FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Brian Blessed
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m working on several things: two or three film scripts, which I’ll be doing this autumn, and I’m directing my first play, The Hollow. I think it’s Agatha Christie’s best work – a real thriller whodunnit.
When are you at your happiest?
When I’m sitting with all my dogs around me – I have lots of animals – in my little cabin and I am discussing future projects with Kenneth Branagh.
What is your greatest fear?
I don’t have any fear at all. I’ve been to Mont Blanc, I’ve done space training in Moscow, I’ve been up Everest three times, been to the North Pole, been to all the great South American mountains. I do not fear anything.
What is your earliest memory?
Being born. I always thought I was born through ice and rocks and there was my mother. I loved playing with all my gangs, we used to go to see Flash Gordon in black and white. Of course eventually I did have a role in the film. I always pretended to be Prince Vultan and never realised in the future I’d actually play the part.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I just love myself. I’m very deeply in love with myself. I always have been glad to be myself and see my body and see my face and everything.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Dr Francis Roles of The Study Society – a great, great philosopher who I knew in the late 1960s.
What is your most treasured possession?
A thangka [a painting done on cotton]. When I first went to Everest I was blessed by the Dalai Lama. He blessed me and he gave me this thangka for long life.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Intolerance of people’s beliefs and religions.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I like myself. I like my body because I’ve got the body of a gorilla. I would hate to have a long, thin body, all aquiline. I love the fact that I’ve got this craggy, heavy, gorilla body, heavy muscle and heavy boned. I like my appearance.
What is your favourite book?
In Search Of The Miraculous by PD Ouspensky.
What is your favourite film?
Gone With The Wind.
Brian’s barmy about the book In Search Of The Miraculous, Gone With The Wind, Sibelius’s Symphony No 2 and ice cream
What is your favourite piece of music?
Sibelius’s Symphony No 2.
What is your favourite meal?
Paella.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
The Dalai Lama, Reinhold Messner (the world’s greatest mountaineer), newscaster Julie Etchingham and Hypatia, who was in charge of the library in ancient Alexandria.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
A gang of people on a building site were always jealous of my amateur acting and said I would never, ever possibly make it as a professional actor.
Do you believe in aliens?
Absolutely. I cannot believe this universe was just made for us.
What is your secret vice?
Ice cream. Strawberry ice cream.
Do you write thank-you notes?
I never have time – I just ring up and say thank you.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘The greatest danger in life is not taking the adventure.’
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Going to every planet in the solar system.
Tell us one thing people might not know about you.
My first job – I left school very early, at 15, because my father was injured in the coal mines – was making coffins. I’d put the bodies in the coffins.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
Everyone makes me say ‘Gordon’s alive!’, so I’d just shout, ‘Gordon’s alive!’ or ‘Brian’s alive!’
Absolute Pandemonium: My Louder Than Life Story, by Brian Blessed, is published by Pan, £8.99.
I’m working on several things: two or three film scripts, which I’ll be doing this autumn, and I’m directing my first play, The Hollow. I think it’s Agatha Christie’s best work – a real thriller whodunnit.
When are you at your happiest?
When I’m sitting with all my dogs around me – I have lots of animals – in my little cabin and I am discussing future projects with Kenneth Branagh.
What is your greatest fear?
I don’t have any fear at all. I’ve been to Mont Blanc, I’ve done space training in Moscow, I’ve been up Everest three times, been to the North Pole, been to all the great South American mountains. I do not fear anything.
What is your earliest memory?
Being born. I always thought I was born through ice and rocks and there was my mother. I loved playing with all my gangs, we used to go to see Flash Gordon in black and white. Of course eventually I did have a role in the film. I always pretended to be Prince Vultan and never realised in the future I’d actually play the part.
What do you most dislike about yourself?
I just love myself. I’m very deeply in love with myself. I always have been glad to be myself and see my body and see my face and everything.
Who has been your greatest influence?
Dr Francis Roles of The Study Society – a great, great philosopher who I knew in the late 1960s.
What is your most treasured possession?
A thangka [a painting done on cotton]. When I first went to Everest I was blessed by the Dalai Lama. He blessed me and he gave me this thangka for long life.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Intolerance of people’s beliefs and religions.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I like myself. I like my body because I’ve got the body of a gorilla. I would hate to have a long, thin body, all aquiline. I love the fact that I’ve got this craggy, heavy, gorilla body, heavy muscle and heavy boned. I like my appearance.
What is your favourite book?
In Search Of The Miraculous by PD Ouspensky.
What is your favourite film?
Gone With The Wind.
Brian’s barmy about the book In Search Of The Miraculous, Gone With The Wind, Sibelius’s Symphony No 2 and ice creamWhat is your favourite piece of music?
Sibelius’s Symphony No 2.
What is your favourite meal?
Paella.
Who would you most like to come to dinner?
The Dalai Lama, Reinhold Messner (the world’s greatest mountaineer), newscaster Julie Etchingham and Hypatia, who was in charge of the library in ancient Alexandria.
What is the nastiest thing anyone has ever said to you?
A gang of people on a building site were always jealous of my amateur acting and said I would never, ever possibly make it as a professional actor.
Do you believe in aliens?
Absolutely. I cannot believe this universe was just made for us.
What is your secret vice?
Ice cream. Strawberry ice cream.
Do you write thank-you notes?
I never have time – I just ring up and say thank you.
Which phrase do you most overuse?
‘The greatest danger in life is not taking the adventure.’
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Going to every planet in the solar system.
Tell us one thing people might not know about you.
My first job – I left school very early, at 15, because my father was injured in the coal mines – was making coffins. I’d put the bodies in the coffins.
What would you like your epitaph to read?
Everyone makes me say ‘Gordon’s alive!’, so I’d just shout, ‘Gordon’s alive!’ or ‘Brian’s alive!’
Absolute Pandemonium: My Louder Than Life Story, by Brian Blessed, is published by Pan, £8.99.