WEBVTT

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Hi, Tom. Hey, AJ. How are you?

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Oh, my gosh. So excited to be talking with

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you this morning, especially because tomorrow

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is such a big day. Your new movie, Love in

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the Villa, is coming to Netflix. How excited

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are you?

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Very excited, very excited. It's a big day

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in the Hopper household because my wife is

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in the movie as well. So it's the first movie

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that we've done together, so it's a big moment

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for us, you know, that we've got a movie

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coming out that we're both in.

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Oh, how cool! So how much time did the two

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of you get to spend on the set together?

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Were you in Italy for this together?

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We were. Yeah, we were in Verona, Italy together,

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which was, in one way, incredible, because

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it was the first time we were away from our

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children for, you know, a few weeks. I'm

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from time alone again, which we haven't had

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since both our kids were born. But at the

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same time, the time we were away from our

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kids was really, really hard because we were

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away from our children. So it was a kind

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of bittersweet in that sense that we had

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an amazing time shooting this movie. It was

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just such a great experience. Verona is incredible

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and the crew and the directors and We just

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did a great team, so we had a great time.

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Well, let's talk about how this is a bit

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different. Obviously, I've got a lot of listeners

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right now who are, you know, loving the Umbrella

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Academy and you did Game of Thrones, but

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this is a bit of a shift for you and more

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of a feel-good movie, putting some joy out

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there. Can you share what it's been like

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for you making Love in the Villa?

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Yeah. Firstly, the big change for me was

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being able to go to work in something that

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isn't armor or a big muscle suit. So I could

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go to work with my own body than to put on

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jeans and a shirt as my costume. It felt

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pretty great, actually. But yeah, it was

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a new one for me because, you know, Mark

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Steven Johnson, our amazing director, he

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approached me about the role. He was like,

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you know, I think you'd be great at it. I

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was like, what do you mean? I've not done

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anything like this before. How do you know?

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I was actually quite apprehensive about going

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into something like this because I've not

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done it before. But it was actually Laura,

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my wife, who read the script first. And she

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was like, no, I think this would be great

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for you. And I read the script and I thought

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it was brilliant. I thought Martin did such

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a great job with it. And like you said, you

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know, I felt like a movie like this. is what

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everyone needs at the minute. It's so feel

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good. It's got so much heart and a few giggles

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along the way. And I think it's just, it's

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just a very light hearted movie. And I think

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You know, who doesn't love a rom-com, right?

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It's very easy watching.

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Well, and I have to ask, because I'm a huge

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cat lover. I actually have a book about to

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come out about cats. Like, cats are my life.

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So when I saw the trailer, I was like, man,

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I got to ask Tom about the scene where he's

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on the bed and there's all the cats in the

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room. Like, how is it trying to actually

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work with a bunch of cats?

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Yeah, I mean, they were actually, there were

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some days that they were brilliant, and they

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did exactly as they were told. And then there

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were some days that they just didn't want

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to play ball. And we ended up having to CGI

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some of them in. But yeah, the cats are a

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tricky one, right? Because you can't just

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get them, they're like dogs, where you can

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train them to do the treat thing, and then

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they kind of pick it up what you want them

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to do. They're a bit more free-spirited.

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Yeah, there were some days that were pretty

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tricky actually, but we got through. That

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one, that particular day when I was coming

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around them, you know, they were, they were

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pretty good that day. They played ball.

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That sounds about on brand for cats. Like

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some days we're gonna, we're gonna do what

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you want and some days we're not.

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Exactly, yeah.

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Well, if you don't mind, Tom, I've got several

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questions for you while we've got you here.

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Michelle was the first one and she said,

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you know, first of all, she's had it on her

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calendar to watch Love in the Villa when

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it comes out tomorrow. She actually said,

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did you know he has a new movie out tomorrow?

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I said, yeah, that's why we're talking. She

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wanted to know, Being a fan of you from Umbrella

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Academy. Can you talk a little bit about?

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You know the announcement that we're getting

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another season and it may be the last and

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you know any hopes that you have for Luther's

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Future before the show comes to an end.

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Yeah, I mean it's very interesting because

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I mean we We end up knowing a little as you

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guys do as fans of the show, as we find these

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things out. You know, like when we shot the

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end of that season last year, we were like,

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what does this all mean? Like, what's going

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on here? So we went completely in the dark.

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And then as we find out that we're doing

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the fourth season, until we get like a season

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breakdown from Steve Blackman, our marvellous

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showrunner, we're kind of clueless. So I

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think it'd be good to get, to see Luca get

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some kind of I don't know what's going to

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happen with Sloane. I don't know whether

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Sloane's in the next season or not. So, obviously,

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after he's been married, that's going to

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be a big part of it. I'd like to see him...

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I hope he's not too down in the dumps. You

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know, I hope he's not too miserable if Sloane

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isn't there. Apart from that, you know, I

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always keep a very open mind, because no

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matter what you do in terms of trying to

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guess what's going to happen, as you can

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see from the beginning of Season 3, with

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the dance and the fight and the way that

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all went, there's just no way you can guess

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which way Steve Blackman is going to take

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this show. So just sort of sit back and wait

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for him to tell you, because he's going to

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take you on a ride no matter what. So either

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way, you know, it's going to be exciting.

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Are you hoping for another dance scene in

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season four? Is that fun for you?

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You know what? I went into the start of the

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season while I did the whole show thinking,

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well, thinking that I would not have to dance

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in the show. I had no idea that there was

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going to be such a massive dance component

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to it. Because the first time I read the

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script, the dance that we did in I Think

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You're Alone Now dance wasn't in there, in

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the initial one I read. So I had no idea

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that the huge dance component was going to

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be part of it. But I'm sort of now got to

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the point where I'm assuming there is going

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to be some kind of dance component every

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season. So I'm always, like, disappointed

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if there isn't one now.

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Well, Tom, before I let you go and remind

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everybody, Love in the Villa is out tomorrow,

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I have to take a moment to just ask you a

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little bit about Doctor Who, because I don't

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mean to, like, take this back to cats, but

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two of my cats are named Melody and Amelia

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Pond, because I loved that episode you were

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in so much. Are you a Doctor Who fan?

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Well, you sort of grow up in the UK. You

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know, you grow up with Doctor Who. It's part

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of our heritage, I suppose. Like, you know,

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it's a generational thing. I watched, you

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know, all the Tom Baker ones as I was growing

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up. And I think you kind of automatically

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become a fan because it's just part of your

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everyday life here. I certainly wasn't like

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a mega Who fan, but I certainly watched it

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throughout my life. Yeah.

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Well, and I know the moment we started watching

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Umbrella Academy, we were like, that's Jeff

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from Doctor Who. So excited to see all of

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this success that you are having, Tom. Thank

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you so much for being on the show with us

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here today. And congratulations on Love in

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the Villa. We'll be watching on Netflix tomorrow.

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Oh, bless you. Thank you so much.