Chris Barrie
A veteran comedy actor and impressionist, with credits ranging from 'Coming next' to 'Filthy Rich and Catflap' to the notorious 'Spitting Image',
Chris Barrie has taken the role of the objectionable yet pitiable Arnold Rimmer, and made it undeniably his own. We managed to catch up with
Chris during rehearsals on 'Red Dwarf's fifth series, and are very grateful that he was able to spare us some time to discuss his work.
RED DWARF MAGAZINE: So when did you first decide you wanted to make a career out of acting?
CHRIS BARRIE: Well, I always knew I wanted to do something in that line, but it wasn't until about 1981 or so that I thought I could realistically
get into the profession and do it.
RDM: And how did you go about doing that?
CB: Well, over Christmas 1981, I saw the variety shows on TV, and I thought the world of impressionism, if you like, was a bit dodgy - that is,
people were just following Mike Yarwood's thing and there was nothing really original coming up. So I thought I'd get an act together and go to the
'Comedy Store' - which was an alternative comedy venue - and try and raise a few chuckles there. That was in about February '82.
RDM: Was that an act based on impressions, then?
CB: Yes - normal impressions, but with a slightly more 'Spitting Image' attitude, if you like. The impressions weren't friendly like Mike Yarwood's were,
they were more sort of hard-edged, more irreverent.
RDM: Is that where you were spotted for 'Spitting Image'?
CB: Well, I did some work on the Jasper Carrott show first. I did the Election Special in '83, and the series at the end of that year.
That's when John Lloyd saw me and asked if I was interested in 'Spitters'.
RDM: Which voices did you actually do on the programme?
CB: Various ones; Reagan, David Coleman, Prince Charles, Paul Daniels, John Cole, John Gielgud, Harry Carpenter - I've recently been doing George Bush
RDM: We notice you aren't credited for the current series. Is that because you've been busy on Red Dwarf?
CB: Yes; there's a direct clash. With 'Red Dwarf' recording on Fridays, I just couldn't do it.
RDM: But you'd go back to it, if your schedule permitted?
CB: Yes, I'd drift back in there. I might be back doing that next Spring, actually.
RDM: So was it on 'Spitting Image' that you first met Rob Grant and Doug Naylor?
CB: No, I met them before on the Jasper Carrott show, and I did two series of a radio programme called 'Son of Cliché' with them. I think that was in '83 and '84.
RDM: They then went off and wrote 'Red Dwarf', of course. Did they approach you right away about the character of Rimmer?
CB: Well I think they were just auditioning and seeing all sorts of people for it really, and I happened to be one of them. At first, I think they decided to go with other actors - proper, what I call 'legitimate' kinds of actors; people that didn't come from a 'Comedy Store' background or stand-up comedy or whatever. Then they changed their minds - well, I think they changed their minds, you'll have to ask them about it! I know that I was considered, but then they thought not - then, after a few weeks, they wrote me a letter saying they wanted to go ahead with it. So the rest is history, as the old cliché goes.
RDM: Did you have any idea when you started that 'Red Dwarf' was a programme that could run for as long, and become as popular, as it has done?
CB: Deep in my heart, I knew that it would gain a cult following, but after the first series, I thought it might take a little bit of persuading for the BBC to do another one, because it was so - strange, I suppose; so different to anything else on the box.
RDM: What kind of reaction do you get from the fans nowadays?
CB: Lots of different reactions. A lot of people say "I love that programme", you know - and there's a lot of "Where's your H?", "Hello Smeg-Head", that kind of stuff. Then there's the sort of vague recognition, the "I know that bloke, I don't know where from" kind of thing. I do get more actions to 'Red Dwarf' now than I do to any other work I've done, whereas in the first couple of years, about 1987 or '88, some people knew me from Jasper show, and 'Saturday Night Live' and some sketch shows that I did - and oddly enough, from 'Spitting Image'. Some people put two and two together and say "Oh, you're the bloke that did Reagan once or twice on the box and you also do it on 'Spitting image'."
RDM: Do you like the character of Rimmer? Do you think he's got any redeeming qualities?
CB: I think he's a deeply sad character; there's the fact that he's dead and he can't touch anything - and he had such a sad life to start with.
Although he doesn't look it, I think he is in many ways probably the saddest person amongst them all. And possibly also the nicest; do you know what I mean? It's really weird to say that but he probably is - and he's become more like that over the years. His vulnerabilities are being brought out a lot more, certainly since the first series. Through the second series, and then the third and the fourth, and now this one, you've seen whole new sides to him.
RDM: He seems to form the basis of quite a few of the storylines. Has that been so with 'Red Dwarf V'?
CB: Yes, I think so - I mean, Rimmer's a very good character for things to happen to. There are lots of things that can change about him, whereas maybe some of the other characters, particularly Cat and Kryten, are there more as sort of instrumentation to pull things along. In many ways, Lister and Rimmer are still the central characters - because they're proper human beings, if you like. Rimmer certainly has a lot to do in 'Holoship', because he has to go over to the ship, and he has a bed scene with another hologram. In every series, you have one show that you have to do a lot of work on, more than usual, and that was the one for me. That was more or less Rimmer's big show, though 'Terrorform', which we've just finished recording, was based on him a little bit; it's Rimmer who's in trouble, and the others all have to go and get him. 'The inquisitor' was more Lister, I think. And the week before that, 'High and Low', was everyone.
RDM: There's scope for improvement with Rimmer all the time, isn't there?
CB: There certainly is.
RDM: How much input have you had into his development as a character over the years?
CB: Quite a bit; mainly though in the way that he would say things or do things. A lot of the development was done in the first and second series when we were deciding what sort of bloke he was; how he spoke and how he felt, what sort of background he came from. Obviously, a lot of it is scripted by Rob and Doug, but we had a lot of discussions in the early days about how we were thinking. Now, like anything you've been doing for four or five years, we can work out what his attitude would be very easily, which helps save a lot of time.
RDM: After five years, are you getting to the point where you're thinking maybe you've had enough of Rimmer, or do you think there's a lot of scope for years
and years to come?
CB: I'm not sure about 'years and years to come', to be honest with you. I certainly think that, as we speak in November 1991, there's a lot of mileage left in him, but I wouldn't want to say how much - I mean, certainly this series is a development from the last, and as long as each series does develop from the previous one, I think there's certainly mileage there. But you know, television's television - it does gobble up material. Who knows, maybe after next year it could be time to knock it on the head? I don't know, maybe I could be proved wrong. I've said that before after three series!
RDM: There's been talk of a film being made. Have you heard anything about that, and are you likely to be offered the part?
CB: I don't know I've heard talk of films being made and sales to America for so many years now. I think, if they're making a film of 'Red Dwarf', it's be a completely different kind of 'Red Dwarf'; the film industry's a different ball game, you know. Films have hot names - there's a film market sort of place and then there's a television world. And because it's a film, there are lots of other influences. the money people have to have some say about how they feel they can market the film and get bums on seats, so it'd be a different animal to the television show. So I wouldn't be cutting my wrist if I wasn't offered the part. Having said that, if the cat was different, no matter if the best actors in the world played the parts, it'd still be a sort of unfamiliar thing in the audience's minds. They'd see, I don't know, Dennis Lawson playing Lister for example, and they'd think "Hang on, that's not Lister as we know him. We know Dennis Lawson is a brilliant actor, but he's not Craig - he's a different person!" Do you know what I mean? So I think it would certainly be different if they did a 'Red Dwarf' film, and I'd be flattered and grasp the nettle if I was offered it - but, it's a different world, and I'll just sit by the phone and get on with my life.
RDM: Moving on from 'Red Dwarf', you finish filming here in about two weeks. Do you have plans for anything after that?
CB: I think I'm doing another 'Brittas Empire', the sit-com I did for BBC 1 last year, I've done two series of that, and I think we're doing more of those in the Summer. There's a couple of other ideas for things that I'm mulling over - appearances, stand-up comedy, jobs, bits and bobs here and there - but I'll take it easy a bit.
RDM: You've filmed a second series of 'The Brittas Empire', then?
CB: That's right; we finished in July.
RDM: Does it concern you at all that you seem to be getting the roles of all the unlikable characters?
CB: Well, as I say. I think they're unlikable to start with, but once you get to know them, they're just sad really. Brittas never sets out to be an idiot, you know, he just thinks he's doing a lot of good. He's completely different to Rimmer, and I've obviously been able to play them with different voices, different classes, all that sort of thing, because they're in different worlds. The difference between them is that Brittas was always told that he was brilliant at everything, and Rimmer was never told that he was brilliant at anything. So you end up getting two rather stupid people really. But, no, I don't mind - I mean, I'd like maybe one day to play the hero, like in the Ace episode (Dimension Jump). Or the other night, there was a brief sword-fighting bit! In fact, when I auditioned for 'Red Dwarf', I read in with Lister, and I had an idea for a Lister sort of part. But I'm not fussy; I just enjoy a good script and I don't really worry about what kind of character I'm playing.
RDM: 'Dimension Jump' was an episode you enjoyed, then?
CB: It was a challenge to do both characters and make them different, but I did enjoy it, yes.
RDM: Was it your favourite episode?
CB: I think there are episodes in all five series that have been my favourites, really. It was fun to play someone like Ace - a sort of "James Bond" character, completely different from Rimmer - but no, there have been lots of episodes which I've enjoyed. There's only been, I think perhaps one per series that may be slightly weaker than the others. Some say 'Meltdown' was quite weak last time, but I thought it was all right, it was different. 'Stasis Leak' a few series back was a bit odd, but - well, I think they're all great stores.