Crawley-born and bred actor Todd Talbot has completed a pretty cool big-screen hat-trick.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Art Editor at Sussex Newspapers. It's always
00:06a pleasure to speak to Todd Talbot. Now, goodness, what a hat-trick, Todd. You were in Barbie,
00:13you were in Wonka, now you are in Wicked. We were saying, you can't think of anyone
00:17else. There must be someone else who's in all three, but you can't think of that person.
00:21The only person you know who's in all three is you, which is remarkable, isn't it? Three
00:28massive, well-received, wonderfully well-received films, and there you are in each of them.
00:34How does that feel? You must be so chuffed. I am really, really chuffed, to be honest.
00:39I'm really grateful for the opportunity and the chance to be in all these films. It's
00:44a real privilege as an actor and a dancer to be given these opportunities. Is there
00:51a connection between them, that the opportunity in one leads to the opportunity in the other?
00:55Are they quite separate projects?
00:57I think they're all separate projects, because it was a totally different director, a totally
01:01different team. I met quite a few of the same people on the crew, and obviously some of
01:07the dancers were in some of the other films with me. So, yeah, there was some, but they're
01:13totally separate projects, so how they came about is, yeah, quite unique.
01:18Did you allow yourself a preference between them, or do you love them all equally?
01:24They were all really different experiences, to be honest. Barbie was a standout for me,
01:29just because I had so much screen time, and I was employed as a dancer, but didn't end
01:34up dancing in the end. I was just in lots of scenes acting, which I loved, because I
01:38actually am getting a lot more thrill out of acting. The older I'm getting, I used to
01:43get such a thrill out of dancing, and it's sort of starting to shift now. So now acting
01:49feels like my new sort of joy that gives me a lot more meaning. It excites me, like dancing
01:56used to.
01:57Absolutely. But is it largely dancing in Wicked?
02:00Yeah, I was employed as a dancer on Wicked, so yeah. But there's a few scenes as well
02:05where we're doing stuff, and witch hunting and things, and filling water, cans of water
02:10and stuff, and singing. But it's a musical, so it is more, yeah.
02:14Absolutely. And the same with Wicked. It was the scale of it. It was huge, wasn't it?
02:20The scale. I was shocked. When I first walked onto the set, I couldn't believe. I mean,
02:27I'm in the one short day section of the film, which is one of the numbers from the musical,
02:31and it's when they first arrive in the Emerald City. But the first day I walked onto the
02:36set, it wasn't quite finished, but it was like four football pitches, and it was just
02:42the scale of it was insane. And I think there was almost 500 people on set in costumes when
02:49we were filming. So that just gives you an idea of how many people filled the space.
02:54That is mind-boggling. But what is also super cool is the fact that you haven't seen Wicked
02:59yet, but you will see it on Friday in China, where you are currently on a tour, an international
03:06tour of Chicago.
03:08That's correct. I'm in China. So sadly, it's not released until Friday the 6th. So I'm
03:15going to be going on Friday, or maybe Monday, because Monday's my day off. So yeah, I've
03:19had to wait. But I'm hearing so much stuff from the UK and all my friends that have seen
03:23it saying how incredible it is, and yourself as well. So I can't wait to see the finished
03:28product.
03:29It's fabulous. Yeah, I would heartily recommend to you the film that you're in. It's brilliant.
03:33And you'll be seeing it in that building, which is glowing with lights just behind.
03:38Yeah, this is the theatre that I'm performing in this week. And there's an IMAX, because
03:44it's quite a big building. There's an IMAX in there. So that's where Wicked will be on,
03:49which is quite handy, just across the road.
03:51And do you imagine you'll be able to sit back and just enjoy, or will you be thinking, where
03:55am I?
03:56Oh, well, there's always a part of me that wants to see myself, because it's exciting.
04:01That sort of makes it real all of a sudden. You're like, oh my god, it's me on the screen.
04:05I can't believe it. But yeah, I'm looking forward to just enjoying the film, really.
04:09It's been much anticipated.
04:12Well, yeah, it's not just the hat trick of the three films. It's the fact that each of
04:16them are absolutely brilliant. So congratulations on it all. And congratulations on the Chicago
04:21tour. Lovely to speak to you again, Todd. Thank you.
04:23Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much.