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Exclusive Interview with Gary Beadle: So You Think You Know Paul Trueman?
By Larry Jaffee
On the cover of 'EastEnders: 20
Years in Albert Square,' a book by
Rupert Smith published in 2005,
there are a dozen small photographs
of some of the show’s most
memorable characters or moments
from its first two decades. In the
upper-right corner stands Gary
Beadle, better known as Paul Trueman,
with his fingers clenched, as
if to suggest something’s up, you
better watch out.
Once the Walford Gazette made
contact with Beadle (we have
Facebook to thank again), we
found in this exclusive interview
an actor eager to relive the past,
but one who isn’t going to let his
career be defined by one particular
character. His CV shows he is a
well-rounded jobbing actor, at ease
with high dramatic scenes on stage
or television, but one who also
knows his way around comedy,
and who even almost decided his
vocation was to be a rapper.
I note to Beadle that previous
Gazette interviewees include his
EastEnders colleagues Nick Bailey
(brother Dr Anthony Trueman),
Rudolph Walker (dad Patrick Trueman)
and Judith Shekoni (one-time
girlfriend Precious). “Oh wow,
okay, okay – I haven’t caught up to
you guys, fair enough, no worries.”
He looks back on EastEnders as
“a whirlwind experience. I can’t
explain or describe it in a way that
anyone can actually understand unless
they’re there. It’s quite a life-changing
experience, but one that I
enjoyed immensely.
“Three out of five people watch
it in this country [UK]. So anywhere
you go up and down the
British Isles they seem to know my
character’s name and all the things
he’s achieved and done. It’s kind of
funny, though. Be careful what you
wish for, as they say. Getting
recognised everywhere can be
quite overwhelming, although I’ve
learned how to handle it. I am very
fond of the character I got to play.”
I remind Beadle of the storyline
when he briefly is a responsible-feeling
father after a former girlfriend,
well, a one-night stand,
really, drops a newborn baby off at
the B&B doorstep – showing a
softer side of Paul usually not evident
in the wide boy (Brit-speak
translation: a man who lives by his
wits, wheeling and dealing) always
on the make.
“I think they wanted to make
sure there was some kind of legacy.
I’m sure they’ll bring back young
Eleanor as a teenager, just like the
father. It’s sort of their way of
planting characters for the future.
That was a really good storyline, I
quite enjoyed that because it did
show, like you said, a different side
of Paul, the sensitive side. It sort of
explained that he’s just like anybody
else – a misunderstood bad
boy.”
Once Beadle finds out that
stateside EastEnders fans are
watching via public TV episodes
that are seven years old, “Well,
you’re going to see some good storylines
coming through. I don’t
want to give too much away.
You’re going to see a lot more of
Paul with Janine – a big partnership,
kind of an 'Indecent Proposal'
meets 'Bonnie and Clyde' kind of
storyline over love, sex and money,
which we all love in soaps.”
With Janine’s character also
firmly established in the show,
their partnership results in “really
good stuff. There’s sort of a breakdown
that comes about. He grows
a beard and becomes a bit withdrawn
from reality. It’s a real
breakdown of character. I had to
use really different kind of acting
skills that you might not be used to
because Paul has always been kind
of cheeky, quick-witted and sharp.
You’ll see sort of a lost soul coming
in the future of that character.
All that stuff I really enjoyed filming.
It’s always good to go to work
and not have to shave,” he said
with a laugh.
Although it’s been six years
since he’s left EastEnders on the
UK telly screens, Beadle still gets
recognized in public. “To be honest
with you, it hasn’t stopped at all.
He was quite a special character. A
day doesn’t go by that somebody
says to me, ‘Oh, I loved that character’
and knows so much about it
– more than I do. It’s quite nice to
be appreciated and somebody remembers
me, yeah.”
Beadle cut his acting chops on
comedy, running in the same London
Comedy Strip circles as Jennifer
Saunders. Another character
he’s known for who couldn’t be
more different from Paul was
Oliver, the lover of Edina’s (Saunders)
ex-husband in Absolutely
Fabulous. “He’s a bit of a gay icon,
believe it or not,” he says of Oliver.
Like many British actors, his
CV includes appearances on such
UK telly drama staples as Casualty, Doctors, and
Holby City, among other shows.
Beadle’s bio says he can do American
accents, so I ask if he would try one.
“I’ll let you judge for yourself. I did a film
with the great, legendary Claude
Van Damme, 'Until Death' (Editor’s
note: the 2007 film is available on
US/NTSC DVD). I played the [New
Orleans] chief of police in that. It
was quite a big part. I always like
to play Americans. I recently finished
a play called 'Sucker Punch'
recently at the Royal Court Theatre
here in London about boxing. I
play the American promoter who
comes over to organise the fight.
The character’s sort of based on
Don King, a very flamboyant, big,
brash, American character. I really
loved that, and doing an American
accent. I’m quite comfortable with
it.”
We then get into a conversation
about American actors attempting
British accents. “I think some
American actors do British accents
very well, such as Johnny Depp.
Meryl Streep is absolutely amazing
in 'The Lieutenant’s Wife.'” Part of
nailing the British accent for an
American, he believes, is bringing the
attitude along with it.
“It’s come a long way since Dick
Van Dyke [in Walt Disney’s
'Mary Poppins' (1964)]. According
to Wikipedia, “Van Dyke’s attempt at a cockney accent is regarded
as one of the worst film accents in history, cited as an
example by actors since as something
that they wish to avoid. In a
2003 poll by Empire magazine of
the worst film accents of all time
he came second.” (The “winner”
was Sean Connery, in his role as an
Irish cop in the 1987 film The Untouchables.)
Beadle had a memorable small
role in the 1986 film musical 'Absolute
Beginners', about racial tensions
in late 1950s’ London. His
character, Johnny Wonder, leads
the black community to fight back
the oppression and ominous sentiment
to “Keep Britain White.”
“I did that many, many moons
ago. It was a really exciting project.
I think it was filmed at Shepperton
Studios in London. It was a
replica of Notting Hill Gate. I really
enjoyed that. It was directed
by the great Julien Temple. I think
it’s an absolute technical masterpiece,
so far ahead of its time. I am
so proud to be part of that. A lot of
people had lots of stuff cut out.
They decided to make it more of
love story between Patsy Kensit
and Eddie O’Connell’s characters.
There are a lot of people who
didn’t make it past the cuttingroom
floor, to be honest. I was
quite grateful to be in it, and I enjoyed
every moment. It doesn’t get
any better than that. When you sent
me that picture (the still) it was
such a blast from the past. I really
appreciate that you sent me that
still.”
Back in the 1980s, Beadle says
he was “really into hip hop, and I
came to New York when I was really
young. I have a couple of
cousins who live in Brooklyn, and
I stayed there. I love the American
way of life. I am the No. 1 American
fan. I absolutely love America.
Run–D.M.C. and the Sugarhill
Gang just came out. When I got
back to London I started rapping
with my best friend. We were
called the City Limits Crew. We
were dressed up like 1940s’ gangsters.
We used to go to shows with
costumes and everything. We just
loved it. So I’m an original hiphopper.
That was my thing. Growing
up I loved all sorts of music –
from Marvin Gaye to Curtis Mayfield
to Elton John and David
Bowie. I have eclectic tastes. I love
my hip hop, the good stuff, not the
negative stuff.”
Beadle hasn’t performed hip
hop in years. “I had to make a
choice between acting and music.
I’ve been an actor since I was 10
years old. I did love rapping, but
essentially I’m an actor.” He
caught the acting bug at a young
age with his older brother Rikki,
who became a playwright and
screenwriter. Together they produced
a version of Bugsy Malone
for their local council in Bermondsey,
South London. “We were big
fans of the movie. My brother
adapted a stage version. We lived
in what you guys call ‘a tenement
building’, a poor area. We had this
youth club that we used to hang out
in. And my brother decided to use
that space to produce a musical.
We cast all the local kids. Then we
charged the local residents to see it.
My brother looked up every
Alan Parker – he was the director
and writer of the movie.
“We invited him to see this production.
Obviously he couldn’t
come; he was a very busy man. But
he sent his personal assistant to see
it. She saw me, my brother, my sister
and a couple of other kids, and
came to the conclusion that we
were good enough to go to this
school in North London called
Anna Scher, which was a very
good, famous drama school for underprivileged
kind of kids. They
had to wait three or four years to
get in. We got fast-tracked through
because they saw something in us.”
I tell Beadle that I interviewed
Anna Scher a few years ago, and I
was aware how so many EastEnders
cast members were trained by
her. “She was my mentor,” he said.
“She was an amazing teacher. A
lot of people who have come out of
the school are a product of her
technique, and are doing very well.
And I’m one of them. The funny
thing is I remember EastEnders
coming to Anna Scher for a workshop
before it was even on. I remember
Julia Smith and Tony
Holland – the co-creators of East-
Enders – came down. We were
doing exercises. They were writing
things down. I remember them say
ing they were working on the idea.
There was a massive hole in the
BBC schedule that needed to be
filled. Coronation Street was the
British soap. Then EastEnders
came along, more edgy and aimed
at slightly younger people. It’s
quickly became the BBC’s No. 1
flagship show. I’m very proud to
be part of that.”
