Robert Carlyle says it was 'a fantastic time to be him' when original Full Monty came out

Watch: The cast of Full Monty look back at the original

When The Full Monty originally came out in 1997 it became a pop culture phenomenon, catapulting its cast — led by Robert Carlyle — to superstardom and becoming the highest-grossing film in the UK that year (until the release of Titanic, at least) by earning a staggering £52.1m at the box office.

For Carlyle, who plays lead Gary ‘Gaz’ Schofield, the film’s release came during a wonderful period in his life, as he tells Yahoo UK that “it was fantastic to be [him]” in the 1990s.

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“The Full Monty certainly was a peak, Trainspotting had been made, I think, maybe 18 months before that,” the Scottish actor said.

“It also came along at a time where there was this kind of Brit-pop explosion [in] popular culture, fashion, [and] music.

“Britain was kind of front and centre in the world at that time, so it was a fantastic time to be alive and a fantastic time to be me back then, it was great.”

The original film followed a group of former steelworkers from Sheffield, led by Gaz, as they put on a strip show akin to The Chippendales in order to earn some money after being laid off six months earlier.

It became such a hit because it tapped into British sensibilities by tackling serious issues with a whimsical edge, and the new series is likely to do the same.

Disney+’s sequel returns to the characters 25 years later, the epic performance they did long forgotten as they are forced to deal with new problems, such as a lack of funding for the NHS or the Department for Work and Pensions finding people fit to work who are anything but, like Horse (Paul Barber). All highlighting real-life issues that have been caused by a government with little regard for people like them.

“Coming back to this had never really been in the ether, it had never really been something that had been mentioned,” Carlyle says of the new series.

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“I know that Simon [Beaufoy, the film’s writer and show creator] had been asked several times to come up with a sequel through the years, but it was never something that he was interested in.

“A couple of years ago he got in touch and said ‘look how about doing this now? 25 years later, [an] eight part TV show and looking at these people's lives, how they've been affected by the horrible, horrible 25 years of Conservative rule and all that's going on in their lives.’ And I thought ‘this sounds like a fantastic idea.’”

While Horse, Dave (Mark Addy), Lomper (Seve Huison), and Jean (Lesley Sharp) have their own barriers to climb in the sequel, for Gaz he has to face up to his failings as a father.

In the original film this was evident by his relationship with his son Nathan (Wim Snape), or lack thereof, and in the series it seems Gaz is still coming to grips with what it means to be a father given his absence in the life of his daughter Destiny (Talitha Wing).

“Can you have two Achilles heels? It's certainly one of his Achilles heels, the fact that he's just not been a very good father,” Carlyle says of his character.

“He’s been an absentee father, and I think that has brought him sadness in his life. I think his relationship with Nathan has reached a bit of an impasse. It's very difficult, but he has a second chance with Destiny.”

Wing says that she found building a father-daughter bond with Carlyle “really great”, adding: “It was just a very calm set and I felt very safe, and getting to work with so many amazing actors who have been doing it for a long time was such a blessing for me, because I felt really well looked after.”

Carlyle also feels that Gaz’s story in the TV show is something that will resonate with viewers who are experiencing the same thing.

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“As you join the piece he's kind of trying his best. He's trying his best to make up for lost time,” the actor goes on.

“I'm sure that, as a situation, is going to speak to quite a lot of people, quite a lot of men in that situation where they can't accept the responsibilities, a dereliction of duty, almost.

“So he's getting a chance to kind of go back again and to try and make things right.”

The Full Monty premieres on Wednesday, 14 June on Disney+.

Watch the trailer for The Full Monty