Graham Norton tells Hilary Barry about his audition with Peter Jackson, and how he keeps up the belly laughs and the A-list lineups on his enduring eponymous show.
Somewhere buried deep in Sir Peter Jackson's archive, chat show host Graham Norton believes there's an audition tape with his name on it.
"I think basically anyone who had an equity card in the UK got seen."
It was the late 90's, and Sir Peter was casting for a little movie project called The Lord of the Rings.
Norton auditioned for the part of Samwise Gamgee. If you've seen the films you'll know he didn't get it.
His is not the only interesting audition tape he suspects is in Jackson's vault.
"Apparently Peter Jackson has all the audition tapes and there's quite famous people. You didn't hear it from me, but I think there's a Kylie Minogue audition tape... a Vin Diesel audition tape. So one day we're all going to be humiliated on a DVD extras."
Watch Hilary Barry's interview with Graham Norton on TVNZ+
The Graham Norton Show: an epic run
I'm talking to Graham Norton ahead of the new season of his eponymous show.
Now in its 33rd season, The Graham Norton Show has seen seven British prime ministers come and go and has featured close to 2000 guests.
After 550 episodes, Norton says he doesn't dwell too much on how it's managed to last so long.
"I think if you think about that, your head explodes. I just kind of get on with it.
"I suppose the thing we try to do is kind of keep ahead of the audience. You know, you, if we're getting bored of something, then we stop it and then we change it. Because I think people kind of think, oh, the show has just been running for all these series and it's exactly the same. Actually, if you go back to the beginning, it was quite different and it has changed a lot over the years. And it's a much more streamlined, it's a much happier show."
The calibre of the show's guests is another factor in its endurance, says Norton. "You know, we just get amazing guests. And in a way, that's not about me, that's about our booker. And that's also what gets viewers in. They're there to see Tom Cruise, they're not there to see me."
Plenty of us are there to see him though. The way he gently teases his guests; whether it's digging up photos of Nicole Kidman's early modelling days or unearthing video of a 12-year-old Ryan Gosling dancing up a storm in a questionable pair of MC Hammer pants, every episode is a masterclass in the chat show genre.
All he cares about though is that the guests have fun.
Graham Norton reveals the very Kiwi role he missed out on - Watch on TVNZ+
"You know, I am the host. I invited them there. So that's the kind of ethos I bring into it. I want them to enjoy themselves. I don't want them to have a bad time."
No place for grilling and needling
Norton wants his guests to feel safe in the knowledge that he's not going to grill them.
"I'm not going to, you know, ask them to confess to something terrible or I'm not going to needle them about something. That's a different show. And, you know, and there's an absolute room for those shows where they really dig deep and the guest cries and we all have a beautiful moment. That isn't our show. Our show is you're having a cocktail. You're telling a funny story about filming in Bulgaria. And I think now, after all these years, guests get that."
The first two episodes of the new season feature the sort of stellar lineups we're used to; Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson, Matthew McConaughey, Taylor Swift, Cillian Murphy and Lewis Capaldi.
'Surely this will lead to an orgy'
Regular watchers will know the guests often get very chummy indeed (the alcoholic beverages probably help with that.)
I'll never forget the passionate kiss Paul Rudd planted on Dame Helen Mirren but I do wonder if any of the guests have actually, you know, hooked up?
"Not that I know of. Certainly nothing official. There might have been a couple of trysts. We've heard rumors. You know sometimes you do look at the couch, you're going to think, 'you're all so young and beautiful. Surely this will lead to an orgy' but as far as I know, as far as I know it never has."
He's had almost everyone on the show except Brad Pitt and the Royals but there's still time.
And there's still time for Sir Peter Jackson to release those Lord of the Rings audition tapes too.
Sir Peter, if you're reading this, call me.
The new season of The Graham Norton Show starts Friday October 3, 7.30pm, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+.
Watch Hilary Barry's interview with Graham Norton on TVNZ+
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