"people talk a lot of shite about acting," says Christopher Eccleston, arguably Britain's most plain-spoken actor, on and off the screen. "And 
a lot of people suffer for believing that shite. It's about telling the truth about a situation. It's not rocket science. You need training and 
there's technique, but it's basically about telling the truth." 
  No great surprise there, then. It's the kind of approach you might expect from a man who made his name working with the likes of Jimmy McGovern 
and Danny Boyle, and in TV dramas that must by law be described as 'grittY', such as Hillsborough, Our Friends In The North and Cracker. In fact, 
Christopher Eccleston might well be the Anti-Luvvie. This is his truth, tell him yours... 
  "I like to think stuff like the stuff I've done demonstrates you can still make television with some intelligence and integritY, which is the 
telly I was brought up on; intelligent, issue-based drama. As a teenager I was very affected by Alan Clark and Ken Loach's stuff - Boys From The 
Black Stuff and the Monday and Wednesday plays they used to have." 
  Eccleston is a strong believer in TV as the most important medium, in this country at any rate, and has done much of his best work on it. Which 
makes it even more of a departure for Eccleston to be playing a leading role in Shekhar Kapur's new period drama, Elizabeth. We'll forgive him, 
though, considering it's a pretty radical departure from the Merchant Ivory school of mood and manners or the pompous, sub-Shakespearean theatrical 
approach you've seen so many times before. 
  Instead it manages to make a human being out of Queen Elizabeth I, thanks in no small part to Cate Blanchett's startlingly fine performance in 
the lead role. Eccleston plays her sworn enemy, the Duke Of Norfolk, with impeccably malevolent stYle. 
  "I took this part because for once they exercised a bit of imagination. That way you get better performances. Who's the obvious casting for Duke 
Of Norfolk? Hugh Grant? He probably would have just phoned it in - they don't have to try..." 
  Warming to his subject, our Chris propounds his own class critique of the situation. 
  "It seems to me they're more willing to have Daniel Day-Lewis drop down a class than have working-class actors play up a class, and I'm not sure 
what that's about, politically. And it was nice for me to play someone with a bit of power for once. All the other roles I've played have been 
powerless. Which, again, I suspect might have something to do with being a working- class actor." 
  Never mind, as a lifelong Man United fan, surely the greatest thrill was getting to play alongside Eric Cantona. If not on a football pitch... 
  "I thought he did OK playing a French courtier. He was nervous and seemed shy, but there was a great moment in the filming. There was a throne at 
the centre of the scene, and everyone wanted to sit on it, but did it just nervously as a joke. Then Eric strolled in and sat straight down on the 
throne. He knows his place - he's still the king." 
  Likewise, Christopher Eccleston knows his place - a no-bullshit bastion of truth and justice. And, incidentally, one of the best actors of his 
generation.


Johnny Cigarettes.