Yahoo News The Full Monty cast say fans of original shouldn't expect Disney+ show to be a remake
The TV show returns to the beloved characters 25 years later
Watch: The Full Monty cast discuss what fans can expect in the Disney+ series.
The Disney+ revival of The Full Monty is not a remake of the beloved 1997 film, nor should it be seen as such, the cast tells Yahoo UK.
The original follows a group of former steelworkers who decide to put on a Chippendales-like strip show for the locals in a bid to earn money after months of unemployment, but the sequel won’t see Gaz (Robert Carlyle) and the gang take their clothes off once more because the characters have other things to be worried about.
Wim Snape, who played Gaz’s son Nathan in the film and reprises the role in the series, says the Disney+ show will give fans a better understanding of these characters and their plights instead of seeing a reprisal of that iconic dance number.
“In the original film we had 90 minutes to really look at these characters, now we've got eight hours so we can really delve deeper into where these people are now 25 years later,” he explains.
“They've got kids, they've got grandkids, some of them, and all of these new Monties bring such a lovely fresh light into the series. If people are tuning in to think that we're remaking the film, we're not.
“We are transporting these guys 25 years on and we're looking at, socially and economically, where we are within society, and how these characters navigate their way through that.”
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Mark Addy, who portrays Gaz’s friend Dave once more said of original film writer Simon Beaufoy’s approach to the show: “He’s written a state of the nation piece that examines the NHS, the education system, the care system through the prism of characters that we're familiar with.”
Lesley Sharp, who returns as Jean in the sequel, felt similarly, saying that the film represented “a 90-minute snapshot of a particular moment” in the lives of the main characters, whereas the sequel is about much more.
“What is great about what we've got now is we've got 8 hours to dig into a whole community, not just us older characters and that central group of guys, but there's some fantastic young characters coming in with their stories,” she shares.
“What balances the writing always for Simon [Beaufoy, the film’s writer and show creator], it did in the original and I do think it does in the TV series too, is that he's at pains to present a community that, whilst they might be struggling and not have as much as other areas of the UK, still [has] a sense of warmth, community.
“The film was uplifting and I think that the television series, as well as digging into all of the things that we've mentioned, is also uplifting because it's a portrayal of really decent hard-working people trying to make their lives work, and I think that also accounts for [the original film’s] success worldwide.”
She adds: “I think that Simon and Alice [Nutter, co-writer for the show] have trodden a really delicate, beautiful line between the two, presenting one which is really hard-edged with no punches pulled and the other [is] really great humour, great wit and warmth.”
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In the case of Jean and Dave, the film only touched on their marital strife but it takes centre stage in the Disney+ show, with the couple struggling to come to terms with the loss of their baby years prior. For Dave this means taking a student at the school he works at under his wing, for Jean it means throwing herself into her work, and it was something Addy was particularly moved by.
“In the movie, Dave and Jean represented a kind of hope for the future,” Addy says.
“[But] 25 years on, we see their relationship reaching almost a point of crisis that they've been unable to communicate with each other about a tragedy that's happened to the two of them.
“That's probably mostly because of Dave not wanting to have that conversation when they really should, they need to have that conversation otherwise their relationship may be lost irreparably.”
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“It's a very real portrayal of where a marriage can end up if two people don't address what is fundamental exclusively to the two of them,” Sharp adds. “Because actually it's only the two people in a relationship who really understand the way it works.
“It’s not just Dave who's retreated, Jean’s way of dealing with her pain and loss is to move forward and to keep moving forward until she can't move forward anymore.
“Both of them have got to a point where retreating into the shed and moving forward will not work anymore.”
She went on: “As much as it pained me that Dave and Jane's relationship was in crisis, it was a very real mise-en-scene and it was dealt with in a really complicated, nuanced way.”
The Full Monty premieres on Disney+ on Wednesday, 14 June.
Watch the trailer for The Full Monty
