Lydia Rose-Bewley
Plebs burst onto ITV2 earlier this year and brought Rome back to life in the funniest way we’ve seen for quite some time.
With the show now available on Blu Ray and DVD, we talked to one of the stars of the show and The Inbetweeners Movie alum Lydia Rose Bewley about how her love of Carry On films made her want the part so badly and why toga parties in Bulgaria aren’t the best idea.
The show got some great reviews when it was on the air, but what feedback did you get?
I don’t read the reviews, but my friends are loving it. I keep getting texts coming through after each episode from everybody. People have started quoting the show, I love that. Really random lines from the show too that people have just seemed to have picked up on.
You filmed the show over in Bulgaria, so what was that like?
Bulgaria was great, although it really did take some getting used to. I’ve been away on location before, but never for that long. Bulgaria was lovely though and crew were great, as they were mainly Bulgarian.
Anything in particular that was hard to get used to being on location?
I kinda missed having a cat around. We were in a hotel room for six weeks which got a little bit difficult, but I made it look like my room at home. I brought all this stuff with me like photographs and my snow dome to make it look more like my normal bedroom. I have no idea what the cleaners thought was going on every day.
So what was it about Plebs that made you really want to be a part of it?
I really love anything that was period based and one of the main reasons I wanted to be an actor was to be in a different time. So Plebs really appealed to me and when I heard about it a bit before casting started I knew I really wanted to be a part of it. It’s just perfect to be able to do a job set in Rome and you get to wear costumes all the time.
I grew up loving the Carry On films. It wasn’t Shakespeare that got me acting; it was the Carry On films and Sid James. I really think there’s a great scope for comedy with ancient Rome and I think we’ve proved that again with stuff like those sacrificial meats, I really do love that bit. I just think it’s quite magic as an actor to pretend you’re in another time, and over in Bulgaria the sets were insane and beautiful. You really felt like you were there.
Do you think this can kick off a whole new wave of period comedies?
I think so yeah, there are quite a few of those waiting in the wings and I think Plebs will be just the first to come out. I loved Maid Marion and Her Merry Men when I was a kid and I think people remember things like that. Look at Up Pompeii, I wasn’t even born when that came out but I’m talking about it now.
Ever get tempted to throw a big ‘Animal House’ style Toga party?
No (laughs). I think it’s because we had so many scenes like in the last episode we had big party scenes and it was really cold. You don’t really want to be in your toga for too long when it’s chilly outside.
The show’s been compared to The Inbetweeners, but how do you think they compare to each other?
Obviously they compare, simply because of the age range and the humours fairly similar with the really witty back and forth conservations. In one the episodes, the guys are fighting over sacrificial meats and wondering what the Gods would think about it. You don’t really tend to find you can do that in modern comedy. I like the youthfully energy of it too, you can get away with so much more when you’re young.
Being in the Inbetweeners film a couple of years ago, what was it like when that film just took over the Summer box office here in the UK?
It was really exciting and I’m so proud to have been a part of it. It was a dream come true, if just a little bit surreal. I think when you get any job it’s surreal though. Getting into Plebs was surreal for me because I’ve wanted to be in it for so long. When something does really well, it just makes it complete. You put so much hard work into something and you find it funny, so you just hope that someone else will. When they do it’s just brilliant.
The Plebs guys futilely wrestling with some pillars.You’re doing Drifters next with your Inbetweeners co-star Jesica Knappett (who also writes the show), are you looking forward to doing that?
I cannot wait to do Drifters. I’m so proud of her; she’s done a brilliant job. It’s wonderful; I just get to act with my mates. Both Jessica and Lauren are really good friends and I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a long time coming so to finally get underway filming it is going to be great.
What can we expect from Drifters then?
You can expect three girls making t**s of themselves, having fun and showing a totally different side of the female psyche. Men will definitely be seeing a different side of Girls than they have before.
So what’s next for you then?
I would really love to do some theatre, but nothing’s on the cards yet. I started off in theatre a few years ago, so it would be lovely to go back there and do that.
‘Plebs’ is out on Blu Ray and DVD now, and we’ve got a that ‘sacrificial meats’ clip that Lydia loves right here for you.