Interview by Peter Robertson
Photographs by Mike Lawn
Ten years ago, Hugo Speer had few prospects - in debt and definitely down on his luck. Now aged 29, he's virtually become an international heart-throb film star overnight, with an enormously promising career ahead of him. Of course, what has really turned Hugo's life around is The Full Monty - the most talked about British film since Four Weddings And A Funeral - in which he plays one of a group of unemployed lads from Yorkshire who manage to earn back a little self-respect by performing as male strippers. In the movie's climactic scene, the novice striptease team gradually shed their clothes in front of a genuine audience. But although Hugo seems like a natural to go-go au naturel, he almost chokes at the thought of stripping for a living.
"God no, it's far too frightening!" he says. "It was a lot easier to do it in character than it would have been to play myself. But we had great fun doing the job - we were laughing at everything, not especially our own nudity and stuff like that. We became great mates the week we started shooting and just enjoyed working together. "There was about 350 women in the audience, and they were largely vociferous, energetic and mad. They were brilliant!" says Hugo. "From the moment we accepted the jobs, we knew we were going to end up in our birthday suits. But, when we were still backstage and heard the crowd screaming for the first time, we were petrified. All of us went very pale. We looked at each other and said "Oh my God lads, what are we about to do?" But it was make or break time, and we knew we had to do it. "We did it as a one-take job, with about six cameras running just for the scene," Hugo explains. "The best thing was that the audience hadn't been told we were going to go 'the full monty' so, when we did it, we got a genuine response. That was fantastic. When we'd done it, I looked around to find that the other five had bolted. It certainly hit home then exactly what we were doing - just standing there getting screamed at by all these women!"
Hugo was born and brought up in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. His father is a retired Jockey Club official, and his mother is a writer. He has one brother, 30 year old Marcus, who works for Macmillan publishers. There are also three half-sisters - Angela, Diana and Joanna - from his Dad's first marriage. "I've been performing in some way or other since I was two or three years old," he explains. "I also acted in school plays, which I loved. Then my parents divorced when I was about 13. I didn't have a lot of self-respect at the time, and I went a bit mad really. After school, I went to a further education college to do my A-levels but failed all five. I didn't think about acting then. I took on a variety of jobs but had absolutely no focus. Then I decided to apply for drama school and, to my surprise, was accepted."
Hugo attended the Arts Educational School in Chiswick, London from 1989 to 1992. The first day he left, he got his first acting job on The Bill, but Hugo's most memorable appearance prior to The Full Monty was a regular part in the TV series McCallum, starring John Hannah. Then, in February 1996, he landed the part of Guy in The Full Monty. "When I read the script, I thought it was absolutely remarkable. It was so beautifully written. "I thought the film would do quite well, but I had no idea it was going to be as monumental and cosmic as it has been," Hugo confesses, knowing that it's now one of the most successful British movies ever. "I met the other cast members a week before shooting started. We got a football and started kicking it about and we all got on well straight away. The two or three months we spent shooting the movie were some of the happiest times of my life."
The movie was premiered where it was made and set - in Sheffield. Hugo's guests included his mother and father. "I wasn't worried about them seeing me strip off," he says. "I thought they would be thrilled to see their little baby boy naked as the day he was born performing in front of millions of people! They seemed pleased and proud. It made me feel wonderful - it was like I had finally paid my parents back for all the love and effort they have put into me." Hugo was not invited to the US premiere but he and three other members of the cast were invited to go to LA in October this year to guest in a sitcom called The Drew Carey Show. "LA turned my world upside down. We went to Sigourney Weaver's premiere and had a drink with her beforehand. We met the casts of ER and Friends, who all came running over to us and gave us hugs. "Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox from Friends are so beautiful. Courteney was especially sweet. She invited me and Mark Addy [his Monty co-star] over for dinner at her house. We just hung out, had some turkey chilli and played pool. She's a great pool player. Drew Carey and the boys took me on a private jet for a night in LA with female dancers and so on, but there's nothing sexier than Courteney Cox dressed in leather pants and a little black blouse shooting pool like a demon!"
Predictably, his services as an actor are in demand. There's even talk of a sequel to The Full Monty, but Hugo says he hates the idea: "I love the original as a little gem on its own." According to Hugo, when he got paid for The Full Monty he took hundreds of friends out for drinks and also went to New York. More recently though, he says he's "become a bit quieter" and is happy living in his rented north London flat and hanging out with his friends at his local pub.
"In the future, I'd be happy just to be a jobbing London actor. I'm very proud of The Full Monty and my part in it, but I need to remember who and what I am, and remember what got me there in the first place."
Can I ever possibley thank Ange enough?!! :)