Matthew Macfadyen | Filming Succession in New Mexico

0:00It was the most visceral, extraordinary experience. Keely and I were just transfixed. And I wandered around and mooched about, and I asked someone where David was, the Michael Leisure. And they sort of sent us around there. And I wandered in, I bought a ticket. It was like five in the afternoon. And I walked into this museum and there he was. And it was just me. I remember ringing Keely and saying, do you think I would get away with buying cowboy boots? And she was like, no. Do you want to stay married? It sort of ruined any maritime travel now for me because you just think, well, that was - No, it's not the same as that one.

0:31And we got very blase about it very quickly. I did. Yeah, all the actors were like, oh yeah.

0:40Welcome to Travel Secrets with me, Tanya Rose, the podcast sharing wisdom for fellow travellers. Each week, I ask my guests to reveal their six travel secrets and the holidays and adventures that surround them. I would just like to say thank you to Mason Rose, the sales and communication agency that represents some of the finest hotels around the world for partnering with Travel Secrets, the podcast.

1:10Today, my guest is the phenomenal British actor, Matthew McFadden. Star of Succession Award-winning Tom Wamsgans. I have to say it with a very bad American accent. Wamsgans. Wamsgans. And as you said before, it's all in the name. It's all in the name. It's all in the name, the cringe, but it's so fantastic. Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, Spooks. I loved you in Quiz. The Cheating Major. Yeah. Amazing. Or did he? Yes. I think he did. I'm agnostic. Anyway, you were brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. So much theatre, so many wonderful things. Travel has been so much part of your jobs, your life. You grew up abroad.

1:52I cannot wait to hear your travel secrets. Welcome, welcome. Thank you very much for having me. Lovely to be here. It's so lovely to be here. Yeah, and I had your lovely wife here a few weeks ago. We had great fun. And also one of your closest friends was sitting exactly where you're sitting, Alistair Petri, who is delightful. And basically said he is the best actor that we have in England. He's very, I shall make the bank transfer. He's a lovely, lovely man. So before we get into your travel secrets, perhaps you can tell us a bit about yourself and how travel has impacted the person that you've become.

2:27Well, I like traveling and I think I feel very comfortable. I've always felt very comfortable sort of being in transit. And I think that's to do with my upbringing because my mum and dad, my dad worked for an oil company. And so we would move every five, six years to different spots. And we sort of went around the UK and Lincolnshire and Scotland, Aberdeen. And then we went to the Far East when I was eight. And so it was a big adventure and it was exciting. And because my mum and dad were there and they were excited and happy and enjoying it, it was sort of comforting and thrilling. And we would stay in these hotels in Singapore and Hong Kong.

3:05We lived in Jakarta for seven years. So I always associated going to the airport and, you know, being on the hoof with excitement and feeling safe. And that sort of remained. And now, because of what I do, I am in transit a lot. I'm sort of living out of a suitcase for months at a time, often. So I quite like it. I quite enjoy the peripatetic nature of it and grabbing a bag and going. Didn't you go to boarding school here though? I did. So you lived in Jakarta but came back. I lived in Jakarta for two years. I went to school there. And then I came to boarding school in the Midlands near my grandparents.

3:36But then I would go back and forth to Jakarta on these, you know, what seemed like endless. In those days, you'd stop in the Middle East and then stop again in Singapore or Hong Kong. And were you an unaccompanied minor? Yeah. So you had one of those things around you. Yeah, so that was impossibly glamorous and exciting. I was like Minnie James Bond or so I thought. at 11. How sweet. But I loved it. I loved it. Yeah. And then I'm on the board of RADA. Are you now? So you are a RADA alum. Yeah, I am. One of our wonderful RADA alums. Yeah. I look after the fundraising. 30 years this year I left.

4:09Is it really? Yeah, yeah. Which is an amazing institute, isn't it? It is, yeah. That was sort of the red-letter day of my life. It probably still is. I mean, having children was lovely and getting married to Kili. But getting in, I didn't think I would get in. And I was 17. I was really young. Yeah, you were so young. And so it was a real shock. And at that age, you think, well, that's my life. You know, three years, but like forever. So actually, a lot of people were probably older than you if you were only 17. Yeah, I was the baby. And there were a few people who'd gone straight from school, but not many.

4:36And the average age was sort of 25 or something like that. So it was really thrilling and terrifying. You know, the people who had degrees and worked and sort of lived their lives a little bit. Do you go back? I did a Q &A like about 10 or 15 years ago, but I haven't been back. Aha, I should have thought that out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. My son wants to be an actor as well. So yeah. Yes, not easy. Not easy. No, no, no. Let's get into your travel secrets. What is the number one destination you think everyone should go to once in their lifetime? Mine is quite specific. Great. And it comes courtesy of our mutual friend, the inimitable Emily Fitzroy, who's just brilliant at what she does.

5:17Brilliant. And it's in Bologna in Italy. and there's a little church called the Church of Santa Maria de la Vita, in which are these six ancient sculptures, figures, depicting the lamentation of Christ. And it's a kind of unprepossessing church. It's not kind of, you just sort of find it in a little street, and they're in there. And they were commissioned in 1460 or something like that, and they are extraordinary. How wonderful. And it's the Madonna and the Three Marys and two others and Jesus. and they're sort of frozen in anguish. And I can't, it was the most visceral, extraordinary experience.

5:59Keely and I were just transfixed and transported. And Emily had urged us to go and see it. And we would, I want to go back. They're just quite amazing, really powerful. And then, so I would urge, I mean, it's just extraordinary what people can do as well. And because they're so old, you can't believe that they're, they're actually there. Yeah. Yeah, in this little church. And also Bologna is meant to be a fantastic destination. And then after that or before, there's a little hole in the wall restaurant there called Papagallo, where you can go and have ragu a la Bologna or tortellini bread. And it's just to make, you know, there's like six tables and you sit and have it.

6:32Oh, that's a great tip. Yeah. I've actually never been to Bologna, so I'm going to go and do both of those things. Amazing. And apparently there's a street, which is like the street of a thousand restaurants or something. Okay. Yeah. Which is the food capital of the world, Bologna, apparently. Charles Dance actually told me that on this Oh really? Which I didn't know because his girlfriend is from Boulogne Okay So obviously Highly recommended So that's Yeah that's my quite specific quite niche recommendation No but that's fantastic And you must have done a lot of filming in Italy anyway when you were doing Succession So was Boulogne somewhere you went?

7:04We didn't go to Boulogne We went to What did we do? We went to Flora Well that This leads into another question you might have Oh good Which is the most unexpected Perfect I won't even ask you Okay I'm just segue Just segue in. So we were in Florence for a few days and we were doing stuff at the airport there for season three, I think. And it was post COVID, but still lockdowns were happening all the time and the travel restrictions were in place and we couldn't get back and nobody could come in. So there were no tourists and I had never been to Florence. And so I was just, I arrived there. We were there for a week before we went somewhere else.

7:39And I sort of just went off wandering. And there was nobody around. I'm like nobody. And I thought Florence is great. like not knowing what it's like at the height of it. And I wandered around and mooched about and I asked someone where David was, the Michael Leisure. And they sort of sent us around there. And I wandered in, I could put a ticket. It was like five in the afternoon and I walked into this museum and there he was. And it was just me. How amazing. Me and one other person. And I stood there for 20 minutes in front of, and it was quite, it was quite, yeah, something I won't forget. No.

8:14It won't ever happen again. No, I would think it will never happen. No. And you can't actually close a city down. No. You can close a museum down. Yeah, while your shoes... Yeah, but no, but it was... Exactly, exactly. How wonderful. So what bit of succession was filmed in Tuscany? Because there was quite a long run there, wasn't there? Also, Emily helped HBO for that. So that's how I met Emily. But she sourced these wonderful houses. The villa. There are two houses. One is owned by an English family who lived there. and there's a sort of fascinating and quite dark history there. But it's a beautiful house.

8:47And the other one is Iris Origo. I'll mispronounce her name, but it's this wonderful... I think it's called La Foche. And we've shot there a lot. Was that where the weddings were? Yes. Wasn't it the wife, the ex-wife's wedding or something? Yes, that's what it was. I only know this as I have been re-watching Succession because as I said to you, I first thought it was a drama and now I think it's a comedy. It's just so brilliant. And actually, it's a bit of both, isn't it? Yeah, it is. So unexpected, the whole of Florence to yourself, how absolutely marvellous. Amazing, yeah. And I would sort of jog around and I go jogging a lot when I arrive somewhere new, because I think it's quite a nice way to find little spots that you wouldn't ordinarily.

9:23So it was really wonderful. So yeah, Keely and I have been back since. And enjoyed. And really enjoyed, yeah. With many more people around probably. Many more people. But we found a lovely hotel at the top, sort of in Fiesole, which is above Florence, called Villa San Michele, and that's brilliant. So you can sort of escape the heat and the crowds and then go in for a hit. And you can look down over the whole of Florence. Absolutely gorgeous hotel. She did actually mention a restaurant. I can't remember what it was, but if people listen, they can go back to it. Like one table and everybody just chants.

9:51Yeah, you sort of scoot in with people and they do this sort of chicken fried in butter, which makes you want to, you know, break down tears of happiness. How divine. Yeah, yeah. Actually, do people, when you're sitting at a table with lots of people, do they suddenly look up and go, oh, my God, it's Tom. Sometimes, but not. If they're American. Sometimes, yeah. I bet they do. Yeah. That's so funny. And probably they don't know your English. No, which is the most flattering thing in the world. Oh, is it? It's quite hard to do in America. Yeah, I'm always slightly under-confident about my accent work.

10:22So when people say that, I feel insanely pleased. I loved listening to you being interviewed by someone saying you had a different voice for Shiv, because she scared you. Yeah, it went up a few octaves, yeah. And then one for Greg, which was a bit lower, because you were in shock. Oh, yeah. It's so funny. Just naturally. Hi, honey. Yeah. Really brilliant. Oh, dear. What's your most overrated or underrated travel experience? We had a trip to Disneyland in Florida when the kids were quite little, and I was a bit grumpy about it. Did they love it, though? They absolutely, and I absolutely adored it.

10:58I was grumpy in anticipation, but we got there, and actually, it was fantastic. Partly because of a lovely act from Matthew Lewis, who was in the Harry Potters and I just worked with him in something called Ripper Street and he managed with his partner, they managed to get these like Willy Wonka golden tickets, like no queuing. To jump past. He managed to finagle it and it was like all our Christmases, we didn't tell the kids until we'd got to pick them up and they were only little and they couldn't believe. So we just sort of went ride after ride after ride. So it was really thrilling. And then we went to the Florida Keys, which we really loved.

11:31It was really wonderful. And you see those amazing sunsets. Amazing sunsets. and it was very cool and relaxed with a kind of whiff of danger somehow. Alligators might come. Yeah, there was something, yeah. And because you're in the sea, it feels slightly impermanent, but it was great. So, yeah. I actually do think that Disneyland is somewhere that kids have to go. I took my husband and my son when he was five to Euro Disney. And my husband was exactly like you, so not wanting to go. But we did the train and I could see my husband's face when Mickey Mouse got on the train at the beginning in the morning.

12:05And he was like, oh my God, where are we going? But I had done lots of research and we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in the park. Right. And on the seventh floor, you actually then have the characters coming for breakfast with you. Yeah. And you just see the five-year-old's face. It's like he literally thought Captain Hook was real. It was unbelievable. I did actually do a really terrible thing because all he wanted was the autographs of everyone. And there was one particular one he wanted with the hugest queue. I think it was, you know, Pirates of the Caribbean or whatever. So I said, give me your book, darling.

12:39I'm going to go and talk to Jack on my own. And I went to the front of the queue and I forged the signature. Really? Good parenting. And then I've never told him, if he's listening to this, sorry, Jake. I really apologize. Yeah, that's really good. But actually, I think Disney lad. And I also found something about you saying that you loved Forte Village when your kids were young. It was brilliant. Really, really brilliant. It's just fantastic for kids, isn't it? The rugby and the football and netball. I mean, it was just amazing. You go and lie down and I would feel really well having been there, swimming and sort of running around.

13:13And then I would get back and everything was too tight. Oh, because of the pasta. Because of the gelato and that. Yeah. But I felt really good. So it was always like, oh, why are these, why do my jeans not fit? It's because that's what gelato does to you. I actually go every May. You know, there's a bank holiday. It's like a half term holiday. so my husband's got six grandchildren so we do like a multi-generational and the best thing is they all go all day to the football or whatever and then you reconvene in the evening and they're exhausted exhausted and everyone's had a good time absolutely perfect in fact when we were there this year David Gandhi was there but I don't think he was eating gelato and spaghetti probably not or maybe he was who knows which takes us beautifully onto the food and drink question.

14:01Yes. We all love food, we all love drink. What do you drink? What do you eat? Where do you love eating? Let's just talk about that in the sense of travel and on set or let's just talk about it in general. It's always about who you're with, isn't it? It's not, I was sort of wracking my brains thinking of whether it's the memory of who you're with and where you are more than the food itself. There are little me, I mean, there are meals from my childhood that stick out because it we'd be in Indonesia on a little island with and I would have come back from school and we were having a bit of barbecued fish or something on the you know so it's things like that so that a bit of crispy fish with sambal which is this incredible Indonesian chili you know so that is like a or Keely and I actually were in Villa d 'Este which is that very grand slightly stayed old hotel.

14:52On Lake Como. And we had the most incredible, it was just simple and brilliant, but it was just a lovely, it was sort of the end of the holiday. And I remember it being perfect. It was like, it doesn't really get any better than this. And this slightly carpeted formal room was a bit stuffy and old fashioned, but it was really lovely. What's your drink? Isn't it something like tonic? Tonic and bitters is my, yeah. So is that like a gin and tonic, but with no alcohol? Exactly. Yeah. So it feels grown. It's not like, yeah, it feels slightly grown up. So you feel like you're actually. Yes, exactly.

15:25Is there a way that you have to do it? Do you do tonic first? Tonic first, then bitters. If you put the bitters in first, it goes very bubbly. It's a bit of trivia. And some people have gin, tonic and bitters, don't they? Okay, yeah. Because then it's even more bitter. Yeah, I do it without the gin. And when you're on set. Or a ginger beer, I like. Oh, I love a ginger beer. Yeah. When you're on set for succession or maybe Pride and Prejudice, I don't know, do you have good food? Depends on the budget. And often on set, I just sort of graze and nibble and snack. Because after a big lunch, everyone, you know, I want to fall asleep.

16:05It's that terrible post-prandial dip. So because you're always on, you know, usually they're sort of 16-hour days and you sort of learn to marshal your energy throughout the day, I sort of just graze. But there was the best catering I've ever had was in New Zealand on a film. What was that? It was a film called in my father's den and it was an independent movie It's up to 20 odd years ago and it was just beautifully cooked There were two things that was a sort of vegetarian and fish or a vegetarian the meat and it was and they fed 100 people 150 people every day and it was it was just Where did you go in New Zealand?

16:35I'm desperate to go to New Zealand Oh, it's we we both islands north and south. We were mainly based in central Otago to sort of wine country and very rugged just beautiful beautiful did you go to Waheke Island because that's opposite Auckland no I didn't apparently that's amazing yeah yeah my husband keeps threatening to go and live there with me and I'm like there are worse places to live I know but it's the other side of the world it's a long way away I said it's a really long way from family and I think yes that's the point apparently it's fantastic though really really wonderful it's a really special place amazing food and wine and on Pride and Prejudice the cast was so amazing you had Gigi Dench and Terry.

17:1320 year anniversary. Is it? Yeah. This year, I think. Really? Wow. So did you all get together at the end and have a nice big dinner or was it very much I don't remember. I think it was a funny thing because Keely was pregnant. So I was desperate. There was a big wrap party and I, so I would, I was sort of keen to get back, but it was good. But we had really good caterers, but I was given a personal trainer for that particular job. Oh, were you? So they were very like, no panna cotta for him. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. So you had to have the Mr. Darcy. Yeah, you can't have a sort of wobbly Mr. Darcy, can you?

17:43You didn't have to come out of a lake, though, in a shirt, did you? No, I didn't. No. So. I know. Clinging to the, yeah. That's what Colin had to do. That's what Colin had to do. Serves him right. And actually, obviously, Mr. Darcy 1, Mr. Darcy 2, the two brilliant Mr. Darcys. And we've got another one, Jack Loudon, who is equally brilliant. Oh, is he doing it now? Yeah, he's a lovely actor. So it's the trifecta of Mr. Darcy's. How wonderful. Yeah. But didn't you do a film with Colin Firth? Didn't you do Mincemeat or something? I did. Operation Minceberry. And did you compare notes on Mr. Darcy?

18:15Did you? Oh, that's so wonderful. I love it. It was really comforting to sort of me. I'd met him a little bit before then, but it was really kind of great to, you know, just sort of, yeah, to compare. Chatted through. Yeah. Was it the thing that made him very successful? I mean, he'd done a lot before that. He'd done some lovely, actually, one of the first, well, he'd made this beautiful film for the Month in the Country, which I'd seen when I was 15 or 16, and sort of thinking about wanting to be an actor and whether I could apply to drama school and you know and he was so it was a beautiful I think it made the TV film with him and Ken Branagh and Natasha Richardson and it was really really wonderful and um and he he was caught so it was quite formative seeing that performance and he'd made another one called tumble down as well about Falklands War which Richard Eyre directed again in sort of late 80s and that had a massive effect on me and sort of pushed me.

19:10Yeah, so it was really lovely 30 years later to say, thanks. Yeah. You know, or this is, you know. And I'm now following in your footsteps as Mr. Darlene. Yeah. He's a lovely man. Oh, very good. Excellent. And now we look forward to Jack Loudon's version and then we can compare notes. What is your top travel tip? I don't really have one. I sort of, I would, don't overpack. Although I say that and I've got to places and thought, oh, I wish I'd brought X, Y, Z. But don't have a pack, especially when you're younger, just sort of go light. I can't do it. No, you can't do it. It's harder as you get older and you accumulate more and you sort of know what to watch.

19:49I think it's hard for women with shoes. Exactly, it is. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yes, I should tell you my Achilles shoe. Anyway, that's another story. Go on, tell us. Yeah, she brings a lot of shoes just in case. And she never wears them. No, they just sit around her atari. But keep an open mind. I would, I'm a great believer in guides. Like a good guide is worth their weight and goal. I just, we had one in Florence recently, not the COVID time, but Keely and I went a few years ago and she was so brilliant, so funny and so erudite and like a real teacher. It was like, it was really thrilling. And then you don't miss anything.

20:29No, it's seared into your brain and you remember it in a different way than if you're sort of wandering around. And, you know, she was so wonderful. Did Emily fix that as well? when you did Succession there was a scene in Arizona or somewhere like that so did you go to New Mexico was that lovely Santa Fe yeah brilliant never been there it's great the high desert yeah really kind of magic I remember ringing Keely and saying do you think I would get away with buying cowboy boots and she was like no if you want to stay married if you want to stay married don't because they're everywhere and you're like and when you're there in a place.

21:08You know, it's like walking around in a sarong or, you know, you're like, well, why can't I just carry on back in London? You're like, no, you can't. And did Tom buy them? No, he didn't. Because Matthew would have been divorced. I walked around, you know, these amazing... I think you would have looked good in cowboy boots. I would have looked terrible. Actually, weren't you head to toe in Brooks Brothers and everyone else was in Laura Piano or Bruno Cuccinelli or something? Yeah, Cuccinelli and I was in Brooks Brothers, yeah. My dear, it's not bad, Brooks Brothers. It's very nice. It was good.

21:35But you wanted the cashmere. You can't tell the difference really, yeah. Well, that's it. But no cowboy boots and definitely no Stetson. That's really... I just thought maybe I could get away with it in my life. You should have bought her a pair. She would have loved them. Yeah, she would get... Yeah. See, you missed a trick there. I know, next time. Tell me about your most poignant travel memory. We had a couple of holidays in this lovely hotel called Cambrian in Adelboden in Switzerland, skiing. We went with my mum and dad for Christmas a couple of times. And my dad had sort of stopped. we'd skied when I was little and when we were growing up and he'd sort of stopped and then he decided to do it for one day he'd sort of got inspired by his grandchildren and and so he and I went and it was really and he's gone now he he we lost him just before COVID but I that was a really lovely thing because he sort of decided that he would hire skiers and have one more and did he and he did and it was fantastic he was brilliant he was totally brilliant yeah so it was really it was a really lovely thing and all his grandchildren and the grandchildren it was and it It was a beautiful place and lovely high town.

22:36Do you still go there? We haven't been for a long time, no, but it's really, it's wonderful. I think it's had a little reshuzh. I grew up skiing. I love it. I mean, it is, I haven't skied for a few years because I broke both of my legs a few years ago. But I think it's one of those things that you just get back on and is riding. I would go, when we were doing Succession, I'd have, you know, because it was an ensemble thing, you'd have little bits of time off. So I would just go to the Catskills for two days or a weekend and have a little, you know, it's not really big, but I would just go. And people were like, hmm, what's going on?

23:07Are they filming Succession here? Oh, that's so fun. Do you miss them? I do. I do. I really, there were such a nice bunch of people, the actors and the crew and the writers. Yeah. I mean, you can't play the same part forever. And it was good that it came to an end. And it came to the end of the perfect time. Yeah. It was a sort of quite rigorously unsentimental ending. Could have gone on, you know, but Jesse Armstrong, the creator was like. So, but I miss the getting together with them all. I bet you do. And actually, the writing was so good and the people, the actors were so good. I mean, actually hateful, all of them, but lovable.