0:00:15 > 0:00:18Born and raised in Glasgow, Billy Connolly left school at 15
0:00:18 > 0:00:20and took on a range of odd jobs
0:00:20 > 0:00:22before starting his career in entertainment.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26He soon developed a cult following for his comedy, but it wasn't
0:00:26 > 0:00:30until a 1975 performance on the BBC Parkinson show that he began
0:00:30 > 0:00:34to get film offers, and his first big-screen appearance
0:00:34 > 0:00:36was alongside Richard Burton in Absolution.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44Whilst he continued with smaller film roles and television work,
0:00:44 > 0:00:48it wasn't until 1997, playing opposite Judi Dench in Mrs Brown,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52that Connolly received widespread recognition for a dramatic role,
0:00:52 > 0:00:55earning a BAFTA nomination for Leading Actor.
0:00:55 > 0:00:57Since then, he's proved a distinctive character actor
0:00:57 > 0:01:00and an accomplished voice performer,
0:01:00 > 0:01:03with roles in Beautiful Joe, The Man Who Sued God
0:01:03 > 0:01:05and, most recently, Pixar's Brave.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11He'll next be seen in Dustin Hoffman's directing debut Quartet
0:01:11 > 0:01:15and as the dwarf king in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23BAFTA Scotland has bestowed its highest honour on Billy Connolly
0:01:23 > 0:01:27for Outstanding Contribution to Television and Film.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29This is his life in pictures.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33APPLAUSE
0:01:43 > 0:01:46We're going to talk about your life in pictures and we're going
0:01:46 > 0:01:50to talk about, sort of, early experience of films and movies.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54I mean, did you go to the films when you were a boy?
0:01:54 > 0:01:56Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I went to, er...
0:01:58 > 0:02:01..matinees and all that, you know? Like, when I was a kid.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03And at the Western, in Partick.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07The Standard, the Tivoli and the Rosevale...
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and, er, it was good. I loved them. I thought it was amazing.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Did you think that you might, yourself, end up on screen?
0:02:14 > 0:02:16I mean, was that...?
0:02:16 > 0:02:19- You know, because a lot of kids do dream of being films stars.- Yeah...
0:02:20 > 0:02:22..I did. I...and I sound,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27I always sound, kind of, I, kind of, presume that I sound, kind of...
0:02:29 > 0:02:34..big headed and overconfident but I, kind of, dreamt it.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39- Everything I did and I've done, I dreamt it before.- Oh.
0:02:39 > 0:02:44I, kind of, saw it happening. I aimed at it and got it.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46Although I'm not an ambitious kind of man,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49I have been dragged screaming into it most of the time.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52But when you, your first, sort of, major film role
0:02:52 > 0:02:54was in Absolution with Richard Burton.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Yeah, I just met him that day.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00And I, kind of, didn't know what to make of him
0:03:00 > 0:03:03because he's the biggest star I'd ever met, you know? And...
0:03:03 > 0:03:07but he was being very personable, very...
0:03:07 > 0:03:09pally and chatty and...
0:03:09 > 0:03:11he must've thought I was real standoffish.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I was just, kind of, looking at him all the time, you know?
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Or he thought I was mentally ill or was stoned!
0:03:16 > 0:03:19I looked like I was, kind of, stoned, "Whoa."
0:03:19 > 0:03:23And back in the 70s, I mean, Burton was, probably, certainly one of the biggest stars in the world.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27The biggest star in the world, yeah! Very good.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30And the funniest thing was I was drunk then and he was sober!
0:03:30 > 0:03:32LAUGHTER
0:03:45 > 0:03:47BAT CLACKING
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Hey, Dad!
0:03:55 > 0:03:57What do you want?
0:03:57 > 0:03:58Anything doing?
0:03:58 > 0:04:00I beg your pardon?
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Have you any odd jobs up at the school?
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Chief cook, bottle washer - you know the kind of thing.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08There are no current vacancies and if there are they are generally
0:04:08 > 0:04:11advertised in the local town journal, which is ten miles away.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14Are you the gaffer? How about a gardener?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18I could do you a lovely rock garden. Wee alpine flowers and waterfalls.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22- I think we can look after ourselves very well, thank you.- Very good.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25And a Merry Christmas to you too!
0:04:32 > 0:04:34I mean, it's a pretty big thing
0:04:34 > 0:04:36to be in a film with Richard Burton, isn't it?
0:04:36 > 0:04:40- Did you not feel that at the time? - I did...
0:04:40 > 0:04:42but it's like all of these things, you know?
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Because I've been with a few stars now and I've always been the same.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51Like, it's a shock when you first hear it, like Tom Cruise,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54or whoever it is, but as soon as you've met them it goes away.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58It's, you know, because normally they are pretty nice people and...
0:04:58 > 0:05:00I mean, after Absolution there was the series...
0:05:00 > 0:05:02You did quite a lot of concert films
0:05:02 > 0:05:06and you did some comedy with Whoopi Goldberg in the States,
0:05:06 > 0:05:07I mean, those were all quite big things -
0:05:07 > 0:05:09you were working a bit in the states -
0:05:09 > 0:05:13- and then along comes Mrs Brown.- Aye.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Directed by John Madden, written by Jeremy Brock,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and, of course, this extraordinary relationship
0:05:19 > 0:05:21between Queen Victoria and her gillie.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25Now, what did you know about John Brown before you made the film?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Nothing much.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Except that he, he had...
0:05:31 > 0:05:33..had it off with the Queen, you know?
0:05:33 > 0:05:35LAUGHTER
0:05:36 > 0:05:38I mean, what else do you want to know?
0:05:38 > 0:05:39LAUGHTER
0:05:39 > 0:05:44You know? His telephone number? It's just...and it was amazing
0:05:44 > 0:05:48because I was doing a series about the Scottish art
0:05:48 > 0:05:52and the director of that said,
0:05:52 > 0:05:55"Listen, I've got this property here...er...
0:05:56 > 0:05:59..it's about John Brown, are you familiar with John?"
0:05:59 > 0:06:01I said, "What, the Queen Victoria John Brown?"
0:06:01 > 0:06:05He said, "Yeah." And we were standing up behind the palace, in Edinburgh,
0:06:05 > 0:06:06where the government now is,
0:06:06 > 0:06:10we were up on that green hill at the back, there, looking down.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14And he said, "Would you play John Brown if I offered it to you?"
0:06:14 > 0:06:17I said, "Like that," I said, "I'd love it,"
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and he said, "I've got Judi Dench..."
0:06:20 > 0:06:26and I said, "Oh, we've got it. It's amazing. I'll do it in a heartbeat."
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- What are those?- What?
0:06:31 > 0:06:35- Those! Over there. There! - Ah...Craobhan geanmchno-fhiadhaich
0:06:35 > 0:06:39"Craobhan..." Oh, how can I possibly say that with a straight face!
0:06:41 > 0:06:44I'm thinking of publishing my Highland journals.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46Are they worth reading?
0:06:46 > 0:06:48- I'm told so.- By whom?
0:06:48 > 0:06:51Sir Henry Ponsonby tells me they're charming.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54What does he know about the Highlands?
0:06:54 > 0:06:56He has been attending at Balmoral for many years.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58That hardly makes him an expert.
0:06:59 > 0:07:04His remarks were directed at the quality of writing, not its subject.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06I don't groom a horse to have it admired by others,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I groom it because it needs grooming.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12I do not do it for others but Ponsonby thinks they are good.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Just say what you have to say, woman!
0:07:14 > 0:07:16What other people think shouldn't matter to you.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Of course I should say what I have to say, I always do!
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Well, if it's a good opinion you're looking for,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23he's the very man to oblige you.
0:07:24 > 0:07:29What Mr Ponsonby was appreciating was their literary merit.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32A skill not intimately associated with the knowledge of grooming.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37At one point I thought she fancied me, you know?
0:07:37 > 0:07:41And I learned a great deal at that moment, you know, about,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45kind of, being the thing instead of learning the words and just doing it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50We were doing the eightsome reel and she was across from me,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52looking a bit flushed, you know?
0:07:52 > 0:07:54And she's giving me the eye, and I thought,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58"Oh, my God, Judi Dench is coming on to me...
0:07:58 > 0:08:00LAUGHTER
0:08:00 > 0:08:04"What I going to do? In front of all these people as well!"
0:08:08 > 0:08:11And we danced a wee bit more and then she's doing it again
0:08:11 > 0:08:13and I thought, "Oh, Christ, it's getting worse."
0:08:13 > 0:08:15And then it dawned on me that
0:08:15 > 0:08:20it was Queen Victoria was fancying me, you know? And...
0:08:20 > 0:08:24and so I copied her, I fancied her back!
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- And it worked!- And it worked brilliantly, yeah.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Have you ever acted with anybody who stayed in character out...
0:08:32 > 0:08:36- You know, when the cameras weren't rolling?- Yeah...
0:08:36 > 0:08:39I think it's a serious pain in the arse.
0:08:39 > 0:08:40LAUGHTER
0:08:40 > 0:08:42I think it's pretentious crap.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46Quite a lot of very well-known actors do do it.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51I know but I think it's indulgent. I could be...
0:08:51 > 0:08:54that's very unfair of me to say that, maybe that's how they do it.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58Obviously, that's the way they get it on but, like, if I'm
0:08:58 > 0:09:03in the trailer and I like hanging with the crew on these films, and...
0:09:04 > 0:09:06..and they do great things.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09They build great things and they make great things,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11and you can always get things from them.
0:09:11 > 0:09:14You know, they make belts and shoes...
0:09:14 > 0:09:17I've got a great pair of shoes from The Hobbit.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Made of stingray.- Wow.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21- Yeah, they're brilliant.- Soft or...?
0:09:21 > 0:09:26Yeah...and they put frog inserts on my cowboy boots.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30- If you hunt them down they can do things for you!- Is this legal?
0:09:30 > 0:09:34Yeah, oh, I'm sure it's terribly illegal but the...
0:09:34 > 0:09:37all those guys and I like the crew generally,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I generally get on very well with them, and I always say to them,
0:09:41 > 0:09:46"Listen, when I'm on my way from my trailer to do the gig, you know,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50to actually act, don't talk to me,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53don't tell me jokes and all that, you know?
0:09:53 > 0:09:56When I'm on the way back, fair enough.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00Or when I'm hanging out I'll talk to you and blah-blah-blah,"
0:10:00 > 0:10:02and with drivers I say,
0:10:02 > 0:10:04"If I get into the backseat I don't want to talk,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08"if I get in the front seat we'll rabbit away,"
0:10:08 > 0:10:10because I've got lines to go over.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13But with the trailer thing and the crew
0:10:13 > 0:10:16I've been trying to become the guy...
0:10:18 > 0:10:20I've got into what he was doing that day,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23- I know what he had for breakfast and all that.- So, it's a bit Method?
0:10:23 > 0:10:28- A bit Method acting?- A bit Methody, yeah.- Yeah.- Just trying to get...
0:10:28 > 0:10:30It was my wife taught me how to do it.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33She was talking about it yesterday, she said...
0:10:33 > 0:10:37It sounds ridiculous, I was on location somewhere
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and I phoned her up and I said, "Listen, how do you act?"
0:10:41 > 0:10:42LAUGHTER
0:10:42 > 0:10:45"What do you do? What's, what's, what's...?
0:10:45 > 0:10:47"This is too hard for me."
0:10:47 > 0:10:51And she said, "You know, you'll have to get into the, you know, the...
0:10:51 > 0:10:57"You have to get beyond just learning the words and avoiding the furniture.
0:10:57 > 0:11:01"Just...get deeply into who he is.
0:11:01 > 0:11:03"Think about what he had for breakfast
0:11:03 > 0:11:08"and how his wife treated him that day, and where she is, and...
0:11:08 > 0:11:12"how does he feel about her, and blah-blah-blah, whatever you like.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15"You can add kids and...
0:11:15 > 0:11:20"they'd be giving you a bad time, and blah-blah-blah, and you can...
0:11:20 > 0:11:23"work that into your head, and then come out in that mood."
0:11:23 > 0:11:28- The next film, Still Crazy, which is...- Oh, God, what a laugh!
0:11:28 > 0:11:30This is a film about, I don't know how many of you have seen it,
0:11:30 > 0:11:36but it's a film about a band who get back together after, oh, decades...
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Aye, it's good cos it's the sweaty sock and of rock 'n' roll.
0:11:40 > 0:11:41It's good, it's very good.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44And there's that whole, sort of, thing about being on the road
0:11:44 > 0:11:47and being in the bus, and all this, which, you know, you would be...
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I've done it all my life. I've done it all my adult life so it's...
0:11:50 > 0:11:52it comes quite easy, you know?
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Can you believe it?! What I strayed into? Night of the Living Dead?
0:11:59 > 0:12:00Hughie!
0:12:00 > 0:12:05Oh, Jesus Christ, you big sack of shite, Beano Baggot!
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Oh, where's Tony? Oh-ho, Tony boy!
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Look at you! You big bollocks!
0:12:10 > 0:12:12Let me see, let me see. Cuban heels!
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Look, he's been walking downhill since 1969!
0:12:15 > 0:12:19I have made herb tea for everyone and also dried fruit.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22You all get fat if you just eat Mars bars.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Oh, well, Astrid, my wee Nordic charmer.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30- So, you and Ray went the distance? - Are you still a road dog, Hughie?
0:12:30 > 0:12:32No, the last tour I did was ten years ago!
0:12:32 > 0:12:34I did it with Aerosmith but they've cleaned up their act -
0:12:34 > 0:12:37it's all wheat grass juice and pumpkin seeds!
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Hope you guys are still crazy or I'm out of here.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Hey, right, I've a wee surprise for you.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47Strange fruit - rock musicians, poets, legends - this is your life!
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- Pow!- Except for these, that's my life!
0:12:51 > 0:12:52Some memories in here.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Don't believe it.- Oh, hello!
0:12:55 > 0:12:57How did these get in here?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Groupies usually keep them on the mantelpiece, they sent ours back.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Hey, look at this bugger!
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Hello, testing, testing, one...two...three!
0:13:05 > 0:13:08Here, Ray, asked Astrid if she recognises this one!
0:13:08 > 0:13:10Hey, give me my horns, man!
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Hey, Karen! Woo-ha! Woo-ha!
0:13:14 > 0:13:18They used to be people called the Chicago Plaster Casters who...
0:13:21 > 0:13:24..did that, you know, to rock stars.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26They were groupies from Chicago
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and they made plaster casts of rock stars' willies.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32So, they made, sort of, like, a global collection?
0:13:32 > 0:13:35Yeah, sort of, you know, had them around the walls,
0:13:35 > 0:13:36like a big game hunter!
0:13:36 > 0:13:39- LAUGHTER - Well, yes!
0:13:39 > 0:13:44And so we just copied them, yeah. But they were a good crowd of guys.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Great crowd of guys to work with.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50I suppose, in some ways, the one thing that is different between...
0:13:50 > 0:13:54I was talking to a comedian who now has a film career the other day
0:13:54 > 0:13:57and he was saying that sometimes people that have done stand-up
0:13:57 > 0:14:02find it quite difficult to do scenes with other actors
0:14:02 > 0:14:04because the tendency is always, you know, to want to do,
0:14:04 > 0:14:08get the funniest lines, da-da-da, to get the limelight
0:14:08 > 0:14:10and did you find that ever?
0:14:10 > 0:14:12No, it's never ever bothered me
0:14:12 > 0:14:15but I've always felt the place is awful crowded.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17I'm used to having loads of room
0:14:17 > 0:14:20but when there's another three or four people there...
0:14:20 > 0:14:22it seems helluva crowded to me.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25But that's the only thing that ever bothers me
0:14:25 > 0:14:27because I've, I like other funny guys.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30I've never been jealous of other people's laughs.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Other guys getting laughs and all that, you know?
0:14:33 > 0:14:36I'd have to be kicked into action.
0:14:36 > 0:14:41I'd rather stand and listen to them being funny, you know? It's...
0:14:41 > 0:14:46I've never been jealous or envious of people getting a good laugh.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50It's funny, when you're working with actors they sometimes say,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54"There's a laugh on page seven," you know?
0:14:54 > 0:14:56And you go, "Oh, really?"
0:14:56 > 0:14:58LAUGHTER
0:14:58 > 0:15:00"Canny here it." LAUGHTER
0:15:00 > 0:15:04And you... And sometimes I have actually gone and said,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08"Well, look, do you fancy doing the joke tonight and I'll feed you,
0:15:08 > 0:15:13"I'll give you the feedline and you do the punchline?", and we do that.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16You always get in trouble for it from the director, you know?
0:15:16 > 0:15:17For messing around with the script
0:15:17 > 0:15:20and they take that as messing around with the audience.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24I don't because I think when you tell a joke in a play -
0:15:24 > 0:15:30the chair, the table, the glass, they've all got a part in the joke.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34Everything that's on that stage is part of that joke.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38It's part of everything you do, you know? Everything is everything and...
0:15:38 > 0:15:43So, you can split it up between you. You can... And that's all.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45It's not an important thing.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48We're coming towards a film called is The Man Who Sued God.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Now, The Man Who Sued God seems to me,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54as soon as I heard about it and then, and saw it,
0:15:54 > 0:15:55realise that, actually, the premise
0:15:55 > 0:16:00was like something from one of your, you know, monologues or something.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04Because the basic idea, there's this guy... Well, you explain why...
0:16:04 > 0:16:11Aye, he's...a shrimp fishermen, a prawn fisherman, and...
0:16:11 > 0:16:16he has borrowed the money from his brother for his business,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19his brother's a lawyer, I think, and...
0:16:20 > 0:16:24..lightning strikes my boat and ruins my business,
0:16:24 > 0:16:29and destroys my boat, and hurts me terribly, and...
0:16:29 > 0:16:32the insurance won't cover me because it was an act of God...
0:16:34 > 0:16:36..and so... I sue God...
0:16:38 > 0:16:41..because I think it's a load of nonsense.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Why don't we call things by their real names?
0:16:43 > 0:16:47An act of storm, an act of weather, an act of lightning?
0:16:47 > 0:16:48The names of the things
0:16:48 > 0:16:50that have ruined the lives of my co-plaintiffs?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Because it's customary to call them acts of God.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Would that be because God has a certain ring to it?
0:16:56 > 0:17:00There's a certain moral authority that exists only in the name of God?
0:17:00 > 0:17:02No.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05He's knocked off your copyright! Haven't you, Mr Piggott?
0:17:09 > 0:17:11Would you say, Mr Piggott,
0:17:11 > 0:17:14that the sinking of the Titanic was an act of God?
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I beg your pardon? That's rather before my time!
0:17:17 > 0:17:19Well, it was a ship that struck an iceberg and...
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- Perhaps you saw the film? - Yes, oh, that's right, isn't it?
0:17:22 > 0:17:24Yes, and the orchestra played that lovely little tune
0:17:24 > 0:17:26as they went down. # Da-da... #
0:17:26 > 0:17:28I don't think it was one of ours, the Titanic...
0:17:28 > 0:17:30It was deemed an act of God.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Well, I'm not surprised, an unassessable risk,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34an iceberg, who would have thought?
0:17:34 > 0:17:37And yet the insurance companies paid out.
0:17:37 > 0:17:38MURMURING
0:17:38 > 0:17:41- Did they?- Yes, they did.- Really?
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Yes, in order to avoid the bad publicity.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Now, there's a funny thing!
0:17:47 > 0:17:52If you ever see it, there's a dog in it...
0:17:52 > 0:17:54It's a blue heeler,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58it's an Australian sheepdog and they've got eyes like human beings.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02You know, the eyes, you know how dog's eyes are slightly to the side?
0:18:02 > 0:18:06Theirs aren't, theirs are at the front and it used to...
0:18:06 > 0:18:09it used to sit on the boat and stare at me,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12and it made me, kind of, jittery, you know?
0:18:12 > 0:18:15And I began to think I, kind of, knew it from somewhere, you know?
0:18:15 > 0:18:16LAUGHTER
0:18:16 > 0:18:19"Do I are you money or something?" LAUGHTER
0:18:19 > 0:18:21But there was a bit in it,
0:18:21 > 0:18:26I had to throw the dog off the jetty into the sea and...
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and there was... Because I forgot there's sharks and stuff in there.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34And sharks finds dogs very tasty!
0:18:34 > 0:18:38And he... And then I nip down and I jump in the boat, and I...
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and I leant out and I grabbed the dog, and grabbed it,
0:18:40 > 0:18:46and it was never the same, that dog, it never looked at me the same.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49It had a wee squinty look at me.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51It was weighing me up now, you know?
0:18:51 > 0:18:55I could see it was working out how much I weighed, you know?
0:18:55 > 0:18:57So it could have me over the side, it was...
0:18:57 > 0:19:02For the whole movie I was checking it out. It was a bit scary.
0:19:02 > 0:19:04Now, you...
0:19:04 > 0:19:06have taken on some much darker roles as well.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09I mean, that's, that may have an interesting premise
0:19:09 > 0:19:11but it is, fundamentally, it's quite...
0:19:11 > 0:19:14but you were in Peter Kosminsky's White Oleander
0:19:14 > 0:19:17- playing quite an unpleasant character, actually.- Yeah.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21Well, I started to get bits and pieces like that
0:19:21 > 0:19:26where I die quickly but I'm the guy who has to die
0:19:26 > 0:19:29so as the story can go on.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30In this case you were, actually,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33you are cheating on Michelle Pfeiffer's character...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Yeah. I must've been off my head! CHUCKLING
0:19:36 > 0:19:38- Yeah.- It was obvious you are going to have to have
0:19:38 > 0:19:40some kind of punishment.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42The audience would expect it, wouldn't they?
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Yeah, it was...
0:19:45 > 0:19:50it was a lovely piece and we had to at one point, to...
0:19:52 > 0:19:54..improvise...
0:19:54 > 0:19:59an argument in a hotel room and...
0:20:00 > 0:20:02..and we just went for it, screaming and shouting,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05and she was a wee bit shy at first,
0:20:05 > 0:20:11and I came roaring in, swearing and shouting and bawling.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13And I think I gave her a fright, you know?
0:20:13 > 0:20:19And...she got right into it very quickly, and it was lovely...
0:20:19 > 0:20:23but I remember wondering if I was doing the right thing at the time
0:20:23 > 0:20:25because I...
0:20:25 > 0:20:31I... This sounds ridiculous but I had said, "Artsy fartsy,"
0:20:31 > 0:20:37at one point, offstage, and she looked offended by it.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40And I thought, "What?
0:20:40 > 0:20:43"You're offended by, 'artsy fartsy'?"
0:20:43 > 0:20:46And so when it came to the improvisation
0:20:46 > 0:20:52I just tore a strip off it and she lost about seven layers of skin!
0:20:52 > 0:20:54And... But, so, she responded really.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57She, I think she got angry at me and...
0:20:59 > 0:21:01..which is exactly what I was looking for
0:21:01 > 0:21:06cos they were just doing the sound from next door, it wasn't on film.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And it was really... It was a lovely feeling.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14And, of course, you did The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise as well.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16He's another big star.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Yeah, he's a great guy.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21He's a lovely guy and...
0:21:22 > 0:21:24..it's funny, nobody seems to like him.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26LAUGHTER
0:21:26 > 0:21:29You know, when you see him talked about on television
0:21:29 > 0:21:32they say the most awful things about him
0:21:32 > 0:21:36because he stood Oprah Winfrey's couch, for Christ's sake!
0:21:36 > 0:21:39Maybe it's to do with the other thing, the Scientology bit.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41The Scientology?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Well, what if, what if it was Judaism, would they be the same?
0:21:45 > 0:21:49You know? I find the whole thing a bit suspect.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52I think there's a lot of jealousy runs...
0:21:52 > 0:21:57that's in the middle of that argument, you know? And...
0:21:57 > 0:21:59I mean, you can be a Scientologist, if you please,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01it's quite illegal to be a Scientologist.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04Personally, I think it's crap but...
0:22:04 > 0:22:05LAUGHTER
0:22:05 > 0:22:09..but then, personally, I think religion's crap, you know?
0:22:11 > 0:22:15I was... I talk to my audience about it all the time.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19Do you know what kind of scientist he is?
0:22:19 > 0:22:21No, I don't, I was far too busy making arrangements for you three,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23I didn't have time for chitchat!
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Hello! Oh, my goodness!
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Look at you! You must be Violet? Do you remember me?
0:22:33 > 0:22:36I don't suppose so, you were just a little baby at the time.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40And, Klaus, we've never met! How do you do?
0:22:40 > 0:22:45What a firm grip - like a Burmese python! And, Sunny, little Sunny.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49You look so much like your dear mother.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53Thank you very much, Mr Poe, I'll take it from here.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57- Perhaps I should come inside? - Oh, by all means!
0:22:57 > 0:22:59You could help us pick out the gut worms
0:22:59 > 0:23:01from the bowel of the Viscan Boa.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Children, remember,
0:23:03 > 0:23:07if you need me at any time you can reach me by phone or fax.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Good day.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16(Well, we got rid of him, didn't we?) Come in, come in!
0:23:16 > 0:23:18There's not much time and we have to pack.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21"Pack"?
0:23:22 > 0:23:23It was a great cast, wasn't there?
0:23:23 > 0:23:27Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, in fact, appears.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28So, is that where you met Dustin Hoffman?
0:23:28 > 0:23:33No, I never met him during it. I never met Meryl Streep either.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36In actual fact, I went in a huff, they had a...
0:23:38 > 0:23:42..they had a premiere in New York and...
0:23:43 > 0:23:45..I...
0:23:45 > 0:23:49I went up there, and I was on my own, and I went in and...
0:23:49 > 0:23:52and the director said, "Go and speak to that woman, over there,
0:23:52 > 0:23:58"some journalist, this big idiot woman," and she said...
0:23:58 > 0:24:02and she was obviously disappointed she hadn't got Meryl Streep, you know?
0:24:04 > 0:24:05And she said, "What's your name?"
0:24:05 > 0:24:08And I said, "Connolly, Billy Connolly."
0:24:08 > 0:24:12And she said, "You're in this?"
0:24:12 > 0:24:14I said, "Have you seen it?"
0:24:14 > 0:24:16And she said, "Well, no."
0:24:16 > 0:24:18And I turned on my heel and went home.
0:24:20 > 0:24:21I was upset.
0:24:23 > 0:24:27I tend to be like that, I let myself down sometimes but the...
0:24:27 > 0:24:31but I really loathe it, you know?
0:24:31 > 0:24:35I was interviewed the other day, I couldnae believe my ears,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39in New York, by the Foreign Journalists Association
0:24:39 > 0:24:44and they are the ones who decide who gets the Golden Globes,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and this big skinny woman...
0:24:48 > 0:24:52she came up and she said, "You are so funny...
0:24:52 > 0:24:53"You are making us all laugh...
0:24:55 > 0:24:58"..have you ever thought of stand up comedy?"
0:24:58 > 0:25:00LAUGHTER
0:25:02 > 0:25:05APPLAUSE
0:25:05 > 0:25:08I said, "I have, have you ever considered journalism?"
0:25:08 > 0:25:10LAUGHTER
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The Lemony Snicket, the children's novels,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17A Series of Unfortunate Events,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19I mean, this character that you play in it,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21did you devise a back story for him?
0:25:21 > 0:25:25No, I hadn't read anything about it.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27I decided just to go with what I've got.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31The answer is invariably in the script.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32Yeah.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36You know? It's like The Hobbit,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39when I went to do The Hobbit...
0:25:40 > 0:25:42..Peter Jackson said, "Have you read The Hobbit?"
0:25:42 > 0:25:45I said, "No, and I don't like people who have."
0:25:45 > 0:25:47LAUGHTER
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Does that not...? Was there not a certain chill in the air after that?
0:25:51 > 0:25:54A certain frost came on in the room!
0:25:54 > 0:25:59But I wanted to tell him that when I was younger, in Glasgow,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04being a hairy person, down at the Scotia Bar and all those places,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08there was two distinct camps, there was the Tolkien people
0:26:08 > 0:26:12and the Incredible String Band people...
0:26:12 > 0:26:15and I was one of the Incredible String Band people,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and I didn't like the Tolkien people.
0:26:17 > 0:26:21With their corduroy jackets and their book, and the kind of people
0:26:21 > 0:26:24who one leg can fold round the other one twice, you know those guys?
0:26:24 > 0:26:26LAUGHTER
0:26:28 > 0:26:32You get a lot of them at Edinburgh Festival, you know?
0:26:32 > 0:26:37A big armful of pamphlets and, "Have you seen any shows?", you know?
0:26:37 > 0:26:41They said, "Oh, wasn't that directed by Sikorsky..."
0:26:41 > 0:26:44LAUGHTER
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And the Tolkien guys were all like that.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52The women were all, their hair was all shut at the front, you know?
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Sticking out!
0:26:54 > 0:26:56LAUGHTER
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Not for me. Not my cup of tea.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04I was more the Incredible String Band and the blues, and bluegrass, and...
0:27:05 > 0:27:10..living things. And I was always suspicious of people who...
0:27:10 > 0:27:17who were all upset about a war between Ginks and Gonks, you know?
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Come on, give me a break.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24And the answer, as I say, is invariably in the script anyway...
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and it's stood me in good stead over these years.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30And when I spoke to Peter Jackson he agreed wholeheartedly.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34- Because you're playing...- I said, "I'm not here to make a book."
0:27:34 > 0:27:37- You know?- But you are, you're the Dwarf King, aren't you?
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I'm the king, I'm a King Dwarf, yeah.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Dain Ironfoot and he's a real badass -
0:27:43 > 0:27:49rides a pig and kills people with an axe and...
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and I love him!
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I absolutely love him and I can't tell you much about him
0:27:56 > 0:27:59because I'm always getting in trouble for talking about him,
0:27:59 > 0:28:04but they don't tell me what I've not talk about...you know?
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Like, I can't talk about the script, I don't know the script!
0:28:07 > 0:28:10I only get it in little wee bits.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Any time I speak about it they go,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16- "Oh, I see you were talking about the..."- No, no, no, we won't...
0:28:16 > 0:28:19and you're not, you're not in this Hobbit film, you're in the one's...?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22I'm in a much better one that follows the first one!
0:28:22 > 0:28:23LAUGHTER
0:28:23 > 0:28:24But you've done...
0:28:24 > 0:28:27I mean, talking about being the Dwarf King in The Hobbit
0:28:27 > 0:28:31- but you've also done lots of voices for animations and...- Yeah!
0:28:31 > 0:28:35And, of course, recently you've been King Fergus in Brave!
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Oh, yeah, that's a joy.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41People are really liking Brave and they like my part in it.
0:28:41 > 0:28:46It's good, it was a good part. It's a kind of...
0:28:46 > 0:28:50It's a weird thing to do because you can do it completely alone,
0:28:50 > 0:28:53animated film, you go in and you do your bit
0:28:53 > 0:28:56but you can actually change the story because you're first...
0:28:57 > 0:29:00..the stories written and you get it on...
0:29:01 > 0:29:06..the script is tacked to cardboard - why, I'll never know -
0:29:06 > 0:29:09but a sheet of cardboard at a time and up it comes.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14And you do the lines six or seven different ways,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and then the director will say...
0:29:18 > 0:29:22"..I liked that, kind of, sad one, do that one again.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26And do that rough, throaty one you did, yeah."
0:29:26 > 0:29:31And then he'll say, "Oh, I like it when you laughed there,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34"could you do more laughing?" So, you do more laughing and he goes,
0:29:34 > 0:29:40"Oh, great, laugh more!" So, you laugh uproariously and...
0:29:40 > 0:29:45but the scene isn't about that, and so they'll rewrite the scene
0:29:45 > 0:29:50because you're doing it so well, you know, in sound.
0:29:50 > 0:29:57And they have a camera, which is filming you, a video camera,
0:29:57 > 0:30:04and they incorporate your own facial movements into the drawn fella.
0:30:04 > 0:30:06So, it's much more of a performance?
0:30:06 > 0:30:10It's much more of a performance than you might think, once you get into it.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14Once you get over the initial weirdness of it.
0:30:14 > 0:30:15And they ask you to do some weird stuff.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19Like, my guy only had one leg, a bear has eaten his leg off,
0:30:19 > 0:30:24and so he has a wooden leg but...
0:30:24 > 0:30:25And the scene is in the movie,
0:30:25 > 0:30:30but he's having a sword fight with some other guys
0:30:30 > 0:30:34and somebody chops his wooden leg off in the middle of the fight,
0:30:34 > 0:30:38and he rolls down the hill making a noise like...
0:30:40 > 0:30:42..you're rolling down a hill with one leg.
0:30:42 > 0:30:43LAUGHTER
0:30:43 > 0:30:47And it's quite hard to do! I mean, I never thought of it.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50You know, it's one of those stage directions,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53"He rolls down the hill making a noise as if he has one leg."
0:30:53 > 0:30:55And you go, "What?"
0:30:55 > 0:30:59I had a conversation with some actors about that once
0:30:59 > 0:31:03and somebody, he was lying, of course, as actors often do,
0:31:03 > 0:31:09but he said the worst stage direction he's ever seen on a script was,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12"He enters the room with an expression on his face
0:31:12 > 0:31:14"that suggests he has a cousin in Canada."
0:31:14 > 0:31:17LAUGHTER
0:31:26 > 0:31:28I think I can do that one!
0:31:30 > 0:31:35Now, Quartets, which is just about to open
0:31:35 > 0:31:38but Quartet is a film in which you have a role
0:31:38 > 0:31:40but as, indeed, one of a quartet,
0:31:40 > 0:31:43it's about retired musicians living in a home
0:31:43 > 0:31:47and it's one of these films, from a play by Ronald Harwood,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50that is about an older generation
0:31:50 > 0:31:53but not an older generation just seen as the people in the corner,
0:31:53 > 0:31:56I mean, absolutely the protagonists in the centre of the film.
0:31:56 > 0:31:58- Yeah, and I'm the baby. - And you're the baby, that's right!
0:31:58 > 0:32:02Yeah, I'm the youngest one in the film. Apart from Sheridan Smith.
0:32:04 > 0:32:08But it's a lovely, lovely piece. It's about staying alive.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13It's not about dying, it's about trying to stay alive.
0:32:13 > 0:32:14And still doing what you did.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17I mean, because they are opera singers.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Yeah, and it's all real musicians in it.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23The actors are just actors
0:32:23 > 0:32:28but the guys who are playing the musicians are actual musicians
0:32:28 > 0:32:31and is lovely because most of them hadn't had a phone call
0:32:31 > 0:32:34for about 20 years, you know?
0:32:34 > 0:32:36Especially the trumpet player, who's amazing.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40He's about 83 or 84, or something, he hadn't had a phone call.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43He used to be Frank Sinatra's trumpet guy
0:32:43 > 0:32:46and nobody phoned him for 20 years.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48But they're all like that, all the cellists and everything.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52No, no, the cellist's a busy guy but the guy who plays clarinet,
0:32:52 > 0:32:56he hadn't had a gig in years and years. It was a joy.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00And the lady singers all from chorus lines
0:33:00 > 0:33:04from back choruses from years ago,
0:33:04 > 0:33:09and they are all brilliant, you know? And it was an absolute joy.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10But it's not about...
0:33:10 > 0:33:13Because they're in a old folks' home you would think it was a sad movie,
0:33:13 > 0:33:18and it's got sad moments, but it's actually about staying alive and...
0:33:18 > 0:33:22And don't die until you're dead, you know?
0:33:22 > 0:33:26And in the foreground, so you have all these musicians but also in the foreground you have
0:33:26 > 0:33:29the former quartet who have sung together in operas.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33So, that's Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins and Tom Courtenay,
0:33:33 > 0:33:36and you, sort of, all playing off each other.
0:33:36 > 0:33:41Yeah, we're supposed to be getting this Rigoletto...
0:33:41 > 0:33:45piece together for a concert to keep the home open
0:33:45 > 0:33:50and we got it together, we did it, in real life, we got singing lessons.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52We all went.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56We sounded good. We didn't sound good like opera singers,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00we sounded good like old guys singing, you know?
0:34:00 > 0:34:01It was a good noise.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06And Dustin came to see us doing it one day, one Saturday morning,
0:34:06 > 0:34:12and I could see he was going to cry. His lip was going, you know?
0:34:12 > 0:34:15And I knew he was deeply moved by it, and he said,
0:34:15 > 0:34:17"That's in, we're definitely doing it."
0:34:17 > 0:34:21He said, "I was going to use professional singers over you,"
0:34:21 > 0:34:25he said, "but that's in, that's Brilliant." But...
0:34:26 > 0:34:33..our song comes at a very, very end, as the credits are coming up,
0:34:33 > 0:34:36and his son Jake, Dustin's son Jake,
0:34:36 > 0:34:41suggested that they went back to the original idea of...
0:34:41 > 0:34:46and I think it was right... Cos it ends in a flourish.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48And it's almost like a timeless moment, isn't it?
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Yes, now, if we been two thirds of the way through or halfway through
0:34:51 > 0:34:56I would have said, "Keep us singing," you know? And...
0:34:58 > 0:35:01..the funniest thing is, we're introduced onstage
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and everybody goes crazy but what has actually happened
0:35:05 > 0:35:08was we had just done the quartet in the room, we had just sang it
0:35:08 > 0:35:12and what you see is the applause we get from it and then...
0:35:13 > 0:35:16..the heavenly voices coming, the operatic singers.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19But you know that you did it for real, even if we don't hear it.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21Yeah, we did it for real. We know we did it, yeah.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23The impression you're up to no good.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26Because I'm normally up to no good and, please, call me Wilf.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30We've done this, remember, you don't have a buttonhole, Wilf.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Why do you persist in flirting with me, Wilf?
0:35:34 > 0:35:37Because you're a cracker, a thing of beauty.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41You're not a bimbo or a chick, or any of those awful things,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44you're one of the rarest of species...
0:35:44 > 0:35:46You're a woman, Lucy Cogan.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49Well, I'm flattered, but I have professional ethics to uphold.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52Ah, throw caution to the wind!
0:35:52 > 0:35:56What if we were to make beautiful music together?
0:35:56 > 0:35:59- The husband would never know! - That's reassuring, Wilf!
0:35:59 > 0:36:04- Think about it, eh?- No, Wilf.- No-one would ever know.- I will know, Wilf.
0:36:04 > 0:36:09Older man, vintage wine, seasoned wood.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11Did you say "wood"?
0:36:11 > 0:36:15Now, we've got an unusual way to end Life In Pictures,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18not the way we usually do but we're actually going to have, now,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21a special presentation and I'm going to invite onto the stage,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24to make these special presentation, Kevin Bridges.
0:36:24 > 0:36:25Oh!
0:36:25 > 0:36:28CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:36:29 > 0:36:34- How's it going, pal? Nice to meet you.- Good to meet you! Jesus.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38This is BAFTA's highest award,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41which is for the Outstanding Contribution to Television and Film.
0:36:41 > 0:36:42APPLAUSE
0:36:42 > 0:36:47Congratulations, Billy, and, also, thank you for being an inspiration
0:36:47 > 0:36:50and, on behalf of most modern comics,
0:36:50 > 0:36:53I think you're still the top man, so, well done and great to meet you.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57- Oh, thank you very much.- Thank you. - CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:36:59 > 0:37:03This is a delightful thing, especially coming from Scotland.
0:37:03 > 0:37:07I've been nominated for loads of things...
0:37:07 > 0:37:10LAUGHTER
0:37:10 > 0:37:14And I've got bugger all! LAUGHTER
0:37:14 > 0:37:19But, genuinely, to get this from Scotland it's...
0:37:19 > 0:37:22I almost said it breaks my heart. It's...
0:37:22 > 0:37:25It just hits me somewhere where I live.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27HE SNIFFS AND SIGHS
0:37:28 > 0:37:31CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd