I've recently had the very great pleasure to catch up with writer Mark O'Connell. I first came across Mark's work on Twitter and due to his connections with Pinewood Studios and his love of British film, I just had to contact him. Thankfully Mark agreed to an interview, so read on to find out more about Mark's career, his love of Pinewood and of 007 himself, James Bond. And of course, this being a Carry On blog, there's a few questions about our favourite British comedy films too...
- You describe yourself as a "writer, author cultural pundit
peddler" - How did you get into this line of work and what do you enjoy
most about what you do?
I came from a film
studies background and then fell into screenwriting which became comedy writing
which then led to my first book. I always try to say yes to most writing
opportunities as it always hones what I do – whether it is penning a travel
piece, a movie review, a look at Bond for a news channel, doing media
interviews, a political op-ed feature or a personal skewed piece. What I enjoy
most is being fortunate enough to be doing the work and writing that I want to
do. Very few writing gigs work in a vacuum so things can often lead to other
things.
- I loved your recent piece in The Guardian recounting your meeting with
the late Sir Roger Moore. What are your thoughts on the great man?
Roger Moore was a
gent, a charmer, a British icon, a better actor and screen star than he gave
himself credit for and a vital 007. I think if any of us could achieve just one
of those we’d be happy. I always found Sir Roger to be utterly welcoming,
humble and blessed with a covert concern to make sure people were alright. He
cared about the details – be it onscreen, with his colleagues or on the UNICEF
campaign trail.
- Bond obviously plays a big part in your life. Why do you find the
films so endlessly appealing?
They are a constant.
They are part of the seam and fabric of both British and global cinema culture
and identity. They are rich productions with everyone working at the top of
their game and pushed by that Broccoli working ethic of making it good, of
making it right. And they reward your time. Whether it is a new 007 epic or one
we have all seen countless times, they don’t disappoint. And they are all like
a well-stocked and diverse cellar full of good wines. Some need airing before
drinking. Some need to be sipped carefully. Some need to go with a good meal. And
some are guilty pleasures we quickly drink before they are chilled to the right
temperature. I think now the films are endlessly appealing because they exist
in a shared canon. They comment and compliment each other now, whilst always
working as standalone movies.
- Can you tell me more about how your debut book, Catching Bullets -
Memoirs of a Bond Fan came about?
As a Bond fan I had
been contributing some long thoughts and nearly essays to various 007 forums
online. Some I wrote were getting big traffic and I naively thought how that
could be monetized somehow. Or at least get my thinking and writing out of the
rabbit holes of fandom and into something that could be appreciated by
everyone. A pal suggested writing a book. I briefly dug my heels in for various
reasons, but suddenly the looming fiftieth anniversary of 007 in 2012 gave it
all a personal sense, gave it a natural structure and a potential publishing
window of opportunity. My personal links to Bond and EON Productions were
always the aspects I held back on until that same pal sat me down and shone
light on what could be a very original take on a lifetime with Bond - when it
was not just my lifetime I could discuss. I also wanted to re-evaluate the
films – to buoy up the successes of the lesser acclaimed bullets and shed new
light and thinking on the classics.
- Barbara Broccoli wrote the prelude to your Bond memoirs. What was it
like having her involved in your first book?
She did indeed. It
was and still is a total blessing and a privilege for all sorts of personal and
creative reasons. It made great familial sense for the O’Connell family and
eventually Catching Bullets, but it
was never planned or even assumed. But Barbara read the book and it went from
there really. I think people forget how she is the world’s biggest Bond fan so
it was perfect all round.
- As I write about the Carry On films, I must mention that several
actors appeared in both of these famous franchises at Pinewood Studios (Shirley
Eaton, Madeline Smith, Valerie Leon...) Do you have a favourite cameo amongst
these and why?
I am a big Valerie
Leon fan. Catching Bullets has a
running theme about how all secondary actresses in a Bond film are Leon Lovelies. And she is of course
glorious in her Carry Ons. It is curious how she gave the Carry Ons a bit of
Bond girl glamour rather than just the familiar bawdy double-takes and displays
of flesh. She holds herself brilliantly in Up
The Jungle and Girls – and took
on given key, narratively important roles and was often the authority figure.
If anything, she is more Carry On in The
Spy Who Loved Me and more Bond Girl in Matron
and Up The Jungle.
- I noticed on your website that you'd worked quite a bit with the great
Jonathan Harvey. I am a big fan of his work and wondered what he's like to work
with?
He’s lovely. And has
been really influential to my writing and the chances it has afforded me. He
was an early supporter which was surreal and highly flattering as Gimme Gimme Gimme is an airtight
masterclass in dialogue and verbal comedy pacing. When I later worked with
Jonathan on his Beautiful People
series, I learnt so much from being in the eye of that comedy production storm.
And it was never a storm. It was always funny, always silly and always
professional. I learnt a lot from Jonathan – not just about having a voice, a
queer voice and maintaining it in your writing when others are part of the
equation or even fighting for something that makes you laugh, but also just how
to conduct yourself on set, in meetings, casting sessions, rehearsals and
beyond. And he has a gloriously filthy sense of humour. But my god, he can turn
a moment into sadness and poignancy with such ease.
- I've read that your family has various associations with the legendary
Pinewood Studios. Can you tell me a bit more about that?
My grandfather worked
for the Broccoli family and EON Productions for many years. Part of that time
was naturally spent at Pinewood where he would have many an hour to kill just
wandering the stages and corridors. He was a very private man, so getting the stories
out of him in his later years was always hard. He was always quietly proud and
protective of his associations and times with Bond, yet moreover the Broccoli
family who he held very dear until the day he died. That was the spur to Catching Bullets - but it had also been
the starting pistol to a love of cinema and production.
- I read that you got married at Pinewood - what was that experience
like?
Surreal! When we were
planning to get wed and starting down that tedious path of checking out venues and
tables and food and numbers, we briefly pondered the thought of Pinewood. We
knew it well enough. It was not new to us and we wanted somewhere that was very
us, but very classy and cool too. But we moved on from that thought as it
seemed too obvious, too expected. Then we started to see what other venues can
offer and the logistics involved and suddenly Pinewood ticked every box and
enabled us to be two guys getting wed in the biggest boy’s toybox of them all.
We were the first gay couple to hold a full marriage on the lot. We now go back
and wander around with the knowledge a little bit of Pinewood’s history is part
of ours now. I like that. One of the deciding factors was that – as two grooms
– all we saw was bride-steered venues with their promises of dream princess
weddings and everything a bride expects from her day. To us, Pinewood was the
opposite of that.
- Two questions I must ask - firstly, what's your all-time favourite
James Bond film and why?
Well you’ll have to
read the book to find that out!! I do have two – a favourite and a best. I
think after nearly 25 films and 55 years of movie making us Bond fans can be
greedy and pick two. My favourite is always the controversial one. But I stand
by it, and begin to see braver, younger Bond fans popping their heads up over
the trenches of fandom and outing themselves with that same entry too. I always
say that everyone’s entry point into fandom is personal and theirs. Catching Bullets doesn’t demonise any
Bond film because I know that my launching pad into the world of 007 was mine
and mine alone. It comes back to those wines in the cellar again. There are
different ways and times to enjoy different bottles. It is the same with the
Carry Ons.
-...and what's your favourite Carry On film and why?
Carry on Camping is one of my most favourite films of all time. It
is a masterclass in comedy dialogue and blessed with a tennis match of puns,
put downs, smut-stick gags and retorts. The backdrop allows everyone to
literally be in the same place or field so it becomes about the personalities
and not really the plot. I think it is also a key cultural movie – one that
reflected a very different Home Counties Britain, its streets, marital
hierarchies and gender politics. I knew that Britain – or rather the slightly
overcast country lanes, the muddy paths, the dual carriageways, the camping
equipment, icky toilet blocks and I had a thing as a kid for tents (!). At our
wedding we had various tables named after the Pinewood productions that shot in
and around where we were. We had a Carry On Camping and Up the Khyber table.
That was a given. I was most pleased I not only got wed at SPECTRE Island, but
also Chayste Place. We played the score from Camping as our guests took their dining seats. I wouldn’t have had
it any other way.
- Finally what projects are you working on at the moment that you can
tell me about?
I am in
‘post-production’ on my new book – which could very much be bracketed as a
follow on to Catching Bullets. Or is
it?! It is all watch this space for
now, but hopefully the publishers and I will be announcing it sometime soon. I
am very pleased with it.
Many thanks again to Mark for taking the time to answer my questions. You can find out more about Mark over on his website which you can find here
And more about Mark's book Catching Bullets here
You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram
