It was one of the box office smashes of the 90s. Now The Full Monty is back – and this time it's happening on stage. Star turn Gary Lucy gives Lucy Johnston the bare facts
I am sitting at my desk, waiting for a phone call from the man who is in the process of mending my car.
“H’lo, is that Lucy?” asks a chipper male voice with an Essex accent, the sound of a car engine suggesting that its owner is hands-free behind a steering wheel.
I’m just about to enquire how much my new exhaust pipe will set me back, when the voice reveals itself as that of actor Gary Lucy, current star of The Full Monty. Lucky escape there.
I had been expecting his call the day before, but he’d stood me up. Not being one to mope, however, I’d all but moved on overnight, so his late emergence from the telephonic shadows has come as somewhat of a surprise.
“Yeah, sorry about that. I was out all day yesterday and my bl**dy iPhone ran out of battery,” he explains. “Y’ know what it’s like!”
I do indeed, and we have a good old moan on the strength of it.
But back to The Full Monty. Gary is currently bringing audiences to their feet in the stage version of the classic 90s British comedy, which follows the ups and downs, the sadness and resolve, of a motley group of unemployed Sheffield steelworkers who decide to form a male striptease act in pursuit of some much-needed cash.
The show is halfway through a large UK tour that will finish later this spring in the story’s home city, taking in most major towns along the way.
“It’s a really great story, so it’s brilliant that so many people are getting to see it. It has those fun scenes, obviously, but most of it is nothing to do with stripping,” says Gary determinedly. “It’s a very moving tale of human struggles that touches on a lot of serious topics. The way the individual stories of the characters are all tied together makes it a very clever piece of writing.”
Gary is a new face to the stage, after years of playing hunks and heartthrobs in a variety of TV series – from EastEnders to Footballers’ Wives – and he’s clearly relishing it.
“I’d never consciously chosen to do so much TV work – it just happened that way. So I’ve been loving this whole experience. Stage work is a very different skill, but it feels really good to be out there.”
And how has he found the lead role of Gaz, famously played by Robert Carlyle on screen?
“Well, I loved the film, I think we all did. So it’s a huge privilege to be playing this role. Gaz is a brilliant, complex character to work with. And I’ve had a really great team around me to help, for which I’m hugely grateful.
“It’s been a lot of hard work – picking the script apart and trying to make the role my own – but I think it’s paid off. The response from audiences has been fantastic.”
And how about that famous last scene, when the boys finally reveal (almost) all? Gary is no stranger to having his honed physique admired in the press and on shows such as Dancing On Ice. But have he and the other guys got used to shedding all their clothes every night, after so many weeks on the road?
“Yeah, it’s just part of the job, really! And besides, there’s clever lighting in that scene, so we’re pretty well protected from scrutiny. We’ve had a lot of standing ovations and all sorts of things thrown at us. It’s just a fun way to end a really great British story.”
