Amber Films
Brian Hogg
Brian Hogg in Eden Valley
Hoggy, one of Amber's favourite actors, one of Amber's favourite people and a real friend of the collective died on Monday 19 October. At the funeral on Wednesday 28 October, Amber's Ellin Hare was one of the many friends who paid tribute to Brian as a friend, an actor and collaborator.
A TRIBUTE TO BRIAN HOGG
Ellin Hare
Of course the person who should be making this tribute isn’t here. So you’ll have to make do with me. The story goes that Murray met Brian when he was working as a waiter at Dean’s Diner and encouraged him to become involved with Live Theatre, first as a driver but very soon as an actor. Lorna told me how Brian had said to her he used to watch plays and think to himself ‘that’s not right, that’s not right’, and then when he got a chance to try it himself he found out how difficult it was. But he took to it like a duck to water.
I first really got to know Brian when we worked together on In Fading Light in the late 80.s. As part of the auditioning process for that film the actors were supposed to go out on a short trip on a fishing boat. Partly as research for them and partly so the fishermen could get a look at them and tell us who they thought could handle it. Brian went out, on the Bennison I think, and they got stuck waiting out a storm for 4 days in 40ft waves in the middle of the North Sea. Brian loved it. When he got back, not only did he get the part, but he got offered a job on the boats. The fishermen respected him, partly because he could handle himself on the boats, partly because he could drink 8 pints of Guinness before going out to sea and partly because they could sense that he was genuinely interested in them.
That was the thing about Brian. He totally inhabited the parts he played. Not just the character, but the way of life. That’s why he was the perfect Amber actor. He didn’t just see it as a role, but as an adventure into a world he was interested in. Whether it was fishing or trotting or the allotment culture he made himself equally at home. Never in too much hurry for another cup of tea or another pint, or a visit to look at another horse. He was the one actor that we never had to worry about wardrobe for. He always seemed to have just the right clothes. The right cap, the right boots. Amber films take a long time to make, and Brian would simply become that character for the duration. Sometimes I think this could be hard for people close to him. I don’t expect he had a clean shave for 6 months during the making of the Scar. I remember Angie saying the worst period for her was when Brian was playing Sharky, Betty’s paranoid violent boyfriend in Dream on. Sometimes I ask people after screenings of the films. ‘Who were the actors and who the non actors.’ People never get Brian as the actor. And that’s a compliment. People say things like ‘Who’s that gypsy lad in your films where did you find him.’ Once after a screening of the Scar, a woman said ‘if that lad wants to get his wife back, he’ll have to get his teeth seen to.’
The other thing about Brian was his modesty. He was always dissatisfied with his performances. He always hated and avoided watching rushes. He was always incredibly nervous before a scene. I think that’s partly why he was so good at bringing out performances from other people. Especially young actors or non-actors. It was the seriousness of his focus that would draw them in and draw the performance out of them. It wasn’t pretend with Brian. It was real. I remember Barry saying that his son Callum came home shaking after doing a scene with Brian as the Gold man in Shooting Magpies.
Over the last 20 years since In Fading light, Brian has had major roles in almost every Amber film. I directed half of them and edited all of them. It’s strange, as an editor how intimate you become with someone. I got to know every flicker of his eyelid, every grimace , every twinkle. His performances were like a gift. I saw them grow and deepen. I was putting together some clips over the last few days to show in the Club after this, and it was incredibly difficult to choose from so many magical moments. I can’t believe I won’t be watching that face and listening to that voice again. I can’t imagine making an Amber film without him.
As well as being a major collaborator of course Brian was also a mate. What I loved about him was his eloquent inarticulacy. And I mean that as a compliment as well. He may not have always had the words, but the way he expressed himself told you so much more than anyone else. The last time I went to see him I was worried that I wouldn’t know what to say to him now that he couldn’t talk back. I needn’t have worried. He did all the talking. Scribbling furiously in this little notebook. He told me the story of his last tab. Before he went in to the operating theatre for his first operation he asked if he could go outside for a cigarette. It was pouring with rain. Just him and his tab and the rain outside the hospital. Then he stamped on it and went inside. That image stays with me still. I thought I couldn’t bear to see him without half his face and his beautiful voice gone. But he was still so much there. The Brian was inside and it was still shining.
In the interview he did for us for the film Pursuit of Happiness he talks with great affection about how Murray and him trundled round County Durham together in the jeep during the research for Eden Valley, often with baby Mattie in tow. He describes how Murray’s attitude to childcare inspired him when Angie became pregnant with JonJames. How children weren’t separate from the rest of life but part of it.
We went on a couple of great holidays to Ireland together. Once when Mattie was small and once when JonJames was small. JonJames and Mattie briefly became best friends when they were at Hotspur School together even though they were 2 years apart. Brian loved being a father. He took JonJames around with him everywhere and taught him everything he knew. Someone said to me after Murray died that Mattie was probably Murray’s proudest achievement. I think the same could be said about Brian and JonJames. And that’s saying a lot because his achievements were many.
I’ll miss you man.