The Wind in the Willows
Mark Gatiss plays Rat
Playing Rat in The Wind in the Willows is a dream come true for Mark Gatiss.
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"I was extremely excited to be asked because The Wind in the Willows has the reputation and excitement of something like Hamlet. As a child, my favourite character was always Ratty, and I've been waiting for this part all my life. It could be the pinnacle of my career!
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"I just like the idea of him. He has a great attitude to life – sunny, lazy days by the river, a bit of rowing, and then getting down to the serious stuff like gins and tonics and a decent picnic with plenty of bloater sandwiches, pies, cold meats, pickled gherkins and ginger beer. I am giving it lots of David Niven."
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Mark found it a bit tricky to research how water rats behave.
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"I watched Ring of Bright Water because it was the closest I could get. Did you know that there aren't many movies with water rats as stars? But otters are brown and furry and like water, so that was my preparation.
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"I decided to give him tics and scratches and sniffs. We are humans with whiskers and in real life they do tickle my cheeks, so I'm forever scratching and that gets me into character.
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"My real nose looks like a prosthetic nose and I have sticky out ratty ears, which look very convincing. I wear a wig, and without it I look like a sewer rat, not a water rat, because my real hair is dark and has been shaved. The teeth are a bit uncomfortable because they are on wire and clip-on, but they give you such a good look."
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Adds Mark: "The costume, we decided, would not be terribly neat. Ratty would be suave, but he would have water marks on his trousers and shoes. It's a bit boho – Edwardian casual."
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Mark and the other cast members worked on their animal movements with choreographer Marcello Magni, formerly of the Theatre de Complicite.
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"I am mostly human, but I just do the odd thing like standing in a different way, or when I'm running, I try to make it more animated. We also decided that Ratty would sleep on his back, not like people.
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"I thought the twitches, as long as they are kept subtle, would be good, and I hold my hand, or paw, in a certain way."
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The biggest challenge for Mark was working in the hot Romanian summer.
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"In the winter sections we are wearing balaclavas and everyone was almost fainting. In one scene, we approach Toad Hall and I have three layers of tweed on and then an outer coat. It was 40 degrees, out in a sunny field with all that on, so you do lose a bit of weight.
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"Also, Rat is a water expert, unlike me. When I read in the script that Rat skulls excellently across the river I realised it would have to be a long shot with lots of close ups of my hands, as I can't row."
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Mark enjoyed having the chance to work with his old friend Matt Lucas, who plays Toad.
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"I knew Matt when he was nothing and it's great to work with him again. I didn't know Lee but we've all really enjoyed being together and experiencing Romania."
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Mark is one quarter of the award-winning comedy team The League of Gentlemen, which he both writes and performs. He is also an accomplished author and playwright.
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His other TV credits include: Fear of Fanny; Funland, Nighty Night; Match Point; The Quatermass Experiment; Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage; Footballers' Wives; Catterick and Little Britain.
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Says Mark: "We are officially having a year off from The League of Gentlemen and then we will reconvene and see what happens. It really helps doing other stuff and it's exciting and better when we all meet up again."
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