Latest / What Do You Call It? Podcast! / EKOW QUARTEY talks Harry Potter, acting, theatre, Amandaland, Joanna Lumley, future roles & more

Transcript

EKOW QUARTEY talks Harry Potter, acting, theatre, Amandaland, Joanna Lumley, future roles & more · What Do You Call It? Podcast!

• 0:06
  Hello and welcome to a very special episode of What Do You
• 0:09
  Call It? Podcast.
• 0:13
  I'm Your host, GB. If you're watching this
• 0:16
  interview on YouTube and not just listening on Spotify or
• 0:20
  Apple Podcasts, then you should easily recognise today's guests.
• 0:24
  If you're in the UK, Harry Potter, Uber Eats, Hadbury
• 0:28
  adverts, theater productions, Shakespeare, TV and films,
• 0:33
  please welcome Echo Corsi. Echo.
• 0:36
  How you doing today mate? You're good.
• 0:38
  Hi, I am very, very good. What a wonderful, wonderful
• 0:41
  introduction, my man. I'm very good.
• 0:43
  All the better for hearing that. Awesome mate, awesome.
• 0:46
  You do deserve it. There's a lot to touch on today
• 0:49
  in this chat that we're going to have.
• 0:50
  But before I do begin the interview, I do actually want to
• 0:53
  personally thank you for a awesome cameo that you did for
• 0:56
  my missus last year. And I think you remember it as
• 0:58
  well. You know, she wasn't having the
• 1:01
  best week and it really put a smile on her face.
• 1:03
  It was fantastic. She showed all her friends and
• 1:05
  family, big big Harry Potter fan obsessed.
• 1:09
  Read the books 7-8 times, seen the films gone out so many
• 1:12
  times, Harry pot world, you name it.
• 1:13
  She she loves it. And as a follow up I thought I'm
• 1:17
  going to ask you if you want to come to the podcast.
• 1:19
  What's the worst? You say no absolutely fine or
• 1:21
  you don't reply? Oh good good, I'm a big boy.
• 1:24
  However, you did actually reply and I didn't see the reply for a
• 1:27
  few months because I just didn't go cameo again after that and
• 1:30
  didn't get a notification. Felt like an idiot see the reply
• 1:34
  and I was gobsmacked. Reach that to you immediately.
• 1:37
  And here we are having this chat.
• 1:39
  So thank you very much for your time mate.
• 1:41
  No, no, it's my pleasure. I love I love cameo.
• 1:44
  It's especially because it's it's I love doing birthday
• 1:47
  messages. I love doing like Valentine's.
• 1:50
  I'm a big fan of love. So I always love like when it's
• 1:52
  a Valentine's like anniversary. But definitely when someone says
• 1:56
  like a pep talk and shares that like people are their friend or
• 2:01
  partner or this or that is like having a tough time.
• 2:04
  I'm like, oh, OK, because mental health is one of the biggest
• 2:07
  things for me, so important. I'm even wearing my.
• 2:10
  I don't know if you can if you can see.
• 2:14
  Voice gets sad too. Yes, good, bad.
• 2:16
  Too. And so, yeah, so being able to
• 2:20
  say something to pick people up, especially it's, it's an
• 2:25
  absolute privilege to just be living my life.
• 2:28
  But having knowing that saying something or sharing some love
• 2:33
  to someone can change their day, their week, and I'm so fortunate
• 2:37
  to have that. And it was genuine as well.
• 2:39
  Honestly, I loved it as well. But it's just the fact that she
• 2:42
  really appreciated it and it went down so well.
• 2:45
  And she's really excited for this interview.
• 2:46
  A few other people with my cousin Brogan, she's very
• 2:49
  excited. Massive, massive Harry Potter
• 2:51
  fans. So I'm going to begin the chat
• 2:52
  with some HP Harry Potter. So you delivered two of the most
• 2:58
  iconic, mean worthy lines in Harry Potter franchise.
• 3:02
  So Prisoner of Azkaban and fans still quote them to this day.
• 3:06
  Include myself. I love Harry Potter, but I
• 3:09
  wouldn't say I'm obsessed with it.
• 3:10
  But I do like the films if they're very good.
• 3:13
  And when I ask you, can you just do the quote if that's OK?
• 3:17
  Just. Your memorable, memorable quote.
• 3:20
  I'll do. I'll do the first one in the
• 3:21
  Divinations classroom. It's not the grim, you idiot.
• 3:25
  It's the grim taking the form of a giant spectral dog.
• 3:29
  It's among one of the darkest omens in our world.
• 3:31
  It's an omen of death. And then a little bit with the
• 3:36
  Great Hall people running around.
• 3:40
  That's right. Black could be anywhere.
• 3:44
  He's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with
• 3:47
  your bare hands. Lightning.
• 3:50
  Thunder. Oh my, honestly, I've just
• 3:57
  popped myself in. I hope you enjoyed it.
• 4:01
  Honestly, it's so iconic, man. But I'm going to ask you,
• 4:05
  filming those scenes, did you have a sense of the fact that it
• 4:10
  becomes such a beloved part of the?
• 4:12
  Film's legacy, No idea whatsoever.
• 4:16
  Like I was 12 years old when we were filming that and I big fan
• 4:24
  of the books. My we couldn't afford at that
• 4:28
  time to get more. Me and my sister would we get
• 4:31
  one book and she reads lightning fast.
• 4:33
  So she'll finish the book then I'll be there slowly going
• 4:36
  through it. So she already knows how it
• 4:38
  ends. She's like, have you got to this
• 4:39
  party? I'm like, please, please.
• 4:42
  I'm on page three. I know it's been 3 days.
• 4:46
  And so like as a fan myself and then getting the opportunity to
• 4:50
  be in it, I was just, I was just living my best life.
• 4:53
  I got told off so many times on set, really, what for?
• 4:58
  I could stop messing around, stop having fun.
• 5:02
  I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Because I, I was just, I was
• 5:04
  gassed. I was so gassed.
• 5:06
  I was having so much fun. And so, yeah, just when I got
• 5:11
  given the lines, like both of them just happened on the day.
• 5:15
  And when I got given the lines, I was like, yeah, cool, I can do
• 5:18
  that. You got your first close up.
• 5:20
  You're like, oh, this is all this is all kind of cool.
• 5:22
  Like I think I was that kind of child.
• 5:26
  And I think there's a lot of children.
• 5:27
  I like this. Like you sort of just take it in
• 5:29
  your stride. Whereas as an adult, if you gave
• 5:34
  me a line on set that day, hey, I'll be panicking.
• 5:39
  But I got given, I got given a line and I did the current war
• 5:45
  and I got given an extra line. Michael Shannon has done this
• 5:48
  incredible speech, stabs the knife into the wall, has meant
• 5:51
  to be American. And then they said, oh,
• 5:53
  actually, I could you say a photograph, Mr. Westinghouse.
• 5:56
  And they gave me the line of the day.
• 5:57
  And I was like, yeah, of course. A photograph, Mr. Photograph Mr.
• 6:01
  Westing. Photograph Mr. Westinghouse
• 6:04
  strolling up and down one of the other actors.
• 6:06
  I didn't know you're into the police need to concentrate.
• 6:10
  Yeah, but like as a kid, I, I weirdly just took it in my
• 6:14
  stride. I just, it just felt cool.
• 6:17
  I even remember because films that big, you have second units,
• 6:22
  pretty much everyone that's the main role have double s.
• 6:25
  So when they're filming like big behind scenes or big scenes
• 6:29
  where it's very wide, sometimes you'll have your double s in
• 6:32
  there. I had a double called Elvis, far
• 6:34
  cooler man than I'll ever be. And I was wicked.
• 6:38
  He he was like, I can't remember what his accent was.
• 6:42
  I think was he, I can't remember what his accent was, but he was
• 6:45
  like, brother, it's it's so cool.
• 6:47
  I got to mouth along to to your lines.
• 6:49
  It was like I was speaking. I was like, so this so yeah,
• 6:55
  man, it was. I never knew what it would
• 6:58
  become. I never, I never knew it would
• 7:01
  be so iconic. I never knew it would mean so
• 7:07
  much to so many people. Yeah, it's it's it's been it's
• 7:13
  20, I'm sure my age now, 23 years since, like filming it, 20
• 7:20
  years since it's coming out. Yeah.
• 7:23
  People still talk about it. So I'm, yeah, very fortunate.
• 7:26
  In fact, that was your on screen debut.
• 7:27
  As well, it's absolutely crazy. Like to the, I mean, I know
• 7:34
  there's a lot of talk on the Internet of how did it happen?
• 7:37
  And I'm here to I'm here to settle it.
• 7:40
  So Gina J casting came to my school.
• 7:45
  I went to Dulwich College and my my second father, I call him is
• 7:50
  called Peter Jolie. My drama teacher knew how much I
• 7:53
  loved acting and on a day rumour had it, Alfonso wanted some more
• 8:01
  melanin different hues in the in the school.
• 8:04
  So third film, they literally just went to the lunch room and
• 8:07
  we're just picking out. There's an all boys schools just
• 8:09
  picking up boys, you, you, you. And for the first time ever in
• 8:13
  that year, I wasn't in the lunch room at that time.
• 8:16
  I loved my food. So I still do.
• 8:18
  I was I was on the football pitch.
• 8:21
  So Pete is dragging around and when I Gina J is like one of the
• 8:25
  biggest casting directors in the world, dragging her and
• 8:30
  assistants around the school. Where's Echo?
• 8:32
  Has anyone seen Echo? Has anyone seen Echo?
• 8:34
  You seen Echo Finally, like get to the top corner football
• 8:38
  pitch. I mean, go like just diving
• 8:40
  around saving goals, not realizing the weight of this
• 8:44
  conversation happening. Echo when this is a casting.
• 8:47
  Eric's Harry Potter. Oh, cool.
• 8:48
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. One second.
• 8:49
  Ah, saved. Ah, it's gone in.
• 8:52
  And then then started the process of like, I think it was
• 8:57
  like 8 auditions and the pool of boys shrunk down every time,
• 9:05
  every time. Then like 2, there was like 5 of
• 9:09
  us left who could be in it. And then there was a big break,
• 9:15
  like hiatus between one audition where I thought, that's it, it's
• 9:18
  gone. And I got a call saying,
• 9:22
  actually, can you come and meet Alfonso and Christopher
• 9:23
  Columbus? They want to go through a
• 9:26
  script, put my shirt on, tucked into my jeans, put my dad's
• 9:29
  chain on. You know, now I'm eleven years
• 9:32
  old. I had to pretend to be a man.
• 9:35
  But yeah. So that entire process to then
• 9:41
  get to set, yeah, it was cool. That's wicked, man.
• 9:45
  And over the years, the fans have given you the nickname Bad
• 9:49
  News. Then how does it feel that
• 9:51
  you've gained the cult following?
• 9:53
  Just from a couple of lines. I know we've talked about
• 9:56
  mentioning about the film's legacy and you being part of it,
• 9:58
  but the fact that you must get recognised, I know you probably
• 10:01
  get recognised for other things, but for this specific role when
• 10:03
  you were just a kid, like it's crazy.
• 10:08
  Absolutely. Exactly.
• 10:09
  It's great. It is.
• 10:10
  I find it so crazy. There's the after the film came
• 10:16
  out, I think I got recognized maybe twice and that was that
• 10:20
  felt so cool, like people are recognizing me.
• 10:24
  And then you Fast forward and uni was a big was a big time for
• 10:31
  it because you're you're all what uni I was AI was a drama
• 10:36
  boy, but I was also a rugby boy. And weirdly, all my rugby, my
• 10:41
  rugby mates used to use it to, to get to chat to girls.
• 10:45
  I, I got no success from it. But somehow someone would be
• 10:49
  like, oh, come and meet my friend, echoes in Harry Potter.
• 10:51
  I was like, hey, Oh my God, are you the guy that, yeah, that's
• 10:54
  me, that's me. And then they'll go off and
• 10:55
  dance together. I'll be like, I'm the, I'm the
• 10:58
  guy. Hello.
• 11:02
  Still engaged with me? Come on, he's like bare hands.
• 11:05
  Come on, do you want to say the line again?
• 11:07
  I can do, but then, yeah, then like as it's gone on, there was
• 11:13
  a weird period of time when I was like, again, it's probably
• 11:16
  ego more than any or pride where I tried to distance myself from
• 11:20
  it. And I come in at my own.
• 11:21
  I'm a real actor. I'm more than that credit.
• 11:25
  And then they just go, oh, you're an idiot.
• 11:27
  You're a fucking idiot. What do you mean you're more
• 11:29
  than that credit? That's such a cool thing to have
• 11:31
  to have done, to have experienced.
• 11:33
  So very quickly. I I changed my ways and my
• 11:36
  thinking. But yeah, like, people will
• 11:39
  bring pictures at the theater to sign.
• 11:42
  I've done conventions and yeah, it always, it always surprises
• 11:46
  me. It's it, it surprises me how
• 11:48
  much it means to so many people. But I I love it.
• 11:54
  Here's one of the biggest films series of all time.
• 11:58
  Just one more question on the Harry Potter.
• 11:59
  And then there's still lots to still get into.
• 12:02
  But I actually do recognise you more from the Cadbury adverts
• 12:04
  and the just the adverts, to be honest.
• 12:06
  And there's going to be some Harry Potter people are like
• 12:08
  what? I've only seen the films for
• 12:11
  them once or twice, but I do really like them.
• 12:14
  That's the thing. So, but what I'm going to ask
• 12:16
  you is were there any additional scenes that you filmed that
• 12:20
  didn't make the final cut? If So, what were they like?
• 12:24
  So there's there's one specific one which actually made the DVD,
• 12:30
  but the reason I remember it is because we had a weak hiatus on
• 12:36
  shooting where we were practicing magic.
• 12:40
  So we had a magician in and we were practicing how to do
• 12:45
  because there's a Great Hall scene.
• 12:46
  The camera comes in through the doors, comes down a Dolly track
• 12:50
  and is and you just see like each character's sort of
• 12:56
  relationship with their friends and everything.
• 12:58
  And I don't remember where it's meant.
• 13:00
  I think ends up on Harry, but in that someone accidentally magics
• 13:06
  me and I get a streamer that just keeps coming out of my
• 13:09
  mouth. So it's like the the the camera
• 13:12
  hits me and I'm like, and I I'm in the stream and it follows A
• 13:17
  streamer then then moves on. But it ended up on the DVD.
• 13:21
  But that one never it isn't in the main film, but that was it
• 13:25
  was it was so fun because one we just had like a week of
• 13:29
  rehearsals practicing magic and I loved magic.
• 13:32
  At that point. I'm I'm I'm just a nerd.
• 13:35
  I know don't let this Michael B Jordan exterior.
• 13:42
  I'm a nerd, a full on nerd. Like I I only just got rid of my
• 13:47
  card Magic books. Like I was, I had the coins, I
• 13:51
  had the cards, everything. Yeah, it was.
• 13:55
  But yeah, an absolute no. But that was one of my favorite
• 14:00
  scenes. But I can't think of anything
• 14:02
  else. I don't.
• 14:03
  Know if they caught that by the way, just the sounds of it just
• 14:06
  sounds great to be fair. No, it was I think just the how
• 14:10
  it moves through they. Were like, yeah, yeah.
• 14:13
  But yeah. But no, I can't be honest that
• 14:15
  mate. But I'm glad that we have
• 14:18
  discussed hyper. But what I do want to move on is
• 14:21
  sort of more of the origins. You touched on getting into
• 14:24
  acting as well. But what I want to know is where
• 14:26
  did you train and what early experiences shaped your accent
• 14:30
  style? Not necessarily Harry Potter,
• 14:33
  but other accent experience even like maybe like school play or
• 14:35
  something. Or you know, like an advert.
• 14:37
  It's a very good question. My mum would say the beginning
• 14:44
  for me. So my mum, firstly, let me just
• 14:46
  preface, you don't want me to be an actor.
• 14:48
  So this is this is after the fact She said this, she's like,
• 14:52
  oh, oh, a boy. That's the nickname they have
• 14:56
  for me literally translates to a boy.
• 14:57
  We got a name. He's like, oh, a boy.
• 15:00
  When you I remember when you did Wizard of Oz, you played Tin
• 15:04
  man. It's like year one, year 2.
• 15:06
  We had like kitchen roll, wrapped it in foil, slid it up
• 15:10
  my arm, made like a a cardboard box.
• 15:14
  But for me, I think the beginning of me really going,
• 15:18
  this is something I really want to do, was another teacher who
• 15:23
  was very important to me called Mr. Kranich, who wrote Adapted
• 15:29
  Midsummer Night's Stream in Year 6.
• 15:32
  And I got to play bottom. And it was, it wasn't, it wasn't
• 15:36
  in Elizabethan English, it was just modernized.
• 15:41
  But I loved it. I loved it so much.
• 15:43
  And I remember my dad coming home to my mom being like, I
• 15:46
  don't know, I think this boy might have something.
• 15:49
  And my mum was like, no, no, no, no.
• 15:53
  He'll be an accountant. So I'm still a disappointment.
• 15:58
  Now I'm joking. It's not too late mate.
• 15:59
  It's been an accountant. Never too late.
• 16:01
  You know, it's never too late. I'm I'm, I've started studying.
• 16:07
  But yeah. So like that was that was the
• 16:09
  beginning. And then getting to Dulwich was
• 16:13
  so important because I had, I didn't, I don't have anyone in
• 16:16
  the industry. I didn't know anyone in the
• 16:17
  industry. There's no one in my family
• 16:19
  that's done it. No one in my immediate family
• 16:21
  like even extended that has been in this industry.
• 16:26
  So I was really lucky that I had a guide in, in Mr. Jolly, Peter
• 16:31
  Jolly, because NYTI was like, how do I keep doing this thing?
• 16:37
  He's like, oh, sign up for NYT. At that point I'd done
• 16:39
  Stagecoach for a little while. I think.
• 16:43
  Was it after Harry Potter pre? I think I did.
• 16:46
  This is Sylvia Young and Marla Bone for a little bit on a
• 16:50
  weekend and then he's like MIT go to National News Theatre to
• 16:56
  audition for that. And I was like, OK, got to do
• 16:59
  some really cool experiences with them.
• 17:01
  Got to go to Beijing Cultural Olympiad, sang at the handovers
• 17:06
  at the Olympic ceremony and then performed in the handover
• 17:09
  ceremony 2008 which was amazing. Then.
• 17:14
  Then he is the one. I was like, yeah, I remember I
• 17:18
  did the ABBC 3 comedy. I was 16, called Barely Legal up
• 17:28
  in Scotland in Glasgow and he after that I came back to school
• 17:36
  and I was like fuck this man. I don't want to do this anymore.
• 17:40
  I don't want to do. Need no education.
• 17:43
  I'm going to be a star, man. And I was so low.
• 17:48
  I was so, so low because again, Uber Eats veggie burrito,
• 17:56
  grilled mushroom quesadilla, nachos with extra cheese, spicy
• 18:01
  Pinto beans, sweet potato fries. Go on.
• 18:06
  Roasted cauliflower, smoky hibiscus, Chipotle salsa.
• 18:11
  Cheers. And a side of guac.
• 18:13
  And a side of guac. Yes, come on, I'm 16 and I don't
• 18:19
  want to do school anymore. And he he checked in on me every
• 18:22
  single day. I'm actually I rely on 17.
• 18:26
  I'm 17. I'm in my last school year and
• 18:28
  he's checking, checking in on me every single day to be like, how
• 18:31
  are you today? How it's just one more day, just
• 18:33
  one more day. I'm really lucky.
• 18:35
  I get into Leeds uni and it's him that tells me that's where I
• 18:39
  should go. He's like, get as far away from
• 18:41
  your parents as possible. Go, go become a man, become your
• 18:44
  own man. And I'm like, do you think I can
• 18:47
  do it? Yeah, be your own man.
• 18:50
  I was like, OK, cool. And then then it becomes the
• 18:54
  point of being like auditioning for drama school.
• 18:59
  So I finish. I'm in my last year of, of Leeds
• 19:03
  and now I know I've done theatre and performance.
• 19:05
  I've got myself A-21. I can give my mom that
• 19:08
  certificate like here you go Mom.
• 19:10
  We, we, we did OK and I did my work and then I move on to start
• 19:16
  doing auditions. I choose three places, Bristol,
• 19:18
  Rader and Lambda and I'd get to the third round for Rader, final
• 19:24
  round for Bristol. So I'm travelling down every
• 19:27
  time and then Lambda, I get a second first round where they're
• 19:32
  like, we think we see something but like we're not sure, come
• 19:36
  back and do another one. So do your second first round
• 19:39
  then like, OK, cool, come and do the final round.
• 19:42
  And the final round was the last audition, the last audition day
• 19:45
  of the year. My last chance.
• 19:49
  I knew now I hadn't got into the other two.
• 19:51
  And my promise with my parents was just let me try this year,
• 19:54
  if I don't get in, it's done. And they were like, OK.
• 20:00
  So I go on the last day and miraculously I get a place and
• 20:06
  then, yeah, I train at Lambda for two years and then yeah, the
• 20:09
  rest is the rest is history. Last mate, last.
• 20:14
  One thing I've been quite fascinated with is the art of
• 20:18
  rehearsing and having a good memory towards acting.
• 20:22
  What is your process for learning and memorizing lines?
• 20:27
  It's such a again, great question.
• 20:30
  Like you see it with older actors why some of the best
• 20:36
  can't do theatre anymore because they can't retain the the words
• 20:40
  in the same way your brain starts doing things you don't
• 20:44
  expect it to do. I think it's the Dame Judi Dench
• 20:47
  who has hearing aids, so even she can't hear the cues or
• 20:52
  anyone else is saying sometimes I believe that's correct.
• 20:56
  Don't don't quote me on that. My process.
• 21:00
  It kind of depends what it is. So Shakespeare I have to
• 21:05
  dedicate time and it does it does a weird thing where I've
• 21:10
  been very lucky like I've I've done at this point, Midsummer
• 21:14
  Night's Dream. I played Lysander, I played
• 21:18
  Macbeth in Macbeth, I've played Benedict in Much Ado and you,
• 21:29
  you have to just sit with it. And when you Start learning it,
• 21:34
  because it follows a rhythm, sometimes there's a poetry
• 21:37
  behind it, but you try to, I have to try and fight against
• 21:41
  the poetry because sometimes it makes you go dum Dee dum Dee dum
• 21:44
  Dee dum, the dum Dee, dum Dee dum Dee dum.
• 21:46
  And then it just, so then it just washes over people and
• 21:49
  they're like, I have no idea what you just said, but you'll
• 21:54
  learn it. Let's say it's midday, I'm
• 21:57
  learning it. I'll go through it.
• 21:58
  I think I've finished like a scene.
• 22:00
  I'll put it down. I'll go about my day.
• 22:02
  I'll come back to it later. Maybe like 30% has stayed.
• 22:06
  I'm like, that's just, I've been doing this for three hours.
• 22:09
  So you'll go over it again for maybe half an hour, go to bed.
• 22:13
  And then it's like your brain is a computer.
• 22:16
  It just starts downloading. Maybe I said my brain, it's like
• 22:19
  it downloads through your sleep and you wake up, you're like,
• 22:23
  oh, 90% is there. You're like, yeah, it's there.
• 22:28
  So that's always a weird one. And and I've learned to stop
• 22:30
  fighting myself about that. If it's not there the day
• 22:33
  before, I know if I sleep and sleep well, it'll be there.
• 22:36
  But a good, a really good script, sometimes you can just
• 22:40
  read it again and again and again and again.
• 22:42
  You get a sense of the story and you don't have to, you don't
• 22:46
  have to do the whole like revising for a test.
• 22:49
  What's that say? And looking away, What's that
• 22:51
  say looking away again? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 22:54
  Sometimes. Sometimes you can just read
• 22:57
  really, really good scripts. You read it once or twice.
• 23:01
  It's like it's just there. Especially like quite modern,
• 23:06
  natural, naturalistic ones. You're like, what?
• 23:09
  But yes, I'm finding it now. So I, I, I serve at my church,
• 23:15
  I, I sing as part of the worship team.
• 23:18
  And so like, we'll get word, we'll get new songs for the
• 23:20
  week. And people were like, Oh, this
• 23:24
  must be so easy for you. Learning a new song.
• 23:26
  The lyrics just won't stay. Like, I'll, I'll go through it.
• 23:31
  I'll use all the techniques that I've just said to you.
• 23:34
  I'm like, cool, because I'm learning the melody and the
• 23:36
  rhythm, learning the notes. I look at the lyrics and worship
• 23:40
  songs seem to be so wordy. The Psalms, they're just like,
• 23:43
  yeah, there you go. And I, I, I would have sung it
• 23:47
  for like I sang sing the whole set today.
• 23:49
  Tomorrow I wake up. I'm like, OK, look at the title
• 23:52
  of the song. Oh, that's the song that goes,
• 23:55
  that goes hmm, hmm. Then it's just it's gone.
• 24:00
  It's somehow it's like, it's, it's like my short term memories
• 24:03
  got really good for filming. Especially you sometimes you
• 24:08
  learn your your lines because you have a full script.
• 24:11
  You pick, you're taking on your lines, but then you'll get your
• 24:14
  sides for the day. So you, you, you work that short
• 24:17
  term memory really well and like I've done Horrible Histories and
• 24:21
  that's you're filming like 567 scene scenes a day or sketches a
• 24:26
  day. So you're taking on words, and
• 24:30
  then when you're finished, you're like, get out, yeah, take
• 24:33
  on more words. Yeah, because like next thing
• 24:35
  out. Yeah, hey.
• 24:36
  Honestly, so like my short term memory seems really the long
• 24:39
  term's like, Oh no, we're we're done.
• 24:41
  We we switched off. You don't use us anymore.
• 24:44
  So yeah. So I'm hoping that's, that's not
• 24:46
  something that's going to stay long.
• 24:49
  I might need to start exercising it.
• 24:51
  But it shows you how versatile as well because you're doing
• 24:53
  different productions. So theatre productions, TV and
• 24:57
  films and then like adverts and then all this information you've
• 25:00
  got to retain. I don't think people may
• 25:02
  appreciate the skill that goes into it.
• 25:04
  I think a lot of people just see, OK, here's a script,
• 25:07
  memorize it done and I can switch off.
• 25:09
  And I just don't think it's that simple.
• 25:12
  It's not black and white really, is it?
• 25:14
  It's because it's, it is often times like you do a theatre Q&A
• 25:18
  and you'll have people go, how do you remember all those words?
• 25:21
  And I should also add though, like there's there's a third
• 25:25
  part to it, which is when you a theater play, you get to
• 25:30
  rehearse. So yes, I do believe the sooner
• 25:35
  that you have the script out of your way and you can connect
• 25:40
  with someone, then like you can start to build the story.
• 25:44
  But the script always is the Bible.
• 25:45
  You have to go back to it because sometimes people will
• 25:48
  like, I've got the words, but you'll learn it in an
• 25:50
  intonation. You'll learn it how you wanted
• 25:52
  to perform it, but someone gives you something completely
• 25:55
  different back. They say they're the same words,
• 25:57
  but they're giving you something moving somewhere else.
• 26:00
  And I love when I watch performers where it's they're
• 26:03
  open, like they keep, I'm giving to you, you're giving back to
• 26:06
  me, I'm listening, I'm responding as opposed to just
• 26:09
  performing a rehearsed thing that's happened.
• 26:14
  I think rehearsals build a relationship, but the physical
• 26:16
  part of it also helps you solidify those words because you
• 26:20
  remember, Oh, yeah, I was at the stage at this point and I was
• 26:23
  talking to, Oh, yeah, I know where we are kind of thing.
• 26:26
  They're scary moments. They're scary moments when
• 26:28
  you're stood there, someone's doing their whole speech or
• 26:32
  something. You're looking in their eyes and
• 26:34
  you're like, I do not know what I say next.
• 26:38
  And they're staring at you. You're staring at them.
• 26:41
  And then they stop talking. You're like, you're like, uh oh,
• 26:45
  I'm going to open my mouth now and I just have to hope the
• 26:48
  right words come out. Yeah, it is the.
• 26:50
  Yeah. And so that muscle memory and
• 26:53
  that associating it the the with physically where you are as well
• 26:59
  and physically what you're doing, it does help.
• 27:02
  OK, mate. OK, just one of some more
• 27:03
  questions to know. Your time's quite limited at the
• 27:05
  moment. What I do want to ask you is how
• 27:07
  did your involvement in Amanda Lands come about and what was it
• 27:11
  like working with Joanna Lumley? Hey.
• 27:16
  Joanna Lumley. She is one of the most
• 27:19
  phenomenal women in the entire world.
• 27:22
  She is class personified. She's grace, all the all,
• 27:27
  everything. It's so Amanda Land.
• 27:31
  I, I auditioned for it. Funny enough, I auditioned for
• 27:33
  it for the pilot and I, I think I had one audition.
• 27:39
  I didn't hear anything and then like 5-6 months later get an
• 27:45
  audition through and it's now called Amanda Land.
• 27:48
  And I'm like, oh, this is cool. And I'm reading the scripts and
• 27:52
  my brain is my Spidey senses are like, you've done this before.
• 27:57
  I'm like, have I? So I emailed my agent, have I
• 28:00
  done this script before? And they're like, Oh yeah, it's
• 28:04
  that pilot you went for out for like last September.
• 28:07
  It's now going to series. I was like, oh, so yeah, so.
• 28:11
  And I was like, OK, cool, cool. Yeah.
• 28:15
  And so I, I did my, my tape and then, yeah, I went in with
• 28:20
  Alyssa and Sharon and and Rachel, the casting director
• 28:27
  and, yeah, just in the room chatting away.
• 28:31
  JJ, very sweet man stepfather who just wants to do right by
• 28:35
  his stepson and everyone else around him and doesn't want to
• 28:39
  get in the way too much. Wants to be as helpful as
• 28:42
  possible. And yeah, they offered it to me.
• 28:45
  And I was like, gang, let's take this.
• 28:49
  But yeah, it's, it's been, we finished filming season 2 last
• 28:55
  December and we're in ADR, additional dialogue recording.
• 29:00
  So hopefully maybe a month or two we'll be seeing season 2 TV
• 29:06
  screens. But yeah, Joanna Lumley,
• 29:09
  incredible, hilarious. Like I said, there was, I
• 29:14
  remember there was one day it, it, it's very in the industry,
• 29:19
  like people, some people know their power and some people use
• 29:26
  it for, for great good. In a sense of we had a young
• 29:31
  actor from Lambda actually who was playing a bartender and
• 29:35
  because of the way it was shot and everything that happened
• 29:38
  that day, didn't know if they were going to use him again.
• 29:40
  He'd been sat for about and we're all in like this sort of
• 29:43
  cubbyhole and there's like these changing rooms because it's in
• 29:47
  alley pally, etcetera, etcetera. And, and as any diligent actor,
• 29:52
  like he's just going over his line, just quietly waiting.
• 29:56
  And Joanna was just like, darling, you've you've been here
• 29:59
  a rather long time, haven't you? He's like, oh, yeah, I don't
• 30:02
  want to complain. Like I had my lunch.
• 30:04
  And then he's like, darling, you can't be sat here just doing
• 30:06
  nothing and let me go and check. And.
• 30:09
  And it it seems like a small thing, but especially when
• 30:12
  you're starting out, like you, you want to just not
• 30:15
  inconveniencing anyone. You're like, you feel like
• 30:18
  you're the lowest on the rung. So for for her to sort of be
• 30:22
  that advocate and be like, oh, it, I don't want you to have
• 30:28
  just been forgotten about. Let me go check what you should
• 30:30
  be doing. And that's not her job, but our
• 30:32
  role at all. But she took on that sort of
• 30:36
  responsibility of caring for everyone wherever in on the tier
• 30:42
  perhaps. That's wicked, mate.
• 30:45
  Last question for you, so I'm going to ask you, is there a
• 30:47
  particular type of role or genre that you would like to explore
• 30:52
  in the future? I am desperate to play a
• 30:55
  villain. I want to play a villain.
• 30:57
  You're. Too likable, that man you're.
• 31:01
  Way too kind. You're way too kind that I want
• 31:04
  to play. I want to play one of those like
• 31:08
  the villain you don't know is the villain until the until
• 31:11
  you're like, wait, you start putting pieces together and you
• 31:15
  go, Oh my God, is that it's him. They're like usual suspects or
• 31:19
  something. That kind of vibe, yeah.
• 31:21
  That's it. That's.
• 31:22
  It just ruined the film. What's his, what's his, what's
• 31:28
  the what's his name? I remember seeing someone with
• 31:30
  the T-shirt. Kaiser something Kaiser so.
• 31:34
  Something that Kaiser something and someone with the T-shirt
• 31:38
  with all the spoilers. Yeah, I'd love, I'd love to love
• 31:42
  to play a villain so much. One of those who is seen, as you
• 31:48
  said, like likeable. It seems to be this either that
• 31:54
  or just like really unhinged. I'd love to also do some drama.
• 31:58
  I'd love to do. I'd love to have a chance at
• 32:03
  doing some on screen drama because, yeah, I think sometimes
• 32:11
  I thought maybe it's human nature.
• 32:12
  You want to pigeonhole people, put them in their lane to make
• 32:18
  it easier to know what to do with them.
• 32:21
  But I really want to do everything and anything.
• 32:23
  And I think I have the capability.
• 32:25
  So any, any casting directors to the to the 10s of thousands and
• 32:30
  millions listening and watching, yeah, come and come and cast me
• 32:35
  in a drama or a villain, maybe make me a Bond villain.
• 32:37
  I'm happy to be a Bond villain. There we go.
• 32:41
  I'm sure you smashed man, I'm sure you would.
• 32:43
  But we're now at the end of the interview.
• 32:45
  There's so much I'm sure we can talk about.
• 32:46
  Part 2. Honestly mate, let's just
• 32:48
  hopefully we can make it happen. But no, you are very, very busy
• 32:51
  man. Like I said, you are everywhere.
• 32:53
  Literally go to the train station.
• 32:54
  I see you. But Echo, thank you very much
• 32:57
  for time. I genuinely appreciate it.
• 32:58
  Put a smile on my face and we enjoyed this.
• 33:00
  Interviews absolutely thrown by where can the listeners find you
• 33:03
  on social media? On Instagram, echo Corti come
• 33:08
  and say hello, send me a message.
• 33:10
  I'm always in my DM sending love and saying hello.
• 33:14
  So don't be afraid if I take some time.
• 33:16
  I'm sorry but yeah, I appreciate you and thank you very much for
• 33:19
  all this. Awesome.
• 33:21
  Give and follow like this video, Subscribe to the channel.
• 33:24
  But for now, everyone, have a blessed weekend.