Paul McGann lets us see the worry behind a quiet response. His watchfulness is essential to Withnail & I, and we value an actor who can hold our attention without demanding it.
Fi1m perspective
In Withnail & I (1987), Paul McGann listens to Richard E. Grant as though he needs to know how much trouble the next sentence will bring. As Withnail’s companion, he makes room for the jokes without pretending the company is easy. We were more affected by his anxiety than we expected, because his responses show how little space Withnail leaves for anyone else’s worries. McGann is essential to the comedy, and gives the friendship a strain that the funniest lines cannot remove. Sometimes we find ourselves watching him simply to see when he will have had enough.
That film was his feature debut, but he had already led The Monocled Mutineer (1986) as Percy Toplis, playing the deserter with charisma and vulnerability. The quiet foil was never the only job he could do. His early film roles included Anton Skrebensky in Ken Russell’s The Rainbow (1989) and Golic in Alien³ (1992). His later cinema appearances became more sporadic and often supporting, with television the more prominent part of his work.
Bruce Robinson knows how to give that performance room. His long takes allow us to watch the person receiving the better line, and editor Alan Strachan keeps the pauses in which McGann’s responses become funny. Peter Hannan’s cinematography and Michael Pickwoad’s production design make the squalor look uncomfortable, helping us understand why the pair are so irritable without asking us to excuse them. The story occasionally drifts, but McGann’s attention to Grant keeps the exchanges alive.
In the television film Doctor Who (1996), he took the title role, later continuing as the Eighth Doctor in extensive audio dramas. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews, though McGann’s performance was frequently praised; those reservations about the production should not automatically be passed on to the actor. Recurring work in Hornblower, Luther and Holby City also kept television central to his career. For the clearest evidence of what we value in him, return to Withnail & I and keep watching McGann when Grant has the line.
Biography
Paul McGann is an English actor. He was born on 14 November 1959 in Kensington, Liverpool.
He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. McGann first came to prominence playing Percy Toplis in the 1986 BBC serial The Monocled Mutineer. His film debut was as the character credited '... & I' in the 1987 comedy Withnail & I.
He is also known for playing the Eighth Doctor in the 1996 Doctor Who television film and subsequent audio dramas and appearances, as well as roles in Alien³ (1992), The Three Musketeers (1993) and the series Luther.
