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Eyes
Down - Tony Maudsley is Martin
"It
was obvious who I was going to be playing as soon as they described
the one with the tits," Tony Maudsley reveals with his trademark
humour and self-deprecation.
"But
I can honestly say that Eyes Down is a first-rate script. I knew
as soon as I read the script that I wanted to be a part of it.
"The
regular characters - and they're all different in every way to one
another, which is brilliant and a tribute to Angela Clarke and her
talent - are very likeable, although they all have it in them to
be deeply spiteful."
Tony
should know. His character, Martin, is arguably forced to endure
more hardships and disappointments than any of the other characters
in Eyes Down.
"Martin
is a guy in his thirties. He lives with his mum and is an out-and-out
Mummy's boy.
"He's
a nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly, but he is nonetheless the butt
of a lot of Ray Temple's abuse.
"For
his sins, he is madly in love with Christine, played by Rosie Cavaliero,
who serves the chips at the diner, and his mission in life is to
be noticed by her - but unfortunately it's an entirely unrequited
love.
"Foolishly,
he takes bad advice from Bobby, Neil Fitzmaurice's character, which
gets him in a bit of a mess. He's the kind of guy whom your mother
and your Nan would like a lot."
In
spite of his praise of the script and premise of Eyes Down, Tony
admits to being initially wary of committing to the part of Martin.
"I
was quite scared to touch a sitcom. I'd done lots of classy, heavy
dramas - they go down well whatever, or so it seems.
"But
I said to myself, 'Sitcoms. Hmm... I'm not sure if I want to go
down that road.'
"But
I'm so glad that I decided to take the plunge, because I've had
such fun over the past few months.
"It's
so nice to come into work and be allowed to laugh and play, instead
of having to go in with your head in this heavy character who's
about to commit suicide or be abused by his father."
One
of the problems Tony has had, however, is trying to keep a straight
face during recording for Eyes Down.
"None
of us can stop laughing," he says.
"The
character of Mary, played by Edna Doré, makes me laugh so
much.
"To
hear this elderly lady talk about her womb falling out and go into
details about making the bed-springs creak while having sex with
her husband Eric - I can't help but laugh.
"Angela's
scripts are laced with things which you really shouldn't say in
polite company, but she's been brave enough to say them."
Tony's
television credits include lead roles alongside Olympia Dukakis
in A Life for a Life, about the Stefan Kisko miscarriage of justice,
and My Beautiful Son with Julie Walters.
He
says one of the greatest pleasures of starring in Eyes Down has
been the opportunity of performing in front of a live studio audience.
"The
great thing about having a big audience sat a few feet away from
you is that you can afford to play. They want to see you getting
it wrong and improvising.
"Paul
O'Grady is fantastic at that - he plays to the audience so much.
"Initially,
I didn't know whether to play to the camera or to the massive audience
that's ten foot behind the cameras, but if you start to ham it up
in front of the audience too much you soon have to calm it down
again.
"It
is absolutely thrilling to hear the audience laugh - only then do
you know for sure that you're on to a hit."
Tony
was also able to bring more to the table than simply his acting
skills - he is a proud bingo aficionado who slipped effortlessly
into the part of Tony, the bingo number checker.
"I
worked in at least three bingo halls when I was younger. I worked
in one when I was in drama school and two in Liverpool when I was
about 16 or 17.
"I
did exactly what Martin does. I was the party bingo caller and I
used to check the bingo claims.
"It's
as if Angela knew all about my past. I actually worked in the bingo
hall in Kirkby where Angela goes still and where she based Eyes
Down.
"I
loved it. Compared to working in a bar or as a waiter in a restaurant,
it was a great laugh.
"I
guess the actor was already bubbling inside me: what more could
I want than the chance to get up on stage in front of an audience
of 300?
"I
went with Sheridan Smith, Neil Fitzmaurice and Michelle Butterly
on a research trip to the Bingo Hall in Camden," Tony continues.
"It
was after a day's filming on location, so we were driven there!
We had a brilliant time.
"The
others hadn't played before, so I think they were quite surprised
by my expertise.
"I've
also been advising the design department while we've been on location
about what should be on the bingo board - gross tax, net tax, starting
numbers, closing numbers, the mathematics of it all."
Tony,
who has just been signed up for the Hollywood adaptation of Vanity
Fair - in which he will feature alongside Reese Witherspoon - confirms
the accuracy of Angela Clarke's depiction of the seriousness with
which people play bingo.
"While
I was working in one of the bingo halls, an old lady collapsed one
day. She had a heart problem and her lips went blue.
"She
was waving at me, asking me to come over and mark her books for
her while she was reaching for a spray in her bag. So I learned
to mark two big books at the same time.
"Believe
it or not, she would rather have kept playing bingo than stop to
have a heart attack."
Tony
explains that although the part of Martin didn't demand very much
homework, it did, however, demand a very personal sacrifice.
"There
is one line in episode two, when Martin is complaining about his
bad luck with women. Bobby advises him to do something about his
appearance and sort his hair out.
"Martin's
reply is, 'It's hard to manage: somebody on my Mother's side married
a Maori years ago and we've had trouble parting our hair ever since'.
"And
because of that one line they've put curly, wild extensions into
what was once my beautifully straight, Hugh Grant hair.
"They
glue it in. It's real hair, and they just grab about 20 strands
at a time and glue it to my actual hair.
"The
first session took about five hours, then I had to go back for a
touch-up after the three weeks on location and endure another four
hours of gluing.
"At
the end of the day, you can dissolve the glue and, in theory, things
return to normal. But for the time being my friends keep telling
me that I look like Jack Osbourne."
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