Ask Jason Merrells transcript
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| This event took place on June 17th 2003 |
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Jason Merrells
Actor Jason Merrells from BBC ONE drama Cutting It made an appointment to chat with you.
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BBC Host: Hello, and welcome to tonight’s Live Chat with Jason Merrells. Jason stars as
Gavin in the hit BBC ONE drama "Cutting It". You might also recognise Jason from his roles in acclaimed
dramas such as Casualty, Clocking Off and Queer as Folk. Jason's currently filming a new drama called
Sweet Medicine, which is about a family-run medical practice in Derbyshire.
Question from Gary: Do you get to keep the costumes you wear in Cutting It? I loved the Saturday
night fever gear the lads wore at the start of this series?
Jason Merrells: Not that one in particular as it was hired out which is a shame because it felt good
wearing that. We do get discount if we want to buy it at the end of the show. I bought the leather jacket!
They get new stuff for every series so they have to sell it on. That jacket's a bit special!
Question from Terry: What's been your most embarrassing moment on-set? Are we ever likely to see you
on Auntie's Bloomers?!
Jason Merrells: I can't really think of one off hand. It's never cool when you get your lines
wrong...
Question from Amy: what do you think of your character and the way he acts?
Jason Merrells: I like Gavin a lot. We've all had a lot of input into the characters. I feel that
I've had a lot of input into how he develops and I think he's quite a cool guy. He's been knocked sideways
and he's in a bit of a state. I was worried about the storylines in series 2 as I thought they were a bit
close to the bone but Debbie's a good writer and she managed to do it really well and I think that's why
Cutting It is very successful. It's rooted in an emotional truth. When I first heard I was going to be
having an affair with Allie's daughter Ruby I didn't think that was right, but I trusted Debbie and she got
it right.
Question from Julie: How hard is it to perform big emotional scenes like the endings to both series,
when you know it's not real, it's only acting?
Jason Merrells: That's the job we do I guess. The more emotional they are, doesn't really make them
more difficult. When you've got big stuff to pay, it works all your muscles as an actor and it's enjoyable.
It's nice to have big stories and can be very rewarding. We as actors are employed to tell a story and we
have to make it as real as possible.
Question from Scott: Were you surprised at the huge success of Cutting It?
Jason Merrells: I was at first yeah. We didn't really know what it was when we started making it. We
wondered who the audience would be, whether the jokes would work, and they did, right from the word go, and
it was great.
Question from backy: Well done on an excellent series - favourite moments when filming?
Jason Merrells: It's always brilliant in the salon when everyone's there. Everyone really has a good
laugh and knows what they're doing now. My favourite scene was the one me and Ben did - the scene in the
bar after we meet each other in the cinema. When I read it, I said to the director it reminded me of a
scene in Heat when they meet each other for coffee... the vibe was very similar as they had agendas with
each other. I only said it has half a joke and the director got into it and liked the idea of that so she
shot it in a similar way. Everyone was pleased with it, and that was my favourite scene too! I really
enjoyed doing it.
Question from smoody20: Do you ever think the storylines are quite far fetched when you read what is
going to happen?
Jason Merrells: Yeah! Like every week! We all sit there sometimes not believing it. It teeters on
the edge and that's why [the writer] Debbie Horsefield is brilliant, she escapes that edge very well. It's
always routed in character though, some kind of truth. If you didn't take it seriously when we were making
it, it would be bad, so even though we do, it works. There's a back story to everything that happens.
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