Horror fan Greg back in the game

Gary Fitzpatrick • Published 15 Feb 2012 09:30

AFTER the phenomenal success of 'Still Game', Greg Hemphill has been lying low for the past four years but now he's back hoping the public will accept him as something other than feisty pensioner Victor McDade.

The project Greg has chosen for his return is a play combining horror and comedy, written with his new collaborator Donald McLeary for the National Theatre of Scotland, 'An Appointment with the Wicker Man' - a homage to the 1973 cult movie which comes to the Alhambra next month.

"We're both massive horror fans and massive fans of that film," Greg told the Press.

"We decided to something in the spirit of the movie, a celebration of it that didn't necessarily have to slavishly imitate it.

"The notion of seeing a film on stage - people get excited but when they go and see it they know the story so where's the drama?

"It's basically a play within a play. You have the story of the Loch Parry Players, a sort of dim and distant island community. They're am-dram actors and they decide to put on a production of 'The Wicker Man' and at the last minute one of their actors goes missing so they have to put out a casting call and this television cop comes from the mainland to stand in at the last minute. So our story mirrors the story in the film.

"There are scary moments and creepy moments but there's laughs too. The laughs don't come at the expense of the film because we don't think that's honest.

"The laughs come at the expense of the Loch Parry Players - this hapless community and the gap between their ambition and their talent.

"That's where the comedy comes from. I don't think myself or Donnie would have been keen to be involved if it was something that was making fun of the film because we both love it.

"I just love the shock of the movie's ending. I've seen films like that -'Blair Witch', 'Don't Look Now' - movies that coast along then you have the shock of this punch-to-the-stomach ending. But I think of all those movies The Wicker Man's the best of the bunch.

"It's just creepy, it's unsettling and you have this horrific ending. They have the courage of their convictions, they think they're doing nice things sending Edward Woodward to martyrdom.

"It's done with smiles, they don't menace or bully him but he's like a fly in a fly-trap. His fate was sealed the minute he sets foot on the island."

Greg and Donald have also been working on a sit-com for the BBC, which may or may not get the go-ahead. Greg admits the current economic climate makes it more difficult to get the thumbs-up than in his early writing days.

"Because the BBC, like everywhere else, has suffered cuts you probably have to run that little bit faster to get a show on television. It's just a process you have to go through and I don't think reputation stands for much. Every programme has to stand on its own two feet and has to be done by merit."

It's approaching five years since the end of 'Still Game' so does Greg find it frustrating as he works on new projects that the antics of Jack and Victor are what people really want to talk about?

"No, because having a success like 'Still Game' does open doors for you. I don't know if I'd be doing 'The Wicker Man' if it wasn't for that. Things in a career lead from one thing to another.

"I know a lot of actors in Scotland - better actors than me - who haven't had the opportunity to create a character whose name people will shout in the street. To almost create a real human being. I feel really fortunate to have had the opportunity to do that.

"I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that if I did nothing else I would be content but I'm 42 and you want to work and move forward but I don't feel any pressure for everything to be compared to your last big project.

"After 'Still Game' I didn't do a lot on purpose. I kept a fairly low profile because I think if I'd rushed out something out like another sit-com, the audience wouldn't be ready to buy into you as another character. You're still looming large in their mind as this 75-year-old grand-dad.

"What I've learned in the last years is to follow your heart and look for things that are going to be an adventure to you. If they're an adventure to you, they'll be an adventure to the audience and that's a good way to stop things from getting stale."

The tabloids would have us believe that Greg flies off the handle any time he is asked if 'Still Game' will be coming back but thankfully he's perfectly calm when we pop the question.

"We'll have to wait and see. I'm not being evasive but it's not a priority at the minute. It really is nice that people always ask me if it's coming back because it shows we stopped it at the right time when people still had an appetite for it.

"Far better that than we were stopping it because it was on its last legs. Because there was still an appetite for it, it's kept the programme alive in a strange way for a lot of people.

"It's a way of people telling you how much they loved the show when they keep asking if it's coming back.

"You still get people coming up and saying things like. 'God you look younger in real life than you do on the telly!' There's a very small section of the audience who actually think we are that age, that it's not done with make-up and wigs.

"That's a really big compliment as an actor that you've managed to convince even a small section that you're that age. 'Still Game' was a joy to me."

'An Appointment with the Wicker Man' sees Greg team up again with Paul Riley - 'Winston' on 'Still Game'.

Greg says, "When 'Still Game' was still a stage show, long before it was on television we took it to the Edinburgh Festival. Myself, Ford (Kiernan) and Paul - we were all penniless. He was one of the main guys from the early days. He's a great comic actor, a great ball of energy."

Greg admits the sheer physicality of being on stage for the first time in over a decade was like "being hit by a train" for the first few weeks.

"However, after that you become energised, feel fresher, younger, more alive. It's very strange - the more you jump around in a room the better you feel."

*'An Appointment with the Wicker Man' by the National Theatre of Scotland (sponsored by the Bank of Scotland) runs at the Alhambra from 21st to 24th March.

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This article appeared in Dunfermline Press 15 Feb 12

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