Exclusive:The Full Monty series 2023 premiere: Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy talk reprising film roles at Sheffield event

I headed down to chat to the cast of The Full Monty series, an eight-part sequel to the classic 1997 comedy film, at its premiere in Sheffield on Monday.

The film was a runaway success, making a staggering £200 million off a £3 million budget, making it the 10th highest grossing movie of the year worldwide. 

Despite the fact that I was not even a twinkle when the film was first released, I have seen and enjoyed it many times in the years since, most recently streaming it on Disney+ where it found a home ahead of the release of the sequel series.

Having fallen in love with Gaz, Dave, Lomper, Horse, Gerald and Guy, the group of mismatched misfit friends who turn to stripping to earn money in post-Thatcher Sheffield, it was a great opportunity to interview the returning and new cast members in the film’s home. 

What did The Full Monty cast say?

Speaking of returning to the role of Gaz, Robert Carlyle said he had looked forward to reprising to the role. 

He said: “When Gaz came up for me the first time round it was perfect timing for me because I’d made Trainspotting, I’d played Begbie, and I’d done a piece called Cracker where I played a psychotic character and it’s very very easy to get typecast down these roles. I’ll be forever grateful to Gaz.”

Speaking about a possible return as Gaz following the Disney+ series, Carlyle added: “Never say never, I would obviously love to work with all of these guys again, they’re a fantastic bunch of people.”

Mark Addy, who plays Dave, and is also known for his role as Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones, said: “Dave is the character I’ve played who is most like me.”

When I asked Addy if he was regretful that this series won’t see the stars strip off as they did at the climax of the original movie, he said: “It’s a big relief, [the leather pouches] were not the most comfortable. But if Simon had written a reason for that to happen, we’d have had to do it.”   

New series star, Talitha Wing, who has previously featured in the shows Alex Rider, and Wolfe, told me that working with the older cast had been ‘incredible’.

She said: “Just watching them work was a bit of a lesson in acting and I just tried to spend as much time around them as possible hoping that I’d soak up all their knowledge and all their skills.”

Speaking of her character in the series, Destiny, Gaz’s daughter, she hinted: “She’s a feisty one, she’s very strong headed, she’s got a lot going for her but sometimes she doesn’t know quite where to channel it.”

Following the blue carpet interviews I made my way to the Showroom Cinema for the series premiere to watch the first two episodes of the series ahead of its full release on Disney+ later this month.

Is The Full Monty Disney+ series like the film?

The show and the film are two different beasts, separated by 25 years and, as the first episodes emphasises, seven Prime Ministers. Whilst the film was a comedy drama with an undercurrent of northern political consciousness, the series is the reverse, with the comedy almost taking a back seat to the politics.

The series dives deep into the social issues of the day, from food banks to bullying and the deprivation of northern communities (it also features the front page of a copy of a local paper I had previously worked on, covering the scrapping of the HS2 extension to Sheffield).

But that’s not to say that the show isn’t funny - it really is - and the old guard haven’t lost their chemistry in the last quarter century either. Meanwhile, new stars Talitha Wing and Aiden Cook bring the show up to date for modern audiences.

It’s hard to criticise a show that I watched whilst sitting directly in front of its lead star (Robert Carlye), and nor am I going to. The first two episodes showed great promise and I hope that the remainder of the season lives up to the Full Monty’s legacy.