Sorted - new drama series for Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE
Hugo Speer plays Charlie King
It's fair to say that Hugo Speer doesn't think much of sorting office manager Charlie King.
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"He's pretty morally bereft, he's very self-centred, he's got delusions of grandeur – he
likes to exercise his power, but though he's labouring under this grave misconception
that he is powerful, he's just a little boss in a little sorting office. He's
not a good man," says Hugo, just for starters.
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And viewers discover this too not long into the very first episode of Sorted when it transpires that behind his friendly façade, Charlie actually hasn't been that much of a pal at all and isn't really one of the gang with the others.
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"What shocks me about him is that he fails to learn from his mistakes," Hugo continues with a shake of his head. "He gets caught out but he doesn't learn – he still believes he's got the right to behave this way. It's that sort of self-centredness, his ego, which I think is very unattractive about him."
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Grinning broadly, the Yorkshire-born actor jokes: "He must have redeeming features – but I don't know what they are!"
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Perversely, though, his very awfulness is what attracted Hugo to the part. "It's quite fun actually [to play]," he laughs. "I think you spend your life trying to be the best person you can be, so to actually allow yourself to be morally slack beyond belief is fun.
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"He just makes me laugh, you want to say to him 'Will you ever learn?' Human beings are supposed to be self-correcting organisms, we're supposed to be the synthesis of our parents and get better all the time – but this guy is just a complete tosser! He's got a twisted morality and can justify the weirdest things to himself."
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In the Nineties Charlie was a successful businessman with a timeshare company and property developments, but it all collapsed and he found himself working for the Royal Mail to make ends meet. Hugo thinks it was tough for him to take and that he relishes his recent promotion from postman to manager.
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"He pays lip service to the chummy thing with the other guys but he loves being top dog. I think it puts him in a position where he feels comfortable. He wants to be mates but he's delighted that he's on top, that he's got his white shirt and his tie while the lads are still in their blue shirts and fleeces."
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Talking about Charlie's image, Hugo reveals that he had a particular person in mind to model him on...
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"My thinking behind this one was the Sven-Goran Eriksson look," smiles the football-mad actor.
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"Here's a guy who's in a position of power, he's not an oil
painting – in
my opinion, though I'm not a girl... But he seems to be able to have these
affairs and beautiful, glamorous women love him, so I thought I'd go for
that look - the hair swept back (I pull it forward normally because it
is receding), and
the glasses.
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"Admittedly Charlie is on a smaller scale, but that was
the theory behind it."
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Hugo admits he's pleased with the look. "I like disguises anyway," he confesses. "My last job was Bleak House and that was brilliant, getting big chops and a broken nose and all sots of weird things. It's part of the whole fun of the job, the acting thing – dressing up, just pretending to be other people and to have fun with it."
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Apart from his role as Sergeant George in Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE's adaptation of the Dickens classic, Hugo has also recently appeared as a detective out for revenge in the ITV drama Love Lies Bleeding, as a First World War soldier in the film Deathwatch and as a man whose daughter had committed suicide in Messiah IV – all quite dark roles and a long way from the laughs of The Full Monty.
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The 37-year-old actor, who fled the bright lights of London
some 18 months ago to live in a quiet village near his childhood home of
Harrogate, admits they've taken their toll on him.
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"I've been completely non-stop for 18 months and I'm shattered," he says, revealing he plans some well-earned time off after Sorted to take his mum to Bermuda – where she used to live and work over 40 years ago, but hasn't been back for decades – and then to dedicate himself to the World Cup.
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"I am absolutely convinced, as I am every four years, that we are going to win," he laughs – though he's already had one end-of-season disappointment after his beloved Leeds United missed out on promotion, losing the Championship play-off final to Watford.
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But at least Sorted has provided him with some enjoyment. "It's been hard work but good fun because all the boys – and girls – and the crew have been great," adding that his admiration for Royal Mail workers has gone up even higher.
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"I've always though that the Royal Mail are fantastic and it's amazing how quickly and efficiently they get things done. There is something quite noble about getting up early in the morning with the birds and delivering all these messages – often very intimate ones.
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"I know everyone's doing email now but that's a bit of
a shame I think. There's nothing better than a handwritten letter, it's personal
and intimate and it's got their handwriting on it, which means something."
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Despite that, he says it's not a job for him. "I couldn't handle the hours!" he grins.
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