HarryGoodwinsgoesallin:OnTheGentlemen,GuyRitchieandEastEndRoots

Old friends Jack Brett Anderson and Harry Goodwins talk chivalry, brotherhood and East-London geezers.

 

WORDS Olive Walton

 

Speaking to East-London-raised actor Harry Goodwins you might not suspect he’s in the midst of a hugely promising acting career. The ease at which Goodwins and fellow actor and long-time pal Jack Brett Anderson recount their experiences navigating the acting industry feels like hearing your mates talk about a night out they had last weekend – if your mate ended up at a table with Guy Ritchie in the depths of London’s underground club scene.

 

The meet-cute between these gents is nothing short of what you’d expect either: dancing around the same table in a club in London’s West End when they weren’t quite 18 years old, while a long-lost cousin of Jack’s made the introduction between them.

 

The story that really drew me in was the journey of two lads from the outskirts of London ending up on our screens. In a world full of machismo and performative masculinity, these two shared tales of the mutual support and inspiration they’ve offered each other – from falling into their careers in the first place, to preparing for auditions together, to supporting each other through press runs.

 

Goodwins is best recognised for his role as the unhinged and unnerving underworld character Jack Glass in Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, a tale of an underground drug operation running on aristocratic land. Playing crime boss Susie Glass’s (Kaya Scodelario) hot-headed but loyal brother, Goodwins has captured the well-deserved attention of viewers and fans alike. Following an incredibly successful second season, the cast are now back in production for season three. “As soon as I read [the script], it kind of reminded me of a younger me. I used my 17, 18-year-old self as a strong basis. I mean, just the whole world really.” Having grown up around “gentlemanly geezers” and “elite boxers“, the parallels between the character and the actor who plays him aren’t possible to completely overlook. But it’s Goodwins’ ability to combine his authentic, friendly baseline demeanour with the intimidating Glass we see on screen that makes him such an exciting talent to watch.

 

Jack Brett Anderson: Good morning Harry my friend, nice to see you.

 

Harry Goodwins: Good Morning Jack. How are you mate? It’s been a while.

 

JBA: So Harold–

 

HG: Yes, Jack.

 

JBA: How do we know each other?

 

HG: I have known you for quite the while actually. We met when we were what, 16, 17? We actually met weirdly enough through one of your cousins.

 

JBA: I didn’t know she was my cousin. It was very bizarre. I didn’t know that we were family.

 

HG: That says more about you than me. We actually met through an old friend of mine, back in the day, in the old, West End clubbing days. I ended up in Whisky Mist and we got introduced by just being on the same table wasn’t it?

 

JBA: Yeah, dancing around the same table at Cranbury. I saw Megan on the way to an audition – didn’t know she was my cousin, we met on the train and  she invited me out to this night at  Whiskey Mist and you were there. She came up to us and said, “You two, you’re gonna be something. You are, I can see it,” and we were like, “Whatever, Jesus Christ, give it a break. Let’s get the drinks going,” and then all these years later we find ourselves doing this sort of stuff. It’s crazy.

 

HG: You were always doing this from the start pretty much, weren’t you? You’re a little thespian.

 

 

JBA: Yeah, from when I was at school, all the school plays and that. Christmas plays… Rudolph, that was a big one. Which leads on to my next question, my bro. You’ve pivoted into acting from a career of modelling. Was this always something you were planning to do or did something inspire you more recently?

 

HG: Modelling I stumbled into. I got scouted when I was 15 and it wasn’t long after that I started auditioning through the agency. I went up for a few things and then I ended up doing an indie movie when I was 16. From there I kinda got a taste for it. I was doing both alongside each other and I did actually start to prepare for drama school. I was doing all that with a guy called Chris Tucker, I think he went to Bristol Vic, and he said he saw something in me, whether he did or not I’m not sure, but he was training me up to do all the auditions because you’ve got to do three pieces and a song. I was kind of ready to do that because I thought that was something that I felt a passion for and wanted to do, but then I realised how much it cost and I was skint as fuck.

 

JBA: You also played football, no?

 

HG: I did play football. That was the role, they wanted someone that could play football, so I think that’s pretty much why I got it – just being honest. It also coincided with playing football, so that was really sort of the dream. I got a taste for it. I was still auditioning because I signed with an acting agent who was putting me up for things which I kept missing because modelling ended up taking off. So with that and then also the cost of drama school, I kind of put it on ice and just followed through with modelling. It was paying the bills and I got to travel the world and have life experiences. But you can only do that for so long, and also there’s no passion in that, so I was always going to come back round to acting after I’d rinsed [modelling] for what it was. Then I just thought I’d jump in the deep end. I moved to LA and I’m watching you, my best pal, just thriving in it, and I thought if he could do it, I’d have no chance [laughs]. But no, it’s always inspiring to watch you doing what you do and always be fulfilled by it, so you’re a big part of why I’m here, Jack, believe it or not. Probably never told you that before, but it’s okay. Maybe in drunken Marlboro moments.

 

“I was always going to come back round to acting after I’d rinsed [modelling] for what it was”

 

JBA: It’s nice to hear you say it. I think we all inspire each other in our own ways. We all play our parts in whatever it might be. It was interesting what you said about modelling, that there’s not much passion in it for you. I started out acting first, while you were modelling, but then I drifted over to get to do some modelling stuff, and I must say, I’ve done more of the runway stuff because of the Dolce [& Gabbana] thing, which is outrageous. But that stuff’s exciting, Harry. I quite like the runway stuff, man.

 

HG: The runway stuff is fun. It’s like doing a show. When you’re actually doing it, it’s fun because you get that boost of adrenaline, but it’s done in 30 seconds. When you’re doing that for 15 years and you’re going show to show to show, it becomes monotonous. There’s no excitement anymore and then you’re just a walking clothes rack basically. Not that I’m shitting on modelling, but you know what I mean?

 

JBA: Well, you had a transition.

 

HG: I have everything to thank for the transition.

 

JBA: You blossomed from it, Harry. Would you say that there are any film roles that first inspired you to want to act? Anything you first saw where you were like, “Yeah, I wanna do a bit of that”?

 

HG: I’m not just saying this because of The Gentlemen, but, you know I always wanted to work with Guy Ritchie, and I always thought that I would fit into that world.

 

JBA: You did, Yeah. I can testify to that.

 

HG: That was always something that I thought I’d fit really well in.

 

JBA: And here we are. You play Jack Glass in Guy Richie’s The Gentleman. What was the audition process like for that one?

 

HG: You came to visit me in LA and you had the audition, which I was more than happy to help with – as you know, we’re brothers, that’s what we do – and I think my first kind of thing was, “Jack, just think about me,” that was kind of the essence of it.

 

JBA: But what was interesting, Harry, if we remember correctly, is that the whole two weeks I came to visit you, to see your family, hang out. You were, as you just said, banging on about Guy Ritchie. You wanted to work with this man so much because you love his stuff. And then obviously that meeting came in for me to read for this part, and I almost couldn’t believe it. When I read it, I saw you. I saw you do it, and then obviously it was my meeting, and I was doing what I needed to do for it, but it was you. Then the moment came around for you to have the meeting, and obviously you smashed it, because you’ve got the job and you’re here doing it, and we’re doing this, which is a nice full circle moment, really.

 

HG: It’s amazing. I was more than chuffed that you got the audition. And it’s actually fucking amazing for us to have it where if you’re not gonna get it, your mate’s gonna get it.

 

JBA: I’d rather it go to you than some stranger.

 

HG: Literally. It’s all in the family. Especially in this industry, that’s so rare. It’s actually kind of an old school story you hear from back in the Ben Affleck days when they were all younger and their mates would all get it. If he didn’t get it, the other one got it. Not that I was trying to steal the job… I hope you forgive me.

 

JBA: That’s all right, I don’t mind. I forgive ya.

 

HG: When I read the part with you in the first place, I saw myself in that role. So when I got it through, I woke up, took the audition, my neighbours were screaming and shouting, the dog was barking. But I left that all in the audition like me telling the dog, “Shut the fuck up.” It felt like I was in a fucking lock stock or something.

JBA: Did you have any character references in mind that prepared you for the role?

 

HG: As soon as I read [the script], it kind of reminded me of a younger me. I used my 17, 18-year-old self as a strong basis. I mean, just the whole world really. On the boxing side, I’ve always boxed growing up, but then I got quite a few friends that are elite boxers and I’ve watched their careers as well, so I sort of fused them together.

 

JBA: I guess growing up in London as well gives you the kind of the anchoring of the sort of characters in this world. Do you think that the idea of a gentleman is outdated? Or is it just evolving?

 

HG: To me personally, I don’t think the idea of a gentleman is outdated or should ever be outdated. I can’t say the same for everyone else, and I can’t say the same for this next generation. I think there’s an etiquette to being a gentleman, right? The way to be and to think, a bit of chivalry, where you put someone else first.

 

JBA: The way you carry yourself.

 

HG: Yeah, grabbing the door for someone because you’re thinking of someone else, and not yourself. So if that’s ever lost, then I think we’re losing a sense of our humanity really.

 

“I don’t think the idea of a gentleman is outdated or should ever be outdated. I can’t say the same for everyone else, and I can’t say the same for this next generation. I think there’s an etiquette to being a gentleman, right?”

 

JBA: Was there a person in your life who shaped your idea of what a gentleman is?

 

HG: I would say my grandad. Old school grandads, do you know what I mean? I feel like they kind of teetered off that after their generation. Also, for myself, growing up in East London, it doesn’t matter what end of the scale you’re at, you know, it goes back to gangsters. They’re the most gentlemanly geezers in the world. Yeah. Do you know what I mean?

 

JBA: They’ve got code as well.

 

HG: You go round now and the old boys, they’re still sitting in there in their three pieces, you know?

 

JBA: Absolutely immaculate.

 

HG: Just to go and get the paper. By the time they get dressed, they’re getting tomorrow’s.

 

JBA: They’re bringing home stale milk.

 

HG: The bread’s gone off. I think particularly growing up in and around these areas, because I know the old East London, they’re actually probably more gentlemanly than at the other end. Do you know what I mean?

 

JBA: You’d find the Cockney commoner being more gentlemanly than even the upper end of a posh maybe or rich area.

 

HG: Yeah because there was integrity to it. There was a reason to be a gentleman. It wasn’t just a way of being, doing it meant something.

 

JBA: I agree with that. What are you excited for in your acting career that you haven’t been able to do yet?

 

HG: I think something that I can really sink my teeth into.

 

JBA: You know, Aegon Targaryen?

 

HG: I mean, that I would love to do just because, you know, I think the books are great, and I would love to do that just because you can really immerse yourself in that whole fantasy world and you know, they’re casting so that’s handy, right? But then I think something I could really sink my teeth into. Maybe something a bit psychological, where it’s not so much about your physicality. Continuing to challenge myself and show off my chops, if I got them. Just vary the variety, you know? No one wants to get pigeonholed. It keeps it fresh every time. And the chance to play as many different people as possible. I want to step in everyone’s shoes.

 

JBA: Well, I hope you get more things that are exciting for you. Congratulations on your new show.

 

HA: Cheers, mate.

 

JBA: And I’ll see you at the pub about 12 o’clock.

 

HG: Nice one, geez. I’ll be on the soda waters.