PLUME: What was your perception of the U.S. prior to that trip?
FROST: Oh god, I mean… lots of guns. And you couldn’t walk around without being murdered. Um, you know, the usual… the usual s***. But it’s just… it just isn’t. I mean, I’m sure it is, but… I mean, if… it’s like Britain: if you’re just a normal person going about your normal daily life, the chances of you getting killed or shot are very tiny. I think what the Americans do really well is they… I mean, it seems like they care about day to day kinda things. Do you know what I mean? You go into a shop here, people just… they don’t give a s*** really about you. But I mean, in America, sometimes you get the feeling that “How are you, sir?” actually means “F*** you.” Sometimes. But generally, “How are you, sir?” means “How are you?” You know, and that’s nice, that’s really nice, coming from… you know, in Britain, we don’t tend to… we do speak to each other, but we’re not a nation of… you know, we don’t chat like that. We’re quite insular in a way. And it’s nice. It’s really nice.
PLUME: Can you envision yourself ever living in the U.S. for any period of time?
FROST: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I’ve got LA agents and L.A…. uh, what are they – LA agent and an LA manager. So I mean, I think I could happily live in New York, I could happily live in LA, and I could happily live in Key West.
PLUME: And do your painting.
FROST: Yeah. (Laughs) You know what? I wouldn’t make too much of the painting because it is… quite bad. But you know, it’s that kind of thing one day, you know, if I get kinda famous enough and then die, it’s that thing they might say, “F***ing hell, Nick’s paintings are all right, you know, for a nutcase.”
PLUME: Hey, you know, even Ringo sells his.
FROST: Even Ringo sells his.
PLUME: So, there, look at that.
FROST: There’s hope.
PLUME: Obviously the bar isn’t set too terribly high for a celebrity.
FROST: I know. I’m looking at one of mine now which is on my wall. Which is quite kind of up my own a**, isn’t it? To hang my own paintings in my house.
PLUME: No, no – maybe a little.
FROST: Yeah, but I’m hoping someone will walk past and say, “Wow, that’s good.”
PLUME: Yeah, but then you’d have to actually invite them in.
FROST: Then they’ll knock on that door and ask who the artist is.
PLUME: Yes… you’re waiting for that moment, aren’t you?
FROST: Yeah, I’ve been waiting so far for two and a half years.
PLUME: So, in other words, you just need to occasionally throw an open house.
FROST: Yeah, just come in, a little gallery, serving some sherries and stuff.
PLUME: Maybe some small cheese.
FROST: Maybe some cubes of cheese on a little toothpick.
PLUME: Invite your celebrity friends in…
FROST: Yeah, exactly.
PLUME: So the critics will be wowed by the company they’re in.
FROST: Yeah. No, you’re right. Goddammit, I’m gonna do it, Ken.
PLUME: I think you should, just make sure that the price stickers on them aren’t too obvious.
FROST: Yeah, well, see, what I’ll do is I’ll get the orange stickers and I’ll put those on a few so it looks like I’ve sold a couple already.
PLUME: Or you could try and do the sort of sympathy route and say, “Oh, well, these are for Comic Relief.”
FROST: “Please buy these for the blind children in Ethiopia.”
PLUME: Yes, yes, they’re sure to get at least a percentage of the final sale.
FROST: “Actual percentage may be zero.”
PLUME: Well, if they’re not going to read the fine print, it’s not really your problem, is it?
FROST: Not my problem at all.
PLUME: When you look at that period after Spaced, was there any sense that, “Now I’ve got to get things moving on my own”?
FROST: Um… yeah, yeah, a little bit. But, I mean… you know, I’m not… I mean, since my brother died, in fact, that was the thing that made me get more proactive as a person, but before then, even after doing Spaced, you know, I was content. I had enough money to buy a big bag of weed and sit around playing Xbox. This is where Ed came from. This is the kind of genesis of Ed, in a way. Although I’m not as bad… I think I’m a nicer person than Ed. Just.
PLUME: I think Ed is just rather matter of fact in the way he approaches life.
FROST: Yeah… it’s true.
PLUME: Ed’s not a terribly deep person.
FROST: Yeah, he’s not. But I think that was me for a lot of years. Even that Spaced thing, when we first did Spaced. It was like, “Oh, yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll be an actor.” You know, “Oh yeah, I’ll be an actor. Can I have eight weeks off work, please?”
PLUME: What was your initial reaction when you read the character of Ed?
FROST: Uh, well, I think… well, they had definitely written it with me in mind, so I kinda knew what to expect but, god, you know, it’s perfect. Simon and Edgar, I think when it comes to me, I think I’m almost their kinda secret weapon that they… I think they kinda put me in a glass cabinet and on the front of it, it says, “In case of comedy, break glass.” You know, they’re so generous. They really write to my strengths, and I think they know what I can do. And I think I know… that’s the good thing about working with two of your best mates, is you know what they want as well and you know what they expect.
PLUME: I mean, really, the perception among those who hadn’t known you from Spaced is that you were the real breakout of Shaun.
FROST: Yeah.
PLUME: Does that in anyway surprise you?
FROST: No. (Laughs) Well, it’s very flattering, it’s very nice, but, you know, what I need to do is… I can’t sit back and say, “Yeah, I was great in Shaun of the Dead” – I need to actually go out there and be great in other things as well.
PLUME: So when are we going to see that big screen adaptation of Sofa of Time?
FROST: Oh God, wouldn’t that be great? I’ve thought about this, I’ve even…my agents in America have got the original series. And I said, “Look, have a listen to this and tell me what you think.” Have you heard it?
PLUME: Yes, yes, I have. Actually I was wondering why it hasn’t been released… because you know it gets traded like wildfire on the Internet.
FROST: Oh, is it?
PLUME: Oh, yes.
FROST: Oh, I didn’t know that at all.
PLUME: In fact, that’s where I found my copy of it.
FROST: Right, right, well the problem is… Matt, who played Parker… god, I can’t remember who I was now. But Matt, who was the other guy, who wrote it and was the other main character with me… we didn’t get on at all. And it was awful and we had fights and we fought, you know, even during the recording of it, we had fights in the studio… and, yeah, it was really difficult. It got so I wouldn’t talk to him unless it was through my agent and vice versa, and we said we’re never doing another series because we hate each other and we didn’t get on and I don’t want to do it. But since then he had a lot of trouble in his life and I was having trouble in my life and, you know, we’re friends again now, and I think it was just a case of… what was it someone said to me – if two people pull on the same side of the rope or something, you… you know, I think over a time… I think it’s pretty good. It went out on a radio station called Radio 4…
PLUME: Right.
FROST: If you can listen to Radio 4, have a listen because it’s an amazing station. There’s no music on it at all, and it’s just news and chat and plays and book reviews and theatrical reviews and comedy and sketches and…
PLUME: It’s something we have no history of, here in the U.S. …
FROST: No, exactly. But Radio 4 is amazing – you can listen to it for a month and not hear the same thing twice. But the quality is… I mean, The Goon Show started on Radio 4, Little Britain started on Radio 4… it has a history of great, great comedy. And Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy started on Radio 4 as well when they did that.
PLUME: Well, see? There’s your precedent. If anything is close to Hitchhiker’s, it’s Sofa of Time.
FROST: Yeah, maybe, yeah. I think we were nominated for a Douglas Adams award as well, which is a sci-fi award on the radio, but the reason we didn’t get that and I think the reason it hasn’t been released is because they wanted a second series and we said no, we’re not doing it. But I think the reason it is quite good is we wanted to make it as filmic as possible. And the point I was making is that if you listen to Radio 4, there isn’t anything else like The Sofa of Time on Radio 4. You know, it’s plays, two people talking and there’ll be a foley of a clock in the background, and you know, we tried to have ten thousand soldiers and a siege hose.
PLUME: I actually felt I was being shoved through that locker.
FROST: Yeah. (Laughs) I think the locker was the weakest part of the story. I think we could have probably gone back and done that differently. But also we got whatshisname from… from… he was… god, what was his name? My brain is addled. But he was in… Geoffrey from The Fresh Prince.
PLUME: Oh, I know who you’re talking about.
FROST: Yeah, he’s the English guy who was in Fresh Prince – the butler. He was in Sofa of Time, it was amazing.
PLUME: But as I said, it’s all over the Internet.
FROST: Well, that’s good. But I can see Tim Robbins playing Matt’s character, Joe Pesci or Jack Black playing my character, and then, you know, I think Joe Pesci would be a good Marmite.
PLUME: Or you could just play your character.
FROST: Exactly! Now I’m an actor, and I know I’m big in Hollywood. I could probably play myself.
PLUME: Yes, everybody’s looking for the next Nick Frost project.
FROST: Yeah, exactly. But I think I’m coming out to New York in June to do a few days’ press on Danger! 50,000 Volts! and then I’m of to… I’m going to be in LA for two weeks just kinda hanging out and… you know, just hanging out. I’ve got some friends over in LA now, which is really nice, because it can be quite a frightening place unless you know people – the first couple of times I went I just didn’t like it and was slightly nervous by it, but now, you know, I know Eli Roth and Quentin Tarantino and Greg Nicotero from KNB FX, and, you know, I like to think that they’re my friends. And it’s nice that you can go and hang out and you know where you’re going and it makes it a much nicer city.
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