Exclusive Interview: Andrew Hayden-Smith Chats Cucumber And Doctor Who
With acting and presenting credentials under his belt, Andrew Hayden-Smith is a man of many talents. We caught up with him to discuss his latest projects!
Here at OnePopz, we're massive fans of Doctor Who so we'll personally always see Andrew as freedom fighter Jake Simmonds but others may recognise him as Ben from Byker Grove. From fighting Cybermen to filming raunchy scenes for Banana, Andrew Hayden-Smith has certainly played a diverse selection of roles.As well as acting, the gorgeous Geordie presents professionally too and his dulcet tones have recently been heard as an announcer on ITV2. You may also have seen him presenting The Hub on ITV's This Morning in 2013.
Most recently, Andrew performed at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester in an LGBT play titled 'Outings.' The show was based on several real-life coming out stories and it received great reviews from the audience the following day.
In our exclusive new interview, Andrew Hayden-Smith spoke about: filming Cucumber, working on Doctor Who and being nominated at this year's British LGBT Awards. Check out his answers to our questions below.
You recently performed at the Lowry Theatre for ‘Outings’. How did it feel to be part of the world’s first theatre show based on coming out stories?
"Yeah, fantastic. It was a privilege really, an honour. It's basically a series of coming out stories and there are four actors and we each have various monologues that tell a different story. Some of them are funny, some sad and they're all incredibly moving stories. So it was great to be able to be given a chance to do that."
Do you think events like that are important and do you think that there should be more of them in the future?
"Yeah, definitely. I mean we were just saying, the cast, the other day that not just gay people should come and see this but everyone should come and see it. It's such a fantastic show and people should realise that not everyone has an easy coming out and it's not always the same, it's completely different every time."
For people who haven’t heard, what was your coming out story? Did your friends and family take it pretty well?
"My family have been great. I think I was about 21 when I came out so that's 10 years ago now and they were absolutely fine with it. Maybe it took a little while to get used to but they've definitely come around to it."
And did you feel more pressure as someone in the public eye?
"I perhaps felt a little bit of pressure to come out publicly; only because at the time I was working as a kid's TV presenter. I think it was possibly going to become a bit of a press story so I decided to do it publicly in a magazine to sort of get it out of the way, get it out in the open and that took the pressure off once it was done."
Were you happy with the reaction you got from everyone?
"Yeah, I got a great reaction. I got lovely letters from parents of the viewers who used to watch CBBC; that was great. And in Attitude, when I came out in there, I got lots of nice letters sent to the magazine so that was great."
So what advice would you give to someone struggling with their sexuality or finding it hard to come out?
"Well the great thing about now is that online there are so many websites devoted to coming out. R U Coming Out is a great website that my friend Wayne runs. I've done my coming out story on there and there are loads of stories on there. You can just go through them and read about other people's experiences and how they dealt with it so it offers some great advice. And there are loads of other charities as well out there which is a nice comfort to know that they are on hand."
And you’re currently nominated in the 'Celebrity Rising Star' category at this year's British LGBT Awards. Congratulations. How does it feel to be on the shortlist?
"Thank you. Yeah, fantastic. I'm over the moon. 2015 is actually 20 years ago since I started on the set of Byker Grove so to be nominated for the Rising Star award is great. It means I must be doing something right." *laughs*
You’ve recently starred in Banana and Tofu - can we expect to see you in ‘Cucumber’ soon?
"Yeah, definitely. I'm back in 'Cucumber'. You might spot me at the end of next week's episode and you'll see a bit more of me in the last episode."
And how was it filming the show? Was it good to be working with Russell T Davies again?
"Yeah, fantastic. I mean it's such a fresh and exciting concept - the three interconnecting shows and the way the characters cross over in Cucumber and Banana so it's just great to be involved with a project as exciting as that. The buzz has been fantastic as well."
Russell obviously wrote Queer As Folk back in the day, how would you compare the shows to Queer As Folk?
"Well they've definitely been brought up to speed with modern day gay life because obviously Queer As Folk was about 15/16 years ago now so things have changed. Gay people can get married now. Society is slightly more accepting I think of gay people and gay culture so that sort of thing has been incorporated into the script of Cucumber. And also, Queer As Folk was more about partying really and the younger characters whereas Cucumber is a story about their gay lifestyle, their break-up and that Henry's coming to terms with that."
"Tofu is an online documentary so basically some of the cast have their say about certain experiences and how they think about sex. There are lots of great characters on there actually and some very funny stories. It's just a nice little addition to the trio really that Ben Cook and Russell worked on. Very luckily, I've managed to be in all three shows which is just a dream really. It's fantastic."
We have to mention Doctor Who, what was it like being part of what’s arguably Britain’s biggest TV show?
"Oh yeah, fantastic. It was quite a long time ago now but it's great that I still get asked about it and that I still get to do Comic Con type events through the show. It was so much fun to do. Working with David and Billie was great and I've very fond memories of my time in Cardiff on Doctor Who."
And like you said, you’ve attended conventions all over the world. Does it ever feel surreal that people in so many countries want your autograph and a photograph with you?
"Yeah. I mean the first time I went to the States for Gallifrey One, one of the big conventions over there, I couldn't quite get my head around the fact that people over in LA knew who I was and that they'd been watching the show. So that's just lovely really and the fans are fantastic; I think the show has some of the best fans of any show. They're so loyal to it and so passionate about it so I always enjoy meeting fans of the show wherever I go."
Have you seen much of the latest seasons? And if Steven Moffat asked, would you return to play Jake?
"I haven't seen too much of it. I saw a little bit of Matt's series but no, I need to catch-up actually. I'd love to play Jake again, it was so much fun so I would like to see him make an appearance. He's the sort of character that could pop up anywhere so yeah, maybe one day. We'll see."
Looking back at your career, from Byker Grove to Cucumber, what would you say are your personal highlights?
"I think most recently, probably Doctor Who and then working on Cucumber. I mean they're two completely different shows but both equally as exciting as each other and just fantastic to be a part of. Like I said, the buzz and hype around both of them is excellent and just really exciting to be associated with that."
If you could leave a message for everyone who’s supported you on your journey, what would you say?
"Thank you so much. It's great getting feedback and I have some lovely Twitter followers. On Facebook, I always get some great messages. It's so appreciated and thank you to whoever nominated me for the British LGBT Award. It's lovely."
Andrew can next be seen in an all-new episode of 'Cucumber' on Channel 4 at 9pm on the 5th March. We were completely blown away by this week's episode of the show so we can't wait to see what happens next week. Without wanting to spoil it, we will say that latest edition of the programme was utterly heartbreaking.
Make sure you don't forget to vote for Andrew here in the 'Celebrity Rising Star' category of this year's British LGBT Awards. Over the years, he's done a lot of work for the LGBT community and he even starred in an Albert Kennedy Trust campaign. Andrew would be a very worthy winner so we're keeping our fingers crossed for him.
So what does the rest of 2015 have in store for Andrew? We can expect lots more acting, presenting and guest appearances at conventions. You can keep up to date with Andrew's latest projects here on his official Twitter page.
