjoy the sort of madness of this.
01:26 I mean, it feels like a huge privilege and honour, certainly not something I was going to say no to.
01:31 But I always feel slightly like, well, I mean, they wanted me to do it. They'll get what they get.
01:38 There's been some pretty big swings for the fences over recent years at the BAFTAs.
01:42 There's been songs, musical numbers. There's been raps. Is there anything either that you can shed some light on about your night
01:51 or anything that you might have vetoed that we're definitely not going to see from David Tennant?
01:55 I don't think this is the moment for my rap debut. But listen, let's not take anything off the table.
02:01 Let's just keep all options open. Genuinely, right now, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what it's going to be.
02:09 I mean, I know that we want to do a show that is generous and inclusive and we're not interested in roasting anyone or making anyone feel uncomfortable.
02:19 So beyond that, hopefully it'll just be a celebration of what has been a pretty extraordinary year, I think, for the cinema.
02:27 I feel very honoured that this is the year I'm hosting, which is, I think, arguably the year that cinema got its mojo back.
02:37 Definitely. It was a great year for independent cinema as well, I think.
02:41 It's sort of been a knock-on effect from the last few years. Let's talk about the BAFTAs as well. What makes them special and unique?
02:47 My kind of era, I remember growing up watching the BAFTAs, was I guess mostly Stephen Fry's tenure.
02:53 But then some of the names you can name who've hosted the ceremony. Vivian Leigh, Davids Frost, Attenborough and Niven.
03:02 Roger Moore, John Mills, the Two Ronnies, Billy Connolly, Terry Wogan, Jonathan Ross and Noel Edmonds did it as well at some point.
03:10 The Two Ronnies hosted the film BAFTAs?
03:12 The Two Ronnies, apparently so.
03:14 It does seem unlikely, doesn't it? I'd like to have seen it though.
03:16 Does the weight of history sit heavy on your shoulders at times like this?
03:20 It does a bit more now you've mentioned the Two Ronnies. Up until this point I was quite glib.
03:25 But if I'm standing next to the Two Ronnies, that's pretty legendary, isn't it? And Billy Connolly of course, who is the Don.
03:34 Again, it sort of doesn't. I do feel a bit off the hook because I'll go back to my normal job after this.
03:44 Even if it all goes terribly wrong.
03:49 I'm guessing you don't get particularly nervous on stage anymore because you've done so much Shakespeare and what not.
03:55 I get nervous when I do that.
03:57 Do you think you'll be relying on any of those, I don't know, the way in which you've trained yourself on stage to keep calm and keep things in gear?
04:05 Is this going to be something new?
04:06 I'll be relying on the autocue, which is not something you get when you do a Shakespeare play.
04:11 And therefore I suppose the terror would be if that were to go down because then I am on my own.
04:17 What I do for a living is say other people's words rather than my own.
04:21 So it feels, if I've got that safety net, I'm looking forward to it. It feels like a joyous thing.
04:29 If on nearly live television the autocue were to go down, then I really will, then I will be.
04:34 Just take some notes maybe, just in case.
04:37 I should stick something down my socks, shouldn't I?
04:39 Yeah.
04:40 Just in case of absolute technical failure.
04:42 We're having this chat before the nominations are announced, but it has been an incredible year for film.
04:47 And you're going to expect some pretty big, exciting, shiny names to be there on the night.
04:53 I suppose you're used to working with people like this all the time, but do you still get those flutters, that air of being starstruck and not being sure how to be around people like that?
05:04 It's exciting to be around some of the most famous people in the world, of course it is.
05:10 I think maybe there is something about when you recognise certain fellow actors, you know what the deal is.
05:19 And you know that, yes, they may be hugely famous and influential and powerful individuals,
05:25 but they still go to work and have to use a chemical toilet in their trailer like everybody else.
05:31 So I know what that world is.
05:33 I might not be a movie star on that level, but I know what the experience of that is.
05:40 So I suppose that's exciting without being overwhelming.
05:44 Maybe it's more the directors or the producers or the grown-ups in the room.
05:50 Maybe the other ones are a bit more, that might give one a slight pause for thought.
05:58 I'm going to be wondering what kind of toilet Leonardo DiCaprio uses now.
06:02 A chemical toilet is a chemical toilet.
06:04 I imagine someone like that might have something fancier.
06:07 You can fly something in.
06:08 Or one of those when you're glamping and it's just like sawdust or something.
06:12 Yeah.
06:13 It's just a smell you never know.
06:14 I mean maybe that's what I'll spend the evening thinking about.
06:17 About the toilet habits.
06:19 It's certainly an icebreaker.
06:20 Of the great and the good.
06:21 And finally, one thing we do know is the BAFTA Rising Star nominees.
06:27 There's some brilliant ones from Sophie Wilde, Mia McKenzie, Jacob, Phoebe and Ao.
06:32 They're kind of starting out on their careers.
06:34 If they were to ask you some advice for success and happiness in this old game, what would you tell them?
06:41 If they're nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, they definitely don't need any advice from me.
06:46 That's a certainty.
06:48 They're definitely doing alright.
06:50 I never offer advice because I don't really have any.
06:54 Everyone's journey, certainly as an actor, is so different and it's so particular to them.
06:59 And it's so about...
07:01 I mean the only thing I've ever said to any actors ever is be nice, be on time and learn your lines.
07:06 Because everything else is kind of a bit of a roll of the dice.
07:12 But those three things will define you as somebody that people want to work with again.
07:17 Well I think it certainly worked out for you because people do seem to want to work with you again.
07:20 Hence, you're hosting the BAFTAs 2024.
07:23 Still makes me laugh.
07:25 I can't wait to see how it goes. I hope the electricity stays on.
07:29 Presumably if the autoguide goes down that means there's been some much bigger problem.
07:33 It's probably not on the telly anymore anyway.
07:35 Just do what the guy at the Golden Globes did and just blame it on the other writers or some other technical hitch.
07:41 I'm sure that'll go down really well.
07:43 That didn't go down very well.
07:45 People will give you a little bit more rope I think.