Jessica Hynes: Watch this Spaced
Jessica Hynes joined Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost to revolutionise TV comedy at the back end of the last century, but what's all this Americanisation talk? Mark Kebble finds out more
Above: Jessica Hynes, courtesy of Rex Features
Christmas hadn’t yet called when North did just that, interrupting Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson, in case you were wondering) festive preparations. She stifles a yawn, citing the Christmas decoration workload, and things suggest she isn’t too keen on a long chat. An hour later and only a dodgy mobile signal (and a need for a tree) brings the interview to an end.
Jessica is comedy gold in this country. Already a star of various sketch shows, in 1999 she was one part of the crew that brought us Spaced and woke up the struggling monster that was the British sitcom. It was a programme that made genuine stars of Jessica, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and also made director Edgar Wright hot property. Crouch End never looked so beautiful when the latter directed Pegg and Frost in Shaun of the Dead…
“Comparatively speaking I have done nothing,” Jessica insists when their success is mentioned. “Simon and Edgar have gone stellar.” Has the time since Spaced changed you all? “I think we are probably the same, but life changes you anyway. Perhaps we are slightly more grown up. I am less paranoid – is that the door? Who is that at the door? OHMIGOD, SOMEONE IS AT THE DOOR…” Jessica chuckles away with North, before adding: “I am funnier now than I have ever been!”
It’s typical of the interview, with north Londoner Jessica seamlessly mixing humour with a hint of bitterness about what’s going on around her. Perhaps that’s why charity Vitalise signed her up along with the likes of Jo Brand and Arthur Smith to front Bah Humbug, a comedy panel show, back at the start of the Christmas season. “I am a complete bah humbug,” she says with no hint of remorse. “Although I am not as cynical today. Now I spend it with my kids and my favourite thing is just being with my family.”
When asked about New Year resolutions, Jessica turns the tables and asks back: “What do you do?” Well, the usual – keep fit, less drinking, saner working hours (that one is for the bosses). “I make New Year resolutions every day,” Jessica joins in, clearly happy enough now to divulge. “I am neurotic in that way. I wake up and decide I am no longer going to make tea with full fat milk. I always make stupid resolutions that I will break. It’s a bad thing being constantly disappointed with yourself, so why set yourself up as a failure?”
Fair enough, but fans of Jessica’s work will hope that she keeps up a recent impressive stream of acting gigs. Top of the list, arguably, was her performances as Joan Redfern in two episodes of Doctor Who’s fantastic third series. “The idea of being in Cardiff for two weeks and away from my family was harsh, but the crew were brilliant,” she looks back on her part in Human Nature and The Family of Blood. “It was a great acting experience and David [Tennant] is a really good actor, so it was a dream.
“These series of Doctor Who, the ones written by Russell T Davies, are the best,” Jessica continues at pace. “Heroes is for pussies and you can quote me on that. Compared to Doctor Who, I would pick the Timelord any day. Sci-fi should be aliens, great special effects – Heroes is on late and is too psychological. Doctor Who gets it exactly right and is the reason why eight-year-olds can sit down and watch it – and sci-fi should be for everyone. We need event TV for children as they have not had anything for years.”
Considering Jessica already sounds a little angry at American TV, it’s a good time to talk about the proposed US version of Spaced. Committed fans to the comedy series will already baulk at the idea, before learning that our English comedy geniuses will not have a part to play. “They didn’t contact us at all about it,” Jessica retorts, her distaste clear to hear. “The film references will go, the drugs, they are planning to make it 30-somethings… They will still use a bit of the edgy style and the jump cuts, but they will never be able to do it the same as Edgar. They will obviously lose the Englishness of it too, but it’s nice to know that we probably had the idea ten years ago – a decade ahead of the Americans!”
Moving on to happier things – or not as the case may be – North mentions how Spaced gave Jessica a massive leg up when she won Best Female Comedy Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2000. “When you get a personal nomination, it is strange,” she reflects. “When I won that award, I didn’t know how to cope with it. I made some stupid joke and I didn’t thank Simon or the Spaced crew. I remember thinking afterwards, ‘What an idiot’. I was caught up in the moment… I actually think it’s much better not to win an award! You can just go and have a good night. I do think awards are a power thing, people in a position to tell you that you are good. You get picked up and then you get knocked down.”
She did also get a nomination for an Olivier Award in 2003 for her performance in The Night Heron – “I thought I would win that one, which is probably why I didn’t” – so does the stage tempt her? “I love being on stage and being in front of an audience,” she replies. “I love feeling alive on stage, but I don’t get chance to do it at the moment.” Although Bah Humbug is in the form of a panel show, how about comedy stand-up? “I am sort of tempted as I watch it a lot. Chris Rock, Joan Rivers – a random two there – but I am probably a bit scared. You start off in stand-up and then graduate, so I would have to do it in reverse. People may come and see me and expect something good, but I would get too angry and go into a bitter tirade, then it would just be me alone on stage…”
It’s funny to think of Jessica as a depressed comic when she really isn’t that at all. Perhaps that’s something expected in the comedy world, the old, ‘They are really funny live, but actually quite boring in real life’ – for Jessica it would be, ‘She’s quite angry on stage’ and the opposite is true in reality. She admits that she “hasn’t a clue” about what 2008 will bring, but her writing will continue at full speed after the recent Learners on BBC 1, which saw her reunite with David Tennant. However, for now, she’s got to go out and get that Christmas tree.
EXTRA, EXTRA… HANG ON, WASN’T JESSICA IN HARRY POTTER?
More on the Vitalise event:
“It’s for a really good cause. Vitalise help people who are home carers, but they also aid a lot of children caring for their parents too. It’s a really good cause, so it is lovely to be asked. That’s the real boon doing comedy: you get involved in events like this.”
Working alongside Sally Phillips:
“She’s the Queen of Deadpan. Many have tried to follow, but no-one can do it like her.”
Success of Learners:
“That got good viewing figures. It was great that David [Tennant] did it. Learners was just a one-off and was an idea that came up three years ago with director Francesca Joseph. I found myself always trying to do a gag and have a laugh, but Francesca was having none of it! David really got into it and I loved the detail he brought to the role.”
On the best award nomination:
“The Spaced nomination for International Emmy stands out. We went to New York for a weekend and it was just amazing. I had never been there and had one day to see all the tourist sights, so we didn’t stop. We lost to Graham Norton, but I didn’t care about that!”
On ‘playing’ Malfada Hopkirk in Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix:
“I don’t like it when people mention that! You would be quite sure that I wasn’t in the film [she voices Malfada], be at the after party and insist I wasn’t in it. I did my arch comedy posh voice for that. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be in it, but most people wouldn’t mention it!”