Hugh Dancy Q&A

 

“Confessions of a Shopaholic”

 

Question: How tough was it to do the dance sequence in “Confessions of a Shopaholic”?

Hugh Dancy: We didn’t spend ages over it. It was one night of filming it. It was quite technical. But we spent the night before choreographing the dance. Initially it was meant to be fairly straightforward and it developed because we were making each other laugh a lot.

 

Question: Before you made his movie how aware had you been of the Shopaholic novels?

Hugh Dancy: It was peripheral. I had seen posters and people reading the books on the tube. I had never read them. Like a lot of people I had a pretty preconceived idea about what ‘chick lit’ was and that it was not for me. PJ Hogan, the director, gave me the first three books and then I had to completely re-write my preconceptions. I realized anything that sells that many books is a good book. It is well written, it is not a mistake. What I love most about the books is the inner monologue that Rebecca has and while it is about shopping what I recognized in it was the denial, the comedy in the lies that Rebecca tells to herself. We have all been there-- we can all laugh at our own expense. 

 

Question: Have you ever made a ridiculous purchase?

Hugh Dancy: If I have then it was not so bad that it stuck with me. I err on the side of caution. A good thing is having a balanced view of money. I have had to learn that it is occasionally ok to spend a little bit more than you meant to. If you spend your life being under budget then it is not so great. However I do collect hands. The odder the better. It started on a film set when there was a straight set of wooden hands, which I liberated. So it grew from there. For most people hands would be a ridiculous thing to buy but it is not for me. The weirdest hand I have is a fibre glass big hand that was a symbol for some group. 

 

Question: How do you feel about being called the new Hugh Grant?

Hugh Dancy: I get it. It is a requirement to label people. But I don’t object to it so much because I have come to realize that it bears no relation to reality. When it first happened, 10 years ago, it probably annoyed me more. But since then I have happily carried on having my career and doing my own thing. 

 

Question: Is it true that you began your acting career inadvertently, when you were sent to the school theater as a punishment?

Hugh Dancy: “It is true, I was at boarding school and had been misbehaving and I was sent to study drama, to the theater at my school. I was sent under duress and never left, I loved it. To begin with I was just helping out with the sets, painting the walls, nailing things into the floor and doing   odd jobs. I was sent there to keep out of trouble, but I never thought about acting before that at all. Then I discovered I liked the people doing drama far more than most of the other people at my school. I spent so much time there that eventually someone asked me to be in a play, it had nothing whatsoever to do with my acting ability. I found out that I loved acting and I am very glad it happened.” 

 

Question: In the film you have to play a straightforward guy. Is that a harder role to do?

Hugh Dancy: I think Isla has the hardest role in the movie. But yes there is a challenge to playing the straight man. Playing a basically good person can often be interesting because people are usually not so interested in them. So when you get one that is well written it tends to be unusual. 

 

Question: Does the movie have appeal for males?

Hugh Dancy: Yes, I thought it was a movie that I would be interested in. 

 

Question: Why have you made so many movies with Jerry Bruckheimer?

Hugh Dancy: You would have to ask Jerry because he is the one who calls you. I like and admire him. It is always an amazing experience working for him. His attention to detail is incomparable. 

 

Question: Is it becoming a necessity for you to live in America?

Hugh Dancy: No, it is not. As it happens, I have been working in New York a lot during the last couple of years, my fiancée is a New Yorker. But I still have my home here in England.

 

Question: Had you known Isla Fisher?

Hugh Dancy: No I had never met her. She is high energy, funny, surprising. I really admire the way she has kept her life private. She works very hard.