From The Archives: TW interviews Simon Bamford

By Robert Nesbitt creator and writer of RhynX

How did you get started in acting? Where did  it all begin for you?

Harry Frost, the headteacher at my primary school in Market Bosworth was a keen drama enthusiast. He encouraged all of his students to perform in the plays which he would both write and direct. The long suffering parents would then have to sit and watch proudly.

I became addicted and worked my way through several local drama groups before finally getting a backstage job at the Haymarket theatre in Leicester.

A professional theatre which produced many pre-West End shows, the Haymarket was my introduction to a whole new way of viewing drama and acting in general.

How did the role of Butterball come about?

The director Robin Midgeley encouraged me to apply for drama school and I went from Leicester to London and a three year course at Mountview; a North London drama college.

Whilst there I was cast as ‘The Fool’ in King Lear. Clive Barker was in the audience for one of the performances and asked to meet me. 

After an initial meeting he invited me to join his fringe theatre company ‘The Dog Company’ on graduation. His plays were fantastical and intelligent and I was quite overawed by the cast which included a young Douglas Bradley (Pinhead) and an even younger Oliver Parker (director of ‘Dorian Grey’, ‘St Trinians’ and many other films.

After a couple of years the company disbanded as we all needed to earn some money and fringe rarely pays. I didn’t see Clive for a year or two and rang him to see how he was getting on.

The timing was perfect as he a couple of screenplays he had written had been made into movies but rather unsuccesfully and he had just persuaded the producers to let him write and direct the next project which was ‘Hellraiser’. As he asked me over the phone if i would be interested in being a monster. 

Were you a fan of Clive Barker’s work?

A huge fan. Even in his early work you could tell that he was someone with a great insight into the human condition. His love of William Blake and knowledge of the classics generally, mixed with a mind that was capable of enormous leaps of imagination was addictive.

How did they initially describe the character to you? 

A high priest of Hell. Butterball was the groups torturer, hence his belt of blood encrusted surgical instruments. Underneath the dark glasses he had removed his own eyeballs and gained great pleasure from fondling his innards through the gash in his stomach. 

How complicated was the costume? What sort of time scale did it take to get you kitted up?

Jane Wildgoose’s costumes were a mixture of leather and fabric. skin tight around the arms mine then included a fibreglass frame which hang on my shoulders and which was home to a naked prosthetic stomach and deep gash which was filled with blood on each take to allow it to drip.

I had a skirt with material that glistened and Jesus sandals which i don’t think are ever visible.

The costume took around 45 minutes to get on.

For the actual mask, how did they go about creating that for you? Was it a head mould?

We were all invited to the home of SFX prosthtic company ‘Image Animation’ at Pinewood Studios to have a life mask cast. This meant having a couple of straws placed up the nose to allow you to breath and then the whole head covered in a substance which gradually set solid.

Once cut out they made a model of our heads on which they could sculpt their creations.

A few weeks later we went back to have the prosthetics fitted and to try out the masks and costumes in a screen test.

How much vision had you got when in complete costume?

None. Because of the sewn shut eyes in the characters past there were no eye holes and I was blind throughout the shoot which caused a few challenges especially early on. There were also no ear holes and I had a set of false dentures glued on top of my own teeth so communication was difficult.

As part of the Cenobite group, how did you try and make him stand out when on screen with the rest?

Because the makeups were so extraordinary Clive realised early on from the rushes that the less we did the more powerful the creatures became. So the direction was usually ‘less is best’. We did find a few character traits we could add such Nick”s chattering teeth and my licking my lips whilst playing with my innards. Sadly the latter was one of the few things the censor drew the line at. The 80’s were a time of increased creative freedom in the UK and we benefitted from being allowed to go much further than horror cinema had been before, but fondling ones intestines crossed the line.

There seems to be a group fluidity between the Cenobites when they move as a group. Am I wrong in that or did you guys work it out between you to accommodate the different costumes?

The costumes certainly created a style of movement. The leather was thick and ungiving but that lead to a kind of Royal glide which we all enveloped and seemed fitting to their postions.

It also resembled the type of movement Doug and I used in Clive’s play Paradise Street years before so may well have been influenced by that.

Are you surprised at his continuing appeal?

Flattered at Butterball’s longevity. We celebrated 25 years recently and if you had told me that when we filmed it I would have been incredulous. No surprise at Clive’s appeal though in fact a little disappointed that he isn’t more widely respected especially in Hollywood.  

What for you defines Hellraiser?

Being blind, deaf and dumb was an experience that takes great courage and patience and an inner peace, none of which I possess. So personally I remember the filming process with a mixture of claustrophobia and terror. The end results however more than justify the pain.

How would you rate each movie?

Pass. Too close to them to be objective.

You appeared in another Clive Barker movie, Nightbreed, a great favourite of mine as Ohnaka. This time round there wasn’t as much prosthetics needed. Does being a normal looking human in a horror movie make you strive to make your character stand out among the monsters?

Normally I would say yes but as Nightbreed was packed full of creatures (the most individual monsters of any movie)  it actually was in my favour that Ohnaka seemed so human.

It also helped to gain the audiences sympathies which was crucial to his storyline.

It made for a much happier experience on set being able to see and talk to the cast and crew. Also not having to get up at 3am to drive to Pinewood because of hours of makeup meant I was far happier. The tattoos took a while to apply but apart from them my only prosthetics were a pair of nipples.

Of all you appearances in these, what’s been the stand out moment for you?

Watching myself explode and meeting one of my heroes David Cronenberg.

What sums up Clive’s work for you?

Genius…yet to be fully discovered, but when he is expect some extraordinary movies. 

How did you become involved in Books of Blood?

When we were in the ‘Dog Company’ Clive was just starting to write ‘The Books of Blood’.

At the launch party for their publication he admitted that the first character in the first story of the first book, Simon McNeal was based around me. The boy who has all the rest of the stories written into his flesh.

A few years ago I heard that they were about to start filming ‘Books of Blood’ in Edinburgh so contacted the production company and casting director. There was no response so I emailed Clive and the next day I was offered the role of Derek. sadly I was 30 years too old to play Simon but it was fascinating watching Jonas Armstrong play me. I decided not to tell him as he had enough on his plate. In fact I didn’t tell any of the cast of my previous film roles.

What can you tell us about the 4th Reich movie you’re involved in. How hard is it to make zombies different?

It has gone very quiet. I was asked to play Underscarfuhrer Kraus back in 2009 since then the cast list has grown and it received a green light in 2012 but then nothing.

I can tell you that my character escapes becoming a zombie which is a shame. I’d love to play a Zombie. They were filming ‘World War Z’ in Glasgow when I was working there and the temptation to gatecrash was overwhelming.

You also have a long and distinguished theatre career for which you’ve won awards. Aside from audience presence, what for you as an actor are the main differences between theatre and movies? Does theatre give you a more immediate buzz?

Absolutely. Three weeks of rehearsal in theatre. Three minutes in film. Immediate audience reaction versus none Long term legacy in films. None in theatre.

What are you working on at the moment?

Just finished voicing ‘Commander Elgin’ for an animated feature called ‘The 11th hour’. I played the lead role of a depressed bereaved man in a short film called ‘Riley’ and am currently touring the world promoting the ‘Cabal Cut’ of ‘Nightbreed’ which is due out later this year.

Where can people find out more about you and your career?

My twitter is @simonbamford or you can catch up at imdb.

5 Nov 2023, 15:33

Robert

Thanks I will get reading these while getting a coffee when I get home.

Enter

You sent

Enter

Robert

Walked the pregnant wife up Belfast zoo think near killed her

Enter

You sent

Lol

Enter

12 Nov 2023, 15:41

You sent

https://timewarriors.co.uk/2020/12/09/doctor-who-the-end-of-time-an-open-letter-to-neil-gaiman/

Doctor Who The End of Time: An Open Letter to Neil Gaiman

Enter

Mon 19:12

Robert

Found a email that contained the interview we did with Simon bamford. I forwarded on to you

Enter

You sent

Just reading it. Do u want me to put it on the site

Enter

Robert

That would be so cool man. If I find more of the interviews I will forward them onto you.

Enter

You sent

Any photos for it

Enter

Robert

i will see what ican find on the email.

Enter

You sent

Any photos send them over whatsapp. Easier 07384671987

Enter

Robert

Enter

Mon 21:33

You sent

I need bio about you including details of space rhino

Enter

Robert

No worries. I will write one up for you

Enter

You sent

Enter

Mon 21:54

Robert

Robert Nesbitt is a father of three with one more on her way to be part of my mad gang. I am the writer and creator for an upcoming graphic novel known as RhynX coming 2024. I am also currently under taking a screenplay writing course and furthering my eduction as I push myself to achieve my dream. I love retro gaming, comics and movies. Also I am a collector of toys from the 80’s and early 90’s.