590 - ADAM PEARSON - Breaking The Barriers Of Facial Disfigurement, Starring Alongside Scarlet Johansson In Hollywood, & Working On ‘The Undateables’!

33:03We ask everyone this, by the way. Oh, crikey, as a kid? Yeah. That makes us sound like we're doing naughty things now. Oh, yeah, totally. As a kid, one time me and my brother just decided to go on the flat roof of the house. And our neighbour came round and just snitched us. Oh, really? She just rang the doorbell and went, hey, man, in case you're worried about the boys, they're on the roof. What were you doing up there? I just wanted to know what was out there. And what did you find? Nothing. Good job you didn't have a bonfire out there. No. And you just go, yeah, yeah. It just turns out the flat roof is quite dull.

33:42Just the garden, but higher up. I love it. So were you five years old when you got diagnosed? Yeah. Yeah. And I'm going to, like I told you off the pod, I've been trying to say the word numerous times. Come on, mate. I believe in you. Neurofibromatosis. Get in. You learn those, Collins.

34:04he wasn't sure when he first gave them to you i was on google yesterday playing like the pronunciation thing over and over again what voice were you using oh i don't know just the basic one it was like neurofibromatosis the sexy girl you definitely have as a sexy girl so for anyone who's not familiar with it um is it fair to call it is it a condition is it yeah it's a genetic condition genetic condition and um 17th chromosome um surprisingly common it's only just it's rare but only only just one in 2300 oh well and the benchmark for a rare condition is one in 2000 that's just definitions and diagnostics right right so so what what does it mean how does it affect you so well it's characterized by the gross of non-cancer tumours on nerve endings called fibromas.

34:55Right. So in the same way that kind of electric cables are wrapped in plastic, your nerves are wrapped in cells called swan cells. And those are the cells that multiply exponentially. Right. And they can occur anywhere on the human body. Most of mine are on my face and upper torso. I've got one there on my arm. I've got a little one on my hand. I've got a little one on my arse that I'm not going to show you. so it affects different people in different ways oh yeah there's like no one size fits all with any with disability in general there's no such thing as a monolith but i'm on i'm on the um higher end of of the scale i jokingly say that i'm the spinal tap of neurofibromatosis and i've turned it up to 11.

35:40i knew that yeah i like that i like that so you were you were five when you got diagnosed yeah so were you were there no signs of it before that then um no i i started showing the um the little symptoms so you've got the genotype the the genetics themselves right and then the cenotype the way those genes choose to present themselves okay i my for me it's like presenting really early on normally doesn't like kick in until puberty right so yeah and then you go and you you know you get your diagnosis and you'd go and sort of like do your research and at the time the early 90s not a lot was known yeah and medicine and in particular genetics moves at a lightning pace so what what you learn on like monday might not be true on on friday right and then you go and try and find kind of the best care that you can and i was very fortunate i got to Great Ormond Street really, really quickly.

36:38Right. And have like really good paediatric care, you know, good experts, good surgeons. And then you migrate from paediatrics to adult care and you get steered to good people. And I'm very fortunate that I've always had like a good team. Yeah. Medically. Right. Do your parents have this then? No, no, no. So 50 % half the cases are and the other half are spontaneous mutations. And I fall into that oh wow that category what happened for your parents to think they needed to take you to see a doctor um so i i was dicking around my bedroom one night pretending to be um holt holgan and like just bash my head on the windowsill and you know parents hear the screen was their first one child come in check the windowsill check the kid questionable order but people people and they were like oh yeah we put ice on it don't do that again like yada yada yada and then because I'm a fast learner I did it again.

37:36Right, okay. And then the bump didn't go down and so we, you know, went to the doctor's checked it out. Also, when I'd eat one half of my face would go bright red. Oh, wow. Yeah. And originally they put that down to just a block of survivory gland. Right. The extent to which that's true or not, I don't know but there was another reason they took me in. Yeah, right. And yeah, then we got the diagnosis and at the time diagnostics, as I said wasn't what it was. Yeah. And all it was was a rather surly doctor reading a definition from a medical dictionary, right, patting my mom on the hand and just staring at her.

38:14To this day, I don't know how she didn't kill him. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. So you have a twin brother as well? Yeah, I do, Neil. Neil. And so, Neil, does he have the same condition? Yeah, but again, it affects him really differently because there's a spectrum. So he's got very few of the visible fibromas, but he's got like short term memory problems. Wow. So it's more kind of internal. Because of the condition it affects his memory? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you know that psoriatic arthritis may progress over time and could cause permanent joint damage if left untreated?

38:56Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away.

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39:49I'll be moving in. Let's get started. Sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana. You what? Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no... No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyers rejoice? I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it. Buyers rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven-day return policy at Carvana.com. Is this condition painful? It can be. It depends where the fibromas occur. Yeah. So if you, say, get them where your joints are, and I know people have that, it can be.

40:27Right. I've avoided that, fortunately. so so do you have like new sort of bumps and stuff come up all the all the time or not really oh new ones not so much the existing ones keep growing because it's progressive so you've got to go in and have surgery to do what they call devulking where they get rid of as much of the excess as they can so how often do you have surgeries then um oh crikey so i've had 39 so far number 40s on monday fucking hell yeah yeah wow i'm gonna have a party before you things like my team. It seems like the macabre enough thing to do, right? Yeah. I'm still, still free, lads.

41:06And, um, so, yeah, and they go in and get rid of as much as they can without being too heroic. Do you get put to sleep for that? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Depending on where it is. I've had a couple when I've been awake. Have you? Because they've been on, like, my eyelids. And you don't want to mess with those muscles and interfere with someone's blink. Yeah, right. And what have you. Those are weird. Yeah, yeah. Are you kind of, like, battle-hardened towards surgeries and that now. Yeah. So often. Yeah, it's like a session grab. Right. Right. Well, tell us a bit about Neil, because I'm fascinated by the fact of having a twin.

41:38Have we ever had someone on with a twin before? I'm not sure if we have. I don't think so. Can you do the telepathic shit? I don't believe in that. No? No, no, no. I think it's broken. Closest thing that's ever happened is one time someone hit Neil in the head and my fist hurt. That's the closest we get to that. that took me a minute that took me a minute oh so you're the brains of the alpha i am not the fucking smart one i'm not the part so is it i read online um that when you were younger you were so identical that your mum couldn't didn't your mum feed one of you twice yeah mom fed us twice once and we had like quite bad asthma as kids right so even doctors couldn't tell us apart and in the end um i wore red slippers and you wore blue slippers just so the doctors knew who they were dealing with so it would wind up with doctors talking to our feet yeah and then one day one of us i don't remember who had the great idea of wearing one red and one blue slipper and we were told very very quickly don't do that because if one of you gets like double the amount of medication you need.

42:49It ends all free for both of you. Yeah, yeah. Like one of your dies and one of your highs. So, yeah. How do you know you're not Neil then? How do I know I'm not Neil? You might be Neil. I assure you I'm not Neil. We can get him on the phone and you can hear the awkwardness that is my brother. But is there not a chance that there was a point that you switched early on? Yeah. And you just never know. you might have been the original we've given existential don't do this to me

43:22like what that is not why he came here today oh crikey have I been taking his money maybe Neil's the actor no I've met him so you were five years old pretend to be Hulk Hogan you bumped your head you go to hospital you get diagnosed with this condition school is obviously a fucking tough time for most people well I think primary school's fine because like kids are kids you know you're not being conditioned to you notice difference but you've not been conditioned to do that whole um shunning thing and your life literally swings and roundabouts yeah like the kid I sat next to on the first day of school was still one of my best friends because we met on day one both like the colour red and spent 35 years just cracking on he loved one of your shoes then didn't he yeah yeah yeah other one not so keen so how old were you when you met him then um five first day of school and still your best mate yeah yeah that's fucking brilliant yeah yeah I don't think I speak to many people from school no not many so it was is it mid we call it mid I don't know what it was like at Croydon we in Norfolk we have a weird americanism so we grew up knowing school of middle school and high school yeah we were first middle high yeah first middle high do you what do you call it um prime so um oh crikey instance primary secondary right yeah because everyone whenever we say this on the pub we always have a few comments going why do you say the norwich has changed now norwich is primary and secondary now is it yeah we were middle and high weren't we so was it because it's been well documented obviously you were bullied quite sadly at school yeah what was it did this happen more in middle school or then yeah secondary school right how do you how do you deal with that then oh i dealt with it awfully did you yeah yeah yeah i i did it all all right it's just the one thing not necessarily i regret but if i could go back and give myself a bit of a slap i i would really yeah yeah yeah completely what what why why would you give yourself a slap and not the fucking idiots that were talking oh no i do that too yeah yeah i didn't i didn't know no how it was it was it was a fight with two losers right weirdly right and and um i was always really i i say i was in the unfortunate yet unenjoyable position of being a lot smarter yeah than the kids bullying me yeah because i i grew up on sort of like dad's army only calls on horses 40 towers kenny everett brilliant so i had this like razor sharp whip yeah to me yeah and i've also even even now i i have no time for fools yeah right like my i'm where your ableism comes to die cold, lonely and afraid.

46:27Yeah, I love it. So you used, well I see now on Twitter and stuff when people tweet you fucking horrible stuff you use your wit to combat this, right? Yeah. So at what point in your life growing up did you learn that this was quite a strong bow to your armoury? Oh, quite early on. I think a lot of people, well I think I've always been like a comedy guy. I think comedy and laughter are like a universal language. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Who's your favourite comedian? Oh, wow. I know a lot of comedians, so this is going to get me in trouble. Because there's different styles, isn't there? If you look at someone like Ricky DeFace, who I think is a genius.

47:18If you look at something like Afterlife or The Office, that's great but then if you look at someone like um kim bine yeah or milton jones who just hammer out one line after one line after one line jimmy cole write a thousand new jokes before he even thinks about doing yeah like another tour but then you can go over to like the american side of things you've got guys like anthony jesselnick who's phenomenally dark yeah or like the roast master Tony Hinchcliffe and Jeff Ross yeah who are also really really funny I adore so good kill Tony yeah have you had a guy called John Kearns yes I love John Kearns absolutely him on Taskmaster was a glorious glorious train wreck yeah if you've not seen his latest stand up what is that it's just slipped my brain it's my favourite stand up John Kearns the the varnishing days on Apple TV that's I'll add it to my...

48:16Yeah, it's brilliant, mate. It's brilliant. But yeah, back to you and using humour to combat the bullies. Is there a particular time that you can remember or a moment that stands out where you've disarmed someone with your wit? Not one moment because it happens quite a lot and all the time. So yeah, to pick out one moment. A, I don't want to put someone on the spot or give them the oxygen of publicity. Yeah. But no, I think naming one is quite tricky. Difficult to do. Yeah, but also it wasn't really, it was more of a survival instinct and something I reveled in or found fun. You just get to the school gates every day, take a deep breath.

49:01You sort of know what was going to happen and when and who would say what. Right. Because you know who you're going to be passing and what corridors when. Because you have like a timetable and a schedule and you just sort of harden yourself to it. Did you enjoy school or not then? Secondary school, no. No. No, no, no. So when you left school, you went to University of Brighton, was it? Yeah, well, I went to a different sixth form college. I went to a different place. Right. And most things that happened to me happened by mistake. I went to the CRE sixth form, Artwork at Tennyson's. Right. And I only put it down on the form because I had to put two.

49:40And so I was like, oh, yeah, John Luskin College, isn't it? Yeah, fuck it, Tennyson's. Right. And then I went to my interview with the guy, head of six-round at Tennyson's, a wonderful man called Mr. Parrish, who I have a great deal of time and respect for. Mm-hmm. Because he took me when I was at my worst and turned me into my best. Oh, that's nice. And, you know, we had a chat. Yeah. And then I came home, and I was just like, they offered me a place, and always howled with laughter at Pearson Towers. And, yeah, wound up going there. and luckily not a lot of people from secondary school were there.

50:14Right. Because by the end of secondary school, I had quite the reputation. Yeah. As sort of like this acid-tongued assassin, which isn't what you want to be called, right? Did that, your quick wit and stuff, almost stop people from wanting to say stuff to you then because they knew they'd get something back? Oh, no. It became this weird game of one-offmanship. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wouldn't want to go into a verbal battle with you. How far can you push Pearson? Right. And then you become the problem and you then end up being along with the reputation and your parents drive up to school and being like, oh, well, they said this to him.

50:53And they're like, yeah, well, he said this. And it's not what they wouldn't if they left me, you know, I wouldn't if they left me alone. Yeah, right. I don't enjoy this either. Right, right. But you got in trouble from the teachers. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Did you? Oh, yeah, yeah. So they're expecting you for people to say stuff to you and you just sit there and take it then? It's just weird. Sticks and stones can break the bones. But that's what you're doing back, though. Words will never hurt you. Well, yeah, but also I'm not really a fan of the idiom sticks and stones can break the bones. Right. But words will never hurt you.

51:25Yeah. Like, kind of tell me you don't understand the playground without telling me you don't understand the playground. Yeah. It's all the most Darwinian places on Earth. Right. Right. Yeah, fair enough. You tweeted recently saying that, especially in that time in your life that wrestling saved your life. Yeah. Can you elaborate on that? What do you mean? Cool, cool, cool. So I think when you're going through a hard time, you need to find little oases that give you joy, little things you can retreat to, that sort of reinvigorate you and do your soul good. Yeah. And as long as it's all sort of safe and legal and what have you, like if your soul is alcoholism and cocaine, maybe find some new shit, right?

52:08but for me it's like wrestling felt kind of safe and it was almost like fantastical and you see this like real life superheroes doing what is a really athletic thing yeah that's sure it's all you know and by this point it's not like the cat was out the bag and we all knew it was sort of like predetermined and and expertly choreographed because that all happened in the early 90s when loads of sports commissions tried to make the then wwf operate under the same regulations as things like boxing yeah and then the instant man didn't want the admin and he just came out and said well it's not not real and then people think it was real before that oh yeah oh and and the sole job of the boys was to protect what they call kayfabe right so good guys and bad guys in in the mid-late 80s wouldn't travel together.

53:02Oh, wow. Holden and Andre could not be on the same plane. Oh, because people really thought there was this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So if people saw them together at an airport and not wanted to kill each other, they'd be like, well, what's going on there? Oh, my... Is that part of why it went from WWF to WWE? The reason it went from WWF to WWE was an ongoing lawsuit that lasted over a decade with the World Wildlife Fund. Yeah, yeah. People, apparently, people were getting confused. Well, I mean, you're still getting DMs about Newcastle. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. Bring me those people. Like, who opens them around and goes, oh, it's fucking Pandas again.

53:43Remember we did that last year for his birthday. Maybe if you're using your app. Maybe if you're using your app. Someone should change that. I cannot believe, because I've been outspoken about wrestling in the past, not for many moons now. We had a wrestler on called Hustle Malone. He educated me about it. Growing up, I will say I was very, very kind of like, oh, who watches this? I get it now. I get it because it's like an art form. And obviously, Logan Paul, you can say a million things about that guy. But when I've seen clips of him, because he's part of it now, isn't he? Well, yeah. The physical, if you just remove what you think of him, the physical act of it, there's some incredible thing.

54:23Oh, he's done some insane shots. Right. I know, like, I'm not part of the Logang. I'm not fair to sing from it. Yeah. But he did this one spot at the Royal Rumble a few years ago with another wrestler called Ricochet. Okay. Where they were both at opposite ends of the ring on the ring apron. And they stared at each other. And Logan Paul goes, let's go then. And they both jump up onto the top rope springboard and meet in the middle of the air and just clothesline each other. and the studs of the clothesline and the studs of them hitting the floor it's the best shot of that show by a long way yeah see there's a craftsmanship in that for sure yeah because that could so easily go wrong yeah and it has a few times in wrestling exactly so is is Logan Paul good for wrestling then or not what would you say ah I've got to really balance it, right?

55:18I've got to separate, and it's really easy to point back to the Japanese forest. Yeah, yeah. Instant, where I think he's a different man now. Go see a different man.

55:32Just get the plug in. I've got points on the back end. I think in the main, I think he is good. I think he brings in like a new audience I think he actually cares about it and wants to be good at it as well I don't think he goes into anything half-assed I think he works a lot harder than people give him credit for I just wish he worked a bit harder on that crypto zoo because I famously bought two of his eggs and raised them for money but no that is a good point he is yeah yeah I mean the NFT's thing will overlook yeah we think we have to who's your favourite wrestler of all time Oh, of all time.

56:17I reckon pound for pound, probably Bret Hart. Never heard of him. You've never heard of Bret that hit Matt Hart? No. And I feel we're going to fall out, and you can't take the cat. Oh, no, no, no. I thought you were messing with me for like a moment there. Bret Hart was around early 90s, wasn't he? Yeah. He was around. I will tell you this now, right? That little mini game in the pod. These are the wrestlers that I can name you. Undertaker Kane Big Show Triple H Jericho Jeff Hardy You got Brother Matt Fuck Rikishi Can I get to 10 The Claw Who had a sock on his hand Fucking Bo Burnham in that one I'm trying to help you You mean the bad guy from Inspector Gadget?

57:15No, not a wrestler. No, I have no idea what that is. Have you said Big Show? He said Big Show. Yeah. I want 10. I fucking want 10. Who used to breakdance a lot? Reagan? Yeah. She did, but again, not a wrestler. Can I say Logan Paul? Yeah, exactly. Has he got a wrestling name? He uses real name. Oh, right, okay. Which is really smart, because then he can leave WWE and go somewhere else and still keep the name. Oh, The Rock? Yeah, yeah. And Stone Cold Steve Austin? Yeah, yeah. There we go. 11, there we go. That's not bad. Not bad. How many, are there hundreds more, are there? Oh, yeah, yeah. And your favourite is a guy I've never heard of.

57:56Yeah. Mate, the comment section on this is going to go insane. I've shot myself in the front. I hope it doesn't, but it's going to. What would your wrestling name be? Oh, I'd use my real name. Just the branding alone. yeah yeah yeah adam pearson yeah yeah i'd go through what would you go for i think you'd be steve steve i'd be i'd be a bad guy you'd be bad you'd be i could be a bad guy evil and i'd be jack the norfolk slam the norfolk slam like the norfolk ham what's that mean don't know are we going for a norfolk what he doesn't know what's going on about when it comes to yeah let's move on so you're at you're at uni you did um is it business business management well what does that entail then what what what what what did you go there what were you what were you hoping was the out oh i wanted to either get into marketing yeah or sales or maybe the law okay and then in the third year i sort of realized i didn't want to do that anymore i think you learn a lot about yourself when you're at uni.

59:11Yeah. I always say to people, the person you become at uni will more than likely be who you are for the rest of your life. Right. Did you find that? Yeah. And I don't care what you become, just don't become an arsehole. You're fucked, Stevie. Yeah, I was an arsehole at uni. No. I did animation. I wasn't exactly with the cork kids, was I? I turned it around in the last year. First few years, not great. Right. Worked hard, but yeah. Yeah. Is that because you went in it from having that kind of acid tongue from your, like, I chilled out at college. I just made bad choices with friendship. What, wrong people?

59:47Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally. And then you don't realise that it's too late. Yeah. And then it takes a while to sort of like exit one thing and enter another thing. Yeah. And what have you. So with business studies, does that mean, do you reckon, and I know you've got a TV background now, do you reckon you could win The Apprentice then?

1:00:10I reckon I'd at least make it to the interview stages. For sure. What's that, final three? Final five. Final five. Famously final five, isn't it? That's what they call it, I think. I'd love to go on that, but the problem is, obviously it's quite reality, isn't it? It's actually not about the business. I think a lot of them are better business people than they come across on the show. Yeah, that's just editing, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, no. I don't think you can get onto the show without a solid business plan in the first place, can you? No, no. What would your business plan be? you got any ideas? Ah interesting I think you're right on the spot here what's my business plan?

1:00:42and if it's not path-eated we can steal it well I know enough people in the wrestling business now and certainly in what we call Britwrest or like the British indie scene to open up like a training academy it's like a pure wrestling gym are you good at wrestling? the actual kind of I can't take a bump I've done a little bit of refereeing and a little bit of ring announcing right okay yeah here and there yeah I think I'd be shit at wrestling I reckon I reckon you're alright really I reckon I'm quite a good sort of like manager he's fucking pulled that back I thought you were telling me I'd be a wrestler the manager also like takes bumps really yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you'd be the guy that gets on the apron and then someone else would hit you and you'd fall off the apron and go to a table and have to lie there and look dead or your guy rolls him up grabs the tights and gets like the cheeky...

1:01:37So I'd be the bitch then? No, no, no. The manager's more important. Really? The most overguy right now in WWE is a guy called Paul Heyman, who's an icon in wrestling. He set up ECW. He's a manager. And his stick is amazing. Really? Yeah, yeah. Do they all still have their own walkout songs and stuff? What would your walkout song be? Oh, I think about this a lot more than I should do. I do as well. As a 40-year-old man. because some of the wrestlers have bangers. There's a wrestler in AEW called Brian Danielson. And so like the big live events, because you've got to pay. If you want to use licensing, you've got to pay.

1:02:18And at the big events, I was at Wembley when he came out to it. And it was like, what, 60 ,000 of us. He comes out of those events to Europe, the final countdown. Oh, okay, yeah. And everyone. 60 ,000 people doing that as he walks out. Yeah, that's cool. That's cool. And when I told my mum I was going, because they'd done Wembley twice. First time it was like 82 ,000 people. Second time I had to dial it back because Taylor Swift had just been there and I couldn't reset quick enough. Right. And she's like, oh, well, there were a lot of kids there. And I'm like, nope. Saw maybe 20 kids the entire day.

1:02:58Really? Yeah, yeah. Wow, I thought it'd be like a split, you know. It's children and a lot of girlfriends with one arm longer than the other because their boyfriends are like, dragged on there. With a walkout song, you want something that's instantly recognisable in wrestling, don't you? With the dark, you can warm into it. But John Cena's, you know instantly of the... You know that's how it is. Oh, was that a song specifically for him? He wrote it. No way. Yeah, he wrote it. He used to rap in there a bit. He did some rapping. That's fucking cool, that guy. He's got a rap album. Yeah. Wow. Shawn Michaels as well was really recognisable, wasn't he?

1:03:32Yeah, yeah. He sings that. Actually, he's singing that. You know I'm good. So you think I'm sexy. Yeah, man. I'm just a sexy boy. Sexy boy. They're like so recognisable. With darts, you can warm in and like by the time you're on the stage, it needs to be pumped. But wrestling, because as soon as people hear that first note, they're like, that person's about to run to the room. Like with Stone Cold, the darts shattered and you instantly knew who was coming out. Just from that noise. So you need a hook. Right. He comes out and smashes the hands together. So what has a hook at the start? Because there's a Scottish person called Grado who comes out to Madonna like a prayer, which on the face of it is ridiculous.

1:04:07No, but I can see why that would work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd probably come out to Unlimited, No Limits. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Yeah, that would work. Yeah, that would work. And I'd be like, Pearson, Adam Pearson, Adam Pearson. and back in here. That's perfect. There we go. If you ever got in the traitors, that's how they need to edit. I'd love to see it. I'd love to see it. I've got to do an apology, actually, for Luke Littler. You know when we had him on air? Yeah. I told him to his face I didn't like his walkout song.

1:04:46It's Cody Rhodes' walkout song. What? I dream it in, in my soul. You know where everyone goes, whoa! Yeah. That's Cody Rhodes' music. Right, because he's a big, Luke Littler's a big wrestling fan. Yeah, he is. He copied that, and I told him, I said, I don't like it. I'm fully on board with it now. Give me the green light. It's that one, isn't it? Yeah, it is now. Oh, oh, oh. Is it that one? Last time I saw him coming, he came out to Downstate Kingdom, which is Cody Rhodes. But a green light by Pitbull was used at one of the WrestleManias. That's the one. That's the one. And it's a banger. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

1:05:17Give me the green light. Yeah, love it, love it. Right, so let's go back to uni. You're studying business. you learnt who you were in the last year. Was, at uni, obviously people are a bit older, was there less sort of bullying and judgment? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Was there? Yeah, well, at secondary school you're there because you have to be. Right. It's a legal requirement for you to get to at least take, like, two stage three. Yeah. Whereas I think you, A, you get like a higher calibre of academic the further up you go. But also the further up you go, the better they are at meeting your needs, if you have, like, extra needs, the higher you go the easier they are at meeting them right and when you think about it logically it should be the opposite way around I didn't get any any like um SEN support until I was in like year 10 right like in year 7 my head of year 7 just didn't want the paperwork and so I just thought well I haven't tested with any difficulties and explain it away that way and we really had to fight for it but this was sort of like in the early 90s and the dda this weird discrimination act now the equality act had only just come in right which is an utterly terrifying thing to think about i was like an because you don't think about it when you're a kid yeah but now i'm 40 i was like i didn't have legal rights i didn't have equal rights legally until i was 10 years old that must have been strange for you and your family as well to be told that they think you'd have learning difficulties is when you knew in yourself that you were smart.

1:06:51Well, yeah, well, not in that sense, but half the cases of neurofibromatosis, NF1, do present with learning difficulties. But at that point, I'd been in academia already for many years and proved I wasn't undone my SATs and done extremely well. Yeah. Do you mind if we do a little section here about NF1 and just ask you some quickfire questions? Yeah, yeah, let's do it. Where should we start here? and our listeners will get so much from this getting to learn about something that they probably don't know. We know very little about it, do we? I can't remember. We've touched on some of these already.

1:07:27So we know you're about to have your 40th surgery. Yeah. Did you explain fully what the surgeries... I know you said they go in to take some out. Yeah, yeah. What are they doing exactly? So they're just removing as much of the excess as they can, as much of the fibroma without interfering with things like blood supply because there were two kinds of fibromas. You've got basic ones that just sit there you can just pluck up. Yeah. And you've got plexithole ones, which is what mine are, where they're wrapped around muscle and bone and blood vessels and stuff. Right. So you can only go so far before it becomes like a law of diminishing returns.

1:08:02Yeah, right. Before you're doing more harm than good. Got you. I see what you mean. Would your skeleton look the same then, Adam? No. So I have slightly deeper eye sockets, which is common with NF patients. And it does affect kind of bone structure as well. So my bottom jaw is slightly further forward than it should be. But there's so much kind of surgery going on there that breaking it and resetting it would be too risky. And again, do more harm than good. Have you ever refused a surgery for any reason? Like, oh, I don't particularly want that or don't need it? I don't need to have it when I feel like it's medically necessary.

1:08:46I'm not trying to attain an aesthetic level of joy because I'm 40 years old and I don't really care. But yeah, for example, this is affecting my blink a little bit. Because this is what I haven't done. I haven't all of this dealt with. What? Is this what you're having done on Monday? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this is your forehead? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I've got a lot up here. Here we can all smooth out a little bit and get rid of this. Yeah. Is that affecting your blink now? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. How is your eyesight then? So I'm blind in this sight and I've got a scar on my cornea in this sight.

1:09:25So I'm only about 50%. Oh, right. I can get by. Yeah, yeah. Like I can still kind of kick ass at Mario Kart. The important things. It's always back to the games. It's always back to the games. You know, the important stuff. Yeah. Right? Do you have to take medication? Not for NFs. I have, to my asthma, yes. To my hay fever, yes. I've got to put eye drops in to stop my eyes getting dry. Right. Because my brain's affected. What's a question about NF1 that you probably get asked the most, do you think? Just what is it? Right. It's as common as cystic fibrosis. Okay. Yet no one's heard of it. Yeah.

1:10:07Right? And I think it's because it presents differently in everyone. Yeah. So there's no sort of like universal standard. Yeah, I'm fascinated that you said about it presents in some people as learning difficulties and stuff like that. So I can't believe, like you, I don't know if it's ignorant of me to say, but I would just imagine that it's like, oh, people with this have learned difficulties, or don't. It seems like such a contrast in that. It's absolutely fascinating. Is there any other misconceptions like that one that I just had that people have about it? Not about the condition itself. It's more people with the condition.

1:10:47And I think it's not just true with NF. I think it's true with any kind of disability in general. I think sometimes people struggle to separate disability and inability. Right. And I think it's one of the reasons why we have a really high disability employment gap. Because people just can't see past it. They say, oh, you have this so you can't do this. No, I have this so I do that just differently. yeah right okay yeah that that that makes sense um are there any uh are there any other famous people that that have this condition i don't know i know i know oh yeah that was always gonna happen i know julian anderson's brother had it he sadly passed away now right right is when you say you don't know is that because as you said because it kind of is different and different people yeah there's no one that i would say obviously could you put five people who all have neurofibromatosis next to each other and like even a doctor could look and not be able to tell that they've all got yeah yeah not without like a proper examination i guess that's why it's one of the symptoms is you get these spots called capital a mark these like birthmarks like capital a being french and milk and coffee because that's the color they are right and if you have more than seven of those that's one of the kind of signs really so it's only have a few of your sign like if you've got a birthmark don't be freaking out you're golden but yeah but if you've got more than seven maybe maybe go see a doctor um but yeah how how do you feel about people asking you questions about it obviously we're in a setting where you knew you were coming in to be speak about it but how do you feel about like just an average person coming up to you and asking questions rock and roll yeah really yeah let's do it as long as they're respectful actually oh yeah yeah yeah yeah it's all in sort of like you know wording and tone and also why do you want to know yeah if you want to know because you want to understand it more and make the world a better and better place for people like me absolutely yeah if you're asking because you're a bit pissed and you want to know if the sun's or dillian spectacle yeah then maybe sober up and wait till the morning yeah yeah yeah Fair enough.

1:13:02I'm not sure how to word this question, but you know how sometimes children, you know more than most, children can be unforgiving, right? In terms of like, in public. I don't think they're unforgiving. I just think they're to the point. Yeah. Kids are remarkably straightforward. They're very honest, aren't they? Joyously slower. Right, right. So if you're out in public and you look different and kids are looking at you differently, how should their parents handle that like how would you come and talk to me with a kid really yeah yeah yeah don't don't sort of like try and dismiss it yeah because then that even though you haven't verbally said it the kid will see that as this is something to be dismissed yeah yeah like the amount of times oh look at the sky yes a flower yes a dog yes my kids are fucking genius what's wrong with that man and says oh no no no no you shut your mouth right you know subtly that says to the kid this is taboo this should be shunned this can't be discussed right whereas as long as it's done openly honestly and respectfully nothing to me is off the table perfect I love that about you that's why again going back to your tweets I think you're fucking hilarious on well we call it X now don't we I think you're hilarious on there if you're not following Adam on Twitter by the way you need to follow him not the newcastle guy not the whole rugby guy it's uh is it adam underscore pearson adam underscore pearson not og og i love it uh this feel free if this is a stupid question just to fucking tell me this is a stupid question we had um blind tobes on here he's a tiktoker blind guy and we asked him this and we actually got an interesting answer so um are there any are there any benefits from having neurofibromatosis or any positives from it whatsoever oh any advantages

1:15:06wow um i get away with hell

1:15:13like i'm i'm bulletproof like i could know what window kid did and they got a grade in me

1:15:27oh my god that's brilliant have you have you got any like specific things that you can think of in mind that he wants to tell on air no but has there ever been something that where you've used you got not used it but i used it to get out of a situation or oh when so uh i was 12 and um and i just lost my sight in like this sign it was you know and my dad's side of the family always made a bigger deal of my medical thing and it had to be but we we got gifted a trip to florida for two weeks wow um yeah by who um all my my dad's side of the family all club together oh right And sort of like center.

1:16:05So we were like on international drive, Jamaican courts. We were really near kind of Disney, SeaWorld, Universal, Cape Canaveral. And I'm on trial by this point. And I've totally figured out how the game works. Like totally figured it out. So we got there. And I start like walking like quite slowly. And my dad's like, speed up. What are you doing? I'm like, trust me. and um yeah we we didn't queue at any scene park for the entire fortnight what even without like the fast track they weren't a thing at the time they just gave you a slip of paper and you showed it to the guy on the ride and they took you around and let you run at the exit and you just walked to the front yeah yeah that is brilliant waving at people in the queue just slowing the walk down a little bit yeah i i love it i love it um This episode is brought to you by Born in Roma fragrances by Valentino Beauty, the iconic fragrance duo.

1:17:06Donna Born in Roma Eau de Parfum is a feminine fragrance featuring juicy blackcurrant, central jasmine, woody cashmere, and warm vanilla. Its masculine counterpart, Romo Born in Roma Eau de Toilette, has notes of fresh violet leaf, aromatic sage, green vetiver, spicy ginger, and mineral salt. Shop at Macy's.com. This episode is brought to you by PayPal. You know how a mom's bag has everything? Sunscreen? Snacks? A stapler? The new PayPal app is like that, but for your money. Shop, pay, manage your account, and earn rewards all in one place. And with purchase protection on eligible items, biometric security, and pass keys, you're protected at every step.

1:17:52Download the new PayPal app to get started. See paypal.com slash protection terms. This message is brought to you by AppleCard. With AppleCard, you earn unlimited daily cash back on everyday purchases, like groceries, merch, or tickets to the game. Plus, it can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted. No matter your team, no matter where you shop, AppleCard is here to help you tackle game day. Apply in the Wallet app on your iPhone today. Subject to credit approval, AppleCard is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City Branch. Terms and more at AppleCard.com. let's talk about your tv work adam cool because you i heard you say i think it was in i've watched a lot of your interviews recently i think it was in the lad bible interview you said that you um you fell into tv yeah so you had no ambitions to be to be uh this is before we obviously know you as an actor yeah no no not not working it i'd always kind of liked tv i like kind of watched a lot of it when i was eight years old i went to watch live and kicking being a film rival was in television centre back in like the first one of it when it was Andy Peters Emma Swarles and John John Bannerman right right and sort of like always fascinated with how it was made and how it worked but no desire to like get involved right okay and the BBC did this thing called BBC Extend where they recruit solely for disabled applicants just like had the metrics I think those schemes are very good at putting disabled people in jobs but not good at getting disabled talent in careers.

1:19:26So that's another thing. Yeah. That's another chapter. Is that, so do you necessarily, is that something you disagree with? Are they ticking boxes there? Oh yeah, yeah. Is that what they're doing? Yeah, yeah. Or it's what they were doing. I don't know what they're like now. Right. And so I went for a job at Radio 6 Music. And because I love 6 Music. And I already knew everything about it. went in had the interview did it on it I came second okay and you know when you're not successful for a job you get that really cut and paste email we really like you want to keep in mind for future post the other best of luck in your future endeavors yeah and you know I rolled my eyes and it's like fair enough and then I got a call two days later saying we've had a job come up in commissioning are you interested and I was like yeah go on then thinking they say great we'll send you the form fill it in we'll see how we go and I'm like, great, your interview's tomorrow at midday.

1:20:26And I'm like, all right, cool. And yeah, one day I nailed it. I ended up working in commissioning, which was the power floor of a TV centre with all the channel heads and genre heads. Dumb that down for a second. What does that mean, commissioning, then? Are you green light in the new concept? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm not, but that department is. And I was with a wonderful lady called Meredith Patrick, who was the editorial executive diversity. Right. So our department was making sure the BBC meets its remit and representing all the licensed pay in public, sterling and equally. Right. And so, yeah, I did that.

1:21:06It was a six-month contract. And the mayor was dead straight, I mean, from the word go, that they wouldn't have the budget to renew me. Oh, you knew it was a temporary six-month affair? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was like, okay, would you be horribly offended if I rinse the craning here? Right. and also emailed everyone who's important and asked to get coffee with them. And she was like, oh, I'd be upset if you didn't. And I was like, cool. And as I said, anyone, I gave one of my friends this advice recently, and it worked out quite well for him. If there's someone you want to meet, just cold email them and ask to get coffee.

1:21:39Because the worst that could happen to me is them be like, no, you're a dickhead. And I know that anyway. I've lost nothing in that transaction. That's why you've been tweeting Youngblood recently, isn't it? Yeah. Let's do it. You want to meet Youngblood, don't you? I want to come friends with him. I like his vibe. I like what he stands for. I think what he's doing for the music scene, particularly for the festival scene, is really good and really noble. And I think a lot of the time, the industry suggests the fans and they get where they came from. I saw an old interview recently with Nazarna where they asked Kurt Cobain, how do you feel about people charging$75 for tickets?

1:22:20He's like, who the fuck's doing that? And they're like, Madonna. He's all recharged 17 quid. Yeah, I've seen that clip come up. And I miss the days when gigs were affordable. Yeah, yeah. I've recently paid over the odds for Oasis and it's just fucking incredible. Yeah. Yeah, crazy. Yeah, yeah. So guys, you can tell what a legend Adam is because he so kindly gave us up his time today. Send this fucking clip to Youngblood and let's go i want to see that as a youtube video though i know you just want to hang out with him but i need to see that i need to see you and tag the right adam when you do it and the right

1:22:58you're just gonna see a clip of young blood with newcastle adam pearson oh oh i can see my blood pressure going off already

1:23:11so so you're working on the commission for um you what was your first job in tv because you've worked on a few things from like it was it was it was that it was like paper pushing behind the scenes yeah stuff right yeah you do you do your your networking oh so is that how you got the job on the undateables then i i got sent not only on the undateables i got sent to that production company betty oh okay um i i came into work late one day quite hung over wearing a marble superheroes t-shirt that was a size too big to me because it was just the first thing i grabbed one of my friends had bought it back from me from Los Angeles and like got into the little drunken six floor and this random bloke or at the time random bloke went oh I like a t-shirt and I was like oh no thank you one of my friends bought it back from me from LA yeah yada yada yada and we had like a brief chat about like kind of who I was on telly and stuff the old elevator pitch literally turned out that was Danny Cohen right is it at the time was head of BBC3 right okay yeah Then became like head of TV and now he does loads of work in America financing movies.

1:24:18And did you not know that was him? No idea. Right. No idea at all. Yeah. And he then kind of spoke to my boss around and went, he's certainly one to watch. Keep an eye on that one. And then he sent me to his friend's company, Betty, who went on to make the Undateables. I went to meet their head of talent, Emily Shanklin, just to make sure I was kind of legit. Yeah. and you because you get asked a lot of questions when you apply for those kind of jobs like what do you watch on on tv and and why and you've got to have really good answers yeah like someone who's also done those interviews now when you say this on oh what do you like on tv and oh i like sam the guy i'm like well that that's taught me nothing right right on tv is an american import So what's a good answer then?

1:25:07What did you say? I said, and this was back in 2010, I was like, I was like, I like outnumbered. Yeah. And it's remarkably well produced and well shot and well acted. And it's also marketed really well, directly to its audience. There was a program at the time that Betty made called Freaky Eaters, about people with like really weird eating habits. Okay, yeah. Like, oh, this is Jeff, he only eats pizza. Yeah. And I'm like, it's good because you're kind to the contributors. You're not there to publicly humiliate them. Yeah. You're there to help them... Overcome. Overcome their thing. And they also want to do it, hence they signed up.

1:25:49The idea that people are getting dragged into these programmes, kicking and screaming. Yeah. Like some kind of Victorian sideshow is... Yeah. It's ridiculous. Right. But it's also all effortlessly done. You know when you see things like, again, pizza go, what was in the interim, and you'll see just 1 ,000 pizzas there. Yeah. And they'll be like, this is all the pizza you eat in a year. They've sourced that really ethically. They haven't just gone out and ordered 1 ,000 pizzas that they'll then throw out. Right. They've gone and found things that are going to get thrown out anyway. Have they? Yeah, yeah.

1:26:22That's where all that comes from is really ethically sourced. Oh, okay. Nowadays, it would wind up on something like Too Good To Go. Right. which is an even better use, right, the time didn't exist. Yeah. So, yeah, I like it when people make TV well and ethically. Yeah. And they're really kind of contributor-focused. That leads me on to my next question, because obviously you worked on the undateables. Remind me, what was your role on that again? Oh, casting researcher. Casting researcher, right. So obviously some people, the undateables kind of divides people in terms of some people think it could be considered patronising or pity-driven, whereas other people see it as more and I'm in this camp I see it as when was it on?

1:27:05Like four or five years ago it finished? Yeah, yeah. It's very heartwarming and some of the people on there you sort of just fall in love with and think they're brilliant. I for one really like Daniel Wakeford I think he's brilliant and he does his music and stuff like that I think he's great. Yeah, I did Disability Pride with him in Brighton a few years ago because he's a southern, like coastal boy and yeah, he's a great son. And he's like that all the time. Is he really? He's so high energy. And I'm also high energy, but even I struggle to keep up with... He's a bonafide rock star, and I love him to bits.

1:27:39Yeah, that's great. So tell us your standpoint and what your opinion is on it for people who say maybe ethically it's not there. So it's about disabled people kind of swanning in love. Yeah. And a lot of the time, we get kind of crap about the title. These people aren't undateable. I'm like, yeah, we know. and that's why I feel I'm dating. Yeah, good point. But the unlike kind of falls off, doesn't it, as well? Right, but also, in order to disprove a misconception, you first of all need to establish that it exists. Right, which is what the title does. So when people go, do I not say? We're like, no, we're not saying they are.

1:28:21Yeah. That's you calling yourself out a little bit there. and as long as you know you know what you're dealing with with the contributors because different disabilities get you need different access needs and and like requirements like if someone is on the spectrum for example you need to know when they're up for being filmed or when they're not up for being filmed and if someone has a meltdown how how do you handle yeah or all of that if someone has like Downs, Downs people tend to get attached and fall in love a lot quicker. Right, right. Then I'd rather contribute to... There must be a massive care team there then, like junior care team and stuff.

1:29:06But we also had really good pre-care. Right. Everyone was like psychosis by Dr. Howie. And I had what we internally called the talk of doom, where once someone's been greening it by the commission at Channel 4, you sit them down and almost sort of try and talk them out of it and be like, this is going to go on telly. Here's how this is going to work. People might not like you. Right. And they will gladly let you know, often from behind anonymous accounts. Yeah. Ignore it. It doesn't matter. And if it all gets too much, give us a call and we can step in and do some proper safeguarding. So you're, that's really smart, actually.

1:29:50I didn't know that happened. So you're kind of like just telling them the worst possible outcomes here. Yeah, well, here's how TV works. Yeah. How often would you have that talk and then that person backs out? It happened to me zero times. Really? No one backed out? No. Wow. I think at that point, because we'd done the whole process really well and really ethically, I think at that point we had both trust and rapport with both the individual themselves. and kind of their parents or carers and what have you. These people have to trust you, particularly with something like the undateables, because kind of dating and falling in love is such an intimate and personal thing.

1:30:33Yeah, for sure. So I think it all needs to be really relationship-driven. It can't be sort of like a pilot high mass casting job, like something like Take Me Out. Yeah, yeah. Like kind of would be. Yeah. so so so is that the only show you've worked you worked on um what's it beauty you what do you work on the beauty one oh beauty and the beast did you work on that one i i just had that one that was uh one of my green lights really yeah yeah what so does that mean did you come up the concept oh me and my boss warfiel you know came up with it we were talking about maybe doing the idea maybe like late one night and i was like yeah cool let's do it so we we actually showed an un-terrorized pilot for it what no one no one's ever seen no one's ever seen it no no no and that was what that was what got us how did you how did you pick who went on it how did you cast the people that never made it to air well i i had no say in that because i was the i was one of the people in it so i couldn't be involved in the finding of i think her name was kara right and i couldn't be involved i didn't meet until day one of filming when i just walked in so you're on the i've not seen it but you're on the show are you i so uh series one i have i have a what they call a strand i mean the final episode is like a main protagonist that was always the plan but then we had this idea of me doing all these like experiments to find out how this thing was treated in different industries so i'm like oh why is there no representation in advertising why are there no pop stars who have disabilities or this segment kind of why do i need to look a certain way to work at abercrombian finch when a trained chimp could do the job yeah fair enough what is um what's been your favorite television show to work on oh i i really like my time on the undateable yeah because it's just really good watching other people fall in love.

1:32:36It's like heartwarming. Yeah. And I only worked on the first like six years and a handful of people, people I just cast from my phone book. I just called up mates. I'm just like, hey, thanks for doing this. And they were like, oh, I don't know. I'll come on, just meet me for lunch. Yeah. And I'm like, I think one of my friends, Steve, was like, Steve, if you do this show, I promise you you'll get laid.

1:33:00and then and then she agreed to come get lunch and i put the phone down i wonder why connie's goes you can't say that too late and i'm like why why can't i say that well because if he doesn't get laid we've broken editorial policy so you had to then ensure he did well i'm like Like, sign, sign. If he doesn't get laid, I'll pin him down. I'll do it. No one's going to like it. But we're in the chair. That's what I said. Love it, mate. In 2016, you were nominated for an award, right? You were nominated for Documentary Presenter of the Year. Yes, at the Grissons. Well, congrats on the nomination. As a presenter myself, I would love to know, Adam, what do you think makes a good presenter?

1:33:46This is really tricky. Yeah, it's broad. No, it is really broad. It's subjective. The amount of people, particularly like documentary, the amount of experts, like educated people who can't walk and talk at the same time is staggering. Yeah. There's definitely a skill to it, isn't there? I think it's a misjudged, not saying it's like the hardest graft ever. There'll be a lot of people listening to this who are doing manual labour and probably look down on it a bit. But it's not hard work, so to speak. It's a skill. It's a complicated skill. And you need to be really good at listening. Yeah, right.

1:34:29Because you go in and you've got questions you need to ask. You've got bullet points you need to hit. But if someone says something, you need to be able to pivot and direct. if you get like given a gift of you know of an answer yeah absolutely pursue pursue that don't be afraid to sort of like divert from the plan be be adaptable people have to like you yeah you can't learn that no this is why i'm stuck just as his little side friend i like you there we go we can do something together i'll get rid of him yeah well we're all gonna go popper yeah yeah and also um know know who you're meeting and know the subject matter yeah and it's not interviewing a group of people um spot the interesting one as quickly as you can there's always one that's going to give you way more it's a great tip than than other people so learn who the most interesting person in the room is yeah quickly that's a really good tip but sometimes maybe go for the second most interesting because sometimes the first one wants to be on camera a bit too much and can come across a bit too...

1:35:33Oh, the powering. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, that's spot on. So now we get to modern day Adam, or at least recent Adam. You're a fucking massive actor now, aren't you? Yeah, Hollywood star. Someone and X was just scraping the barrel with him, aren't you? And then someone else was like, oh, Hollywood actor's scraping the barrel apparently. By the way, we have people say scraping the barrel to every single guest we've ever had any guest you put someone will reply saying who yeah it's like a few weeks ago we had tim oliver on who's uh the david brent impersonator who's all over social media and everyone was going oh happy hour fell off because we went from having the man himself ricky gervais on the podcast to having tim oliver on but what people are failing to understand it's not that he's a ricky gervais impersonator it's that he's a he's a full-time impersonator i've never spoken to someone whose life is impersonating someone else like i want to learn that must be a weird job as well.

1:36:30Because we're in the boundaries. Right. Yeah, that's my first question. Where do you begin and where does Ricky Gervais end? Yeah, exactly. And that's what we wanted to find out. So it wasn't like we couldn't get Gervais on anymore so we're getting this guy who's pretending to be him. I want to know. It just so happened one of the best impressionists right now is doing Ricky Gervais. Yeah. But if we just happened to be able to get a DiCaprio impressionist who was incredible that would be who we could get. Exactly. It's the job role itself rather than who he was being. But it was an interesting episode.

1:36:58I think it was a really good episode if you can sign Adam Pearson in person I'll pay your mortgages I mean me not the other two I just love hanging through at the other two so your first big role was in Under the Skin with Scarlett Johansson that's quite a big role Adam you worked with her twice in your career once on the way up and once on the way down so whilst I love her to bits I'm avoiding her like the plague professionally way because then it's over yeah how did that come about because am i right and think you you're not from an acting background no not not at all so how did that happen i was casting a serious healing and dateables at the time and had an email come in from changing spaces who are the uk's largest charity that support people with disagreements and visual differences saying this song can't have been in touch i want a guy with a disagreement to maybe be in a the new Jonathan Glazer film, if you're up for it, called the casting director.

1:38:00A lady called Carlin Crawford, who I still talk to. And as a business grad, I'd written like reams and reams on Jonathan Glazer's work in advertising because he's really big in that world. Right. Do you remember the old black and white Guinness advert to the horses and the surfers? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those are his. Oh, wow, okay, right. He's on those. He did the music video to Jamella Choir, Virtual Insanity, Karma Peace, Radiohead is a music video he did. Uncle Rabbit in headlights he's done he's a once in a generation the Karma Police one is that the one with the car that's going slowly and there's the person I fucking love that music video that's him yeah yeah I'm not even a big Radiohead fan and I love that music video that's a Miracoy video the one with the sliding room and stuff yeah yeah that's mad wow right okay yeah cool so you got to you got to know him through this email I didn't meet him okay right oh sorry I tried to Carlin Cropper, the casting director.

1:38:55Yeah, okay. And they were like, okay, can you type up a paragraph about yourself and send it? And I was like, yeah, yeah, sure. Didn't have time, so I sent my CV. And at the time, my CV was super, like, new in the industry, overly confident, slightly wanky. And so the opening line is, my name is Adam Pearson, I'm the best in the world at what I do, with no explanation as to what I do. Yeah, I like it. Just take my words for it, I'm good at this. I can't say you're wrong. And I had nothing for like a week and I thought, yeah, that's got rid of them so I can carry on as normal. And then they were like, oh yeah, we really like you.

1:39:35Can you put a clip of yourself on YouTube so we can see how you talk and how you move, kind of, et cetera. And so I go around my friend's house and we've shown this on like a, remember the old flip recorders that had the USB thing built in? That was my first frog camera. We've shown it on that. Flicks out like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We filmed it on that in his house. Right. And I think I insult Zegan Star Signs, both my employers at the time. I referred to horoscopes as bullshit made up by wizards. And then a york to terror appears in my arms out of nowhere. And we upload that and send it off.

1:40:14Was that a pre-written monologue that you had? No, no, no, no. At that time, someone went, go, and I went. and I think it's still on YouTube I think if you type in Meet Adam Pearson it's still on my YouTube channel you know I'm going to do it now don't you? no yeah yeah yeah totally let's have a little look at this YouTube Meet Adam Pearson just comes up with the Newcastle guy I hate that guy oh is it this one here? am I in like a greenish top? or is it where am I? yeah that's the one yeah yeah Right, I'm watching that as soon as this interview's over. And I'd heard nothing for two weeks. And I'd get a call to say, yeah, Jonathan really wants to meet you for coffee.

1:41:01Can you meet at the American church on Top Court Road at this time? And I worked on top of the Hills building, so I had one road to cross. On that road, I'd get hit by a car and break my leg. Get hit by, like, a black cab. I'm like, break it, break it. Knee that way, foot that way. Going to this meeting? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fucking hell. Yeah, yeah. and so I call him and go hey Johnson I'm Adam Pearson funny story I think my leg's broken I'm still really keen don't think I'm not keen I'm just going to be outside when it's late and he goes okay and I hang up I then call my mum and tell them the same thing and my mum goes well that was going to happen one day

1:41:41and then everyone like comes out the office like paramedics turn up I'm like kind of cut out my clothes like you know gas air morphine he then turns up to the scene and at this point I'm under a cab in my pants highest giraffe ass on morphine and he and again I've been told this is what was said because I don't remember very much he says bloody hell Adam I didn't realise you did your own stunt work to which I reply mate do I look like I've got a fucking stunt level

1:42:16he then comes sees me the next day and you see Yeah, when I'm waiting for surgery. I've got like rods and pins and stuff in it now. And like offers me the role. Fucking hell. I get signed off to do it the day before I have to fly. I got signed off from the 11th to the 11th, 2011. And I fly to Glasgow on the 12th. To do the film? Yeah. Had you had any acting training? No, no, no, no. But you were just confident that you'd be able to go in and do it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And we'd had me, him and Scarlett had a couple of meetings beforehand to discuss the character and the characterisation and stuff and how we get from A to B and what have you.

1:42:59And even when we film the scene in the van, we've got no script par se. We've got bullet points we've got to hit. So we've both kind of got earpieces in. Yeah. And we're getting loose direction. Yeah. I've got loads of layers on because my character's sort of like a hermit. Right. and I've had to grow my hair out so my microphone's actually in my hair because the rustling of the jacket interfered with it right with it all were you not nervous then so you're new to this world oh yeah yeah yeah I'm utterly terrified but then you've got two options don't do it or do it scared yeah yeah fucking hell and so what was it like not only are you thrust into this big project you're not from that world you've got no acting training you're also acting with one of the best in Scarlett Johansson what was that like?

1:43:48I was very fortunate when I had a world class director and a world class actor put a great deal of space in me and was very kind and patient with me to help me get there right and sometimes with anyone you've got to do a little bit of acting before you start actually acting okay what do you mean but what do you mean just like in terms of experience and getting into the groove oh okay like on the day itself yeah yeah On the date of the date, you sign the scene. Right, right, right. You can learn the words, but you've got to sign the scene and find kind of the truth amongst the pages. Right. And they were very kind and patient, sort of like, let me get there and let me do it.

1:44:26And I was very lucky I was in safe hands. Yeah. And I think, had I been with a lesser director or a lesser actor, it could have ended very differently. How long was the filming on that? I was in Glasgow for a couple of weeks. Yeah. Not filming every day, obviously. Yeah. And then the Black Lloyd scene was two days in Elstree. Right. Okay. As a newbie actor at the time, I know even esteemed actors do this, but do you remember a particular time where you fucked your lines or had to ruin the scene? Oh, I don't think I ruined a scene. I missed my first flight to Glasgow and left Scarlet waiting seven hours.

1:45:10No. And I had to rejig everyone's wardrobe. No. because I missed my first flight. What, broke your other leg? No. No, we were just told to go to the wrong gate by the access team. And then they called the flight. I'm like, I'm wrong into the airport, so I peg it. And then it wound up like an episode of Airline where I'm like, sorry, but they've closed the door. They open as well.

1:45:37I know Stelios. I don't know Stelios. Also a different airline. so what's scarlet like she know is she a nice person she's great she's she doesn't get enough credit to how well she does now because she's done a lot of snl but she's she's really funny yeah oh really really really funny oh nice yeah yeah and you know really good sort of like banter and yeah and what have you like really kind really patient it was while she was filming it was her i want to say 27th birthday yeah 2011 let me do the math yeah 27 right okay and so we just all went out for the night and like open bar oh no we all went nuts any colin the caterpillars about um no no no no i didn't want to i don't like sourcing my birthday because it is on other people's birthdays.

1:46:35I think it's I think it's out there now. You're going to be playing Joseph Merrick, right? Yes, indeed. In the new film adaptation of The Elephant Man. Yeah. How did that come about? Because I saw your tweet that you put about it. Yeah. But that had already happened, right? It wasn't the tweet that landed the role, was it? No, no, not at all. Right. So when a different man did it sort of like tour. Yeah. We did like New York, Texas, LA. Yeah. The American end. And one of the people that came to LA is a lady called Eve Pomerantz whose grandfather wrote the original Broadway play. Right. And they turned it into like a film script.

1:47:21Yeah. And Bernard Pomerantz, the playwright, was always adamant. They said, made a film. They didn't want to use prosthetics. even in like the play they don't use prosthetics because the play has been done by Mark Hamill David Bowie and Bradley Cooper fucking hell some big names and then the film was John John Hurt yeah so I so no pressure there at all yeah there's some yeah totally and so they came to see a different man and they were just like well there he is and so we then started started kind of like talking and and they sent me the script to see if i liked it and and it was one of the ones i yeah i really i really like it and now it's a case that we're discussing who who you know who directs it now who do we attack who plays three who plays you know so so you you were cast first and then they worked back they work backwards to get the surrounding team yeah yeah completely do you feel a bit of pressure am i right and you'll be the first disabled actor to play the role right yeah is there any pressure there for you then no nothing i'm not putting on myself i think kind of i think kind of first disabled xyz i don't really think that's a thing right right kind of i and maybe that's because i'm over the imposter syndrome now yeah but i think after a different man i stopped saying i'm a disabled actor yeah and now i'm just on actor yeah i'm here because i'm the best in the room and i walk in and i nail it yeah yeah my disability has like very little to do with my presence here yeah i'm just here because i'm good at what i do yeah for sure and if you want if you want to say otherwise kind of talk to my agent i was yeah i was i was reading the comments on um Mark Kermode was reviewing a different yeah and I was so nervous for that review I bet you were yeah I bet you were he's just a torpedo thing he doesn't mince his words either no I know yeah he's very honest as well I only liked it I was like oh thank god yeah and he obviously loved you and stuff and all the comments were saying how incredible you are in it and of course you are but Sebastian Stan is fucking brilliant as well isn't he what was it like to work with him on that movie he's he's a solid solid dude yeah um yeah he's again once in generation incredibly kind incredibly patient and he he sought out this film he he got the script right because it was floating around i want to do this yeah like and and i reckon for him it was in a way of sort of like almost exercising some of his own demons like kind of um a little a little bit right and then we you know we hopped on zoom had a few who really directed on his visceral chat to sort of let him into my world.

1:50:24And he's kind of, how do I do this? Yeah. And I've always said that the two ways to lose your anonymity in a society and become public property are to either have a disagreement or become really famous. And then everyone thinks you owe them something. Either an explanation or a selfie or some kind of justification. Right. So whilst you don't know what it's like to have a disagreement, you know what it's like to be swallowed docks you know what it's like to have the press say what they want about you and who cares if it's true yeah so lean into that well you're you've become famous and you're only going to go your profile's only going to rise and rise and rise yeah because of growing up with the disfigurement are you are you not bring it on are you like bring that on yeah but you know bring it on yeah I'm you know I'm yeah I've also got like a good enough professional team around me to sort me out.

1:51:19And I've also got a really good friendship there because we all kind of, and still do, kind of keep me grounded. And I'm going to be like, remember you're from Croydon. Yeah, yeah. Well, you're one of the only people to bring our snacks. Yeah, yeah. There you go. When can we expect to see the Elephant Man film? Because it's a long way off, right? Yeah, we're looking at shooting early next year. Early next year. Providing, like, kind of things go to plan. Well, Because the schedule's the schedule, but the schedule's also fluid. Well, when it comes out, we'd love to have you back on to talk about that more in depth.

1:51:49Oh, I'll get you guys to the premiere. When we do London, we'd love that. We can do Happy Hour Live on a red carpet. Oh, perfect. There we go. I'd love it. Final sort of fun question before we go into our outro. If you could go back in time, Adam, and cast yourself as any role in any movie, what would you have? Oh, wow. That is a good one. There's so many bangers, aren't there? Yeah. That I'd really want to do. But I'd also want to kind of have fun with it. I wouldn't want to do anything sort of like too heavy. Right. Would it be a comedy then? Either comedy or fantasy, I reckon, would be how I roll.

1:52:28I would probably take Bowie's role in Labyrinth. What a shout. Yeah. Because that would be like so much fun. Or Michael Caine in Muppet Christmas Carol. That would be a lot of fun. Which is the greatest Christmas novel of all time. Yeah. Because he talks to the Muppets like they're human. Yeah, yeah, yeah. which is why it's such a good film. I think it's his best film. Do you know what? My claim to fame is that I'm in a movie with Michael Caine. Oh, what one? Yeah, I'll tell you now, I'm not an actor, Adam. I've got five seconds in it. And I had one line and they cut it. But I was in a room with Michael Caine watching him do his craftsmanship and it was brilliant.

1:53:07It was the remake of Oliver Twist. Oh, nice. Yeah, and I was the delivery driver. a bicycle and my friend jason mazza helped uh direct it and he put me in it so that was cool um adam you're an absolute legend you're a star and i can't wait to see your career go from where it is now to even fucking dizier heights thank you um thanks so much for coming on today thanks for the caterpillar cakes and all that good stuff uh we we've said where your socials adam underscore pearson but have you got anything else coming up that you want people to know about or anything to plug september 13th and 14th i do my first comic-con so i'm doing comic-con newbury at newbury race course i'll be there shaking hands signing stuff if you've got anything you want signed if you've got the under the skin or a different man still buckled dinos or posters lying around come along i'll gladly sign them take a selfie we can talk about films we can talking about cat a bit of cake whatever tickles your fancy oh i'll be there come say hey love it what dates are they again 13th and 14th september new race course and i want to give a shout out as well to my sister's boyfriend callum because like callum i know you're a big fan of adam you're a big fan of a different man as well so can we give a little shout out to callum how how we doing thanks for watching um sitting here in this chair waiting on you Oh baby Just leave things my way There we go He's going to love that He will love it He voice noted me That very same song yesterday There we go This has been Jack Bates Happy Hour podcast For me Jack mate Stevie White And the brilliant Adam Pearson Adam we always finish With the same question What's the meaning of life?

1:54:58Live, last, love There we go Thanks mate That was brilliant Great work. Thank you, Adam. Thank you so funny, mate. Thank you so much for coming in. It's an absolute pleasure. I've been a fan for a while. Oh, thank you, mate. Thank you. You went to the early work. Oh, no. You went to burying Zoella and sucking cancer. Oh, wow. Love it.

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