Interview with Philip Glenister
Philip Glenister talks about Big School and Mr Gunn.
Could you tell us a bit about the show, the set up and your character?
The show is basically set in a dysfunctional school called Greybridge and I play the dysfunctional, unfit, lothario PE Teacher Mr Gunn. . He鈥檚 quite grotesque.
Mr Gunn is a teacher who has a bit of a rapport with the kids?
I think the fun thing about this is the role reversal. If anything the teachers are the kids and the kids are the teachers 鈥� I mean every time we get wrapped in front of the Head Mistress we are like sort of grown up school boys being told off. So it鈥檚 sort of role reversal in many respects.
Basically the thing about Gunn is that it鈥檚 all bravado and underneath it he鈥檚 just a saddo who lives at home with his mum so he鈥檚 a bit of a fantasist in that respect. All the things he says about 鈥榳hat do you want to do with 鈥�, you just know it would never happen.
Any memories of your time at school that has helped flesh out the character?
You know PE teachers were always fairly sadistic creatures, although they weren鈥檛 at my school from what I remember. They were always quite good blokes. We used to get caught round the back of the mobiles having a sneaky fag and rather than confiscating our cigarettes off us our PE teacher used to give us money for them, then confiscate them. So it was quite a good deal.
Your character is rough and ready between Miss Postern and Mr Church. What鈥檚 it like playing between that dynamic?
It鈥檚 bouncing off really who actually plays a fairly nerdy chemistry teacher who tries to woo Miss Postern in a fairly nerdy chemistry teacher sort of way. I play the grotesque speaking-the-bleeding obvious Mr Gunn.
Have you enjoyed playing him?
It鈥檚 kind of fun to do some comedy again. I haven鈥檛 done comedy for ages although I鈥檝e done stuff that鈥檚 had comedic elements in. But I haven鈥檛 done that format 鈥� comedy half hour. And it鈥檚 a cracking cast. I just thought it would be quite fun to do.
What are you hoping viewers can take away from it?
To laugh, you know it鈥檚 a comedy, we鈥檙e not doing . It鈥檚 just a half hour of a bit of fun that鈥檚 all, that鈥檚 what it is. Hopefully people will walk away and enjoy it and see the silliness of it all. It鈥檚 a very serious business, you know, comedy.