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A&E: Why did you originally want
to get involved with Hornblower?
Andrew Benson: Well, I think it's very rare
as an adult that anyone ever phones you up and says, "Would you like to play
with the biggest train set in the world?" And that's what this is like. It's a
huge project. There are very few projects on television on either side of the
Atlantic that match this in terms of scale and enterprise and ambition. And as a
producer, why would you turn that down?
A&E: Did you know these films were going to be
so successful? What is the reason for Hornblower's success?
AB: You never know. No one ever knows.
Whatever you're making, whether it's a TV show, or a film, or writing a book,
you never know. We knew we had something special. We knew we had terrific raw
material in the scripts, and we knew we had a wonderful young actor even though
before we started the Hornblowers, not many people knew of Ioan [Gruffudd]. But,
did we know it would be as successful and as popular? No. And I don't think
anyone does, and once we finished shooting, even we thought we had something
pretty special. But, until the audience sees it, you should never be too cocky.
A&E: What has been the greatest difficulty in
shooting the new episodes?
AB: The changeability of the weather here
[in Menorca, Spain]. I mean, any producer will say that about any film. But, if
you're filming on, in, and by the sea, there are days when the wind blows that
you just can't shoot so you have to do other things, and that unpredictability,
I would say, is the biggest problem here. Plus, it's an island. Getting things
in and out is more time consuming. It's been very hot on certain days, which is
very tiring for everyone. We've had a lot of physical action stuff to shoot with
a lot of extras. But, you know, I suppose having doneÑthis is numbers five and
six for me nowÑI must say I've got blasŽ, but I've learned that you have to
accept each challenge as it comes and get on with it really.
A&E: What has been the sweetest joy?
AB: Ah, the sweetest joy. Seeing the rushes,
because I think this is the best stuff we've ever shot—I should say the
dailies—for your audience. It is, I think, the best stuff we've ever shot. The
best in terms of the performances. We've got a fantastic cast. Not only the
people who are returning that everyone will know: Ioan and Sean and Paul Copley
and Robert Lindsay and Jamie Bamber, of course. But also terrific new people
added to the cast. We've got David Warner coming in playing the captain of the
ship, which I think is a stunning performance. We've got Paul McGann, who a lot
of people know from Withnail and I, as well as a lot of other films he's been in
- recently, Dr. Who in America—who's come in as Lieutenant Bush, who's going to
be one of Hornblower's biggest allies in the future. We've got Nick Jones
[Buckland], who has just been in America on the RSC Production, playing the lead
in A Midsummer's Night Dream. Bit of a difference coming to play a
lieutenant in the Royal Navy. So, we've got a terrific cast and really very
ambitious sequences that we've been setting up. So, seeing the dailies and
seeing that all come to fruition and seeing, as I say, what I think is the best
stuff we've ever done, that's the sweetest moment out here.
A&E: There has been some
discussion on the AandE.com Web site about the relationship between Bush and
Hornblower now that Kennedy is in this story. Can you talk about that?
AB: First of all, I think
Lieutenant
Hornblower is an interesting book because, for much of the book, it's told from
Bush's perspective. And I think the reason that Forester did that was in order
to get an insight into what Hornblower was thinking, rather than having
soliloquy, which he never writes. So the whole question of what was the role of
Bush within this particular story - unlike later stories, he has a much more
proactive and involved role with Hornblower - was something we've thought about
long and hard. And in fact, what we've got now is two opposing views of whatever
is happening in a particular situation, so that Kennedy has a more
heart-in-his-sleeve, direct approach, a gut reaction, an emotional reaction to
what's going on, and Bush has the more stoic, the more reasoned, the quieter
view. And I think, with that, what we've done is we've created a drama so that
you've got two different people voicing two different ideas of what the choices
are ahead and Hornblower obviously in the middle. So, it's an opportunity for us
to see Hornblower analyzing what the courses of action should be. I think it
actually works very well. I won't tell you what we're doing at the end of the
two films because it would spoil it. I would say the camps were fairly evenly
divided with the "God, you must bring Kennedy back" camp to the "How are you
going to do that because Bush is in the book?" And I think what should always be
remembered if people want to go right back and read Mr. Midshipman Hornblower,
there are no characters in Mr. Midshipman Hornblower who are Styles, Matthews,
Kennedy. Bracegirdle is a different character in the book and not the character
that we brought him out to be, and I could go on and on and on. So, it is
adaptation and you know, you are moving from one medium to another, and I think
you have to accept that. And you have to dramatize what maybe Forester wrote in
one or two lines or three lines becomes a whole sequence of scenes in order to
explain it, and you can only do that via the characters. And I think we've got
four different lieutenants now on board the ship who all voice a different
approach to the dilemma that they're facing vis-a-vis their captain. I hope it
works. I think it does.
A&E: So, you've heard about AandE.com?
AB: Yeah, I log onto it! In fact, when we
were casting the show, I logged onto the [site]. There was a whole load of
correspondence of people who were suggesting who could play the various
characters. I kind of dismissed the people who said Brad Pitt on the basis that
that was probably wish fulfillment. But there were, actually, some rather
interesting suggestions, and a couple of people actually suggested Paul McGann
for Bush so, hey, you know, maybe I do pay attention to what's on the Web site
as well. Whether it's that they live in a small community somewhere and this
like what I did when I was a kid and I had a pen pal. Whether it's that or
whether it's not I think the nicest thing is that some people who wrote to me after
the last series went out, who said, My kids never read, and I finally got them
to read a book. For me, that's the biggest achievement because it's all about
reading. Whenever anyone asks me, if ever I do a lecture or anything, I say read
a lot. Because that's where it all comes from, and to think that maybe in some
very, very small way we've encouraged some young people who don't normally pick
up a book to pick up a book—and maybe they might pick up some others—that's
great.
A&E: Why do you think there is such a following
of the Hornblower stories?
AB: You know what, I have no idea. It is
very, very gratifying to know that there are literally thousands of people who
it's made a difference to their life, whether it's they live in a small
community somewhere, and this is like I did when I was a kid when I had a pen
pal. You know, whether it's that or not. I think the nicest thing is some
people who wrote to me after the last series went out, who said, "My kids have
never read, and I finally got them to read a book." And for me, that's the
biggest achievement because it's all about reading. Whenever anyone asks me-if
ever I do a lecture or anything-"How did you get into producing?" I say, "Read a
lot," because that's where it all comes from and to think that maybe in some
very, very small way we've encouraged some young people who don't normally pick
up a book to pick up a book or maybe they might pick up some others, that's
great. But I don't know why. I can't explain why. Ioan, maybe? Of course, he's a
big reason why; of course, I know that. He' s a hugely talented actor, and he's
a very attractive young man, and he's a very nice young man. It's very rare that
you get all those things in one package. But quite such a phenomenal success? I
couldn't answer it, and maybe it's best that I can't.
A&E: Can you tell us something about Ioan that
we don't know?
AB: He really is as nice as everyone thinks
he is. He is a very hardworking, very talented young man, who really hasn't been
spoiled by the success that he's had—not only in Hornblower, but in Great
Expectations and in his other work in the last year or so, and the fact that
he's about to be in the next Dalmatians movie. It really hasn't spoiled him at
all, and I hope that continues, and I think it will. He takes his work very
seriously, but he is really a charming and delightful young man. Everyone says
that, and it sounds a bit dull maybe—that you say he really is that nice—but he
really is. What can I say that people don't know about him? I don't know. He
probably smiles more than a lot of people realize on the film, because most the
time he's got a grin on his face, and he's laughing until you say "Action," and
then he goes into character. But he loves a laugh, and he loves a joke. He loves
being with his friends, loves being with his family, particularly his family,
very close to all his family. In fact, his mom and his sister are out here at
the moment, which shows just how close he is to his family.
A&E: Will there be more Hornblower movies?
AB: Well, as
everybody knows, there's a whole load of books. So, yes, there's ample scope for
us to do some more. I suppose really, the answer is, if these two films are a
success on both sides of the Atlantic, and the people who sign the checks at the
end of the day, sign the right checks, then we'd love to make some more. That's
really all it's down to. Obviously, we need to get the actors back, and we need
to do the things we've done for these two. But, yeah, if everybody watches these
shows and makes them a success, there will be more!
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