Where are you from?

Born in Fenham, at the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear.
On Friday, 11 December 1970 at 12.50 a.m.

Do you have much acting and/or production (stage or TV) experience?

My acting experience has been largely limited to farce in small drama groups.
I was involved in a joint sixth-form production back in '89 between the twinned schools St Cuthbert's (Boys) and Sacred Heart (Girls.) The musical 'Salad Days' held several roles for me including, curiously enough, an alien being called 'Electrode.'

What was your acting debut, and how old were you?

Can't remember, although my earliest memory of a role was back in '77 when I was involved in a Christmas nativity play in junior school. I played a shepherd with a bad knee! (Not described in the role, the knee injury came about in a minor accident in the schoolyard some days before.)

How did you get involved in Fluffy?

Through Fluffy's creator and writer Mr. H. Burrows. In his early consideration of the film as a project, he tendered the role for one of the vampires. Later formal auditions lead me to try my hand at a few of the other roles, largely for the fun of it. As an actor it's always fun to try things out.

Why did you audition for the part of vampire extra?

Like many actors, I'm caught in the western world's love affair with the vampire culture. The characteristics of being powerful, seductive, corrupting and holding onto eternal youth are what make the vampire entity an attractive role for any actor to play.

Is this your first film, or have you been involved in other films?

This is my second role with Foiled Productions. My film debut was in Foiled.

Are you a Buffy fan?

I've seen very little material from Buffy to be able to say, however, the overplay of the acting, the seeming excesses of the dialogue and the appearance of the vamps convinces me that this would not be a program to my liking.

What have you gained from your involvement in Fluffy?

Strength and tolerance. Acting has been stated by many to be hard work and not fun all the time. If you really want to act you must be prepared to accept the demands of schedules and production takes which can at times be dull, repetitive and tiring.

Do you have any claims to fame? (E.g. meeting famous people, appearances on TV / stage etc.)

Amongst people I've met are:

Michael Sheard (from Grange Hill)
Sophie Aldred (from Dr. Who)
Gareth Thomas (from Blake's 7)
Linda Blair (from the Exorcist)
William Peter Blatty (writer of the Exorcist)
Terry Waite

Any hobbies / obsessions? (Things you enjoy doing)

Generally, I've bizarre thoughts and ideas which find themselves in all sorts of areas, like odd bits of writing, drawing, design, acting, etc.
I'm not really especially good at anything but I do love, and support in others, creative pursuits of any kind.
Currently, I'm working hard to improve my reading speed and comprehension.

Any amusing acting / production cockups (faux pas) - things going wrong on stage etc.?

Everyone falls foul, at some point or other, of acting the scene before the action is called. This happened for me in Foiled, although I don't remember when.
Speaking lines before others have said theirs, I've done that plenty on stage.
No really interesting stories, however.

Any bizarre talents?

I used to be really good at voices, but less so nowadays, although I do enjoy some success with Michael Caine and Ian McDiarmid's portrayal of Darth Sidious. Throughout school, sixth-form, college, university, work and play I have picked-up on other's characteristics both in voice and manner. I have often used this ability to entertain my peers.

Any amusing / mad stories about things you've done, or have happened to you?

I've nearly been killed on more than one occasion.
I took a bout of bad temperature fits when I was an infant (I'm convinced this has resulted in partial brain damage as my body is poor at regulating temperature. I either tend to sweat too much and chill too easily.)
When I was quite young I drove my pedal-car down a very steep and deep flight of narrow stairs. I reached the bottom very noisily and quickly. My mum was apprehensive about opening the door to the hall for fear of finding out how many pieces I'd been smashed-to. Luckily there was just one. He was very pale, very shocked and very convinced through experience that driving a pedal car down a steep flight of stairs was not a good idea.
I was knocked down and concussed quite badly, again when I was young, when my family visited Hexham one day. A sudden, strange need came over me to find out what it would be like under a car. Again, not a very clever move.
Two years ago I was nearly impaled through the abdomen on a broken branch whilst driving to push a barge away from the riverbank.
Survival, overall, seems to be my real gift.

So then, what exactly does this Mark person do, what are his talents, what is his purpose?

Well, nothing, but he seems to survive a great deal!

Any achievements you'd like to mention?

I won an award once for designing a promotional brown ale label. Only four bottles were produced of which I have one, Newcastle Brewery museum displays another, one is held by the Brewery directors and the elusive fourth is owned by a collector somewhere. But where? Whooooooooo-ooooohh!

Any annoying habits? Are there any things that you say a lot?

I'm not very time-aware and poor at judging estimates that often beset both peers and colleagues. Leaving things to the last minute is quite typical. Heart messaging work deadlines is an art.
I have a tendency to overstate and explain my points and motives to too great an extent although less so nowadays.
I used to annoy others with an over-usage of the word 'tremendous' in conversation, but not any more.
Generally speaking, I'm generally speaking and basically I now tend to over-use the word basically.

Favourite films?

ALIEN (bloody good Film, that's film, not movie.). Paperhouse. The Keep. Altered States. Mississippi Burning. The Truman Show. All the President's Men. Star Wars (A New Hope). JFK. 13 Days. Halloween. The Day the Earth Stood Still. The Shawshank Redemption. The Dead Poets Society. Erin Brokovitch. The Blair Witch Project. Akira. The Fog. Get Carter. Planet of the Apes. Forbidden Planet. Rope. ALIENS. The Breakfast Club. Terminators I and II. Manhunter. Mrs. Doubtfire.

Favourite director(s) + actor(s) + actress(es)?

Peter Weir. John Carpenter. Ridley Scott. Michael Mann.

Michael Caine. Robert Redford. Jason Robards. Lee J. Cobb. Robin Williams. Hal Holbrook. Ian McDiarmid. Jeremy Brett. Brian Cox.

Sigourney Weaver. Juliet Stevenson. Mini Driver. Whoopi Goldberg.

If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would it be?

Difficult to be specific as there are so many I'd equally love to meet.

Amongst the dead are:

Michael Faraday, Abraham Lincoln, Salvador Dali, Kennedys John F. and Robert, Jesus Christ, Albert Einstein, the recently late Jason Robards.

Amongst the living are:

Dalhi Lama, Hal Holbrook, Paul McCartney, Robert Redford.

Overall, I guess that JFK would be top.

What's your favourite fluffy thing?

I take it you mean fluffy and not Fluffy? (I.e. favourite aspect of the film in general.)

I'd say my favourite fluffy thing, apart from Santa-trim red-knickers (not on me of you understand!) is an original Steiff toy-bear I received as a Christmas present some years ago.