By Christina Radish
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Max Beesley at the BBC America presentation for the Television Critics Association Press Tour held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. on July 13, 2007. |
Decadence and debauchery are part of the package in Hotel Babylon, inspired by Imogen Edwards-Jones’ novel about life behind the scenes at London’s top-class hotels. Deputy Manager Charlie Edwards (Max Beesley) is the viewers’ guide to this hedonistic world, where for just one night, guests can live their dream.
Born to a professional jazz drummer father and a jazz singer mother, 36-year-old Manchester, England native, Max Beesley, hadn’t always wanted to be an actor. That all changed, after the musician watched Raging Bull. Now a successful actor, in both film and television, Beesley talks to MediaBlvd Magazine about how sometimes it’s fun to be a part of something that is just easy entertainment.
MediaBlvd Magazine> For American audiences who may not be familiar with you yet, can you talk about how you got into acting?
Max Beesley> I got a scholarship to a classical music school when I was 11, playing percussion and singing. Music was very much the life that was mapped out for me. At 18, I got five scholarships, to the Guildhall, Music and Drama, the Royal Academy, the Royal Northern, Trinity College, and a few other places. I went to the Guildhall, where Ewan McGregor went, along with Daniel Craig and Joe Fiennes, and numerous young actors, but I was there as a musician. I left after a year and toured with the Style Council, Paul Weller, Jamiroquai and Brand New Heavies. As a kid, I had a list of 20 musicians that I’d wanted to play with in my life, and I’ve managed to play with 19 of them so far, which is fantastic. Then, one night, my father told me I should watch Raging Bull. I watched it and I was blown away by DeNiro’s performance, and I had empathy for Jake La Motta, who was perceived as not a very nice man. For DeNiro to be able to pull that off, was an amazing feet. Whatever field people are in, whether they’re in the S.A.S. (British Special Air Services), or whatever it is, I’m very turned on, and attracted by, the highest level that people achieve, and I want to strive to achieve that, in everything I do. After I watched Raging Bull, I said to my dad, “That’s it. I’m going to be an actor.” So, I went to New York and studied at the Actors Studio for a couple of years. Then, I did a period drama for the BBC, called The History of Tom Jones, along with about 14 or 15 other films, that didn’t do very well. But, each film was a new experience for me and a new learning curve. And then, I came into America and did Glitter, with Mariah Carey, which was ended up being a terrible film. At the time I filmed it, it was quite good, funnily enough. The studio edited out a lot of the volatile moments. I think they were worried about Mariah Carey’s personal life being reflected in what we put on film, which was not the case at all. So, we ended up with a one-dimensional piece of work, which was really sad. In the scenes that we did together -- those volatile moments -- she was excellent. And then, I did a film with Malcolm McDowell, in America, called Red Roses and Petrol. Then I did a Warner Bros. film with Ice Cube, called Torque, which was fun. I did a Paul Reiser TV show, and shot that in New York. These things were okay, but some of them weren’t hitting, and I eventually went back to England and said, “We need to pursue some really good television. I think that’s important.” And, Bodies came up, so I did that. That was January of 2004, and I’ve been very, very lucky ever since. I’ve done a lot of TV now, with Bodies, Hustle and Hotel Babylon, and a thing called Talk to Me, for ITV, along with a new thing that I’ve just done for BBC with Robert Carlyle, called The Last Enemy, which is pretty phenomenal. That’s coming out in October.
MediaBlvd> What was it about Hotel Babylon that made you want to be a part of it? Was it because it was so much different from the BBC medical drama Bodies?
Max> Yeah, it was something to do with that. I had spent six months playing this consultant surgeon, and Bodies was heavy work. Executive Producer Gareth Neame spoke to me and said, “Hotel Babylon is light fare. It’s very sexy and salacious. It’s going to be shot like Las Vegas. And, we’d like you to play the lead guy.” I was completely intrigued by the premise. It was something I hadn’t done. I thought, “Well, that’s a new dynamic that I’ve not looked into, so let’s go.”
MediaBlvd> What do you think motivates your character, Charlie?
Max> He’s a lovely guy, and he’s a worker. He wants to do well in his game, which is great because I’m quite an obsessive-compulsive with work. I inhale and exhale it, and I live for it, every day. I’m quite serious with it. I prep for every job the same, whether I’m playing a heroin addict, a rapist or a hotel manager in Babylon. I chose to make him very ambitious, and what makes it easy is the fact that it opens and closes with voice-over from his mind. But, he’s a nice guy.
MediaBlvd> Who do you think this show appeals to?
Max> I have a friend that’s a surgeon, and I have another friend that’s a criminal lawyer, who works day in and day out with murder cases, and this is, genuinely, their favorite show. It’s not necessarily giving you a moralistic tale, a the end of the hour’s drama, but it’s something that you can just sit back, put your feet up and really enjoy. It’s been fantastic, and a lot of fun, to make. With these jobs, no matter what the content is -- whether you’re playing a surgeon or a cop, or whatever -- you do the same preparation for every role. When we started shooting the third season, I realized that there was something nice about driving out to the set and seeing the familiar faces and knowing it’s a well-oiled machine that is nice to be a part of. It’s very entertaining, easy viewing.
MediaBlvd> Did you do any research into what it takes to run these kinds of hotels?
Max> For this show, it’s the only show in my whole life where I’ve not actually done any research. For Bodies, I spent a month in a hospital, just walking around, watching and listening. For Bloodlines, I played a murder squad detective, and I worked with the murder squad detective in London, from Scotland Yard. About a month before I start a project, I get right into it. When you do those type of things, it’s not necessarily a literal choice where you go, “Oh, that’s great. I’m going to use that.” For instance, when I was in the hospital with the surgeons, waiting in the coffee area, before they go in for surgery, I was sitting there watching them and they were talking about golfing holidays. These guys then walk in and do major surgery. Things like that, you don’t necessarily get with the script, so I find it a very valuable process. But, with Babylon, I had just come off Hustle and I didn’t have time to do any research, so a lot of it was left to the gold old-fashioned memory. My friend, Ray Winstone, always thinks I’m weird because of the research I do. He says, “Just act. Just do the business.”
MediaBlvd> Are there places like this in London? How close is this to the truth?
Max> While shooting this, I stay in a beautiful hotel near the set. It is a five-star establishment, and what’s amazing is, during the first season, when I was a guest there, people were polite and lovely. After the first season came out, everybody changed how they were with me, dramatically. They were very lovely, and extra bottles of wine were put in the room, and things like that. The shenanigans that do go on in the series are quite realistic to what actually happens, in some of these establishments. It’s amazing how many naughty things occur in these places.
MediaBlvd> After you finished filming the first season, what did you decide to incorporate into the second season, and what did you want to change?
Max> I certainly think that the first season was slightly experimental. I definitely feel that, when we came back to the second season, the audience really knew what the show was. It wasn’t one of those things with multi-layered B and C plots that you can really get involved, and lose yourself, in. It is a television show that is shot stylistically, and that I feel is shot brilliantly, and it looks fantastic. It is different from anything that had been on before. It’s not Chekhov, but it is easy entertainment. I wasn’t that surprised that it got the audience figures that it did, and it’s just grown and grown, which is a brilliant thing.
MediaBlvd> There are some funny, crazy storylines on Hotel Babylon. Has anything been particularly fun or memorable? Were there any guest stars that stand out?Max> I loved Joan Collins being on there. I wanted her to have a crush on me because I really liked her in that movie, The Bitch. What a wonderful movie that was, and I really fancied her. She came on set, and I told her that my mother was a very glamorous, beautiful woman. I said, “You’re really lovely, Joan, and you really remind me of my mother.” She hadn’t seen my mother and probably thought she was an animal. It didn’t go down very well. But, she’s a nice lady. And, I got on very well with Steven Berkoff, who I think was intrigued by me. Steven is a wonderful artist and a very smart guy. He’s intelligent, in many ways. He writes and directs and acts, beautifully. He was checking me out for a few days. By day four, he just went, “I like this kid. He reminds me of me, a little bit.” We got on wonderfully, and had some great times. My girlfriend, Susie Amy, came on the show, which was quite surreal, but really lovely. Kelly Brook, who’s her friend, and who did Smallville in the States, came on the show, so that was nice. Jerry Hall, who’s a very sexy lady and very entertaining, did an episode. We got some good guests for the first season and, when it did so well, we got even better guests on the second season. John Sessions, who’s in The Good Shepherd, is a friend of mine, and he did an episode. I worked with him in Tom Jones, and it was just lovely to work with him again. We’ve been very lucky with guests. It’s been nice.
MediaBlvd> Are you doing a third season as well?
Max> Yeah. I’m leaving half-way through, just because it’s so much work. It’s six months of the year. I most certainly couldn’t do a five-month run at the Royal Corp. I’d be insanely bored after the first week. I like to just go and shoot it. I don’t want to rehearse it out. I want to take what’s natural, in the moment, and try to capture that on film. This has been a wonderful show for us. It’s sold to 48 territories. I went to Australia at Christmas with Robbie Williams, who’s a friend of mine, to play drums, and we could not walk anywhere without people going, “We love this show! We’re big fans of Babylon!” That’s a great thing. But, it’s the third year and it’s time to go. When I was first negotiating television contracts in America, about six years ago, they signed you for five years, at the most. Now it’s a seven-year contract, and that’s not for me, really, unless it’s your own vehicle and it’s very successful, like 24. I spent a few weeks with Kiefer Sutherland in Romania, where we filmed Mirrors, and that show is just phenomenal. If you’ve got a vehicle like that, and you’re into your 7th or 8th season, that’s just great. Other than that, I think it’s important to keep reinventing yourself with different roles.
MediaBlvd> As an artist, is there something that you get from acting that you don’t get from music, and vice versa?
Max> It’s quite simple. It’s black and white. I’ve worked with 19 out of 20 of the people in the world that I wanted to play with, and they’re serious artists. I got to a stage where I went, “Okay, I’m fairly good at what I do, and I can slip in and do the work.” I’m not being ass-y about it, but I knew I could hold my own with pretty much anyone in the game. It goes back to feeling cavalier at school and not focusing 100% on the work. Michael Jackson is the only performer left that I haven’t played with, that I wanted to play with. I’ve played with James Brown, Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire, George Benson, Stevie Wonder. I’ve fulfilled the dream. With acting, I went and did the studying and thought, “This is interesting. This is like psychotherapy, in a weird way, and it’s a new world that I don’t know a lot about. I’m a beginner, and I’m a learner.” I’d like to reach 80 and go, “I’m quite an advanced student, at this point. I’m still not a doctor, in this art form, but I’m an advanced student.” I think it’s beautiful that you can learn and keep learning, specifically within the genre of acting. Acting is a great thing because it means that, because of the diversity of the roles you play, you’re never actually 100% the governor, or the professor, of what you’re doing. You’re always learning, and I really thrive for that.
MediaBlvd> You’ve done comedy and drama. Is there one that you prefer, or one that comes easier for you?
Max> Comedy is really hard. It’s harder than you think. I was reading something about comedy actors that want to get into drama, and there’s not a lot of them that can do it. I don’t know whether that’s because we’re so used to their comedic performances, or whether it’s because they just don’t have the chops to do it. On Babylon this season, there are lines that could actually fall flat on their ass, if you don’t give them a little spring of magic. And, timing is so important. Maybe that’s where the music helps me. Personally, I much prefer doing very heavy duty dramatic roles because I can get my teeth into it more.
MediaBlvd> Are you still looking to do more work in the States?
Max> Yeah. Basically, the middle of October is going to be the first time, in four and a half years, where I’m out of contract. I did three shows -- Bodies, Babylon and, more recently, this thing for ITV, called Talk to Me. I’ve always been contractually obliged to stay in England, which has been great. Isn’t it amazing that I’m praying for the day that I’m out of a contract, yet as actors, we’re always wanting to be hired? I’ve got a wonderful agent in the States, at Paradigm, who’s got some great clients, like Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Chris Cooper, and we want to try to really do some very clever work and make some very specific choices with what we’re going to do. I don’t want to just run into a 7-year stretch at NBC, CBS or ABC. Basically, it’s all in the script. And, when you do get one of the networks giving you their scripts and going, “We want you to be the header for this, it’s going to be brilliant, it’s got a great director, and it’s written so well,” you’ve got to be brave to wonder, “Can I work with that for three or four or five years? Can I make that interesting? Can I attack that project?” If not, I’m not going to be tempted by that security. I’m going to take risks. I think that’s very important. That’s what keeps you alive. Hollywood is hard. I’ve been going there since 2000. I’ve done all the general meetings with the casting directors, and the screen tests for the movies that are just so close. It’s right down to the line and one exec goes, “We’ll go with the good-looking French guy,” or whatever. Thankfully, I’ve had those experiences, which now means I don’t invest a lot into the moves I make. I make the moves and go, “If they work, great. If not, next.” I used to get off the plane and see the hills and think, “I’m going to fucking change this whole city.” In my own little world, and my own little dream, I genuinely thought I would. And, now I go, “Maybe I won’t. No problem. Let’s just see how it goes.” That’s the attitude to have. If you have the other attitude, you will be absolutely, completely wiped out by the system here because it’s cutthroat, it’s fast moving and it’s devastating, without any compassion or support, whatsoever. I have a few friends who have done very well in America, like Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Colin Farrell, Paul Bettany, and all the boys. They’re all moving up. It’s that one little bit of work that does it. And, I know how it works now. What I’ve fallen in love with is the idea of going, “I’m not getting $10 million a movie. I’m not shooting with Pacino on Monday morning. However, at this moment in time, right now, I’m learning.” When that moment comes, if it comes -- and I’m pretty sure it will, without sounding like a freak -- I will be 100% prepared because I’m learning. That’s a great thing. After a six-month stint, I come away from L.A. and go, “Well, I did that shitty action movie and paid homage to Warner Bros., or Fox, or whoever, but I’m not going home mentally and psychologically empty. It’s another bit of experience.” I think it’s very important to keep level-headed, slow down and just read everything and go, “Here’s the move that I’m going to do,” and be on top of the game. I know there’s a market for me in America. What I mean by that is that I know there’s a niche for me, and I know that I will annihilate it and eat it and inhale it. I’m looking forward to doing that.
