May 6, 2025 • 9 mins
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Vas Blackwood played Lenny Henry's sidekick Winston Churchill in The Lenny Henry Show and Rory Breaker in the hit film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Rewind back to Season 6 to hear the full story.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Apogee production.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Before before you got like got into all Lockstock and
Bayer two Barrels and all like that.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You wouldn't Leny Henry. Yeah, you don't show with Lennie
Henry about before. Was that was that before?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Was that before?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
In Sickness and Health? Was that after?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I think it was just it.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Was I think I think Leddy was that Lady was
just before?
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Because because Amon Walker, who's Amon Walkers are really good
at AM Walkers does a lot, you know, he's like
you know in America and it's that of a great actor.
But out of London. He played married Gold in the
in Sidness and in Health, Mary Gold was like Alf
the bigot the races he was.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He was.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Mary Gold was his helper, like because he's an old man.
So Marago Married Gold lived there. But Amon played him
like gay.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
He was gay.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I really like say that is big six foot black
guy was gay, very feminus and Alf used to hate
that is a biggot. You know what's worst for him
he is having a black gay guy like looking after.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
So there was a lot of play on that and jokes.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But then happened then Johnny Spade, the writer when Marigold
moved out, he must have.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
The storyline was with my character Pele. I was Marigold's cousin.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Pele came in. So when Al first met me and
and our wife said, oh, you know Pele staying there,
and I said, who's Pele's Marigold's cousin. He's all right,
he's a nice boy, you know, he's not going to
mess around. He's not he's not a nurse, but he's
going to just with rending the room out to him.
But what with me? I was straight, but I was
like rumping all these girls and everything, you know. And
(01:50):
Alf used to see all these women coming out of
the room, you know, the Pelle character. So it's like
from having a gay guy like in and out, fearing
about and winding him up, there was like this guy, now, Pele,
the cousin, who was like having like all these little
life affairs with all these really cute chicks, and a
feldn't like that.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So there you go out.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They picked that they picked a name for you well
because you actually but when you were younger, you look like.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
If someone said that to me, I can't quite say it.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But anyway, after that, then you got a good role, like,
and I thought it was a good role when you
played Lennox on the Only Feels and Horses, Like I know,
I know, I know you got you were in lockstock
and batter two barrels and that's they were like good.
But to me, Only Feels and Horses were so big
in UK back then and still it still gets talked
(02:42):
about now.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah they yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I think that, Like I remember you in that and
it was just like you were so have you always
been funny, like like as a kid, have you always
been funny?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
No? No, not really. You know it's funny, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You should say that because I've always Yeah, I think
I've always had funny bones. It's called funny bones, you know.
So yeah, and then obviously you develop it so you
can put it on straight. But I'm not too sure
if it with the dates and everything, and but I
believe that Lennox Gilby the Shadow was eighty something and
(03:18):
then Alf was sort of eighty eight nineties. Then the
Lenny Henry Show was kind of just nineties, just a
little bit there because because guy used to was when
he was at college, used to come home he told
me and watch me on the Lenny Henry Show, and
he liked my dull sick tones and that's when he
(03:40):
was considering me for Rory breakup.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And then I mean, but but as I said, the
only fools and Horses thing, that's mad because even they
repeat it, they repeat it all the time, not just
my episode, just the program. And when they when when
they showed my one the longest night, it was on
a Saturday, been on a Saturday, and there was no
internet in those days, and this, that and the other,
and apparently seventeen million people watched it then. So ye,
(04:10):
those seventeen million people. If you look at it now today,
those same seventeen million. Okay, some will be here, some
have passed on, but the majority right retentively, when it's
been repeated, they still remember me. And it's crazy because
it's like it's it's more. And I've seen even like
(04:30):
your postings on Instagram and at vest BACKLD officials and
with David Jason. I've posted a picture there and people
a lot of people love it and they just they
just keep it keeps on counting, It keeps on counting
because it's in people's subconscious and then they continue, they
continue to repeat it. But I mean, what a great
program to have been a part of.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Oh, that was an unbelievable show. That unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
I'm lucky. I'm so lucky.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, So, dude, you miss that kind of TV work,
doing that TV work or because you know, when they
tried to redo only feels on horses and yeah, I
felt when they tried to redo it again, did you
think it's still like that same feeling?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
No?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
No, no, no, And even the actors that worked in
it didn't think it had that same feeling. That was
a very good it's a very good question, actually, and
because I think you know, things have done differently. Okay,
they say, in my industry it's run by suits now,
the lawyers and the accountants. So you see, and there's
not there's nothing bad in that. But what you'll find
(05:28):
is that the it loses that vibe, the creative side
of it. Right, So so they're looking more at say
the numbers, the quality, the quality and the quality and
that and that sometimes gets affected by the cast. The
casting gets affected by it because they might think the
four million that's being put into this project has come
(05:48):
from this has come from that companies and they want
to see a bit of this, and I want to
be of that and the blah. And even though you
wrote it, and even though you're the director that we
really want to do this because your name is on it,
we still the creative license is partially with you, guys.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Yes it is.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
This is at the casting per se, but they certify
themselves to lawyers and the accountants, and then when the
casting process is done, and then you're doing it, you're
up and you're running and you're doing it. You feel
like an actor. When you're as an actor, you feel
like there's some slight constraint going on here.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And I don't know whether it's an American thing, but
it's like there is no room. There's no room to fart.
You can't even far from you know what I mean.
It's like, but hey, that's great.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's good because somewhere along the lines, you're going to
work with a director or a writer. A writer will
write something in a certain director. Certain producers will get
into it and say, you know, we want to do
it this, we want to do it old school. Yeah,
we're not constraining it. And those are the things that
the cream will rise to the top. Because if you
(07:02):
think about it, like when we finish this conversation, go
on to have I gone to Netflix, our Amazon, I'm
going to spend thirty five minutes just trying to find
something I want to watch.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
And when I do get to it, by then.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I've fallen asleep trying to find it, and then I'll
just think, you know what, I'm going to bed. So
it's not the job just searching for it. There's nothing
you can count for ten things that you look at,
there's only one there that's really got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
do you know what I'm trying to say. And it's
like like score Stacy hits it all the time, cause
(07:33):
Tarantino hits it all the time. Certain actors get involved
in it all the time. So when you watch them,
you get it, you know what I mean, Even if
it's a bad film, it's a good performance. So and
as again, the investment comes from the suits. So it's interesting.
It's a very good question. It's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I've actually I've noticed that because I was looking through
a lot of what you've done and all the work
that you've done.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Is it weed how you always get picked to do.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Gangst the roles or gangst the TV shows or movies?
Is the is the what's the what's the go there?
You just like doing that? You love doing that kind
of work.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Yeah, I know, Yeah, I've done a few and I've
done also I've done that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I did one called Joe Joe Home Alone and that
was like about a kid that got left at home.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, I've seen that one. I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, well that one awards, that one awards. I just
played the grandfather in that and that was a lovely
role to play. But yeah, you know, listen, you just
I'm cool because I just go with the flow.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So if it's like you've got a or you've got
to steal money or you know what I mean, you're
a drug baron or whatever, it's all good by me.
Yeah there's this and this goes on every day as
the police.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's like it was like it was like when you
played Massive in Me Machine, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
That was a funny role. That was a very funny role.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Like I thought, I thought you were very funny when
you were playing Rory Rory, but that was funny.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
But and then but with Massive as well, it's Massive
was like he was like very likable, you know, and
he was, and you do get characters in prison that
are likable.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
They you know, they want to do they want to
do their time without causing trouble.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, and Massive was like that, and I think Vinnie's
character he saw that in Massive as well. So Massive
became an ally, you know, and you do get characters
like that, you know, it's it's real life. So yeah,
but that's nice for me to say.
Apogee production.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Before before you got like got into all Lockstock and
Bayer two Barrels and all like that.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
You wouldn't Leny Henry. Yeah, you don't show with Lennie
Henry about before. Was that was that before?
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Was that before?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
In Sickness and Health? Was that after?
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
I think it was just it.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Was I think I think Leddy was that Lady was
just before?
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Because because Amon Walker, who's Amon Walkers are really good
at AM Walkers does a lot, you know, he's like
you know in America and it's that of a great actor.
But out of London. He played married Gold in the
in Sidness and in Health, Mary Gold was like Alf
the bigot the races he was.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
He was.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Mary Gold was his helper, like because he's an old man.
So Marago Married Gold lived there. But Amon played him
like gay.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
He was gay.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
I really like say that is big six foot black
guy was gay, very feminus and Alf used to hate
that is a biggot. You know what's worst for him
he is having a black gay guy like looking after.
Speaker 4 (01:18):
So there was a lot of play on that and jokes.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
But then happened then Johnny Spade, the writer when Marigold
moved out, he must have.
Speaker 4 (01:26):
The storyline was with my character Pele. I was Marigold's cousin.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Pele came in. So when Al first met me and
and our wife said, oh, you know Pele staying there,
and I said, who's Pele's Marigold's cousin. He's all right,
he's a nice boy, you know, he's not going to
mess around. He's not he's not a nurse, but he's
going to just with rending the room out to him.
But what with me? I was straight, but I was
like rumping all these girls and everything, you know. And
(01:50):
Alf used to see all these women coming out of
the room, you know, the Pelle character. So it's like
from having a gay guy like in and out, fearing
about and winding him up, there was like this guy, now, Pele,
the cousin, who was like having like all these little
life affairs with all these really cute chicks, and a
feldn't like that.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
So there you go out.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They picked that they picked a name for you well
because you actually but when you were younger, you look like.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
If someone said that to me, I can't quite say it.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
But anyway, after that, then you got a good role, like,
and I thought it was a good role when you
played Lennox on the Only Feels and Horses, Like I know,
I know, I know you got you were in lockstock
and batter two barrels and that's they were like good.
But to me, Only Feels and Horses were so big
in UK back then and still it still gets talked
(02:42):
about now.
Speaker 4 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah they yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
I think that, Like I remember you in that and
it was just like you were so have you always
been funny, like like as a kid, have you always
been funny?
Speaker 4 (02:54):
No? No, not really. You know it's funny, it's funny.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
You should say that because I've always Yeah, I think
I've always had funny bones. It's called funny bones, you know.
So yeah, and then obviously you develop it so you
can put it on straight. But I'm not too sure
if it with the dates and everything, and but I
believe that Lennox Gilby the Shadow was eighty something and
(03:18):
then Alf was sort of eighty eight nineties. Then the
Lenny Henry Show was kind of just nineties, just a
little bit there because because guy used to was when
he was at college, used to come home he told
me and watch me on the Lenny Henry Show, and
he liked my dull sick tones and that's when he
(03:40):
was considering me for Rory breakup.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, you know.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And then I mean, but but as I said, the
only fools and Horses thing, that's mad because even they
repeat it, they repeat it all the time, not just
my episode, just the program. And when they when when
they showed my one the longest night, it was on
a Saturday, been on a Saturday, and there was no
internet in those days, and this, that and the other,
and apparently seventeen million people watched it then. So ye,
(04:10):
those seventeen million people. If you look at it now today,
those same seventeen million. Okay, some will be here, some
have passed on, but the majority right retentively, when it's
been repeated, they still remember me. And it's crazy because
it's like it's it's more. And I've seen even like
(04:30):
your postings on Instagram and at vest BACKLD officials and
with David Jason. I've posted a picture there and people
a lot of people love it and they just they
just keep it keeps on counting, It keeps on counting
because it's in people's subconscious and then they continue, they
continue to repeat it. But I mean, what a great
program to have been a part of.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
Oh, that was an unbelievable show. That unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
I'm lucky. I'm so lucky.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, So, dude, you miss that kind of TV work,
doing that TV work or because you know, when they
tried to redo only feels on horses and yeah, I
felt when they tried to redo it again, did you
think it's still like that same feeling?
Speaker 4 (05:07):
No?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
No, no, no, And even the actors that worked in
it didn't think it had that same feeling. That was
a very good it's a very good question, actually, and
because I think you know, things have done differently. Okay,
they say, in my industry it's run by suits now,
the lawyers and the accountants. So you see, and there's
not there's nothing bad in that. But what you'll find
(05:28):
is that the it loses that vibe, the creative side
of it. Right, So so they're looking more at say
the numbers, the quality, the quality and the quality and
that and that sometimes gets affected by the cast. The
casting gets affected by it because they might think the
four million that's being put into this project has come
(05:48):
from this has come from that companies and they want
to see a bit of this, and I want to
be of that and the blah. And even though you
wrote it, and even though you're the director that we
really want to do this because your name is on it,
we still the creative license is partially with you, guys.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Yes it is.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
This is at the casting per se, but they certify
themselves to lawyers and the accountants, and then when the
casting process is done, and then you're doing it, you're
up and you're running and you're doing it. You feel
like an actor. When you're as an actor, you feel
like there's some slight constraint going on here.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
And I don't know whether it's an American thing, but
it's like there is no room. There's no room to fart.
You can't even far from you know what I mean.
It's like, but hey, that's great.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
It's good because somewhere along the lines, you're going to
work with a director or a writer. A writer will
write something in a certain director. Certain producers will get
into it and say, you know, we want to do
it this, we want to do it old school. Yeah,
we're not constraining it. And those are the things that
the cream will rise to the top. Because if you
(07:02):
think about it, like when we finish this conversation, go
on to have I gone to Netflix, our Amazon, I'm
going to spend thirty five minutes just trying to find
something I want to watch.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
And when I do get to it, by then.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I've fallen asleep trying to find it, and then I'll
just think, you know what, I'm going to bed. So
it's not the job just searching for it. There's nothing
you can count for ten things that you look at,
there's only one there that's really got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
do you know what I'm trying to say. And it's
like like score Stacy hits it all the time, cause
(07:33):
Tarantino hits it all the time. Certain actors get involved
in it all the time. So when you watch them,
you get it, you know what I mean, Even if
it's a bad film, it's a good performance. So and
as again, the investment comes from the suits. So it's interesting.
It's a very good question. It's a very good question.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
I've actually I've noticed that because I was looking through
a lot of what you've done and all the work
that you've done.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Is it weed how you always get picked to do.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Gangst the roles or gangst the TV shows or movies?
Is the is the what's the what's the go there?
You just like doing that? You love doing that kind
of work.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
Yeah, I know, Yeah, I've done a few and I've
done also I've done that.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I did one called Joe Joe Home Alone and that
was like about a kid that got left at home.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Yeah, I've seen that one. I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Yeah, well that one awards, that one awards. I just
played the grandfather in that and that was a lovely
role to play. But yeah, you know, listen, you just
I'm cool because I just go with the flow.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
So if it's like you've got a or you've got
to steal money or you know what I mean, you're
a drug baron or whatever, it's all good by me.
Yeah there's this and this goes on every day as
the police.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
It's like it was like it was like when you
played Massive in Me Machine, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
That was a funny role. That was a very funny role.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Like I thought, I thought you were very funny when
you were playing Rory Rory, but that was funny.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
But and then but with Massive as well, it's Massive
was like he was like very likable, you know, and
he was, and you do get characters in prison that
are likable.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
They you know, they want to do they want to
do their time without causing trouble.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Yeah, and Massive was like that, and I think Vinnie's
character he saw that in Massive as well. So Massive
became an ally, you know, and you do get characters
like that, you know, it's it's real life. So yeah,
but that's nice for me to say.
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