The killing isnt the problem, its the disposal thats the problem.
You run out of space.
The storage issues faced by serial killers arent something to which many of us will have devoted much thought.
A quiet life for the Worth family, its fair to say, isnt on the cards.
It didnt take many episodes to work out whyTin Starmade sense as a Tim Roth project.
Its comic, a bit chaotic, violent, unpredictable…
Ad content continues below
It was an interesting character to muck about with.
We immediately lived in each others back pockets and started improvising.
Genevieve [OReilly, who plays Angela Worth], shes just incredible.
And Abs [Abigail Lawrie, Anna Worth]…
I was just talking about the young two actors in this, theyre seriously good.
We didnt have much time to do that.
Functioning to begin with, because in this show, nothing ends the same as it started…
It really turns by the end of the first episode and then youre on that road.
Especially with the part of Jim.
Was that part not written for you?
Jim Worth/Tim Roth, there seems to be a connection.
No, it wasnt I dont think.
They sent me three episodes and I read it and thought Oh yeah, Ill do that.
and What if we did that?
Thats why the changes took place.
Where do we pick up, how do we progress?
Can things pivot that much again in a second season?
I mean, they kind of can.
Theres a strong anti-corporate seam in the show.
Its not subtle, but it says what it means doesnt it?
Yeah, thats alright.
As a politicised person, was that element a draw for you?
They modelled the Calgary skyline on Dallas, and its oil-centric, and its new money as well.
I met a lot of those cops by the way.
I met a few of them.
Because its the Commonwealth, its a deal you might get.
They can come from here and go over there and have a quiet life.
Theyre not just fighting grizzlies then?
Youve got a workforce that suddenly descends upon a small town and you have to police it.
Thats something that they dont think about until theyre presented by it.
The duality of your character in this seems to be a thread through a lot of your roles.
Id just arrived in LA, I didnt know anything.
And theyd just scribbled in pencil on the front of the script Look at Pink.
Hes the good guy!
[Laughs] Charming fella!
They had no idea.
I mean, he just ran out of space.
Thats always the problem.
It was the same with [Dennis] Nilson another guy that was over here.
The killing isnt the problem, its the disposal thats the problem.
You run out of space.
Thats a scary thing to say.
[Laughs] But that was an odd character.
I couldnt de-creepy him!
Craig Viveiros, the director on that, we snagged him and took him ontoTin Starfor an episode.
He did number nine.
With the Christie character, you did it really sparingly.
It felt like an exercise in restraint.
Restraint isnt always the way you go though?
Actors quite often spend all of their time whispering through their careers and I am not of that ilk.
[forRob Roy, Best Supporting Actor]
Yeah,that, exactly!
So you shouldnt be afraid of putting yourself out there I think.
You dont mind risk, do you?
Youve worked with a lot of first-time directors.
What am I doing next?
What is it about first-timers then?
I think its fun.
Also, its the same kind of thing as with [Tin Star].
You say fun a lot.
Something likeMade In Britain, for instance…
That wassuchfun!
[Laughs]
But Im watching it thinking,fun?
The fun is that youre there.
I was invited to that party.
That was a crazy party!
Little bit of wiring on the side?
Yeah, we had to go and find him.
Ive been acting for almost forty years.
When it stops being fun, thats going to be tricky.
You show up and its a laugh.
Ive done stuff that was crap and Ive been in bad things, most people have.
Most people dont admit it [Rothfamously didwith Fifa filmUnited Passions]
Well they dont, but they should.
They should feel free to.
Its alright, you made your mistakes, or you make intentional ones and it doesnt matter to me.
No, you never know.
I really do have that fear of unemployment thing [laughs].
Its over to you guys, its got nothing to do with me!
[Laughs]
Was this fun,Tin Star?
Theyre my… mob.
I love the family.
I just got surrounded by people who just show up for work proper.
I miss them when Im away from them.
Youll get back to them next series.
Yeah, therell be a little reunion.
I dont watch em.
Have you ever had a career plan?
The only plan is to try and keep working.
You once said thatFour Roomswas really fun to make but less so when you saw it.
Some of it worked, some of it didnt.
When they do I generally think that they must be stoners.
Its one of those movies that people watch when theyre high and I think thatsabsolutely appropriate!
[laughs] Whenever I sign something forFour RoomsI go Stoner?
and they go Oh yeah [laughs].
It is one of those.
You dida great interview with Steve Buscemi[for whom Roths role inFour Roomswas originally intended] once.
That was a really enjoyable read.
Do you know what was good about that interview?
He forgot to turn the microphone on!
We had to do it again.
I saw Steve recently.
Completely crap, both of us [laughs].
It was one of them.
Whats joined it now?
Ive been just extraordinarily fortunate.
Ive hadlotsof good experiences.
That one I held up.
We had ups and downs on it.
We were on the run.
We managed to get Vanessa Redgrave to show up!
It was a struggle.
Im still proud of that one.
That one goes in my back pocket.
Whats in there with it?
The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover.
The Hit.Ive got a lot [laughs]
You have got a lot.
There should be some Oscars in that back pocket with them!
No no no no no no no!
No gold on your hat.
I heard that youd instructed your agent in the 90s not to turn away independent scripts?
Oh yes, you have to be very clear so that all of that stuff is available.
Hes about to make his feature film and we had a long chat.
Hes brand new, I think hes twenty-two, but it doesnt matter.
How did he approach you?
I said Well, you havent sent me any!
[laughs] That would be why.
Having that rule about independent scripts then…
It means you work with new and vibrant people.
Sometimes theyre good, sometimes theyre not but its worth a shot.
And then you get to give a leg up as well?
If you’re free to, yeah, yeah.
You do what you’ve got the option to.
Do you like working with obsessive people?
So youre not searching it out.
I cant choose the directors; the directors have to choose me.
And Lynch stopped everything.
He said Mr Belushi, am I going to have to send you to the Principals Office?
[laughs] Hes like that.
And we shot it and it was great.
I think that was the last thing we shot.
Tell me then, does David Lynch use emoticons when he texts?
He uses Sabrina to do it all!
We were doing whatever film the magazine held at that time.
Whats wrong with these people?!
[laughs] I was a bit like that.
And then of course the improvisation thing, I didnt know any of that.
No, it didnt make it harder.
It didnt make it harder.
I talked to Gary Oldman, for example, and Gary went to, I think, Central?
I think it was Central, I cant remember where he went.
[Rose Bruford College Ed].And he liked it, he had a great time.
It kept happening and after a while, I gave up.
I went to RADA.
and I said No, and he said Do you want to go?
I said Yeah, so we bunked into RADA!
and we came in and sat and watched what they were doing [laughs].
What were they rehearsing?
They were doing [Bennett play]Habeas Corpus, and we sat with Alan until wed had enough!
Is that where you picked up your Alan Bennett voice for Reg inRillington Place?
I stole that from him because I wanted something comforting.
And theres nothing more comforting than Alans voice.
David Hockney too, has a very comforting voice but Alan has a very… Did they kick you out eventually, of RADA?
No, we left voluntarily, went back to the pub!
What was your film education as a child?
We didnt have a TV until quite late really, but I remember things…
I do remember Kens stuff.
Youve never worked with Ken Loach have you?
I was an extra in one of his films once.
Bread And Roses[2000], one he did in LA.
But I rememberCathy Come Homeand stuff like that.
They were part of the reason I became an actor.
He was there when we didReservoir Dogs, Jack and his mum.
What was he doing in it?
Its usually eating burgers isnt it?
Tim Roth, thank you very much!
All 10 episodes of Tin Star are available to stream on Sky now.
