When Joseph Fiennes watches the Euros this Summer, the experience may be a little odd.
The Emmy-nominated actor recently portrayed the England football team’s manager Gareth Southgate on stage in the play Dear England, winning Fiennes rave reviews and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor. The BBC has even commissioned a TV adaptation.
Fiennes: Return to the Wild premieres on National Geographic on Sunday, 26 May at 8pm, followed by the second episode on Sunday, 2 June at 8pm.
The Emmy-nominated actor recently portrayed the England football team’s manager Gareth Southgate on stage in the play Dear England, winning Fiennes rave reviews and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor. The BBC has even commissioned a TV adaptation.
Fiennes: Return to the Wild premieres on National Geographic on Sunday, 26 May at 8pm, followed by the second episode on Sunday, 2 June at 8pm.
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00:00 Obviously the Euros is coming up.
00:02 Watching someone like, someone you've played, someone whose psyche you've gone into,
00:08 does that feel surreal? Does it feel like you're kind of watching someone you know almost?
00:13 If you're watching Gareth Southgate managing them?
00:16 Yeah, I mean I feel somewhat connected.
00:19 The play deals with so many more themes than just football.
00:23 Football is sort of a metaphor where we look at identity and national identity
00:28 and other themes and politics.
00:30 But I'm certainly looking at the Euros, I'm wildly excited and I do feel incredibly nervous.
00:36 I believe the squad's just been named.
00:38 It's quite an interesting young component to the squad,
00:41 which seems to be very much leaning into the theory of bringing in young,
00:45 which was I think the big success of Gareth.
00:48 And he knows well how it works in the under-21s
00:55 and so it's interesting to me that he's picking young players,
00:58 especially in defence it seems to be one or two very, very good, wonderful, strong, young talents being brought in.
01:07 Yeah, but I do, it's funny, I'll be watching this in a very different way had I not done this production.
01:14 And you have a TV show coming up as well, the TV adaptation.
01:17 Apparently.
01:18 How's that going on there?
01:20 I don't know.
01:21 It's a little bit like the group stages I think with the BBC.
01:25 I think maybe we have to, you know, I think James has to do the heavy lifting.
01:29 James Graham, our wonderful, illustrious, prolific writer has to deliver the scripts
01:33 and then they have to be kind of accepted I guess.
01:38 And then we move on to the next stage of possibly going into production next year.
01:42 Fingers crossed.
01:43 Fingers crossed.
01:44 Or maybe it'll be a new narrative.
01:45 Who knows what this year will bring because obviously that will affect what next year might,
01:50 the tale that will be told next year.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]