Hilary Whitehall: Theatre Tours, Sweat Lodges and Visiting Jack on Set

Routes

Hilary Whitehall joins Jenny Falconer to share a collection of humorous and nostalgic travel anecdotes involving her family. The conversatio

Key takeaways

• Hilary recounts a mortifying moment emerging naked from a sweat lodge while Jack was filming for 'Jungle Cruise'.
• Michael Whitehall's childhood journey to Ampleforth College involved traveling solo on an LNER train at age nine.

Main topics

• Family travel dynamics
• Jack Whitehall's film sets

Notable quotes

He was being rude about himself, to be honest, that he was a dud actor.

Conclusion

A heartwarming and funny exploration of how family bonds and shared hi

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Coming up on this episode of Roots from LNER. Speaker 1 (0:04) Now, Jack had a little set about Robert and Robert stealing all the parts at school and therefore preventing Jack to get an early acting career. Mrs. Pattinson used to pull me up and say, Jack's being very rude about Robert. I said, well, he's not really. He's being rude about himself, to be honest, that he was a dud actor and couldn't oust Robert from the leading roles. I'll tell you what I did do in L.A. with Jack. We did a sweat lodge. To be fair... I did actually find it quite an uplifting experience. It was a very transformational experience. But I'm afraid all the clothes came off. So, of course, when I emerged, Jack was horrified because they were doing a talking head with him and I came out the back with nothing on. What are you doing? Speaker 2 (0:42) I said it's too hot in there. Did you go on the set of Jungle Cruise as well? I Speaker 1 (0:47) did. He said, oh, you want to come out and keep me company? I said, yeah, OK, I'll come out and keep me company. So out I went. And it was a bit like bring your mother to work week because... Emily Blunt had her mother there. Now, I've never met Emily or her mother. It turns out that Speaker 2 (1:00) her Speaker 1 (1:01) mother and I have the same hairdresser and we use the same waitress. Probably bumped into each other many times without realising who we were. Speaker 2 (1:09) Welcome to Roots from LNER. Leave jams for toast, skip the traffic and travel by train with Speaker 1 (1:17) LNER. Freedom all the way. Speaker 2 (1:21) Hello there, I'm Jenny Falconer and today on Roots, well, I'm joined by an actress, author and podcaster. And you might also know her as a certain Jack Whitehall's mum. Please welcome Speaker 1 (1:34) Hilary Whitehall. Speaker 2 (1:36) Welcome to Roots. Speaker 1 (1:37) That is the cross I have to bear. Speaker 2 (1:39) I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. It's Speaker 1 (1:42) a joy, a total joy, unalloyed joy. The thing is, I bet. Speaker 2 (1:45) When Jack was growing up, you never expected that a lot of your work would be Speaker 1 (1:50) alongside him. I did not. I knew he was destined for something because he was quite an eccentric child, but I knew that he probably found something interesting to do. But little did I know it would be that. I'd Speaker 2 (2:00) say you do also have two other children. I do. We feel a bit shortchanged of our time with you. Speaker 1 (2:05) Do you know what? There's an interesting documentary to be made because my daughter went to see Harry Styles this summer. Amazing. Wembley Stadium. He was doing his residency and it was his last night and his sister came up on stage to talk about how brilliant her brother is and how lovely. But I think that's been a big journey for her. Imagine you have this younger brother who goes off to audition for some reality show and she barely sees him again because he's then this global superstar. It is a journey that you have to make to accommodate somebody who's very famous in the middle of the family. And treat them normally so they don't get above their station. There's a lot of that goes on. Yes, particularly from his sister. Okay. Speaker 2 (2:41) Who's Speaker 1 (2:41) always organising him and nagging him. And then his younger brother actually Speaker 2 (2:45) looks after him. He is his manager. So, yeah, Speaker 1 (2:47) that's quite fraught, being brothers who work together. Speaker 2 (2:50) Yeah, I bet. But it's good because it's always nice to have someone. Well, the fact that you all work together so often, it's nice because you just say it how it is. There's honesty. There's no kind of like nonsense and pandering to them. Speaker 1 (3:02) Yeah. And also Barney's got Jack's back. He's his brother, you know, so he's always going to have his back, which is nice. Speaker 2 (3:07) Well, look, let's part, Jack. We're talking about you. Speaker 1 (3:09) Working with my husband, however, is a whole other story. You Speaker 2 (3:13) see, they do this. Do you remember like when I was growing up, Richard and Judy were the famous couple that worked together. And a lot of people have tried it since and either split up or it's not worked out. I actually work with my husband. Oh, do you? But... on a business. We've got a health supplement brand. So we work together on that. But I definitely do not work alongside him in person every day, all day. I don't know if we could hack Speaker 1 (3:37) it. How is it working with your husband? It's quite a journey. Yes, it's a navigation each time. The big problem that I have with Michael, and indeed Jack found this when they did the series together, is that Michael does no prep whatsoever. He just wants to turn up and open his mouth. So we never know what's going to come out. Nice or stressful? Well, quite stressful. It's always sort of we're one step away from cancellation all the time. Thankfully, we have a very good producer on our podcast. And I go, I'll stop making the edit. Speaker 2 (4:06) It's quite worrying. Speaker 1 (4:07) Well, we did a live show last year with Jack and Michael and I did a live show. some gigs here and then we went to Australia and New Zealand and every night was different. And I'm very good now because we've been doing the podcast for like four years. I'm very good at saying, well, do you know what? That was really interesting, Mike, and very funny. not what we were meant to be talking about, so let's get back to where we should be. And I just pull him back. In Speaker 2 (4:30) radio studios, they have a button that if you're live and you have a guest that, say, swears or says something, you can press it and it will mute it. So maybe you have to get like a live mute button. I like it. Yes, that's Speaker 1 (4:42) a Speaker 2 (4:42) good Speaker 1 (4:42) idea. Speaker 2 (4:43) Well, talking of Michael, I understand that he is the reason that we are York bound today. We Speaker 1 (4:49) are indeed. Yes, his youth. He was... dispatched, aged nine, to Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire. We're talking about 1949. Oh, wow. So there was no question of him being driven up there by his parents. He was put on a train at King's Cross on the LNER and off he went to York and then off at York and then onto a smaller train off to... Ambleforth Village. It's kind Speaker 2 (5:15) of like original Harry Potter style. Speaker 1 (5:17) Absolutely Harry Potter style, yes. And steam train as well. Speaker 2 (5:21) Was it? Yes. So, I mean, that's quite magical. Presumably lots of other school kids would have been on the train being sent to boarding school at the same time. Absolutely, Speaker 1 (5:28) including his older brother who refused to speak to him because, of course, he was a younger brother. We know about pecking orders, do we not? Yes. But he, yes, and of course... He had no idea what he was going to. And the junior bit of Ampleforth at that time was a castle, literally. It was called Gilling Castle. So he arrived at this castle in North Yorkshire and thought, and was up there for the term. You know, that was it. So it was, yeah, it was quite a journey. But he fortunately, being quite a sort of jokey card, he got on with it and actually loved his school days. But at the very beginning of his time there, quite early doors, he decided that he didn't really want to be there. He was going to go home. So off he went. He got the bus to the station. What was like age nine? This is age nine in his school uniform. He thought, no, because it was obviously staffed by monks because it was Ampleforth Abbey. He thought, no, I don't like this. So he got on the bus, got to the station, got the train to York. I don't know what he paid. I said, how did you pay for it? He said, well, with my pocket money, which he must have smuggled some in. Got to York and had missed the last train to London. So he went up to the station hotel, to the reception, and said, I would like a room, please, for the night because I've missed the last train and I want to get the first train to London. And the chap said, yes, sir. OK, well, we'll see what we can do. If you'd like to go and sit over there, we'll get your room ready. Half an hour later. I know, Speaker 2 (6:49) half Speaker 1 (6:49) an hour later, he walks among and says, Whitehall, what are you doing here? Oh, gutting. Gutting, I know. And we found ourselves in York last year because we went on tour with our podcast. And Michael said, well, we've got to go and visit the station hotel, which I believe has now had a name, Chairman. I can't remember what the name is of it now, but it is the old station hotel. We went up to reception and he relived it. The people behind reception thought we were mad because I was filming it and I was taking pictures. And we reenacted this moment of him sitting on the bench opposite the reception. Oh, amazing. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:22) This is the thing, when you've travelled around to so many places, it's great when you've got little stories to tell in each one as well. So York was one of the destinations you were on on tour. Speaker 1 (7:32) Yes, Theatre Royal, beautiful theatre, the Theatre Royal York. York's a great place. Oh, it's Speaker 2 (7:36) a Speaker 1 (7:36) really good, I had forgotten all the city walls and everything. And of course, York Minster is stunning. Speaker 2 (7:41) And then, of course, you've got the shortest street in Britain there, Whitman-Watmageddon. Oh, I love it. Whitman-Watmageddon. I Speaker 1 (7:47) haven't seen it. Speaker 2 (7:47) Well, I think the sign is probably the length of the street. It's amazing. Everyone goes and has a photo there. So there's another sight to see on your next trip to Speaker 1 (7:55) York. Yes, indeed. We will be heading up back that way, I think, hopefully going back on tour in the spring. So we're destined to go back up that way. Amazing. Now, Speaker 2 (8:04) I know you've done acting. And indeed at the Theatre Royal York. In my youth, I went there. Well, I was going to ask then, because as an actor, when you go on tour, I mean, there's a lot of living out of B Speaker 1 (8:17) &Bs with floral bedspreads. Yes, the old Speaker 2 (8:19) theatrical digs. How does going on tour as a jobbing actor compare to going on tour as a successful podcaster? Speaker 1 (8:28) Well, it's very different because, of course, I've got an 86-year-old in tow who hates travel. So one has to be very careful with hotel selection now. He is not one to, as it were, slum it. I'm quite happy on a slum it, quite happy on an Airbnb, etc. Or a slightly less posh hotel. Michael Whitehall wants the very best of the best. That eats into the budget, is all I'm going to say. At 86, he has a Speaker 2 (8:52) right to lay down the rules, maybe. Now, Speaker 1 (8:55) that said, there's not always necessarily something that is appropriate for him. So we then have to make do and mend with what we've got. But actually, York, we stayed in a beautiful hotel. And now I'm not going to be able to remember the name of that, but it was very nice. Yeah. And Speaker 2 (9:08) where else were you on tour? Speaker 1 (9:10) We went a little bit further north to Stockton-on-Tees, which was a beautiful theatre there. Stayed at the Middleton Lodge. Now that's a beautiful hotel. Very nice. Yes. It is gorgeous. That pool, the swimming pool there. It's Speaker 2 (9:23) a very popular wedding location. Yes. Speaker 1 (9:25) Yes. So in fact, my daughter and son-in-law were going to a wedding the following weekend of his cousin. Oh, wow. So we were scoping it out for them. Where else did we go? We went to, I was trying to think, Birmingham. That wasn't such a great hotel. That was a very city centre hotel, which was, you know, high rise. I'm just trying to think where else we went. There's quite a lot of local ones. We did Guildford and et cetera. But this time we're going west, which we didn't do. So we're going to Bath, which is one of my favorite places. I mean, that is beautiful. You're going to some beautiful cities there as well. Yeah. I mean, the original plan was that we were going to do what's known as the Spa Town Tour. Like that. Yeah. So we did play Harajuku. Harrogate we played. That was lovely. Stayed at the Rudding Park. That's nice. You are choosing nice hotels, aren't you? I know, yes. I mean, we actually went up a couple of days early to the Rudding Park and had a couple of nights on us, as it were, because I love that hotel. Speaker 2 (10:20) But Harrogate is gorgeous. Well, that's a whole lot of history there with Agatha Christie as well, isn't there? Speaker 1 (10:25) Yes. And we were playing the Royal Halls, which was... A little bit big for a podcast, if I'm honest, because it's quite an intimate thing, a podcast. And so we had everybody downstairs. But the interesting thing about the Royal Hall is that we had just been staying on holiday with Edward Fox and his wife, the actor Edward Fox and Janet David. And Edward, his grandfather, had built, designed and built the Royal Hall, Samuel Fox. So he had teamed up with... then Prince Charles, now King Charles, to restore the Royal Halls, which had very much fallen into disrepair. And they raised millions of pounds and restored them. It is stunning. And it's got an ambulatory where you can walk around the entire theatre. It's beautiful. So we obviously FaceTime Edward from the theatre and say, we're in your theatre. Oh my God, it's amazing. We Speaker 2 (11:15) had Speaker 1 (11:15) such a great time. And of course the... The audiences were fabulous wherever we went. They were just thrilled that we were in their town or their city. Speaker 2 (11:22) It's quite nice as well. I mean, well, I say this, some people might disagree, but it is quite nice to get to spend so much time with your other half and meet... some amazing memories doing this kind of thing. And Speaker 1 (11:34) just meeting people is lovely. We went to Bradford. Stunning theatre in Bradford, which again, I've played many times. Was it the Alhambra you played there? No, we actually played the St. George's Hall. It was great. But coming out, people were just thrilled and they want to have a chat and so we had a bit of a chat and everything. Speaker 1 (11:50) Same at Crewe. We played the Theatre Royal there, which is another Frank Matcham theatre because he knew how to design a theatre. They're very wraparound, his theatres. I think he did the Theatre Royal York as well. Oh, Speaker 2 (12:01) wow. Speaker 1 (12:01) They're really... They're beautifully designed theatres, both from the audience perspective, but also as a performer. You feel it's an intimate space, even though it's actually quite tall. Speaker 2 (12:10) Theatre is a fun night out, isn't Speaker 1 (12:13) it? Speaker 2 (12:13) There's some great shows doing. And that's what West End, you know, when it all went quiet during lockdown, it was so worrying. But I'm so pleased that it's back. It's great. Speaker 1 (12:23) How long have you and Michael been Speaker 2 (12:24) together for? We've just Speaker 1 (12:26) celebrated. A ruby wedding anniversary. Yes, 40 years I've survived. Speaker 2 (12:31) Got any rubies? Do you know what? Speaker 1 (12:33) Weirdly, I've got an allergy to one of my rings at