In this series of posts, we go behind the scenes with the characters who made this story possible. We begin with that blond lad from Billesley...
Q. Rick or Edric?
A. Edric to my olds and Rick to everyone else. Kind of like you'd expect really. I often get called Richard, which makes sense I suppose. Does it bother me? Nah. Richard's not a bad name.
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. King's Norton. Do I have to give a street? It was just off Wychall Lane.
Q. What's the craziest thing you ever did at school?
A. [laughs] I never did anything crazy at school! I was the boring kid who always knew the answers. I've been trying to make up for it since though. I almost left school at sixteen but my maths teacher persuaded me to stay. That would have been pretty crazy as I'd have missed university.
Q. Tell us something your friends don't know.
A. When I was a kid I wanted to be a monk. No, don't laugh, I really did! I just thought it sounded cool and a bit different.
Q. Some people have said you are bit of an attention seeker. Would you say that's a fair comment?
A. Yeah, probably. I mean, I'd love to be famous enough that I didn't have to go looking for attention but it hasn't happened yet. Maybe one day. I just work better with an audience: it puts me in a different place if I know people are listening. I need to know people care, do you know what I mean? It's like constant attention syndrome or something. Sorry, I sound like a right nob here. I'll shut up now.
Q. What's the best place you've been and why?
A. Oh blimey. I really like Glasgow. The buildings are amazing. It's the only place I've actually gasped at the architecture when I've walked round a street corner. Plus I love that little tube train they have. So cool. Oh, Stamford's really good too. Have you been there? Feels like it should be in Rutland but it's not. It's near where my sister lives and we've been there for lunch a few times. Amazing little town.
Q. What's your dream job?
A. If reality were no object I'd be king of the world. I've got some pretty big ideas and it's the only way I'd get to put them into action. In the real world, I'll be boring and say filmstar like everyone else. It's not just for the fame though; I've done acting before and I really loved it.
Q. Describe Kate in three words.
A. Pert, uplifting and forgiving. Oh shit, I don't mean pert do I? I mean perky. Moving on!
Q. If you weren't British, which country would you like to be from?
A. Bit of an unusual answer I know, but Germany. I've been there a couple of times and I absolutely love it. The Germans are so together. They're like us without the self-loathing. It's where the English came from and sometimes I wish we'd stayed.
Q. Favourite colour?
A. Blue. Defo. Proper bright blue. Love it!
Q. Other than your alarm clock, what gets you out of bed in the morning?
A. Good question. Habit? I don't know. I used to be so motivated with everything but I feel like I'm drifting right now. I mean, I'd like to think that success is what drives me but really it's fear of failure. I do have a very strong sense of justice and I find that spurs me on sometimes. I like to see good people rewarded.
Q. What's your best feature?
A. My arms. I'm really pleased with my arms. My legs are good too but I hate doing legs so I feel I've achieved more with my arms.
Q. If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?
A. [laughs loudly] Mate, you said we only had twenty minutes! Alright then, well apart from the meaningless job and my shit car which spends half its life in the garage I'd like to have been born earlier. I'd love to have been around when Britain was still great and before all the towns were destroyed by the planners. Would have been so cool to have had a car when no-one else did. You could go anywhere you wanted with no traffic.
Q. If you could choose one superpower what would it be?
A. That's actually something I think about quite a lot. I'd love to be able to control people's thoughts. Y'know, like tell them to do something and they'd have to do it. I've seen it a few times in films and it always makes me so jealous. Can you imagine how cool it would be? You could go anywhere you wanted, get whatever job you wanted. It'd be awesome. I can't believe anybody wouldn't want that. I'd also love to be able to teleport but you did say only one.
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