A daunting experience

Tom Hollander’s first meeting with a theatrical agent didn’t turn out quite how he expected

The phone went dead.

I was out of my depth. And I was frightened. And I was having nightmares in which he frequently appeared. He eventually sacked me.

It’s now about 20 years later, Michael Foster’s not my agent and I can’t get him off the phone. We have become friends ever since I played him (not him, not him, loosely based on, loosely based on) in a pilot for Freezing. We have a lot in common. We have a past and now we have a present. He’s called ‘Leon’. It’s good for both of us at some level — drama therapy. It must be flattering to have warranted fictional representation. And, as for me, I can get my own back. And he’s really good — as a part, I mean. He’s a character who says and does things that I would never dare to do in my own life. Most people wouldn’t but Michael would. Which makes him an exceptional person.

And though the character of Leon is not actually Michael (he sounds completely different for a start, and Michael is obviously far more handsome and clever) the affinity which I felt might exist in the offices of Duncan Heath in 1988 finds its expression somewhere in Leon. And we’re also both older and a bit wiser. And we’re both single.

A new three-part comedy drama Freezing, about a middle-aged American actress (Elizabeth McGovern), her editor husband (Hugh Bonneville) and Leon, a theatrical agent (Tom Hollander), is on BBC2 on 20, 21 and 22 February.

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Anon ymous

February 21st, 2008 9:19pm Report this comment

I used to work for Michael Foster and that is all frighteningly accurate.

Yvonne

February 22nd, 2008 2:05pm Report this comment

I saw the second episode of ‘Freezing’ last night and thought it was very funny. What a perfectly grotesque character Leon is. He's like a petulant 5 year old with the added self centeredness of a cat. Everything belongs to him and everything gets done his way. And if it doesn't, he'll shout and whine until it does. It’s amazing that people like that actually exist. They don't really. Do they?

Lisa Marie

September 12th, 2009 6:05am Report this comment

I very much enjoyed reading this piece...very well written. And he said he wasn't a writer! Saw a few clips of 'Freezing' on You Tube...Mr. Hollander does an absolutely fabulous job of playing a!@#$%& characters...

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