THE WONDERFUL ACTOR AND PERFECT GENT…

HUGH BONNEVILLE

CUPCAKE    What was the last thing you read?

HB    ME: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY by Byron Rogers. I enjoyed it so much I’m trying to buy the film rights. 

CUPCAKE   What’s your favourite comedy TV programme, present or past?

HB    The Larry Sanders Show. Genius. But not available on DVD, which is really annoying.

CUPCAKE    cosy night in or fav restaurant?

HB    Madhurban Indian restaurant in Liss, their hottest dish extinguished with lager and Mrs Bonneville doing the driving. Bliss. (I’m nothing if not classy, me).

CUPCAKE    Which do you find more rewarding acting on stage or screen?

HB    Spiritually, the stage. Financially, pretty much anything else.

CUPCAKE     Although the news is generally all doom and gloom at the moment, what do you feel is man’s greatest accomplishment, so far?

HB    The overdraft.

CUPCAKE     Bath or shower?

HB    Depends who’s in it at the time.

CUPCAKE    If you could only take one bottle of good wine on a desert island which would it be, red or white?

HB    White is a red that failed to graduate.

CUPCAKE    Chocolate or cheese?

HB    Cheese

CUPCAKE     What would say is your most annoying habit? and best attribute?

HB    a) Not finishing what I star… b) my calves.

CUPCAKE     Beatles or Santana ?

HB    Wham

CUPCAKE    which word (or phrase) do you overuse?

HB    Basically I don’t overuse any word, basically. 

CUPCAKE    do you twitter?

HB    Twitter? I can barely speak.

CUPCAKE   cashmere or silk

HB    Cashmere

CUPCAKE    What is your favourite magazine?

HB    The Chap

CUPCAKE     What  would your ’bucket list’ include? name  4 or 5 things you simply have to do    before……!

HB    lock Tony Blair in a dark room with a truth serum and ask him about Iraq; drive across America; persuade my wife to buy a hybrid car; earn enough money to go to the Four Seasons Hotel in the Maldives again; sort out my photo albums.

CUPCAKE     What’s your signature dish in the kitchen, beans on toast or the Sunday Roast or?

HB    the washing up.

CUPCAKE      spend or save?

HB    I should be so lucky.

CUPCAKE     What is the best bit of advice anyone has given you?

HB    Do it now (Celia Imrie – or rather her Mum)

CUPCAKE     do you forgive easily?

HB    I’m a Scorpio. Forgive but never forget.

CUPCAKE    who is your hero?

HB    My son.

CUPCAKE    gym or run

HB    Run. In the woods, no-one can hear you scream.

CUPCAKE   what is your greatest extravagance?

HB    decent wine

AT     Bird or beast?

HB    Beast

CUPCAKE     What is your favourite pudding?

HB    sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream

CUPCAKE     Are you happier with the dress code of smart or casual?

HB    casual

CUPCAKE     What is your idea of perfect happiness?

HB    Sitting on Harting Down on a sunny day with swallows swirling above.

CUPCAKE     What is your motto or mantra?

HB    We are where we are, so best get on with it.

Hugh made his feature film debut in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1993, directed by Kenneth Branagh. He has since appeared in more than a dozen films, including Mansfield Park, Stage Beauty, Asylum, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, Man To Man, From Time To Time and Glorious 39. In 2002 Hugh won the New Talent Award at the Berlin Film Festival and a BAFTA Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of the young John Bayley in Iris and in 2009 he won Best Actor at the Monte Carlo Film Festival for his performance in French Film. Hugh is perhaps best known as Bernie, the dozy stockbroker, in Richard Curtis’ Notting Hill, directed by Roger Michell. Forthcoming film releases include Hippie Hippie Shake, Shanghai, andBarafundle Bay.

In July this year Hugh completed a most gruelling race in the UK – Trailwalker. Racing non-stop for 100 kilometres from Petersfield to Brighton along the South Downs Way. The team were called Lumley’s Lads, a team of four Sussex neighbours were raising money for both Oxfam and the Gurhka Welfare Trust,

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