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fuckyeahgoodomens · 4 months

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Ooh! A wonderful interview with Rich Keeble who played Mr. Arnold (the one with the Doctor Who Annual :)) in S2! :)❤

Q: In Good Omens 2 you play Mr. Arnold, who runs the music shop on Whickber Street. Were you a fan of Good Omens before joining the cast, and is it challenging to take on such an iconic story which is already loved by a huge fanbase?

A: “There’s always pressure if you’re working on something with an existing fanbase and people might have an idea already as to how you should be approaching something. To be honest I was aware of the show but I hadn’t actually seen it before I was asked to get involved. I knew it was something special though! I remember talking to Tim Downie [Mr. Brown] about how when you tape for certain things you know if something’s a “good one”. Of course by the time I was on set I’d watched Season 1 and read the book.

I had an interesting route into the show actually: I was asked at the last minute to read the stage directions at the tableread on Zoom, and Douglas [Mackinnon] the director called me up to discuss pronunciations of the character names etc. To prepare further I quickly watched the first episode on Prime Video, and I was very quickly drawn into it. A couple of hours later I was on a Zoom call with David [Tennant], Michael [Sheen] (with his bleached hair), Neil [Gaiman], Douglas and the whole team, including Suzanne [Smith] and Glenda [Mariani] in casting. After that readthrough I asked my agent to try and see if she could shoehorn me in and she came back with a tape for Mr. Arnold saying “you play the piano don’t you…?” They wanted me to demonstrate my musical playing ability, so I rented a rehearsal studio room in Brixton for an hour and filmed myself playing piano (and drums just in case), then I did my scenes a couple of different ways and I guess it wasn’t too terrible!”

Q: During episode five you mimed to music written by series composer David Arnold alongside a real string quartet – this must have been very immersive! How did it feel to work with David, and bring the ball to life?

A: “I actually didn’t meet David Arnold sadly, but I did work with Catherine Grimes, the music supervisor who is lovely. David was at the London screening but I missed an opportunity to go and say hello to him which I kicked myself about.

I remember before I was in Scotland there was a bit of uncertainty as to whether I would need to play anything for real or not, so I practised every day playing loads of Bach and other music I thought was era-appropriate just in case they asked me to do anything on the fly. So yes, it was very immersive as you say! They sent me three pieces of music to learn which I practised in my Edinburgh apartment on a portable folding keyboard thing I bought. They introduced me to the string quartet (John, Sarah, Alison and Stephanie) and I tried to hang out with them when I could. On the day we all had earpieces to mime to. I had to mime while listening out for a cue from Nina [Sosanya] from across the room, then deliver my dialogue and carry on playing, which was tricky! The quartet and I helped each other out actually: Douglas would say something like “let’s go from a minute into the second piece of music”, I’d look at the sheet music and whisper “where the hell is that?” and one of the quartet would say “we think that’s bar 90” or something. Here’s a little bit of trivia: the shooting overran and the string quartet couldn’t make the last day, so they found some incredible lookalikes to replace them for the scene when we get lead out of the bookshop through all the demons, although I think they also kept them deliberately off camera.”

Q: What did you think of your music shop when you first saw the set? Did you have a favourite poster or prop?

A: “I thought it was incredible! It could’ve been an actual music shop with all the instruments hanging up with the “Arnold’s” price tags on. The attention to detail was incredible, well IS incredible as I understand it’s all still there. It’s hard to pick a favourite to be honest. I did a little video walkaround on my phone at the time so maybe I’ll post that if I won’t get in trouble. Interestingly the shop interior itself was elsewhere on the set to the shop entrance you see from the street. You walk out of Aziraphale’s shop, over the road, through the door of the music shop and… there’s nothing.”

Q: Mr. Arnold is tempted into the ball by a Doctor Who Annual and is playing the theme in the music shop scene – are you a fan of Doctor Who in real life? And what was it like making those jokes and references in front of the Tenth Doctor David Tennant?

A: “I’ve always dipped in and out of Doctor Who over the years since Sylvestor McCoy, who was doing it when I first became aware of it when I was growing up. Even if you’re not a fan it’s one of those shows you can’t really get away from, so doing that particular scene in front of David was really fun, and of course Douglas had directed Doctor Who as well. Apart from the amusing situation of two supposed Doctor Who fans talking about Doctor Who without realising they’re in the company of a Doctor Who, I also seem to remember Michael being the one to suggest that he would deliver his “due to problems at the BBC” line directly to David.

Oh, and I think it was actually my idea to grab the annual off the harpsichord before joining the queue behind Crowley at the end of the ballroom scene (which we’d shot weeks earlier at this point). When we were blocking it out and rehearsing I knew I had to leave my position and get to the front for my “surrender the angle” line, and then later it just felt like I wouldn’t leave without the annual so I ran back through everyone to grab it. Nobody seemed to have a problem with me doing that so I just carried on doing it when we shot it! I do remember it being a fun set with Douglas and the team being very open to suggestions.”

Q: How did you balance filming both Good Omens and BBC Ghosts at the same time?

A: “Luckily both shows were a joy to work on, and everyone seems to know about both of them. We were shooting them in early 2022 and I also had a little part in an ITV drama called ‘Stonehouse’, starring Matthew Macfadyen. I usually never know when I’m working next so to have three great TV jobs at once was very unusual. There was all this date juggling and I actually almost had to turn down Ghosts due to clashes. Luckily both shows had to move some dates so it worked out. But yes, I spent two weeks up in Scotland shooting all that Good Omens ballroom stuff, then I came back down to London to do Ghosts, knowing I’d be back up to shoot my scenes in the music shop in a couple of weeks. Now, when I found out who was playing my wife in Ghosts I couldn’t believe it: Caroline Sheen – Michael Sheen’s cousin! She was amazing and that was another great set in general. I say “set”, but it’s all filmed in that house which surprised me. I’d worked with Kiell [Smith-Bynoe] and Jim [Howick] before, and Charlotte [Ritchie] was in the Good Omens radio play a few years ago and a big fan of the book. Charlotte’s very musical of course and we got talking about my folding keyboard I had for practising my Good Omens stuff, and she ended up setting it up in the house for us to have a play on!

Now, when we’d shot all our internal scenes there was this big storm forecast, and our external scenes were scheduled for the day of the storm, so that had to be moved into the next week. It meant I ended up shooting those scenes outside the house, then going straight back up to Scotland to shoot the Good Omens music shop scene the next day! When I mentioned to Michael I’d just worked with Caroline he said “ooh she’s in Ghosts is she!” and revealed that she’d texted him about me which was rather surreal. Then later after the Ghosts wrap party Kiell gave me a part in his Channel 4 Blap, so at the time I felt like I was killing it career wise, but the industry quietened a bit after that and my workload eased off over the year so I was in my overdraft by November.”

Q: What are your plans for the future – can we expect to see you in something else soon?

A: “This year, after a bit of a quiet start, I was very fortunate to work on a Disney+ show called Rivals which stars… David Tennant! I think I’m allowed to say my character is called Brian, and I shot five episodes so that was another really amazing job, and great to work with David again (I told him he must be my good luck charm, although I hope he’s not sick of me). That should be out at some point in late 2024. Other than that I’ve filmed a few other bits I presume will be out next year, one of which is called Truelove on Channel 4 which actually looks really good. That starts early January. Of course now Season 3 of Good Omens has been greenlit, I would love Neil and the gang to have me back on that… but I can only keep my fingers crossed!”

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swirlingthings · 7 months

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The new extended version of Good Omens Is Heaven For Autistic People is live!!

My love letter to Good Omens, the fan community and my own identity is now full of even more love. 💗🥂

#good omens #good omens 2 #aziraphale #crowley #neil gaiman #good omens meta #good omens analysis #meta analysis #autistic aziraphale #autistic #autism #actually autistic #good omens essay #good omens theory #autistic coded character #michael sheen #good omens prime #swirlywords

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denimbex1986 · 4 months

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'...You’ve featured in the television adaptations of both Good Omens and The Sandman, so you’re a familiar face for many fans of Neil Gaiman! Did you feel that sense of familiarity when approaching The Sandman, or did the differing tones of both stories and the contrasting roles you were given mean that your experience working on each of them was very different?

“I had no idea when I was cast as Harriet Dowling in Good Omens that I would have the privilege of inhabiting yet another of Neil Gaiman’s incredible worlds years later. Neil is one of the most exciting, courageous, and brilliant minds of our time, and I always feel so exhilarated stepping onto one of his sets. Good Omens and The Sandman are very distinct tonally, as were my roles, which contributed to the experiences feeling very different to each other. It’s quite a thrill being able to play characters that are so contrasting. I mean, can you imagine Harriet Dowling having coffee with The Good Doctor?”

Is it challenging to take on such iconic stories which are already loved by a huge fanbase? How do you approach that, and what has it been like for you to see the fan reception to the adaptations of The Sandman and Good Omens?

“There’s definitely a pressure to do justice to the extraordinary source material that is so beloved by fans the world over. Luckily, I was in very safe hands with the creative team and my fellow cast. My process involves doing as much research and preparation as I possibly can, and then trusting that enough to throw it all away and, as Sanford Meisner famously said, “live truthfully under imaginary circumstances.” Seeing the fan response to both Good Omens and The Sandman has meant so much. In my opinion, these fandoms are as good as it gets – the epitome of creative and kind humans.”

#Jill Winternitz #Good Omens #The Sandman #Neil Gaiman #Sanford Meisner #Harriet Dowling #The Good Doctor

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tvsotherworlds · 5 months

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swirlingthings · 8 months

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my love letter to good omens, the fan community and my own identity 🥂❤️

Good Omens Is Heaven For Autistic People - An In-Depth Look

#good omens #good omens 2 #aziraphale #it took me two months to write this #im rather tired #but it’s all fine #good omens analysis #autistic aziraphale #renew good omens #swirlywords #autism #actually autistic #good omens meta #meta analysis

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swirlingthings · 8 months

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Hi Tumblr!! I thought I’d share a small extract from my new blog post ‘Good Omens Is Heaven For Autistic People - An In-Depth Look’! I touch on a lot of different things including Aziraphale’s behaviour, his relationship with Heaven and their moral framework versus his relationship with Crowley, as well as his arc across both seasons of the show (and looking forward to season 3). I’m so proud of it, and the response so far has been incredible. I’ll include a link to the full piece at the bottom of this post. Thank you for reading! ❤️🥂

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Aziraphale has interests in food, books (particularly books of prophecy and rare texts), music (mostly classical – this also links to his love of dance) and most of all: magic tricks. When engaging with these interests, his behaviour becomes much more physically expressive. No other episode of Good Omens makes this clearer than S2E4 ‘The Hitchhiker’ – not in the main present day plot, but the minisode ‘Nazi Zombie Flesheaters’ (‘NZFE’). Written by Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman, the minisode is a direct continuation of the iconic 1941 ‘Lift Home?’ scene from the Good Omens S1E3 cold open.

Crowley drives Aziraphale to The Windmill Theatre where he needs to drop off some whiskey to Mrs Henderson (Dame Siân Phillips), only to discover that the bottles were smashed due to Crowley parking his Bentley close to the church that was bombed. Aziraphale then offers to fill the role of the magician who was meant to be performing at the theatre that very night, partly to repay Crowley’s good deed of saving his books and partly for the joy of doing magic tricks on a West End stage. The pair return to the bookshop where Aziraphale gleefully demonstrates a sleight of hand coin trick. It is perhaps the most joyful we have ever seen him, and his physical movement reflects this extreme emotion that he is processing. It’s not hard to see why many autistic fans immediately drew comparisons to ‘stimming’ here.

One of the reasons this minisode was so anticipated is because Aziraphale falls in love with Crowley in 1941. Aziraphale disclosing his love of magic, or certainly the extent of it, to anyone other than Crowley is difficult to imagine, and for this to happen at this stage in their relationship is telling. He has just begun viewing Crowley in a different way and is now openly engaging with something he knows the other celestial/demonic beings do not understand in front of him, and with him.

After Crowley expresses some concern over whether a coin trick is appropriate for a West End stage, Aziraphale comments that he is not a professional conjurer, much to Crowley’s dismissal. Aziraphale is delighted by this, not just because of the excitement of what he is about to undertake but also because Crowley believes in him.

—

Good Omens does not combat preconceived ideas of autism held by neurotypical people because there are no explicitly autistic characters. This limits how much it can actually challenge stereotypes or make people think differently, as most of the audience will not connect what they are seeing to their idea of autism. However, I do think it does help to challenge the notion that certain personality traits or behaviours which are common in autistic people are “weird”, or some other kind of negative thing. Stimming in particular is often viewed negatively by neurotypical people, but in Good Omens you are supposed to notice how heavily Aziraphale masks when in Heaven, and you’re supposed to see how comfortable he is around Crowley because their love story (and Aziraphale’s journey of accepting himself fully) is at the very centre of the show. He usually stims the most when he is engaging in something which brings him joy, like magic, and seeing him do this openly in front of Crowley is heartwarming.

It is refreshing and beautiful to see an autistic-coded character be so completely and passionately adored, and for this to be at the heart of the piece of media. Autistic characters are rarely shown as love interests; they’re often not adults at all. Aziraphale and Crowley are very different from each other, but again, this works naturally as part of the story and is not done as a way of “othering” either one of them. They also understand each other, and even though at times their communication hasn’t been clear, this is mostly related to their differing morals and perceptions of Heaven and Hell. Aziraphale is completely free around Crowley and doesn’t mask any aspect of himself when they’re together – if that’s not true love, then I’m not sure what is.

Good Omens Is Heaven For Autistic People - An In-Depth Look. swirlywords.

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denimbex1986 · 4 months

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'...Mr. Arnold is tempted into the ball by a Doctor Who Annual and is playing the theme in the music shop scene – are you a fan of Doctor Who in real life? And what was it like making those jokes and references in front of the Tenth Doctor David Tennant?

“I’ve always dipped in and out of Doctor Who over the years since Sylvestor McCoy, who was doing it when I first became aware of it when I was growing up. Even if you’re not a fan it’s one of those shows you can’t really get away from, so doing that particular scene in front of David was really fun, and of course Douglas had directed Doctor Who as well. Apart from the amusing situation of two supposed Doctor Who fans talking about Doctor Who without realising they’re in the company of a Doctor Who, I also seem to remember Michael being the one to suggest that he would deliver his “due to problems at the BBC” line directly to David.

How did you balance filming both Good Omens and BBC Ghosts at the same time?

“Luckily both shows were a joy to work on, and everyone seems to know about both of them. We were shooting them in early 2022 and I also had a little part in an ITV drama called ‘Stonehouse’, starring Matthew Macfadyen. I usually never know when I’m working next so to have three great TV jobs at once was very unusual. There was all this date juggling and I actually almost had to turn down Ghosts due to clashes. Luckily both shows had to move some dates so it worked out. But yes, I spent two weeks up in Scotland shooting all that Good Omens ballroom stuff, then I came back down to London to do Ghosts, knowing I’d be back up to shoot my scenes in the music shop in a couple of weeks. Now, when I found out who was playing my wife in Ghosts I couldn’t believe it: Caroline Sheen – Michael Sheen’s cousin! She was amazing and that was another great set in general. I say “set”, but it’s all filmed in that house which surprised me. I’d worked with Kiell [Smith-Bynoe] and Jim [Howick] before, and Charlotte [Ritchie] was in the Good Omens radio play a few years ago and a big fan of the book. Charlotte’s very musical of course and we got talking about my folding keyboard I had for practising my Good Omens stuff, and she ended up setting it up in the house for us to have a play on!

What are your plans for the future – can we expect to see you in something else soon?

“This year, after a bit of a quiet start, I was very fortunate to work on a Disney+ show called Rivals which stars… David Tennant! I think I’m allowed to say my character is called Brian, and I shot five episodes so that was another really amazing job, and great to work with David again (I told him he must be my good luck charm, although I hope he’s not sick of me). That should be out at some point in late 2024. Other than that I’ve filmed a few other bits I presume will be out next year, one of which is called Truelove on Channel 4 which actually looks really good. That starts early January. Of course now Season 3 of Good Omens has been greenlit, I would love Neil and the gang to have me back on that… but I can only keep my fingers crossed!”

#Rich Keeble #Ghosts #Mr. Arnold #Good Omens #Doctor Who #Michael Sheen #David Tennant #Neil Gaiman #Stonehouse #Matthew McFayden #Rivals #Disney+#Truelove #Jim Howick #Caroline Sheen #Charlotte Ritchie #Kiell Smith-Bynoe #Sylvester McCoy

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