How time flies...
It doesn't seem like yesterday that Anson Boon strolled out at Tottenham Hotspur with Hollywood royalty, Susan Sarandon, and announced to the wider world that he was a Spurs fan. It was the opening day of the season, Villa at home, a couple of goals from Harry Kane and debut strike from Tanguy Ndombele sending us all home happy.
That was over six years ago.
Since then, Anson has seen his beloved Spurs win the UEFA Europa League (he had planned to be there in Bilbao - more on that later) and, away from N17, seen his acting career go from strength to strength - a role in Sam Mendes' blockbuster 1917, playing Sex Pistols' front man Johnny Rotten in Danny Boyles' Pistol and now, playing Eddie Harrigan in huge hit show MobLand alongside the likes of Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Paddy Considine and Dame Helen Mirren. Next up, the film Good Boy, where he stars alongside British great, Stephen Graham. He's on the film's premiere circuit now...
We caught up with Anson as he filmed our Champions League promotional video (above) at the famous old Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley...
The obvious starting point - can you believe it's six years since you walked out at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with Susan Sarandon?
Anson: "That's crazy, isn't it? Six years ago. I remember how excited she was to see the stadium because she'd heard all about it from me! The whole time we'd been filming Blackbird together I was going on about it. She was excited to be here in England and I said, 'you have to experience a football match and you have to come to the Spurs stadium', which was really new at that point. I remember taking her and the wonder on her face when she stepped out onto the pitch. I still get that as well, particularly on Champions League nights, the way it's lit up. There's something special about the stadium at night, every time I walk out and get into my seat, I still feel that same sense of wonder because it is a remarkable stadium."
Six years... if we just take Spurs out of the equation, just look what's happened to you in those six years...
Anson: "Well, we've had a pandemic and an actor's strike, which stunted work, slightly, but things are picking up again, which is great. And yeah, I've had some incredible experiences."
Some huge roles - Johnny Rotten in Pistol, for example...
Anson: "I mean, that's an iconic role to play - despite the fact he's an Arsenal fan! To play an icon like Johnny Rotten, that was absolutely incredible. To do it for a director like Danny Boyle, who really is a national treasure, yes, that was really special. Going from working with Danny Boyle to Guy Ritchie (MobLand) was unbelievable as well, another top, top director, and Sam Mendes, I filmed 1917 in between."
It feels like your career has been building, building, building and then MobLand comes along... is that the game changer?
Anson: "I think so, yeah. MobLand has just exploded in a way that I don't think any of us were prepared for, which is great. People seem to be loving it. I had so much fun playing that naughty character (Eddie Harrigan). Also just working for Guy Ritchie, I'd always admired all of his films, particularly Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, two of my favourite films. To then actually step into his world and be in something that he's making was everything I ever wanted it to be. The best way I can describe working on a Guy Ritchie set is it is a little bit like being down the pub, in the best way! He takes all these people onto his jobs, such a mixture of interesting characters, people with really good stories and it's a great working environment."
Do you find as you get older, more experienced, you're more comfortable on set with the likes of Pierce Brosnan, Dame Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy..?
Anson: "I am from a normal family. No-one in my family works in the industry, so I'm doing everything for the first time. I didn't grow up around this. I do genuinely still feel excited when I step onto set with people like that, people that I grew up watching in films. I don't really want that feeling to ever go, because it's what keeps my work so exciting. I feel so lucky to be... the fact that I can sit here and say to you that in four weeks' time we're going to start filming MobLand series two, and I'm going to be back on set with Dame Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy, Paddy Considine, all these great actors. I still feel so grateful and excited by it. I don't want that to wear off."
Has Mobland changed your life?
Anson: "Yeah, when I did Pistol, people who were real fans of the band, or music fans and stuff like that, or fans of Danny Boyle, would come over and chat to me. MobLand has just reached such a wide audience and the most amazing thing is the diversity of people that come up to me. I get people in their teens, I get people in their 80s and it really is cool and quite special to me that the show has reached such a big demographic. I love it. If people have enjoyed something that you're in as an actor, there's nothing better than someone coming to tell you that. So, yes, things have changed, but it's exciting. It's nice that people are watching my work."
So, back to Spurs - how are you managing to balance work and being able to watch Spurs? I know how much Spurs mean to you - but there's a natural shift here that work is going to have to come first...
Anson: "Football is football and no matter what changes in my life, nothing's ever going to change that. My love for Spurs, that's the constant. I still have the same Season Ticket I had before I did any of these roles. I still sit in the same seat. So, now people want to come and chat at half-time, chat about my work, chat about the game, it's nice. I still go in all the same pubs."
There's no better grounding, right? You might be in a series with Tom Hardy, but once you get around your mates at Spurs...
Anson: "Exactly, exactly. Do you know what? It's something that is really important to me as an actor - maintaining the 'normality' of life. That's me. That's how you meet people, and that's what you can bring, as an actor, to a role. Everything that you experience in life is unique to you and something that another actor couldn't bring to a role. All these things that go on in life, that's what makes you right for a role. So, yeah, I definitely still enjoy meeting all the characters I do down the Coach & Horses on a matchday or down the Antwerp Arms."
Okay, tell everyone your Bilbao story...
Anson: "I had my flights booked. I had my ticket... and then I couldn't make it in the end, for a number of reasons. I was devastated. But we won. That's the important part."
Where did you end up watching the final?
Anson: "I was in Spain, on the southern tip of Spain. The irony! I know, can you believe it? I watched it, obviously. I was with my family."
How were the emotions when the final whistle went?
Anson: "We'd been there before, just a few years ago (Champions League Final, 2019) hadn't we? You know, that really exciting build up to a big final. Obviously, that ended in a bit of disappointment so, this time around, I did feel really, really wary. I knew we could do it and it felt written in the stars in a way, didn't it? But you don't want to admit it or jinx it. And then when it finally actually happened, I think it took me a few days to actually come round and believe it, because it just didn't feel real. But how amazing. And I think it's the perfect fuel to send us into this Champions League campaign."
How excited are you for that?
"I missed the first one against Villarreal, but I'll be there for the rest. I'm really excited, particularly because of our new manager, Thomas Frank, I think he's the real deal. We've got great players and I really feel this is a good time to get stuck into the Champions League. I'm really excited about some of the young players that are coming into Spurs. I look at Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray and I think, 'they are the future of our club'. We had the likes of Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembele, Dele in Mauricio Pochettino's squad. Wow, that's 10 years ago! How crazy is that? We had all these great midfielders and now I feel like we're raising a new generation that are going to fill that slot, you know? I think it's a really exciting time for Spurs, particularly with Thomas Frank coming in and all these younger players coming through."
Anson's latest film, Good Boy, is in cinemas now - follow him on Instagram - @ansonboon