Martin Clunes on nepotism in the arts: ‘If you’re s*** you won’t get the gig. You’ve got to punch your weight’
Martin Clunes says the entertainment industry is “too on-show to carry a dolt”, and the children of successful actors don’t get work just because of who their parents are.
The 63-year-old actor is currently starring in county lines drama Out There opposite Louis Ashbourne Serkis, which sees a single-parent farmer and his teenage son tangle with drug-dealing gangs in Monmouthshire.
Clunes and Louis Ashbourne Serkis. Pic: ITV
Serkis is the son of Lord Of The Rings actor Andy Serkis and Sherwood star Lorraine Ashbourne, and starred in his first TV show, Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour, when he was just 10.
Clunes tells Sky News: “I was involved in [Serkis’s] casting, so it was just like, ‘Oh, this is Andy and Lorraine’s boy. Oh, that’s interesting. If he’s s***, he won’t get the… Sorry, if he’s no good, he won’t get the gig’.
“You’ve got to punch your weight, cos that’s how it works, I think the industry is too on-show to carry a dolt. If someone was awful at it and they just got the gig because of whose child they were, it would really show, and you’d mess your project up.”
The six-part drama is produced by Clunes’s wife Philippa Braithwaite, who also produced long-running ITV comedy-drama Doc Martin in which Clunes also starred.
Clunes goes on: “I think it’s just a point of interest – maybe you get a second look, or somebody is curious, or somebody knows them. But I don’t remember ever having met Andy and Lorraine before doing this [show].”
Clunes’s own father was golden age star Alec Clunes, who sadly died when Clunes was just eight. His maternal uncle was Sherlock Holmes actor Jeremy Brett, and his grandparents were music hall entertainers.
Alec Clunes (centre) with Julie Andrews (left) and his wife Daphne (right), Martin’s mum, in 1959. Pic: Reuters
‘The Year of the Nepo Baby’
New York Magazine called 2022 “The Year of the Nepo Baby” highlighting the number of famous “actors, singers, directors who just happen to be the children of actors, singers, directors”.
And earlier this year, Spice Girl Mel B’s daughter Phoenix Brown said nepo babies had never faced so much hate, particularly on social media.
The 25-year-old DJ and entrepreneur asked whether “nepo babies [were] taking the flak for wider inequality in society?” in a piece she wrote for the Radio Times earlier this year.
A nepo baby, short for nepotism baby, is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a person who gains success or opportunities through familial connections”.
Serkis too says he thinks there are misconceptions over perceived nepotism in the industry.
A young Louis (2nd left) with his family on the red carpet in 2012. Pic: Reuters
‘It’s a tough industry’
The 20-year-old actor tells Sky News: “If you hear a surname, you always think of an association, but growing up and acting, it’s never really been about that. It’s been about attacking the role that I’ve worked hard to get or that I’ve been lucky enough to audition for.
“I think when a casting director hears [your name], it’s nothing more than a surname. And the way that we look at it is that it can only get you so far because it’s a tough industry. It’s competitive. And roles aren’t just handed out based on who your father is or who your mother is. I think it’s kind of slightly misconceived.”
Serkis calls his working relationship with Clunes “a beautiful partnership”, while Clunes says that through “the shared trauma of the series” the characters get thrown closer together “jumpstarting the father-son thing”.
Clunes with Caroline Catz in Doc Martin. Pic: Rex Features
‘It ain’t Doc Martin’
The ITV drama marks Clunes’s first return to the screen after wrapping Doc Martin in 2022.
When asked if this role is “against type”, the BAFTA-winning actor insists, “I don’t know what my type is”, before conceding, “Certainly it ain’t Doc Martin”.
“Doing one thing for 18 years, you kind of get that watermarked through you a bit,” he adds.
The farming role has parallels with Clunes’s own life, who after moving out of London over a decade ago, lives on a 130-acre farm in Dorset which produces hay and haylage for equestrian use.
He can even drive a tractor and a digger, skills he puts to good use in the first episode of the drama. Serkis, meanwhile, who says he’s “grown up and lived in the city all my life”, got to learn to drive a tractor for the show.
Pic: ITV
The next Jeremy Clarkson?
While farming has been a hot topic in recent weeks, due to Labour’s rulings on farmland inheritance tax in the Autumn Budget, Out There was filmed in Wales over a year ago.
Clunes says: “Farming was there and it was in trouble while we were making this. It’s just got a magnifying glass over it at the moment… It’s been struggling for a long time.”
A man of many talents, Clunes jokes that his CV boasts “sword fighting and lambing”, adding “and I know how to get a dripper into a sheep’s mouth”.
But despite his farming ability, Clunes says he has no aspirations to become a celebrity mouthpiece for the farming community.
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Jeremy Clarkson tells govt to ‘back down’
While fellow celebrity Jeremy Clarkson, who owns Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds, has been vocal on the issue, Clunes has no ambition to get involved.
Asked if he too might join marches, or speak for the cause, Clunes is resolute: “No.”
When pushed, he says: “I have my opinions on it, but I’m not at the forefront of anything.”
While a reality series of Clunes’s Farm isn’t likely any time soon, Out There begins on ITV on Sunday at 9pm.
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
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Ashna Hurynag discusses Russell Brand’s charges
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
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The comedian has denied the accusations and said he has “never engaged in non-consensual activity”.
He added in a video on X: “Of course, I am now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
Tom Cruise has paid tribute to Val Kilmer, wishing his Top Gun co-star “well on the next journey”.
Cruise, speaking at the CinemaCon film event in Las Vegas on Thursday, asked for a moment’s silence to reflect on the “wonderful” times shared with the star, whom he called a “dear friend”.
Kilmer, who died of pneumonia on Tuesday aged 65, rocketed to fame starring alongside Cruise in the 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, playing Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky, a rival fighter pilot to Cruise’s character Maverick.
Tom Cruise said ‘I wish you well on the next journey’. Pic: AP
Val Kilmer in 2017. Pic: AP
His last part was a cameo role in the 2022 blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick.
Cruise, on stage at Caesars Palace on Thursday, said: “I’d like to honour a dear friend of mine, Val Kilmer. I can’t tell you how much I admire his work, how grateful and honoured I was when he joined Top Gun and came back later for Top Gun: Maverick.
“I think it would be really nice if we could have a moment together because he loved movies and he gave a lot to all of us. Just kind of think about all the wonderful times that we had with him.
“I wish you well on the next journey.”
The moment of silence followed a string of tributes from Hollywood figures including Cher, Francis Ford Coppola, Antonio Banderas and Michelle Monaghan.
Kilmer’s daughter Mercedes told the New York Times on Wednesday that the actor had died from pneumonia.
Tom Cruise at Caesars Palace on Thursday. Pic: AP
Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, Kilmer discussed his illness and recovery in his 2020 memoir Your Huckleberry and Amazon Prime documentary Val.
He underwent radiation and chemotherapy treatments for the disease and also had a tracheostomy which damaged his vocal cords and permanently gave him a raspy speaking voice.
Kilmer played Batman in the 1995 film Batman Forever and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of rock singer Jim Morrison in the 1991 movie The Doors.
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He also starred in True Romance and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, as well as playing criminal Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s 1995 movie Heat and Doc Holliday in the 1993 film Tombstone.
In 1988 he married British actress Joanne Whalley, whom he met while working on fantasy adventure Willow.
The couple had two children before divorcing in 1996.
Bruce Springsteen is to release seven albums of mostly unheard material this summer.
The US singer said the songs, written and re-recorded between 1983 and 2018, were being made public after he began completing “everything I had in my vault” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a short video posted on Instagram, Springsteen said the albums were “records that were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released”.
The 83-song collection is being released in a box set called Tracks II: The Lost Albums and goes on sale on 27 June.
Some 74 of the tracks have never been heard before.
Springsteen first teased the release on Wednesday morning with a short social media video accompanied by text which said: “What was lost has been found”.
Tracks II is the follow-up to the star’s first Tracks volume, a four-CD collection of 66 unreleased songs, released in 1998.
Bruce Springsteen at New York’s Carnegie Hall at a tribute to Patti Smith last month. Pic: PA
The New Jersey-born rocker, nicknamed The Boss, last released a studio album in 2022.
Only the Strong Survive was a collection of covers, including songs by Motown and soul artists, such as the Four Tops, The Temptations, The Supremes, Frankie Wilson and Jimmy Ruffin.
The late soul legend Sam Moore, who died in January and was a frequent Springsteen collaborator, sang on two of the tracks.
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Springsteen is coming to the UK in May to launch a two-month tour of Europe with his E Street Band.
The shows will include performances at the Co-op Live in Manchester and Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The singer-songwriter has sold more than 140 million records since his debut on the music scene in 1973, according to his website.
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