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.
Image: 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].”
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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.
Image: 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”.
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.
Image: 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”.
Image: 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.
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.
Austria has won Eurovision 2025, with Austrian-Filipino singer-songwriter JJ taking the glass microphone.
The 24-year-old singer, who originally trained as a countertenor, represented his country with his operatic ballad Wasted Love, staged on a storm-tossed ship.
The song, which was not dissimilar to that of last year’s winner Nemo, told the story of unrequited love, with a techno breakdown near the end. Austria has won Eurovision twice before, the last time in 2014 with Conchita Wurst’s pop hit Rise Like A Phoenix.
Image: JJ singing Wasted Love for Austria. Pic: Reuters
Israel’s Yuval Raphael, who survived the October 7, 2023, attacks which were the catalyst for Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, was the runner-up with piano ballad New Day Will Rise, performed in Hebrew, French and English.
The singer was left “shaken and upset,” after two pro-Palestinian protesters rushed towards her during her grand final performance.
Organisers confirmed a backstage crew member was hit with paint but was not hurt.
A spokesman for SRG SSR said: “At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier onto the stage.
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“They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit. The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police.”
Israel has won Eurovision four times, and last year finished in fifth place with Eden Golan’s Hurricane.
Image: Yuval Raphael performs New Day Will Rise for Israel. Pic:AP
Just as the grand final began broadcasting, Spanish broadcaster shared a message of Palestinian support which read: “When human rights are at stake, silence is not an option. Peace and justice for Palestine.”
The broadcaster had already received a warning from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) over political statements reported by Israeli broadcaster Kan.
The EBU said in response to the latter incident: “We can confirm that we have spoken to RTVE regarding this matter and made it clear that commentators are expected to maintain neutrality within the broadcasts of the Eurovision Song Contest.”
During the evening, there were also pro-Palestinian protests near the centre of Basel, as well as a small group nearby protesting with Israeli flags.
Israeli National Security Council had issued a warning to Israeli civilians in the city to keep a low profile during the competition.
In a change from last year’s contest in Malmo, Sweden, the ban on certain flags being waved by the audience was relaxed which meant Palestinian symbols could be seen in the arena.
Image: Remember Monday perform What The Hell Just Happened for the UK. Pic: AP
The UK’s act – country pop trio Remember Monday – who performed in colourful Bridgerton-style outfits – avoided the dreaded “nul points”, coming in at 19th place with song What The Hell Just Happened?
However, for the second year running, the UK received no points in the public score.
The UK has had five wins at Eurovision, but in recent years have struggled to rank, with the exception being Sam Ryder with Space Man in 2022, who came second.
Last year, Olly Alexander placed 18th at Malmo, and Mae Muller was second to last the previous year in Liverpool.
The Eurovision grand final took place in the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland, with the winner from among the 26 performing nations decided by a mix of public voting and points from national juries.
The four-hour-long show was presented by an all-female team – stand-up comedian Hazel Brugger, TV presenter Michelle Hunziker and Eurovision veteran Sandra Studer.
There were performances by previous Eurovision runners-up Croatia’s Baby Lasagna and Finland’s Kaarija, as well as last year’s winner Nemo during the night.
Image: KAJ perform Bara Bada Bastu for Sweden. Pic: AP
Sweden had been widely tipped to win with their sauna-themed entry Bara Bada Bastu (Just Sauna), but ended up coming fourth.
Ukraine, who have made a strong showing each since they first entered the competition in 2003, and who won in 2023, came ninth.
Last year protests and politics overshadowed the singing event amid the outbreak of war in Gaza, with some calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest.
Last year also saw Dutch singer Joost Klein kicked out of the competition by the EBU over alleged verbal threats to a female production worker, which he denied.
Next year’s competition, Eurovision’s 70th, will be held in Austria.
A second man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent after an incident at a London nightclub that allegedly involved US singer Chris Brown.
The Metropolitan Police said Omololu Akinlolu, 38, will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
Better known by his stage name HoodyBaby, the American rapper has been charged in connection with an alleged assault at the Tape nightclub in central London in February 2023.
Brown, 36, was charged on Thursday with grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody by judge in Manchester until 13 June.
He is accused of attacking music producer Abraham Diaw with a bottle during the incident in February.
During a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Brown watched intently as brief details of the case against him were outlined by prosecutor Hannah Nicholls.
She accused Brown of committing “an unprovoked attack with a weapon in a nightclub full of people”.
Brown spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, but did not enter a plea.
He will appear for a plea and trial preparation hearing in London on 13 June.
Brown – known for hits such as “Loyal”, “Run It” and “Under the Influence” – was arrested at a hotel in Manchester in the early hours of Thursday by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.
The Grammy Award-winning singer was due to tour the UK in June and July, with dates in Manchester, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Birmingham.