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He kicks his toes in the sand with fervor.
I need to start with Edgars big song, because it is so over the top and delightful.
I dont remember anything about a musical number.
So then I had to go back through it, and those two lines had become this big thing.
[For moves like the big high jumps, they used abody double.]
Did you come up with it yourself?A bit of both.
At the end of the day, everything was about making it funny.
Hes going through this heartbreaking moment, so I could just ham it up to the max.
I was just flinging myself around for two days.
What was it like for you reading that script?
You hadnt done really any high-profile comedy before this.I hadnt even been in low-profile comedy!
Thats where I felt like I was heading before I played a psychopath serial killer inThe Fall.
Then youre not getting those calls about comedy.
I hadnt learned that they had this idea of me in mind before I did the movie.
They said they watched some of me in talks shows and got a sense of me from that.
I said yes based on the title of the script.
Theres a movie calledBarb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar?
I thought it was a real place.
I was like, Have you guys been to Vista Del Mar?
And they were like, Its not a real place.
Youd put your car on it.
It was so stupid!
But they were kind of into it?
I dont think we ever published on there, but it was heading in that direction.
And then, you know, other stuff happens.
To be fair, thats basically just the Elon Musk Hyperloop.I couldve been onto something!
Maybe I could have made a fortune.
You sang inBarb and Star, you sang inWild Mountain Thyme, you evensang inFifty Shades Freed.
I always say that I can sing as much as any other douchey actor guy.
We can all sing a bit.
If it pops up in a script and is necessary to tell the story, Im all for it.
Im not a good enough singer to do an out-and-out musical.
But I love musicals and I love musical theater.
I just havent thought about it for me.
But you never know!
We were the only people that didnt have kids.
Id worked with Tim Minchin [in 2018sRobin Hood] who wrote the music for that.
Its the most fun Ive ever had at the theater.
I loved thatGroundhog Daymusical Tim Minchin wrote, too.It didnt get enough love!
ForBarb and Star, you use your own accent as Edgar.
Was that your choice?
He was the one who was like, Would you be cool doing it in your accent?
Im from Northern Ireland and my characters called Edgar Paget, so its so ridiculous.
Ive never met anyone with a name even close to that where Im from.
I think it just added to the absurdity of it all.
I had forgotten what his surname was until Lionsgate sent me some little clip that theyre going to release.
I was like, Wait, his name is Paget?
I did plan to, but I really cried when I said it.
I was in a very weird, magical place.
It felt like releasing this information, like I could finally breathe.
He was like [in a nasally American accent], Well, everyone thinks theyre something theyre not.
I was like, Do they, Shanley?
Shanleys a fucking genius,but hes also odd.
I dont think Ive ever really thought Im anything else, other than … a guy.
But he said it with certainty and I was like,Im gonna embrace that.
You also recently returned to Northern Ireland in making this movieBelfastwith Kenneth Branagh.
I havent lived there in 19 years, but Im still there all the time.
We shot it in strange times.
But any time I can work there, I will.
Theres another thing Im hoping to do back there that year as well.
I know Lisa McGee, who created it, we emailed today about something actually.
You never know, but it takes everything aligning with schedules.
Im definitely a big fan.
