New York Is A Small World After All: The Paul ("Joe") Nicholls Interview
By Tim Wilson
"Bummed out" is the only way to describe my state of mind as I shuffled down Broadway in early January. I'd been back just four days from a six-week England-France trip and the reclamation process was really getting me down. It certainly didn't help that it was a LOT COLDER over here. I muttered "Damned Canadian air" to myself as I passed the Coliseum bookstore. I mutter "Damned CATS" as I passed the Winter Garden Theatre. I was about to mutter something about Seattle-style coffee bars as I passed Java Coffee on Broadway and 49th Stree t when for no apparent reason I peered in and saw a strikingly handsome yet oddly familiar fellow, sitting at the counter, downing a huge cup of joe. It was actually Paul Nicholls, who plays Joe on "EastEnders"! Knowing a Celestine Prophecy-type thing when I saw it, I walked right in and introduced myself. The kid was floored.
Paul Nicholls: You interviewed Daniela (Denby-Ashe, who plays Joe's erstwhile girlfriend Sarah; editor's note: it'll run in a future issue) five days ago? In London? That's really bizarre. You've just gotten back, then?
Walford Gazette: Friday night. Flight 138 from Heathrow to JFK.
PN: I flew in on Friday night as well but it was from Manchester. This is not only my first time here in New York, it's my first time visiting the States, period. This is wild meeting you like this. (stared down at his cup). Everything is so huge here, ev en the cups. And they don't stint on the food portions either, I've noticed.
WG: You'll never go hungry here. You're on vacation?
PN: I'm on holiday, yeah. I'd been down to Jamaica for a couple of weeks, and when I got back to England I thought, "F ---, I'm back in England!" Coming here was a real spur-of-the-moment decision. It hadn't been planned at all. I had the time, so I figur ed why the hell not?
WG: Indeed.
PN: This place is amazing. It's everything I thought it would be and more. It could be a little less cold, though.
WG: I know what you mean. I've noticed you already bought some tickets to the theatre. What are you seeing if I may ask?
PN: Sideman with Christian Slater. I've heard it's really good, and I want to see Christian Slater on-stage after having already seen him in lots of films. I'll tell you a funny thing. The old lady at the box office scared me so much, I wound up buying th ree tickets when I only needed one! She didn't bully me or anything, she just asked me stuff like "Do you want sit in the orchestra, young man?" I don't know what came over me. Do you want to come?
WG: That's a very nice offer, but sorry I can't. I've got to go to a screening of a really bad film that I worked on as a stand-in last summer.
PN: Who's in it?
WG: Sarah Michelle Gellar, who plays Buffy the Vampire Slayer on television.
PN: Oh, I like her. she's really cute. Actually one of the reasons I'm over here is to meet the girl of my dreams. Think that'll happen?
WG: I don't see why not. You've obviously got several legs up on the competition, I would guess.
PN: (Blankly) What do you mean?
WG: You obviously haven't a) looked in the mirror lately or b) read about yourself in the press. You are, as they say, a major catch. A babe magnet.
PN: I try not to read all that rubbish. It causes too much needless aggravation. So you're an actor, too, as well as a journalist for the Gazette?
WG: Right now I've been working a lot in films as a stand-in. I'm on my way to the Screen Actor's Guild to check out future work. Do you want to schlep along?
PN: Schlep away, then. I'm really curious to see what it's like. My union, British Equity, is pretty dull and boring to hang out in.
WG: I know; I've been there. We headed down the five blocks to the Screen Actors Guild/MTV building and proceeded up an elevator to the 44th floor. As we get out:
PN: I'm staying on the 39th floor at the Millennium Hotel downtown at Battery Park. The view is amazing, if a bit frightening.
WG: It certainly not for those with vertigo. Joe would freak out, wouldn't he?
PN: Uhh, yeah, absolutely. I showed him the casting board, which listed various film and television projects currently in production. We then move down to a board that listed the nominations for the Third Annual Screen Actor's Guild Awards.
WG: One of my friends was on the nominating committee for that so he'll let me borrow a bunch of tapes to watch so I don't go nuts in a movie theatre.
PN: My agent in London is a member of the British Film Academy, and I nicked a copy of the new Psycho from the office recently! I knew it wouldn't be missed by anybody. What a poor excuse for a film, especially when the first one was so brilliant.
A nearby actress overheard our conversation and without skipping a beat not only agreed with Paul but also launched into reviewing the actual nominees as well. After about three minutes of intense film critique, she took her leave, upon realizing she was late for her hair appointment. Paul looked at me in disbelief.
PN: That was great! That would NEVER happen in London! Further proof that anything can happen in New York, right?
We headed over to the Eighth Avenue Deli to get some lunch. Paul politely ordered a "ham and salad sandwich to take away please." The schmo behind the counter stared at him as if he was from Mars. I admit that this was one time when I had the spooky feeli ng that I was standing next to Joe Wicks, the character. By that, I mean the almost unbearable vulnerability and shyness on display. Paul smiled brightly and said, "Oh, sorry, I guess it's just another English thing." The schmo was obviously disarmed, and beamed back. The kid just has that effect on people. I made sure Paul didn't walk out with three sandwiches and we headed off to the Marriott Marquis Hotel and settled into a plush lobby section to eat our lunch.
PN: Do you think we're gonna get thrown out?
WG: Nah, I think that Italian designer coat of yours will help us out. They'll think we belong here. So what's it been like playing Joe? I have to thoroughly congratulate you on behalf of myself and the Gazette readers for your work on the show. It's a tr uly wonderful, heartbreaking performance.
PN: Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. It was an incredible opportunity to get to play Joe and work on the storylines regarding his schizophrenia. The writers undoubtedly do their homework as I do and it showed up on the screen and hasn't gone unnoticed. We all knew that this character was a first for a continuing drama series, and we'd better get it right.
WG: You have, from all reports. I correspond with a Gazette reader, who told me she knows someone precisely with Joe's mental disorder and swears that you really have nailed it in your performance. The scenes in which Joe is slipping into extreme emotional and mental distress are like watching a really bad car wreck. It's awful and you want to stop looking at it but you can't. Your work is absolutely a high point of the show.
PN: A lot of that credit has to also go to Michael French, who plays David, Joe's dad. What a brilliant, brilliant actor. I was beyond lucky to work closely with him and we also had a real laugh together, which helped keep the atmosphere light. It made th e work we had to do so much more bearable.
WG: The old actor's cliche of taking your work home must certainly have been applicable in your situation, I would gather.
PN: Yes, a bit because I'm very serious about it and I work like a maniac to get the work done the best way I can. The residual effects can't be helped, really. I didn't go home and wrap tin foil around the telly, though!
WG: May I change the subject a bit radically and mention that your accent is quite bit softer in real life?
PN: Is it? Yeah I guess that's because I've been living down in London for the last several years. I had to lay it on pretty thick last summer when I did a play, Billy Liar.
WG: You received some good reviews for that. I read a few.
PN: I was unhappy with that experience to be honest because the director was a young guy who was intimidated by my so-called celebrity from "EastEnders," so he treated me with kid gloves. I desperately needed and wanted some direction, and I didn't get it from him. Oh, well, I guess I'll chalk it up to a learning experience.
WG: While we're still on the subject of your accent I have to mention that I saw you on a children's television serial before you joined "EastEnders." Remember "The Biz"?
PN: (Flabbergasted) You saw "The Biz"? Incredible. So what does that have to do with my accent?
WG: In it you played a Leonardo DiCaprio-type rising star who had just come back from America after doing a film. I remember thinking, "Not with that accent." We'd need subtitles over here to understand it. Your accent was three times as thick then.
PN: Uhh, no comment. God, is this city great or what? It reminds me of Taxi Driver with all that steaming coming out of the subway grates. And that psycho character. What was his name?
WG: Travis Bickle. OK, I get the message. All I really want to ask you now is... were you really as good playing Chandler of "Friends" as Daniela said you were?
PN: Oh, she's such a sweetie. Of course, I was. I added new levels to the Chandler Bing thing. She made a great Janice. She made a great Joey too. That reminds me Tim, it's time I head out once again in search of my dream girl. Got any suggestions?
I resisted my burgeoning yenta inclinations and spared Paul any further pain by just respectfully shaking hands and sending off the 19-year-old lad. The kid was on vacation after all and was obviously geared up to sow some serious, wild oats. I suddenly r ealized I needed to follow up on something I'd seen earlier at the Screen Actor's Guild and headed across the street. As I entered the building I realized I was walking directly behind Pamela Anderson and her entourage on their way to an MTV interview. I' d decided I had enough of celebrity Celestine Prophesy.
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