Taff at the top of the Hill

10 April 2012

If there is one character in Notting Hill who may emerge unsullied by the hype, it is Hugh Grant's lodger Spike, the Welsh hippie layabout, who is one song short of an eisteddfod.

As the unwashed Welshman, Rhys Ifans achieves the unlikely combination of being absolutely disgusting and totally endearing simultaneously. Clad for much of the film in little more than a pair of slimy grey underpants, he charts new territory in home-grown gross-out. Add to this singularly unhygienic costume a white pot belly, an unwashed thatch of blond hair and a scraggy beard, and the cretinous Celt pushes ethnic offensiveness as far as possible, while remaining the source of many laughs. Ifans himself is unrepentant about it. "Ten years ago I'm sure I wouldn't have been allowed to play that character," he says with a grin. "But it would have been criminal if I hadn't been allowed to play him as someone other than a white knight. I'm sure people will complain and I rather enjoy that. I can't approach parts as a politician. I mean, can we Welsh only do druid films where we save little birds? A culture that can't laugh at itself is in trouble."

Anyone coming to Notting Hill after Dancing at Lughnasa, Ifans's previous film, is in for a rude shock. As the young man in Pat O'Connor's film of the Brian Friel play, he was the romantic male lead, the boy on a motorbike who wins the heart of the gorgeous Catherine McCormack. Moving from there to Spike is the equivalent of jumping across the Grand Canyon on a motorbike. Spike needed special preparation. "It's exhausting to be that lazy. I'm a hyperactive person and the challenge was to slow it down. My preparation involved a lot of cider and very few baths. I didn't wash my hair for weeks. My head developed its own eco-system."

At 31, and with a solid CV under his belt, Ifans is no raw newcomer to the business. And, having worked with Meryl Streep in Lughnasa, high-powered American movie stars trouble him not a jot. Not that he is in any way dismissive of Julia Roberts. "She has an astute sense of irony, which is an extraordinary evolution for an American. You don't fear celebrities, it's bad actors I'm terrified of working with. The tragedy was that after a day in those underpants, you forget you're in them. You find yourself scratching your arse while talking to Julia Roberts."

Having played opposite his brother as a couple of Welsh tear-aways in Twin Town, Ifans suggested at the time that if it had not been for acting, he might have ended up in jail. "I've got the makings of a good criminal. There wasn't the opportunity in Wales to make things other than wings for 747s. Acting made me explore the possibilities of my life." After a stint at the Youth Theatre, he progressed to cleaning toilets and sweeping the stage at Theatre Clwyd. Parts came along, but it dawned on him quickly that he needed to go farther afield. He wanted to be more than a Welsh actor working in Wales, with the occasional token Taff gig thrown in.

"I could've had a decent career in Welsh television, but I wanted something more. I wanted to get my mouth around William Shakespeare, pardon the expression. I hope Joe Fiennes doesn't take that the wrong way."

He plays opposite Fiennes in one of his forthcoming films, Rancid Aluminium; also in the can are Janice Beard and You're Dead, in which he got to play opposite one of his favourite actors, John Hurt. ("He's like a cross between Keith Richards and Quentin Crisp.") In none of them does he play a Welshman.

The effect that Notting Hill may have on his career is incalculable. Something will have gone horribly wrong if it doesn't go ballistic at the box office - a situation which will affect everyone in the film.

"For the first time in my life, I fear the unknown. I won't change but people around me may change. If it had happened at 21, it would've messed me up. It's too late now for anything to go to my head."

Aside from a daily handful of shampoo, we trust.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in