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This Morning - January 11th 2008
No, in the first series all the creatures were monsters that pre-date the Jurassic period, but in the first episode we’ve got raptors this time around, which are the first genuine dinosaurs we’ve had in the show.
Does Cutter help Stephen escape from the raptor in Series 2 episode 1?
Well if you (Stephen) are going to sleep with my wife, you’re going to have to get out of some tricky situations on your own, I think! It’s only fair really.
What is he acting with in Primeval before the CGI creatures are created?
Nothing at all. There’s an eyeline, the scary thing is there (he gestures to the left) and you just make it up in your head.
The first time around we had a First Assistant Director, who used to draw things on A4 paper and stick them on top of a lollipop and wave them around and make ‘Rrrrrrr’ noises. it helped us. But this time around they thought ‘Och, they’ve done it before they’ll be fine’.
Does he have a range of different expressions hes uses for when Cutter sees a creatiure?
You go 'Oh God' and that's it!
There’s a range of expressions you hope you have from A-Z rather than A-B (other than scared). but after about three months of shooting you wonder ‘Am I just doing the same face all the time. How scary can it be? They can all kill you. Ah no that one’s alright. That's no so scary!'
It’s a small tear in the time/space continuum and that’s as far as my scientific knowledge actually goes!
There are things called mer creatures in episode 4. That’s one of the great things about Framestore, who create the CGI for us they’ve taken artistic licence with what may or may not be living many years down the road. It’s great for them to be able to invent creatures and they’ve done an extraordinary job.
I do have one, but I didn’t want to be one of those actors who, whenever it looks like you are going to get wet or muddy, says ‘Well, I’m going to get the big hairy guy to do that. I’ll be in my trailer reading Grazia.’ I have to put my best foot forward, get in there and get my hands dirty a wee bit. I tend to volunteer for things before I’ve thought them through properly!
I had to dive off a boat into the Thames, which is no big deal, but the difficulty was we only had one shot at it. I don’t swim very well and I don’t know how to dive, but I really didn’t think about that ‘No, I’ll be fine!’
I was thinking ‘I’ve seen diving on the telly, how hard can it be?’ It’s really you point your arms and put your feet together. I was aware aesthetically that I was just meant to look like an arrow shot from a boat, more than six foot of sirloin, but I had no idea about it and there was a small voice kind of commentating in my head all through the take going ‘You have no idea what you’re doing do you?' and I thought 'Apparently not, but I'm gonna..' Then you just run and jump and kind of hope it's fine.
Didn’t he have to do something on the edge of a volcano?
That was in series one. I have vertigo, which isn't the best condition to have but it was alright. There was a shallow side down there and a deep drop was on the other side.
Does he think the action figure of Nick Cutter is a good likeness?
I think the profiles pretty good. I think it’s a wee bit pouty from the front. My girlfriend already has pictures of it taken on her phone, of me bending over and the wee hespironis biting my bum!