Laura Dern admits she didn’t have high hopes for Jurassic Park, Will Arnett says Arrested Development changed his life, Tom Hiddleston talks about the return of Jonathan Pine, Carey Mulligan and Tim Key talk about their new film, young star of Adolescence Owen Cooper puts GCSEs before acting, and Alison Limerick performs live in the studio.
In his much-loved New Year’s Eve show Graham welcomes Oscar-winner Laura Dern, American actor Will Arnett, British actor Tom Hiddleston, Adolescence star Owen Cooper, triple Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan, comedian Tim Key, and singer songwriter Alison Limerick.
Laura and Will chat about starring together in Is This Thing On?
Laura, talking about what attracted her to the role, says, “I fell in love with the script. Then Bradley (Cooper) came on board. Will and I are both old dear friends of his, so we met through him and became this married couple. It is a wonderful story.”
Will, talking about the inspiration for the movie, says, “I happened to meet John Bishop, and he told me the story of how he became a standup comedian and what it did for him. I was really taken with his story and asked if I could write a movie based on his life, which is quite a daunting thing to ask somebody. He’s been great throughout.
“It was inspired by his story, and some of the incredible moments are the most true. We then built it out from there to focus on the relationship. Some forces wanted it to be a romantic comedy, but Bradley rewrote the script and somehow blackmailed Laura into doing it. Once he was on board, he elevated every step and made it much more dramatic.”
Revealing he did standup for the first time in comedy clubs for the role, Will says, “I have been comedy adjacent for much of my life, but I’d never done standup. I had to stop being a comedy actor and try and approach it as someone who had never done it before. It went against every grain in my body.”
Laura adds, “I saw him do it several times and it was extraordinary – he threw himself into it out there so bravely.”
Talking about the success of Jurassic Park, she says, “None of us knew what it would look like. CGI was only just being formulated as we were filming. It was so radical in its invention. I remember Richard Attenborough saying to Steven Spielberg in rehearsal, ‘We need a cue, we need something that we can all react to,’ Steven agreed and as we waiting for something to happen Steven shouted through a megaphone behind us ‘ROAR! ROAR!’. It was at that moment I remember looking Richard in the eye and saying, ‘This is going to be horrible!’ But it turned out well.”
Asked about coming from an acting dynasty (parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd) she says, “I didn’t know much about what they did, but when I about six years old I saw a bit of an old movie in which Bette Davis had a hat box and out of the box rolled a head. In close-up it was my dad’s head. I started screaming and my grandma had to call my father to assure me his head was still on. It was somewhat traumatic and for some reason I still wanted to be an actor – I’m not sure why!”
Will, talking about the success of Arrested Development, says, “I moved to New York when I was 20 and Arrested Development happened when I was 33. I spent years struggling as an actor and I actually thought my career was over. I had just been fired from a TV show and was doing a really awful play Off-Broadway when I got a call asking if I would read for a part in Arrested Development. Initially I said no as I was done with TV work. They persuaded me to go to the audition, and the role changed my life.”
Tom, talking about returning as spy Jonathan Pine in the long-awaited second series of The Night Manager, which he describes as, “Intense and thrilling,” says, “It’s been ten years off camera and ten years have passed in the story. Jonathan is living another life, and his identity has been erased. He is still working for the security services, and we find him still chasing down corruption. The old dragon slayer in Jonathan is back. I love this character so much and the story is incredibly compelling.”
Asked if Hugh Laurie’s character Richard Roper is back as the opening scene of the new series appear to show his dead body, Tom, not giving anything away, says, “See what you see.”
Talking about returning as Loki in the upcoming new Avengers movie, having apparently died in the last, he says, “Loki has died one or two times. He likes to keep you guessing. On the last day of shooting for Avengers: Infinity War all the studio execs were there, there was a big round of applause, lots of thankyous, tears, and hugs, and they were like, ‘Goodbye and thank you for ten years, come and see us any time’. Then three months later I get the call inviting me back!”
Graham is joined by Carey and Tim who chat about this year’s feel-good British hit, The Ballad of Wallis Island.
Tim explains how the film came about, “It started as a short film made in the early 2000s. We shot it in three days and I loved it. It was one of the best experiences of my life. After that we just left it and didn’t think anything else would happen but eventually we unlocked it as a feature film.”
Asked how she got involved Carey, says, “My husband (Marcus Mumford) and I were really big fans of Tim’s late might poetry programme and Marcus did that deeply nerdy thing and DM’d Tim to tell him he was a massive fan. I then emailed him about a charity event that he declined and then four years later I got an email from Tim asking me to be in the film with the subject line ‘Filming Opportunity.’ Of course, I said yes.”
Talking about getting his start in the business through the Cambridge Footlights, Tim says, “When I got in, I didn’t tell the truth, but the lead lie was that I was at Cambridge! I was actually temping as a regional deployment officer! I did get busted when I was cast in an Edinburgh Festival show. I got the call saying, ‘We know you’re not at Cambridge but don’t tell anyone else.’ I think it was a victimless crime!” When asked how long the lie went on for, Tim jokes, “Until now really!”
Owen, who has just turned 16, joins Graham to chat about Adolescence, the TV phenomenon of 2025.
Asked about the show’s success, he says, “Straight away I thought it was going to be more than a TV show – I read the script and then heard the word ‘Netflix.’ I was nervous about what the reaction to it would be, but a week after it went out everything blew up. It has been a good year.”
Talking about being the youngest recipient of an Emmy, he says, “It was crazy and all a bit of a blur. The amount of people I met there was insane. It really was the best day of my life.”
And, asked if it was hard going back to school after the show, he says, “It wasn’t too bad. The first day back was a bit weird, but I’ve still got my GCSEs to do. I’ve only got about six months left and then I am gone.” Adding charmingly, “And then hopefully I am going to be an actor.”
Alison, celebrating the 35th anniversary of her classic dance hit Where Love Lives performs live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat.
And finally, Graham pulls the lever on more foolhardy audience members brave enough to sit in the world-famous red chair and tell their funniest stories.
The Graham Norton Show, BBC One and BBC iPlayer, New Year’s Eve Wednesday 31st December 10.30pm.
Notes to editors – All quotes in this release were made during the recording of the show but won’t necessarily appear in the final version.
The show returns on Friday 9th January when Graham’s guests include Chris Pratt, Cynthia Erivo, Dawn French, Rob Beckett, and Jack Savoretti.
For further information please contact Mary Collins 07769 670516 or at mary@marycollins-pr.com
22nd December 2025
