Latest news with #NickFrost
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
A crude, one-note trans comedy from ITV
Jordan Gray is the trans comedian who briefly achieved notoriety a couple of years back on Channel 4's Friday Night Live by stripping naked during a live musical performance to reveal breasts and a penis, then using the latter to play the piano. If you find this daring and hilarious, you might love Transaction (ITV2). For everyone else, it's a crudely one-note sitcom. Again, the penis is playing the note. Gray is the writer and creator of the show. It's set in a supermarket and the best thing it has going for it is Nick Frost. He plays Simon, the well-meaning but hopeless store manager. Frost is such a comedy talent that he elevates everything he's in, so Transaction gets one star just for casting him. Another goes to the supporting performances, which are nicely done. The problem is the writing. Here's the set-up: when Simon accidentally angers the pro-trans community with a misguided ad campaign (a visual joke so bad I had to pause my TV and stare at it to work out what was wrong), he decides to hire a trans employee to rescue the firm from PR disaster and reassure the protesters that he runs an inclusive workplace. One of the shelf-stackers on the night shift, Tom (Thomas Gray, no relation), knows just the person: his chronically work-shy and egomaniacal flatmate, Liv, who is a trans woman. Cue fish-out-of-water comedy as Liv is forced to work for a living, rather than lie on the sofa sponging off Tom. Liv behaves like a Grade A cow, bar the occasional sentimental moment. This is all fine in theory but terrible in practice because the script just isn't up to snuff, despite the cast's best efforts. To cut Gray some slack, this is a first foray into sitcom-writing, one of the most difficult genres to crack. More experienced heads at ITV should have suggested that Liv didn't need to dominate every scene, and that being trans shouldn't be the punchline of every joke. Some examples. Tom complains that Liv has peed all over the toilet seat. 'Most women sit down to wee,' he says, 'Most women have no comeback to an unsolicited d--k pic. At least I can aggressively reciprocate,' says Liv. Tom objects to the hours that Liv keeps: 'It's not my fault you choose to start your day at 9pm, unless of course you've confused transgender with Transylvanian.' An employee tells Liv: 'I'm sick of you lot shoving your PC-ness down our throats,' to which Liv replies: 'It's pronounced 'penis' but she's got a point.' There is, sure as eggs is eggs, a gag about JK Rowling. We are supposed to find Liv's diva behaviour amusing. It is an extension of Gray's comedy persona – that infamous Friday Night Alice nudity occurred during a song titled Better Than You. But you can't bludgeon an audience into liking a character. Liv tries to make mischief in a bid to get sacked, informing Simon that he needs to strip the store of bananas and aubergines: 'As a woman, I noticed a lot of phallic produce on the way into the store. As a transgentrified individual I was born with a penis that I didn't ask for, do you really think a woman like me wants to be reminded of that all bloody night long?' Gray does poke fun at diversity in the workplace. Standing between two employees, one of them black and the other with achondroplasia (Kayla Meikle and Francesca Mills, both very good), Liv says: 'We look like the set-up to a joke that would get you uninvited to Christmas dinner.' Transaction isn't a humourless examination of being trans. It's just not very funny.
Daily Record
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Transaction's Nick Frost says 'I couldn't live my life like this' as he addresses health battle
The actor has opened up on his recent health battle Hollywood actor Nick Frost has opened up on the "years" of pain as he said "I couldn't live my life like this." Nick, 53, is starring in a new ITV series called Transaction alongside co-star Jordan Gray. The synopsis reads: "A wickedly funny new sitcom with Jordan Gray & Nick Frost. Egomaniac Liv must fix a supermarket PR scandal that's outraged the trans community—but she's having fun first, of course!" And as the new series airs, the star has previously opened up on a health battle that had him in pain for "years". The 'Hot Fuzz' star disclosed he suffered from arthritis and needed a knee replacement, but had initially resisted due to being a "stubborn man". Nick finally agreed to the surgery but postponed the operation upon securing the role of Gobber the Belch in the live-action adaptation of 'How To Train Your Dragon'. Speaking on the Dish by Waitrose podcast, he disclosed: "I needed my knee replaced. I think, as a stupid, stubborn man, I get to a point where, if my pain level physically is only a four, I'm like, 'Today's a pretty good day', but like when you speak to doctors and stuff, they're like, 'Really, everyone's on a zero, that's where everyone's day starts'." Nick added: "But you get used to a physical pain where you're like, 'Okay I can handle today', so I just didn't have my knee replaced for years, and years, and years. And then I had a bit of time off and I'm like, I'm just going to do it, I can't live my life like this.", reports Devon Live. He added how his injury influenced his role: "Gobber has one leg so the director said, 'Don't have the operation, keep the leg as it is and we'll use it'. And so it helped me, I used the pain, and as soon as we finished I had it done." Nick underwent knee replacement surgery in June last year and subsequently took to social media, sharing that he was "in agony" during the recovery stage. He wrote: "I'm fine! I'm awake! I have a new knee. I'm in agony but I'm so happy. I've suffered with arthritis for years and now that is gone! ! ! Can't wait to start my recovery! Send kisses. (and Morphine! )". Nick initially gained stardom with his collaborations on the comedy series Spaced with actor Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright. They went on to achieve critical acclaim with 2004's Shaun of the Dead, followed by further success with Hot Fuzz and The World's End, forming the Cornetto Trilogy. Nick has since appeared in popular films like Fighting with My Family and has recently been cast as Hagrid in next year's upcoming Harry Potter series.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Why Jordan Gray's new trans sitcom Transaction is so important'
Jordan Gray has created, written and stars in Transaction, which follows a chaotic trans shop worker and her experiences at work. (ITV) Watching ITV's new sitcom about Liv, a trans woman who raises hell in a local supermarket, I found myself actively disliking Jordan Gray's protagonist, especially at first. And it turns out that's kind of the point. As the creator of Transaction said herself once in a chat with Gay Star News: "Trans people are just people, some people are just d**kheads – ergo: some trans people are just d**kheads too." In both the original 2020 miniseries and her new sitcom that it inspired, Liv is Gray's "attempt to represent a regular tit-for-brains, not some tragic hero." She adds, "I was getting bored of seeing us represented as either poor suffering saints or hypersexualised villains." Two episodes into season one, it's clear that Liv is neither. Transaction features an unlikeable character at the centre, which is kind of the point. (ITV) With Tom, her long-suffering bestie in tow, Gray's lead is rude and obnoxious to everyone at her new job, from Nick Frost's keeno manager to Francesca Mills's even keener subordinate. But with a "vag load" of pro-trans protestors rallying outside, Simon knows he can't fire Liv without making things even worse for himself. Said protestors are only there in the first place because he accidentally used the words "Ladyboys get out!" in a disastrous marketing campaign for the shop. And now they're out for blood. ADVERTISEMENT Free to do as she pleases then, Liv immediately orders her boss Simon to remove any phallic food shaped like her own unwanted genitals before going on to terrorise her colleague Millie for being too nice, and therefore, "a psycho." When asked to actually do something at work, Liv's go-to is that she'd rather "be at home pleasuring [herself] to a VHS of Cats." Liv isn't the most sympathetic protagonists, especially when she does things like accidentally trick her co-workers into raising money for gender reassignment surgery. (ITV) Relatable, but even so, Gray's protagonist isn't exactly the most sympathetic figure. She even tricks the others (accidentally) into raising money for a gender reassignment procedure Liv doesn't actually want herself. Gray describes her creation as "a monster" (via The Guardian), and she's right to do so. But with Liv, it's not all chaos and snarky one-liners. Amidst the bedlam, there are also some glimpses of humanity, such as when she calms down the protestors with an old adage my own nan used to share fondly: "Opinions are like arseholes… They're worth exploring." Plus Liv's friendship with Tom means much more to her than she makes out too, even if she did forget his birthday and continues to annoy him endlessly at work. With a "vag load" of anti-trans protestors speaking so cruelly about trans people online these days, it's refreshing and even important to see someone like Gray provide space for trans people to be a bit messy on screen beyond those "saintly" or "villainous" archetypes she touched on earlier. In doing so, she doesn't just poke fun at bigotry, but also liberals who might unfairly put trans people on a pedestal just because of their identity. While some shows decide to depict transgender people in more flattering light, Transaction gives them room to be messy. (ITV) While Clean Slate went down the wholesome route and What It Feels Like For A Girl chose anarchy, Transaction melds the two for its own unique take on what it means to be trans in 2025. The fact this exists on ITV of all places is in itself an accomplishment, as they're not exactly known for pushing the envelope in ways that Channel 4 and even the BBC have done before. ADVERTISEMENT It would have been far easier for ITV to go down a much more likeable route, or avoid commissioning a trans-fronted sitcom at all in these volatile times. But there's something special to be found in that moral tension, as Gray herself pointed out in that aforementioned chat with Gay Star News: "Being trans – or anything other than straight white cis – means that the audience is already primed with a certain amount of social tension. And tension is literally the fuel of comedy. We manipulate which direction that tension travels in (ie in or out of the body) to get the reaction we want." That "reaction" might not always be one of fondness. In fact, you don't have to like Liv at all. But if you do dislike her, make sure it's because she's "a d**khead", and not because she's trans. Transaction premieres on ITV2 on Tuesday, 24 June.
Forbes
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘How To Train Your Dragon's Nick Frost Gives Us Food For Thought
Whether it is the projects he picks or the meals he eats, How to Train Your Dragon's foodie actor Nick Frost is full and sated. Similarly, audiences are devouring the live-action remake. Debuting in theaters at the top of the box office and exceeding expectations, it has grossed $83.7 million domestically, the best domestic opening weekend for the franchise. Additionally, it grossed $197.8 million globally, making it one of the best openings of 2025 so far. Based on the 2010 animated film that launched a lucrative franchise, How to Train Your Dragon takes place on the Viking island of Berk, where an ancient threat endangers both the human inhabitants and the dragons alike. However, an unlikely friendship between Hiccup, the son of Gerard Butler's Viking leader, and Toothless, a Night Fury dragon, proves to be the key to both species creating a new future together. Shaun of the Dead's Frost plays veteran warrior Gobber, a character originally voiced by Craig Ferguson. So, who inspired his take? "Ray Winstone," he reveals without hesitation as we chat in a Beverly Hills hotel. Winstone is best known for his iconic performances in films such as Sexy Beast, The Departed, and Nil by Mouth. "When I was doing his voice at home to prep for the film, I was like, 'It sounds a bit like Ray.' I'm absolutely channeling my inner Ray." 'That is also the name of my new book, The Inner Ray," Frost jokes. How to Train Your Dragon was filmed in Belfast, Northern Ireland. While there, the Hot Fuzz actor saw it as an opportunity to make the most of the food scene, which led him and the film's cast to discover a spot that he believes serves "the best pizza in the world." "You're going to love this," he laughs. "There is a guy called Peter Thompson, and he runs a pizza place in Belfast called Flout. He had a job in marketing and then this thing happened to him, which was awful, and it made him reevaluate his life." "He went from never making pizza at all to making arguably the best pizza in the world, and he did it in five years. He's like the Yoda of pizza dough. He had never cooked before. We were in contact with each other on Instagram, and he said, 'Come down and try the pizza,' and it was fantastic." Frost freely shares his love of food and cooking on social media and has spent years improving his relationship with food. He knows what he likes, and he knows what he's talking about. So, has the gastronome ever been offered a foodie TV show? He's come close. "People brought me some after my cookery book came out, and we are at a point where we signed some kind of deal, but then other stuff happened," he laments. "It goes pretty way down your pecking order once you're going to be Hagrid until you're 63, so maybe cooking can come after that." Frost is referring to his casting as Rubeus Hagrid in HBO's Harry Potter television series. When How to Train Your Dragon came his way, Frost wasn't that up to speed with the series of animated films. Although he's a father, his oldest was "kind of at the tail end of it." However, he was drawn to the project because of his ongoing love of movies and animation, which goes back to the days when he shared an apartment, or flat as Brits call them, with friend and collaborator Simon Pegg in North London. He would have loved How to Train Your Dragon even back then. "Me and Simon and our flatmates were all massive animation fans, so as soon as anything anime was released, we were watching it," the actor recalls. "We were all also sci-fi and fantasy geeks, so all we asked was, 'Is it animated? Does it have dragons in it or a spaceship? Yes. Two out of three ain't bad.' What this film is going to do, though, is it already has that audience, and then it will just ignite a whole other bunch of people, which is great. It deserves to be seen. I never saw the originals in the cinema, so when I saw this, it was like, 'Wow, that was fantastic.'" Another thing that appealed to Frost was the fact that writer-director Dean DeBlois was willing to let him do his own thing with Gobber. "I went for a meeting with Dean, and he's lovely. He was like, 'Do whatever. Come and have a laugh,'" he recalls. "What I have thought about a lot this week is that I'm so lucky to have worked as long as I have, but also what it does is it enables you to is to listen to the little voice that sometimes says, 'Hey, could I try this?' One would have been forgiven for thinking that Dean would say, 'Do this because it works.' I would have been fine with that and just do it because what Craig did was great anyway, but Dean wanted us to have a play and bring whatever we wanted. Once you realize what's possible, saying yes to the job becomes a no-brainer." Frost admits that the reality of Gobber wasn't always fun and games. The heavy costuming and the character's trademark facial hair were challenges. "They were heavy," he admits. "I'm very lucky in as much as I kind of have a jerkin then a big furry thing on top, and that was kind of it for me. Gerard got it in the neck. His stuff must have weighed 50 kg. It was nuts. My problem was my mustache. That was my bugbear. I hated it." "I hated the process of getting it on. I was very respectful for the first six weeks or so, going back at the end of the shoot day and letting the makeup team take it off gently. After that, it got to a point about four weeks before we finished, where as soon as they wrapped me, I would pull it off, which is very unprofessional, but as I was walking back to the car, I'd yank it off and hand it to my beard lady and say, 'Thank you.' The next day, it would be ready to go again." However, he has nothing but respect for the craftspeople who made the magic of How to Train Your Dragon come alive. "Stuff like that is fascinating to hear about and beautiful to see. We're in the film, we're the actors, and sometimes we're on posters and in the trailers, so it's easy to look at what we do, but when you look at what the puppeteers did, you'll see their names in the credits, but you won't know who they are and you won't see the work they did," Frost enthuses. "To see those guys turn up every day in their green leotards, holding their huge dragon heads, it's a lot of work they put in. I've noticed that with many different departments, they do these little things that people may not notice, but as an actor, you do notice it 100 percent. For me, that is a dragon. I can't see the people in it. I can't see them controlling it. I don't notice the blue screen. It comes down to you and me, and Dean and Bill Pope, the DOP, and that's what it is. If you start thinking about the big picture and that 300 people are watching me acting, it's nerve-racking." Something that continues to impress Frost is the enduring legacy and depth of love for the How to Train Your Dragon universe, as well as its deep influence on pop culture. A prime example is the creation of a world at the Universal Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, Florida. How does he feel about a world he's now a part of being immortalized that way? "It happens all the time," he jokes. "There was Shaun of the Dead World, but then kids got killed so that shut it. Then they had the Hot Fuzz Land, and again, children died. The World's End Place is still open, but it rains a lot, so the weather's kind of shit." "I'm connected to three already now when you think of it. I'm SM-33 in Star Wars, and that has theme park attractions. There are also the Hogwarts and Harry Potter ones, so my Hagrid has to get in there eventually. When I started out 23 years ago, it's what I wanted to happen to me,' the How to Train Your Dragon actor laughs. "Basically, I just wanted to be a part of theme park ride culture."
Perth Now
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Nick Frost takes his own cutlery on holiday with him
Nick Frost takes his own cutlery on vacation. The 53-year-old actor is a keen cook and so he takes a trusty knife and other personal items he may need when he stays at an Airbnb or another location for when he is making meals for his family in the kitchen. During an appearance on the Dish by Waitrose podcast - hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett - he said: "I mean, I try not to. But sometimes it's better to have one [a knife] and not use it than to need one and not have it. 'If when we're going to an Airbnb, I'll definitely bring my kit over 'cause it's always the worst thing about turning up at an Airbnb and discovering that the [plastic bread knife]." As well as plastic cutlery, Nick also loathes glass chopping boards. He said: 'Or the other thing that makes me really cross are glass chopping boards. Like round glass chopping boards. It's just nuts. It feels nuts. 'Also, I think with a nice wood chopping board, it evolves over time too. It gets a little divot in it. It feels nice to touch.' Keen amateur chef Nick declared cooking can turn people into "slight" show-offs, and he thinks that may benefit him. The How to Train Your Dragon star explained: "I think people expect actors to be big show-offs. "I've never been that at all, I'm just the opposite ... but I feel like cooking sometimes is a way of showing off slightly. "Maybe that's a release I need in terms of, that took eight hours to prep. And now I hope you really love it, you know? "But it's a lot of effort to show you care, you know.' Nick worked in kitchens when he left school, but he did not become a professional chef because the job proved too tricky for him. The Shaun of the Dead actor said: "I worked in kitchens when I left school. When I was like 19, 20, I started to work in kitchens and stuff. "But it was really hard. I was still working in the kitchen until I was 28, 29, not knowing what I was going to do." Nick did not find cooking for a living "fun", but he fell in love with it again when he could serve up dishes to his friends and family. The star - who has a son called Mac with his wife Christina Frost - said: "When you do it for a living it becomes less fun. "And then I started to be an actor, and then I didn't have to get in for 6am and leave at 1am anymore. I got to do it for my friends and family, and I just fell in love with it again. "I can now give something back, and it's not like, having to cook food for horrible people, you know?'
