DAVID WALLIAMS I once told the actor Niall Buggy, “I love acting because I love getting to play lots of different people and sort of disguising myself.” He said, “ Really great actors reveal something of themselves when they act.” It knocked me for six. Do you think it’s concealing something about yourself or revealing something?

MICHAEL GAMBON I think it’s revealing something. Every part you play, you are playing yourself, really. But you just twist yourself to reveal what’s written, don’t you? It’s essentially you.

DW It’s showing a vulnerability.

MG Yes, it’s good to show vulnerability. When I was in that David Hare play Skylight, there was one bit when I just used to break down crying. It wasn’t in the script, but I shoved it in because it seemed to fit the moment. Nobody, not David even, ever commented on it, so I presume they liked it. But, without being self-indulgent, it was wonderful to do that, to kind of open up a chasm.

DW Though as an actor you’re powerfully physically present, you always also show a vulnerability.

MG Well, that’s what’s attractive, isn’t it? It’s what makes you want to do it: to find the weaknesses in people [ he pauses]. For example, I love playing with my back to the audience.

DW A key role for you, and one that I remember well from seeing it when I was at school, was Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective. Your role, playing the writer in hospital, attracted a huge amount of sympathy, didn’t it? I know you’d had huge stage success by then, but did you feel it made you a star?

MG Yeah, yeah. It was the first big public thing I’d done and it had some wonderful writing. But yes, it’s mentioned every week to me. Everyone I meet mentions it. People in the street mention it. Taxi drivers always talk about it.

DW And did people realise that you were pretending to have the skin disease? That it was make-up?

MG To be honest, it was never as bad as I used to tell people. Because you want to get a bit of extra money for the make-up girls, you lie about how long it takes to put on.

DW It’s always good to lie. In Little Britain, we have fat suits. The first time we were interviewed, we said they took about three hours to put on, then it became four hours; by the next time, it was about eight hours. Did Dennis Potter come on set?

MG Now and again. When Joanne Whalley was there, he always turned up [ he convulses into giggles]. I do remember him coming into rehearsals and scratching a bit. He was there for the first read-through. I watched his hands and then just copied them. And I said, “Is it like that?” And he said, “Yeah.”

And he said, “Hold your cup like that with the thumb.” So I did all that. And then I told Michael Caine that I had to smoke a lot and he said, “Keep the fag under the bedclothes so that they can’t see it, and then bring it up in moments.”

DW You had a late flowering, really. You were in Othello with Maggie Smith and Laurence Olivier, holding a spear. How many years were you holding a spear?

MG I was with the National for four years after it first opened. And eventually, I got little lines. You know, I actually said to Maggie Smith, “Madame, your carriage is waiting.”

DW Oh, I think I spotted that. You were wonderful. You stole the show.

MG And then I went to Olivier, who was brilliant, and said, “I’d like a part.” And he said, “What part do you want?” No, actually, he said, “ Who’s playing the part you want?” And I said, “Well, Derek Jacobi, Robert Stephens, Colin Blakely.” And he said, “Well, I can’t give you their parts.” And I said, “I’m not asking you to do that.”

DW [Interrupting] Could he see the potential in you or were you frustrated, thinking, “I’m a potentially great actor”?

MG Oh, I wouldn’t have been thinking that. I just wanted to play better parts. He said he couldn’t give me anything better, but he did ring up Birmingham Rep and got me a season. I went immediately there and played Othello, which I’d just been in with Olivier. I copied him exactly.

DW Did you get away with it?

MG Yeah, I didn’t sound like him, but I remembered everything he did and I kind of echoed him.

DW It’s weird, seeing footage of him as Othello, how out of time it now feels, and

DW [Guffawing] Well, that’s all right then [ both laugh].

MG I wasn’t great because I have terrible concentration, and we were playing in the round. I can’t do that. I’d look at Iago, and on each side of his head there would be a pair of trainers and a kid looming above them.

DW So, was that in the matinées, then, that you’d have loads of kids in?

MG Well, yeah, but it’s not really a play for kids, is it? They need to laugh a bit.

DW There are lots of stories I’ve heard from actors who’ve worked with you about how you like to play around a bit when you’re working.

MG Yeah, I know, I’ve got this reputation, but it’s not really true. I mean, I might play around in rehearsals, where I like to stretch it and see how far I can take things.

DW But you’ve never, ever mucked around when you’re on stage?

MG [Laughs] Oh, I have. Of course I have. The truth is that sometimes I’ve told stories, down laughing. So that rather backfired for me. The best fart machine was Johnny Depp’s in Sleepy Hollow. Marlon Brando was a specialist in fart machines; he gave Johnny one. They pass through generations of actors.

DW You did work with Brando, didn’t you?

MG I did.

DW In A Dry White Season?

MG Yes, and I got quite close to him.Well, sort of.

DW That was a bit of a reinvention for him.

MG Yes, and he’s another one who fooled about all day and every day. I remember him laughing a lot and pretending that he didn’t know what the word “action” meant. They were all in awe of him, and as soon as they shouted it out, he’d ask [ he imitates Brando’s voice], “What does that mean?” in quite an English voice. And someone would nervously explain, “Oh, it means you have to start acting now.” And he’d say, “Ooh, I haven’t done any acting for years and I’m not going to start now.”

DW You’ve worked with Stephen Poliakoff before. What draws you to his work?

MG The dialogue and the parts with a bit of depth. They deal with weaknesses and operate on all sorts of levels.

DW It’s quite unusual to work with someone who is a writer and director. He knows exactly how he wants it.

MG Exactly. I’ve had some trouble with the lines in this. My memory’s going. I’ve had some terrible days. But you just plough through. He’s good. You can trust him.

DW I loved that day when we all had a read- through together.

MG Yeah, terrifying.

DW Well, if you thought it was terrifying, imagine how I felt – having come from a television show where I’m mainly known for dragging up – to find myself sitting with Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Michael Gambon, and thinking, “Oh God, I have to read in front of them.” They must think I’m shit. Why were you scared?

MG I always am.

DW What, at read-throughs?

MG Yes. It’s the worst part of it, because it’s neither one thing or the other, is it? You’re performing, but you’re not.

DW Is there a frustrated comedian in you?

MG Oh yeah, I’d love to be a comedian. I’ve done a lot, but always in the confines of plays.

DW Are you a fan of comics?

MG Especially Tommy Cooper.

DW Have you ever been asked to play him?

MG Yes, but I was too frightened. I’m not an impersonator. I don’t want to be cornered like that.

DW I’ve seen you in things like Room 101 and Top Gear, but you haven’t been on Parkinson.

MG No, I won’t go.

DW It interests me that you’ll have fun going round a racetrack or something, but you don’t want to reveal that much about yourself.

MG No, I don’t. I’m frightened.

DW What are you frightened of?

MG I just hate the idea of being well known. I know that is almost impossible if you’re an actor who has done okay, but I’ve always fought against it.

DW So when you come on stage, people don’t say, “Oh, there he is.”

MG Yes, so I’m just an actor playing a part.

DW So, why then accept a job on a Harry Potter film?

MG Because you’re wearing an enormous disguising outfit.

DW You don’t get recognised by kids?

MG A child did approach me in a restaurant in Cornwall, but he thought I was Gandalf.

DW Had you seen the films?

MG No.

DW Have you seen any now?

MG No.

DW Not even the ones you’re in?

MG Oh, hang on, I saw one.

DW Is that because you don’t like to see yourself in anything?

MG No, I find it really alarming. And the older I get, the worse it becomes. I nip in to have a quick look, then I walk out and have a cup of tea, then nip in again. You can hear it in the other room, where it feels better.

DW I like it that you once auditioned for James Bond.

MG Yeah, it was after Lazenby. There was a whole queue downstairs at a house in Mayfair. We went up one at a time. Cubby Broccoli told me he had been stung by a model, which was George Lazenby. He said, “We want an unknown British stage actor.” I said, “I wouldn’t be much good.” He said, “Why not?” I said, “Well, I’ve got tits, bad teeth and no hair.” He said, “Listen, we have two leather-covered ice bags on set. We put them on Sean’s chest just before a take and it wakes his body up.” Then he said, “We can do the teeth.” I said, “Oh, all right, I’ll do it if you want me to.” They didn’t call me back.

DW But you are a sort of real-life James Bond. You have a pilot’s licence and you have a collection of antique guns, which makes you sound a bit mad. What do you do with them?

MG Everyone laughs at that. Why is it so much worse than having a collection of antique secateurs or something? I admire their craftsmanship. They’re beautiful. They have to be English or Irish and nonmilitary.

DW Do you ever fire them?

MG No, I belong to several societies, along with other anoraks, and we sit around and talk about them.

DW Have you kept up your pilot’s licence?

MG Yes, I keep it valid.

DW Are you like John Travolta?

MG No, it’s always been single-engine planes.

DW Do you like being alone up there?

MG Oh, yes.

DW Do you get that from being on stage?

MG I did a one-man play, Eh Joe, recently, where I didn’t speak and was alone. I didn’t really enjoy it. I found it lonely. I like the camaraderie of it all.

DW So, how much has success affected you? You’ve become famous. You’ve been knighted. Do you think you’re a better actor now than when you started?

MG I get more worried. Recently, I did Falstaff at the National, which I didn’t do justice to. Since then, I’ve lost a lot of confidence.

DW People thought it brilliant. What did you feel went wrong?

MG I didn’t make the full use of it, but I’d like to do it again. I felt the same way about Lear, but there is part of you that doesn’t want to go through that trauma again. When I did Falstaff, we did Part 1 and Part 2 together and rehearsed them together. I fought against feeling overwhelmed, but it was too muchfor me –just that sense of feeling defeated. You have to wear so much padding, and there was sweat pouring off you.

DW Now, I auditioned for Capturing Mary. When was the last time you had to audition?

MG Oh, years, years and years ago. When I was doing rep in London. I was no good. I was too nervous. I’ve done that thing where you go to the Dorchester to meet a famous film director.

DW You have to charm them?

MG Yes, the last one I went to was with the guy who directed Tootsie – Sydney Pollack? He said, “There’s something in you that makes you want to rebel.” Then he said, “Have you got your show reel?” I pretended not to know what that was. He said, “That’s where you have a tape of your work.” I said, “No, I wouldn’t have that, because all the work I have done has been shit.” I thought he’d laugh, but he just stared at me with a straight face. He looked at me like I was mad. It was awful.

Michael Gambon is in Joe’s Palace, BBC1, November 4; David Walliams is in Capturing Mary, BBC2, November 12

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