Eddie Izzard is to star as Long John Silver in a new adaptation of Treasure Island for Sky1. The 48-year-old comedian and actor will head a "high octane" new version of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale, playing the one-legged pirate, who sets sail with young hero Jim Hawkins in search of Flint's treasure, but is determined to steal it for himself.
Elaine Pyke, head of drama for Sky1, said: "With the unique and multi talented Eddie Izzard in the iconic role of Long John Silver, we're set to deliver a hugely exciting, morally complex and compelling story of pirates, heroes, friendship and treachery."
The 18th century adventure of pirating and treasure hunting is set in the West Country and the Caribbean, but will soon begin filming in Ireland and Puerto Rico for broadcast at Christmas 2012. The screenplay has been written by Stewart Harcourt - whose works include family drama Hearts And Bones, Poirot and Marple - and directed by Merlin's Steve Barron.
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sounds like it could be worth a watch, in two years time... pfft
The two women behind Eddie Izzard
Liz Hoggard
18.11.10
London Evening Standard
Last night a dark-haired woman in a sequined dress was belting out showtunes at nightclub La Pigalle. You may not have heard of musician Sarah McGuinness but she has influential admirers. Her new single, Mama Can You See Me Now, has been remixed by dance wizard William Orbit. And an incognito Eddie Izzard (in turban and glasses) applauded, before performing a DJ set in her honour.
But who is Sarah McGuinness and why has a buzz been growing around the virtually unknown singer for the past few weeks? Earlier in the day I had discovered her remarkable story and pieced together her true identity. Her background looks straightforward. She is listed as a composer mainly known for soundtracking Eddie Izzard's hugely successful videos over the past 14 years. She is also a singer and an actress. Pictures abound of her looking raven-haired and sultry. Yet there is something about McGuinness that doesn't add up.
When I begin researching her ahead of our interview, I come across gossip on Eddie Izzard fansites. McGuinness may be Izzard's secret long-time girlfriend. Izzard has always remained tight-lipped about his private life, though the press has long tried to link him to women; to no avail.
Then I become confused. Further digging shows that Eddie Izzard has two Sarahs in his life. I ask around. Some people think his girlfriend is actually an attractive blonde TV and film producer called Sarah Townsend. She is also credited with working on all Izzard's videos as producer/director as well as a writer and costume designer, clearly a multi-talented woman. Earlier this year she was Emmy-nominated for the film Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, and there are pictures of her on the red carpet at the LA awards ceremony on her website.
Both Sarahs are multi-faceted and have known and worked closely with Izzard since the mid-Ninties. But which is his girlfriend? It is then that I make a bizarre discovery. Looking at pictures of the two Sarahs, I spot some unmistakable similarities. Could they be the same person? Does the woman in Eddie Izzard's life have, like him, a double identity?
It seems too bizarre to be true. I phone McGuinness's publicist and ask for confirmation of my hunch. The line goes silent. It looks like I'm on to something. But which Sarah will I meet when I turn up to interview her at the Pigalle ahead of her show? I am greeted by Sarah McGuinness, complete with messy raven bob. She has the remnants of a soft Irish accent. We talk about her music and the roles she played in the acclaimed Believe.
Filming the documentary was a labour of love, she says. They started shooting in 2003 with no budget, tracking down Izzard's famous friends George Clooney and Robin Williams, as well as interviewing family and schoolfriends. It's a fascinating portrait of a 15-year 'overnight' success.
Extraordinarily, McGuinness contributes interviews with herself in Believe, this time wearing an auburn wig. You can see why Ezzard and McGuinness were drawn together: chameleon performers who constantly reinvent themselves. I decide to drop the bombshell, which Sarah is she? McGuinness is momentarily thrown. Her manager is consulted and the interview is halted.
Then she agrees to talk more frankly, revealing the true extent of the extraordinarily complicated life she has managed to lead and the major part she has played in the success of Eddie Izzard. Not only is McGuinness/Townsend, 43, Izzard's long-term collaborator (she's been writing the music for his videos since 1996's Definite Article), she is also his ex-girlfriend, she confirms. They met in 1989 when she was running a fringe venue at the Edinburgh Festival.
Izzard, who admits he fancied her rotten, begged her for a slot. As she recalls: 'He was very in-your-face. You're going to take me, I know you want to.' You're dealing with this fellow and you think: Who is this guy? Who does he think he is?' But his charm and stubbornness prevailed. She took a risk on an unknown comedian. The rest is history.
McGuinness/Townsend grew up in Derry in Ireland. Her family couldn't afford to buy records, so she listened to whatever was available in the local library: early Bowie, British glam rock, Iggy Pop and Bond tunes. She moved to London, aged 19, to study English and drama at Royal Holloway. She acted, directed Shakespeare and worked backstage in the West End, before setting up a comedy club, where she promoted comedians Ardal O'Hanlon and Jenny Eclair.
She took courses at film school, began shooting extras for Izzard's DVDs. But she always pursued music. Her first single was Mandy Says, produced by John O'Neill of the Undertones. When Mama Can You See Me Now became a cult hit in America, people begged her to release it. Today, McGuinness and Izzard run a production company, Ella Communications, named after his beloved mother, Dorothy Ella Izzard, a midwife and nurse who died of cancer when he was five.
But music remains her passion. She composed the soundtrack for the documentary, including the upbeat ballad Mama Can You See Me Now. 'It's amazing how you can counterpoint the emotions in scene and change the nature of what they mean,' she tells me. But it is only in the final minutes you realise the song's significance.
The revelation comes after a moment when Izzard finds a letter his mother wrote when he was a baby, where she refers to him as Edward. Until that point, he hadn't even known she called him by his full name. Izzard breaks down on camera when he is asked why he continues to push himself today. Why can't he relax, McGuinness asks? In an emotional on-camera confession, he explains it is a way to communicate with his mother: �I keep thinking that if I do all these things, and keep going and going, then... she'll come back, before he bursts into tears. It's a spine-tingling moment.
McGuinness/Townsend was with Izzard when he came out as a transvestite age 29. It was his courage about breaking the taboo that made him yet more admirable, she explains in Believe.
Today they are close friends rather than a couple. She is over from LA for the Pigalle gig and to celebrate the launch of the DVD of Believe (there is a screening of the film at Cineworld, Haymarket tonight, followed by a live Q&A with them both). But when it comes to her own music - she has been writing songs since the age of 11- she is determined to present herself as an artist in her own right. Hence the dark hair when she is performing as McGuinness.
She's not ashamed of her split persona. But, she claims, it was hard enough to get funding in the arts as an independent female artist. Especially when you have a famous ex. Yet she goes on to demonstrate how effectively she can compartmentalise herself.
'I don't think the expressive part of myself is in any way connected with the analytical, obsessive production side of myself that gets the job done and makes movies. That's a totally separate part of me. I think possibly years ago that was the thing that tripped me up. Now I find the way to do it is to put them in two separate places. It's left brain/right brain split.'
She's currently writing songs for a new musical by Tony Thompson - set around the stand-up circuit of the mid-80s (a world she knows well). Plus a solo album with tracks produced by Ed Buller (Suede) and Mickey Petralia (Beck). And yes she'll keep changing her hair colour to juggle the different roles.
Directing is the day job, she says, but 'making music is my passion, it gives me freedom and the lassitude to enjoy the things I started out loving. These days I go with being authentic rather than trying to be clever. I've just stopped trying to be anything I'm not,' she smiles. 'Just being honest resonates with people.'
Sarah McGuinness' single Mama Can You See Me Now?' is released on November 22nd; the album, Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, on 4 December. www.sarahmcguinness.com
this whole thread has been updated with fresh links, videos and photos - take a look back
Ooh la la! Funny man Izzard has plans to invade France
Ian Burrell
19 November 2010
The Independent
Eddie Izzard is to decamp to France. The comedian known for his surreal skits and slinky skirts is to move to Paris for three months from next April to perform a one-man show in French. Izzard said the project reflected his support for greater European unity.
"I want to play for the French," he told The Independent. "I'm very positive on European politics and I'm putting my money where my mouth is. We just need to be a big melting-pot because we are all the same humans around the world."
The Paris residency will involve Izzard performing a French version of last year's show Stripped for six nights a week for 12 weeks. "I suppose it will be called Sans Vetements, or I might call it by the French slang name for Stripped."
The flamboyant comic is known for setting himself demanding challenges, such as running 43 marathons in 51 days last year for the charity Sport Relief. "I will do about two-and-a-half weeks of previews, then I'll do a press night and after two months I should be doing stuff that really is – if not like a French guy doing it – something that is entertaining and that any French speaker can hopefully get," he said.
In spite of calls for a European referendum in Britain, Izzard claimed not to be angered by Eurosceptics. "I think it's understandable if you look at history," he said. "We were Mercia and Wessex and the east Saxons and someone said there should be one England ("Oh no, surely not") and there were England-sceptics at that time and pro-Mercians and those that said we can't have Cornwall separating off. Then we came together. It's what we do as humans to try to get to a place where we can have a fairer world for everyone."
Izzard, 48, made his first attempts at performing in French more than a decade ago and some of his early efforts are featured in Believe, an Emmy-nominated biographical film released as a DVD next week. In the film, Izzard is shown bravely trying to win over a Paris club audience in Franglais. He will prepare for his residency with intense French tuition. "I did two weeks of gigs 10 years ago and I haven't been back," he said. "This time I'm going for three months. I've got management but it's very difficult to persuade anyone to help me in Paris because they were saying this isn't going to work. It's like a play sitting down. I'm just going to stay in Paris, playing six gigs a week for three months."
If the project is a success, Izzard, furthering his Europhile credentials, will attempt to perform in German for the Germans. "The point is that if Paris works then it means the others can work," he said. "People say there's a French sense of humour but that I don't believe. I just believe there is mainstream and alternative humour in every country. I'm going to do this and when I do it the floodgates will open." It could be something of a trend. Another British comedian, Al Murray, recently took his Little Englander alter ego the Pub Landlord to the ski resort of Meribel and performed his act in his brushed-up GCSE French.
Izzard has broader linguistic ambitions. Born in Aden in Yemen to ex-patriate parents, he hankers to learn Arabic. "You could go to Lebanon and do gigs in English, French or Arabic," he said.
KPCS Ep. 27 with Eddie Izzard - 2009-10-12
I'd not seen this before and it's quite a surprise to see such a long interview. Fast forward to 15:20s for Eddie...
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