Exclusive Interview with Gary Beadle: So You Think You Know Paul Trueman?
By Larry Jaffee
On the cover of 'EastEnders: 20 Years in Albert Square,' a book by Rupert Smith published in 2005, there are a dozen small photographs of some of the show’s most memorable characters or moments from its first two decades. In the upper-right corner stands Gary Beadle, better known as Paul Trueman, with his fingers clenched, as if to suggest something’s up, you better watch out.
Once the Walford Gazette made contact with Beadle (we have Facebook to thank again), we found in this exclusive interview an actor eager to relive the past, but one who isn’t going to let his career be defined by one particular character. His CV shows he is a well-rounded jobbing actor, at ease with high dramatic scenes on stage or television, but one who also knows his way around comedy, and who even almost decided his vocation was to be a rapper. I note to Beadle that previous Gazette interviewees include his EastEnders colleagues Nick Bailey (brother Dr Anthony Trueman), Rudolph Walker (dad Patrick Trueman) and Judith Shekoni (one-time girlfriend Precious). “Oh wow, okay, okay – I haven’t caught up to you guys, fair enough, no worries.” He looks back on EastEnders as “a whirlwind experience. I can’t explain or describe it in a way that anyone can actually understand unless they’re there. It’s quite a life-changing experience, but one that I enjoyed immensely.
“Three out of five people watch it in this country [UK]. So anywhere you go up and down the British Isles they seem to know my character’s name and all the things he’s achieved and done. It’s kind of funny, though. Be careful what you wish for, as they say. Getting recognised everywhere can be quite overwhelming, although I’ve learned how to handle it. I am very fond of the character I got to play.” I remind Beadle of the storyline when he briefly is a responsible-feeling father after a former girlfriend, well, a one-night stand, really, drops a newborn baby off at the B&B doorstep – showing a softer side of Paul usually not evident in the wide boy (Brit-speak translation: a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing) always on the make.
“I think they wanted to make sure there was some kind of legacy. I’m sure they’ll bring back young Eleanor as a teenager, just like the father. It’s sort of their way of planting characters for the future. That was a really good storyline, I quite enjoyed that because it did show, like you said, a different side of Paul, the sensitive side. It sort of explained that he’s just like anybody else – a misunderstood bad boy.”
Once Beadle finds out that stateside EastEnders fans are watching via public TV episodes that are seven years old, “Well, you’re going to see some good storylines coming through. I don’t want to give too much away. You’re going to see a lot more of Paul with Janine – a big partnership, kind of an 'Indecent Proposal' meets 'Bonnie and Clyde' kind of storyline over love, sex and money, which we all love in soaps.” With Janine’s character also firmly established in the show, their partnership results in “really good stuff. There’s sort of a breakdown that comes about. He grows a beard and becomes a bit withdrawn from reality. It’s a real breakdown of character. I had to use really different kind of acting skills that you might not be used to because Paul has always been kind of cheeky, quick-witted and sharp. You’ll see sort of a lost soul coming in the future of that character. All that stuff I really enjoyed filming. It’s always good to go to work and not have to shave,” he said with a laugh.
Although it’s been six years since he’s left EastEnders on the UK telly screens, Beadle still gets recognized in public. “To be honest with you, it hasn’t stopped at all. He was quite a special character. A day doesn’t go by that somebody says to me, ‘Oh, I loved that character’ and knows so much about it – more than I do. It’s quite nice to be appreciated and somebody remembers me, yeah.”
Beadle cut his acting chops on comedy, running in the same London Comedy Strip circles as Jennifer Saunders. Another character he’s known for who couldn’t be more different from Paul was Oliver, the lover of Edina’s (Saunders) ex-husband in Absolutely Fabulous. “He’s a bit of a gay icon, believe it or not,” he says of Oliver. Like many British actors, his CV includes appearances on such UK telly drama staples as Casualty, Doctors, and Holby City, among other shows. Beadle’s bio says he can do American accents, so I ask if he would try one. “I’ll let you judge for yourself. I did a film with the great, legendary Claude Van Damme, 'Until Death' (Editor’s note: the 2007 film is available on US/NTSC DVD). I played the [New Orleans] chief of police in that. It was quite a big part. I always like to play Americans. I recently finished a play called 'Sucker Punch' recently at the Royal Court Theatre here in London about boxing. I play the American promoter who comes over to organise the fight. The character’s sort of based on Don King, a very flamboyant, big, brash, American character. I really loved that, and doing an American accent. I’m quite comfortable with it.”
We then get into a conversation about American actors attempting British accents. “I think some American actors do British accents very well, such as Johnny Depp. Meryl Streep is absolutely amazing in 'The Lieutenant’s Wife.'” Part of nailing the British accent for an American, he believes, is bringing the attitude along with it.
“It’s come a long way since Dick Van Dyke [in Walt Disney’s 'Mary Poppins' (1964)]. According to Wikipedia, “Van Dyke’s attempt at a cockney accent is regarded as one of the worst film accents in history, cited as an example by actors since as something that they wish to avoid. In a 2003 poll by Empire magazine of the worst film accents of all time he came second.” (The “winner” was Sean Connery, in his role as an Irish cop in the 1987 film The Untouchables.) Beadle had a memorable small role in the 1986 film musical 'Absolute Beginners', about racial tensions in late 1950s’ London. His character, Johnny Wonder, leads the black community to fight back the oppression and ominous sentiment to “Keep Britain White.” “I did that many, many moons ago. It was a really exciting project. I think it was filmed at Shepperton Studios in London. It was a replica of Notting Hill Gate. I really enjoyed that. It was directed by the great Julien Temple. I think it’s an absolute technical masterpiece, so far ahead of its time. I am so proud to be part of that. A lot of people had lots of stuff cut out. They decided to make it more of love story between Patsy Kensit and Eddie O’Connell’s characters. There are a lot of people who didn’t make it past the cuttingroom floor, to be honest. I was quite grateful to be in it, and I enjoyed every moment. It doesn’t get any better than that. When you sent me that picture (the still) it was such a blast from the past. I really appreciate that you sent me that still.”
Back in the 1980s, Beadle says he was “really into hip hop, and I came to New York when I was really young. I have a couple of cousins who live in Brooklyn, and I stayed there. I love the American way of life. I am the No. 1 American fan. I absolutely love America. Run–D.M.C. and the Sugarhill Gang just came out. When I got back to London I started rapping with my best friend. We were called the City Limits Crew. We were dressed up like 1940s’ gangsters. We used to go to shows with costumes and everything. We just loved it. So I’m an original hiphopper. That was my thing. Growing up I loved all sorts of music – from Marvin Gaye to Curtis Mayfield to Elton John and David Bowie. I have eclectic tastes. I love my hip hop, the good stuff, not the negative stuff.”
Beadle hasn’t performed hip hop in years. “I had to make a choice between acting and music. I’ve been an actor since I was 10 years old. I did love rapping, but essentially I’m an actor.” He caught the acting bug at a young age with his older brother Rikki, who became a playwright and screenwriter. Together they produced a version of Bugsy Malone for their local council in Bermondsey, South London. “We were big fans of the movie. My brother adapted a stage version. We lived in what you guys call ‘a tenement building’, a poor area. We had this youth club that we used to hang out in. And my brother decided to use that space to produce a musical. We cast all the local kids. Then we charged the local residents to see it. My brother looked up every Alan Parker – he was the director and writer of the movie. “We invited him to see this production. Obviously he couldn’t come; he was a very busy man. But he sent his personal assistant to see it. She saw me, my brother, my sister and a couple of other kids, and came to the conclusion that we were good enough to go to this school in North London called Anna Scher, which was a very good, famous drama school for underprivileged kind of kids. They had to wait three or four years to get in. We got fast-tracked through because they saw something in us.” I tell Beadle that I interviewed Anna Scher a few years ago, and I was aware how so many EastEnders cast members were trained by her. “She was my mentor,” he said. “She was an amazing teacher. A lot of people who have come out of the school are a product of her technique, and are doing very well. And I’m one of them. The funny thing is I remember EastEnders coming to Anna Scher for a workshop before it was even on. I remember Julia Smith and Tony Holland – the co-creators of East- Enders – came down. We were doing exercises. They were writing things down. I remember them say ing they were working on the idea. There was a massive hole in the BBC schedule that needed to be filled. Coronation Street was the British soap. Then EastEnders came along, more edgy and aimed at slightly younger people. It’s quickly became the BBC’s No. 1 flagship show. I’m very proud to be part of that.”
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