Since Charlie Hiscock joined Apple TV+ comedy-drama Ted Lasso as Will Kitman last year alongside Jason Sudeikis who plays the titled role, he can now be seen in the currently airing Series 2 with Will now being a regular character, and Ted Lasso has recently won a number of Primetime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2019, Charlie took over the role of Robbie Hughes from Reece Buttery in Secret Life of Boys on CBBC, with the show being the first UK production to film under COVID guidelines for the last series. This year, Charlie appeared on Saturday Mash-Up alongside his fellow Secret Life of Boys cast member Neil Reynolds, who plays Matt, and he will be seen as Kane in the not-yet-released thriller The Wrong Place. Starting his career as a child actor, Charlie’s first screen appearance was as Jed in Combat Kids and he also filmed The Borrowers alongside an all-star cast. Charlie answers our questions about playing Will Kitman in Ted Lasso, having the series win at the Primetime Emmy Awards and filming for Secret Life of Boys as Robbie Hughes.
You play Will in Ted Lasso, can you say about the character and what is he like to play?
I hold a massive soft spot for Will in my heart. He is an overthinker, and just wants to do right by everyone; and tries to make people’s days that bit better, so, in some ways, I do relate to Will quite a bit.
Going into Season 2 and to be a core series regular cast member on this show is fantastic. I remember watching the first season as a fan and thinking ‘damn, this is very funny, and has a fantastic message behind it’.
Is there anything you enjoy most about working on the show and how is it being part of the cast?
The messages it sends out to the people watching. From the likes of ‘be curious not judgemental’ and ‘believe’, just seeing how those small phrases have helped people grow and try to become better versions of themselves is truly beautiful.
The whole cast is like a family, I wish I could try and pin one person and cause some drama about how terrible a person they are, but in whole honesty, each individual is truly lovely, and brings a unique dynamic to this cast and it all fits perfectly together.
What is the show like to film and have you had any stand-out moments from your time in the show so far?
Each day is a stand-out day. Working alongside the likes of Jason (Sudeikis), Juno (Temple), Brendan (Hunt) and these established names, alongside some rising stars filling the cast up, it’s a great experience every day on set.
Some of my favourite scenes to film have been in the locker room, purely because that’s where you get everyone involved and everyone is bouncing off of each other so well, the chemistry and atmosphere is just phenomenal.
How is it having Ted Lasso win numerous awards including Outstanding Comedy Series at this year’s Primetime Emmy Awards?
I think my neighbours truly despise me from how loud I was cheering, watching along at 4am in the morning. It’s so surreal, no one anticipated it to do as well as it has from the beginning. But it’s showing how more and more people every day are adopting a little more Lassoism in their lives.
How was it taking over the role of Robbie Hughes in Secret Life of Boys and what do you remember most from your first day on set?
I came in and took over the role of Robbie Hughes in the fourth season, I believe. I took over from Reece Buttery who portrayed him in the first three seasons so brilliantly so it was a bit of a stepping stone really, I kind of had to put my own portrayal of Robbie into place and not adopt his portrayal, just to make my character my own, and it was truly one of the highlights of my career so far, as I’ve made friends for life on that show and managed to convey a wonderful, wonderful character which related to many people watching at the time.
Can you tell us about Robbie and what it is like working with your on-screen family?
On-screen family is basically a family off screen too. Like I said, we are all friends for life now even though the show has ended, we are still in contact almost every day, it’s wonderful to be amongst like-minded people like the people on that show each person is so talented in their own way, the likes of Neil Reynolds and Gene Gurie and Erica Brown.
The series was the first production in the UK to film under the new COVID guidelines, what was this like?
It was weird. It was extremely weird. We had to live together in a so-called bubble. And we were basically the guinea pigs test running the new COVID guidelines in a television production and nobody really knew what to expect, but nevertheless we managed to get it done and get out to the world a fantastic season of Secret Life of Boys.
Earlier this year, you appeared on Saturday Mash-Up, can you tell us about the experience?
It was awesome! Neil and I were so giddy heading down to Manchester to be in there. It’s a show one of a kind full of fun, crazy, weird activities. Meeting Nicola Adams too, the boxing champion, along the way was just a nice little bonus to add on to the experience.
Is there anything you can tell us about the feature film The Wrong Place?
I can’t wait for The Wrong Place to eventually come out. The character is very different to the likes of Will Kitman and Robbie Hughes and any other character I’ve played before. He’s a very vulnerable character who is holding up an outer shell, not letting anyone in until he meets someone in unfortunate circumstances who tried pushing through his hard exterior. It’s an exciting thriller, I can’t wait for people to see.
In 2011, you played James Millman in The Borrowers, what are some of your favourite moments from working on this film?
When you’re eleven years old, working with Christopher Eccleston, Stephen Fry, Robert Sheehan, and the late Victoria Wood in South Africa, it’s like a dream come true. It’s great I could bring my mother along to share this experience. I was a big Doctor Who fan, so working with Christopher Eccleston was a career highlight.
You had your first TV role as Jed in Combat Kids, what was this like?
It was my first ever acting gig at nine years old as the lead in this show. So it was scary and wonderful, managing to learn from that early age and see what the life on set is like as an actor, really allowed me to pursue this in my later years.
Had you always wanted an acting career and how different did you find it starting out as an adult actor opposed to when you were younger?
I have always wanted to do acting. Hadn’t looked twice at anything else, which is a bit of a stupid thing to do, but I wanted to give it my all, and I can be annoyingly persistent sometimes. I took a break after my early acting years to focus on my education, however when returning, I had to reinvent myself and start from scratch as I’m a completely different person to the one I was when I was ten, so it was very difficult. Balancing three part-time jobs at the same time whilst auditioning around when I was eighteen was tough. But if you have a dream, you have to push through, and you will inevitably end up on the other side.
What are some of your favourite TV shows and films to watch?
I have lists on my phone because I have so many favourites. But I will list two favourite films and two favourite series. So my two favourite films are The Social Network and Goodfellas. (Honourable mention to whiplash). Two favourite series are Dark and Attack on Titan.
How do you like to spend your time away from your career and what do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t acting?
I do like to do artwork, like oil painting and sketching and I’m currently attempting to learn Japanese. And, honestly, if I wasn’t doing acting I believe I would try and pursue university to get a fine arts degree.
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