Ben Barnes and Joe Freeman chat to Melissa Nathoo about their new Stephen King adaptation, The Institute, their telekinetic abilities and Ben's plans for more music. Report by Nathoom. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
00:00You're very close. I can't believe it. I'm sending it telepathically.
00:04Guys, lovely to see you both. This show is very addictive, isn't it? Oh my god. I've been enjoying it so much.
00:11Although, I'm yet to see the two of you on the screen together. Is that coming at some point?
00:16I feel like I'm up to episode, I've watched five episodes.
00:20You're very close.
00:21Very close.
00:22I felt that way when I was reading the book, actually. I was like reading, you know, the book sort of starts with a few chapters just about Tim, my character's story, and you feel like it's a book about this ex-cop going through something and kind of like this potentially redemptive arc of this traumatic thing that's happened.
00:43And then it shifts gears completely and you're in this like baby Shawshank situation where you've got this genius kid trapped in this thing and then you completely forget about what you thought the book was about.
00:57And then it flips back and you completely forget again and then you're thinking, it's making you do the work, thinking how are they going to bring this together and what's the dynamic going to be?
01:06And you find yourself almost like starting to yearn for that to happen in some way.
01:13So I think it's a, it's a very delayed gratification situation, but you are seconds, you're seconds away.
01:20Very close.
01:20Seconds away.
01:21I love baby Shawshank.
01:22That's so great.
01:23That's so great.
01:25Joe, how is all of this for you?
01:27This is like your first like major thing, right?
01:30And you're like leading the whole thing.
01:31I can't believe it.
01:32You know, genuinely, everything just becomes more unreal by the day, you know?
01:38Um, it was very, like filming itself was very intimidating.
01:44Did it feel creepy on set?
01:46Like as creepy as it feels watching it?
01:48Sometimes?
01:49Sort of.
01:49I guess not all the time because you're surrounded by people.
01:51Yeah.
01:52I mean, it's that thing of, you know, you're the smallest fish in the biggest pond, you know?
01:57And, um, realizing that is good.
02:01Yeah.
02:01Because, you know, then it's.
02:03Keeps your feet on the ground.
02:04It makes it very easy, yeah.
02:05Yeah.
02:06Um, you were the biggest fish 20 minutes in.
02:08Come on.
02:10You weren't born to do this.
02:12You are great.
02:13It is great.
02:13Ben, for you, is it nice to finally play a TV character where you've got a bit of a moral compass?
02:18You do play a lot of darker characters.
02:23It was, it was definitely a contributing factor to wanting to do, you know, to wanting to do this story, to have a character that is kind of defined by their moral compass and not kind of fueled by ambition, fueled by maybe reluctantly, but reluctantly fueled by the idea of doing the right thing.
02:44And actually what I found really intriguing about this character is that he, the thing that I thought kind of separated him from just a lot of those kind of like almost small town cop shows where there's a sort of reluctant detective.
03:01This was a character who sort of knows that one of his flaws is that he has a trigger for wanting to involve himself where he sees injustice and knows that that is a flaw of his.
03:12So I think there's a, there's a self-awareness, which I, you know, I'm someone who is always thinking about the psychology of being a person in the world, right?
03:21Like I think about that.
03:22I think about what kind of person I am in, in the world and that it's important to me to be a good man and, and all of those things.
03:30And I think that's important to this character too.
03:32And I've have played, you know, for the last six, seven years, a lot of untrustworthy characters or manipulative characters or, you know, straight up psychos, straight up psychos.
03:42And obviously that comes very naturally to me, but yeah, it was, it was important.
03:48And I literally said to my agents and stuff, well, you know, once I'd been killed off for the seventh time in a row by, by the, you know, heroine or hero.
03:58So, um, it's my turn.
04:00I thought, well, it was just, I, it was just more like, I want to be aware of what I'm putting out into the world.
04:07It's kind of became more and more important to me actually.
04:09And, and, uh, I, I like, I liked the sort of like quiet power of, of, and goodness that's kind of surges through this, this, this character.
04:22I like him, I like him, I like him.
04:24I'm curious though, as yourselves, how curious are you?
04:28Are you as curious as Tim is in here?
04:30Like if you see a no trespassing sign, are you someone who would be like, what's just, what's behind there?
04:36Like, or are you very much sticking to like the rules?
04:39It is a, it is a fine line between that kind of like, I find curiosity a very attractive trait in people, but like there's a line between that and like, almost like nosy, like, like wanting to just, just sort of stick your nose in and always be involved in it, in, in everything.
04:57And I think, but I think in this instance, like having an awareness about it, like you said, and also like knowing that he's, he's going to be a force for good, I think is like an important defining thing.
05:09And I think, I think I, I am someone who like wants, if I see, if I see someone close to me or someone who care about struggling, I do want to say my piece and involve myself and, and, and offer my support.
05:22Like, always, um, but I'm definitely not a like, pry.
05:28Yeah, I'm definitely not a like go under the fence through the door when, when the invitation's not that kind of person.
05:34Yeah, I'm not that.
05:35Fair, fair, that's fair.
05:36Um, I'm also curious, do you guys, obviously, I'm not imagining you have telekinetic or anything like that powers, maybe you do, but do you have any skills that you think are particularly unique to you?
05:49I, I, I'm double jointed.
05:53What word am I thinking of?
05:55Oh, wait, is this meant to be, oh no, this is going to be like.
05:58Don't, I'm sending it telepathically.
06:03Institute.
06:03Correct.
06:04Yeah.
06:04Wow.
06:05You could do that all day.
06:06Wow.
06:07That was a practice.
06:09That was great.
06:09I promise, I promise that I won't do that in any other interviews.
06:12And obviously, I know Ben, that you, um, were doing your music just before you came to the show, right?
06:21Were you on tour?
06:22I was on tour after.
06:24Oh, was it after?
06:24Yeah.
06:25So, um, did you guys get serenaded at all by Ben during, during filming?
06:30Or was, was there much music from your mom?
06:32Well, I actually, well, I saw the, you came to the show.
06:35Did you go?
06:35Yeah, there was a London show on Valentine's Day.
06:37I was there.
06:37It was amazing.
06:38And he, and he's, yeah, he's brilliant.
06:41Um, you know, the presence is like, it's amazing.
06:46It's amazing.
06:46Not on set though?
06:47You weren't like singing to everyone and.
06:51No.
06:51You're not.
06:52I have had, I have, I've, I've had little keyboards in trailers before if I was like working on writing
06:56something and I just couldn't get it out of my head.
06:58But, uh, no, not on, not on this.
07:00Is the plan to go back to music after this or are you going to?
07:04I have, I do have, um, yeah, I, I, I put out, um, uh, a record, uh,
07:11a few months ago and I, and I've got some sort of, uh, fun plans for, for that in terms
07:17of, uh, some old versions, sort of deluxe version of some of that stuff, which I've been
07:23working on, um, as well.
07:25But it's, um, it was definitely like my first love.
07:29I thought I was going to go into music when I was 19 and, uh, and now I've, you know,
07:34I've made this kind of career and real passion for acting and storytelling, but I kind of,
07:38I've played a few musicians in films and things as well.
07:43So I kind of feel they're quite married, uh, arts anyway, but I do love, I do love songwriting
07:48and I love kind of touring, but it's, it's definitely like, it, yeah, it's a, it's a passion.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Well, stick to this as well, because this is great.
08:00I really hope there's a season two.
08:01I think there is.
08:03I think, I don't know.
08:04You can't tell me.
08:05We lost our true idea.
08:06But I really hope there is because genuinely like, it's really good.
