Words: Jonathan Wells
Ed Westwick is back. Back on our screens, back on form and back in London. A new BBC comedy, White Gold, hits screens this Wednesday, and the British actor has pulled off a no-holds-barred 1980s romp of questionable fashion, underhand dealings and laugh-out-loud humour – all set in the less than glamorous world of double glazing.
‘It was perfect,’ says Westwick, of coming home to Britain. ‘I was over from Los Angeles to do the work, and just decided that I wanted to stay.’
The ‘work’ in question, a recurring role on Crackle’s Snatch and the starring role of salesman Vincent Swan in White Gold, is literally half a world away from the role that made Westwick’s name – that of socialite Chuck Bass in six seasons of the celebrated Gossip Girl.
‘I was based in New York for a really significant part of my life,’ says the actor of his time starring alongside Blake Lively and Leighton Meester on The CW drama. ’19 to 25. They’re your formative adult years, where you’re allowed to run free, and it was great fun being in this style-oriented, fashion-forward city.
‘I remember when I first went out to New York, I thought it was so much better than London,’ he adds. ‘And I don’t think, even then, London had really caught, up in a way. But now it has and, from the mixture of people to the range of restaurants, the buzz and atmosphere gives it such excitement – whilst still retaining that unique quality that makes it London – all these little villages and pockets. Manhattan, in comparison, feels a little more contained. London’s sprawling.’
I was based in New York, this style-oriented, fashion-forward city, for a really significant part of my life
Westwick’s favourite ‘pocket’ of London – and the one in which he lives – is Hackney. Having landed his breakout in Gossip Girl whilst still a teenager, Westwick had never lived in Britain as an adult before moving back to Britain. Now, however, the actor is enjoying everything from friends to – noticeably – fashion.
‘I think I’ve always liked a dash of flamboyance in my style,’ Westwick smiles from beneath an elderflower-adorned panama. ‘My style in my early twenties wasn’t anything like it is now. I’d say it was more rock n’ roll. And I also think I was just trying to distance myself from the character I was playing. Even if I liked what he wore, I’d start losing any sense of my own identity if I dressed like that. You want to have that separation, so I was all skinny jeans, ripped t-shirts, a few chains and rings.
‘Today,’ he continues, adjusting his rings, pendant, sunglasses and arm garters (Google them, they’re a thing), ‘I still only really wear a suit if I’m going to an event, or a nice dinner.
‘Living out in L.A for a few years after Gossip Girl saw my style suffer,’ Westwick laughs. ‘There’s no seasons out there, and it’s always 80 degrees, so I was constantly wearing shorts, a tank top and bloody flip-flops every day of the year. Whereas here you get to play around and express yourself a bit more.
‘I think Paul Smith is the pinnacle in design. I love Paul Smith’s stuff, where you can have that classic style or suiting, but also a bit of flair. So I like to add accessories which have a bit of a pop, because I think that reflects my personality. I think I’m quite a traditionalist, but with a bit of an edge. There’s a little bit of crazy in me.’
And this ‘crazy’ in Westwick is often carried across into his characters. Sonny, in this year’s Snatch, was a gun-toting, kimono-wearing madman. And White Gold’s Vincent Swan – who we are introduced to as he dances around his bright red underpants – is similarly kooky.
‘Vincent’s the driving force in this, and he has to be funny,’ says the actor. ‘But then you also have the great double act that is James Buckley and Joe Thomas, who have this hilarious shorthand from working together on The Inbetweeners for so long.’
I think I’ve always liked a dash of flamboyance in my style...
Westwick, who says he didn’t find it difficult ingratiating himself into that dynamic, is often cast as a suave and somewhat sleazy character. But does he think this has becoming a typecasting problem?
‘Not so much. I mean, in your mind you know what you can do, and what you’d like to do. But, in what is meant to be an imaginative business, you often just get branded. To some degree, the business part also overtakes art, and people don’t want to take risks anymore. But I’ve been able to navigate the work that I’ve done reasonably well and still retain a fanbase – I hope!
‘White Gold has different levels and different flavours, rather than being a straight-up barrel-of-laughs sitcom, so I hope it’ll have something for everyone. And, being set in the 80s, that adds a different layer too.’
Ill-fitting jeans and retro tunes?
‘No. Well yes,’ Westwick grins, ‘but I also drive some great cars. A BMW and an old school Mercedes convertible. In one scene, I’m burning out of a gravel driveway and it fishtailed, but I managed to correct the steering and shot off down the drive, with the Union Jack flying behind me. That felt like a proper little James Bond moment.’
With the J-word dropped, we move onto the role that every young British actor must surely dream of: 007.
‘Would I love to play Bond? Yeah, man! Of course. I mean, you’d have to be nuts not to, right? Although I once had someone say I’d play a good James Bond villain as well – so I’d take either. I’d do whatever they wanted – and man would that be fun…’
White Gold will TX on BBC Two on 24th May and the full series will be available on BBC iPlayer. The DVD will be out on 3rd July
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