Michael Palin talks returning to acting in new comedy from The Office legend – and how he approaches old age

by

You don’t act much these days. What made you want to play Michael’s dad Brian in Small Prophets?

I spend most of my time traveling and writing, but I also love acting. I’ve been lucky enough to work on projects like ‘A Fish Called Wanda,’ ‘The Death of Stalin,’ and ‘GBH,’ which were fantastic experiences, though those kinds of roles don’t come up very often. The writing by Mackenzie is truly unique – I especially appreciate his wit and insight into human nature. When he offered me a part, there was no way I could refuse, even with my busy schedule.

Brian is a resident of a care home, and this is the first time you’ve played an elderly character. Were you hesitant about taking on the role?

I enjoyed playing this character. He’s an elderly man who’s a bit forgetful, but he’s also surprisingly capable – he can understand complex writings and fix old machines. He’s a far cry from the typical nursing home resident. I wouldn’t want to simply fade away in a chair and then pass on; this role allowed for much more than that.

It’s normal to forget things as you age – like names or where you put things, and I definitely experience that. However, if I have a project that requires me to learn about a specific place, like Venezuela, I can focus and remember all the details. My kids worry about me a lot, but I think they overreact. Unlike me, my character Brian isn’t careful and loves taking risks, even at an advanced age – like attempting to ride a motorcycle at almost 90!

Want to see this content?

We can’t display this content because of a security measure called reCAPTCHA. If you’re signed in to Contentpass, please sign out to see it.

Do you think that’s quite true for a lot of people of your generation?

I benefited from growing up in a time when youth was celebrated, something my parents, who lived through two World Wars, didn’t experience. After graduating from university in the 60s, it was a vibrant era of cultural icons like the Beatles, Mary Quant, and comedians like Pete and Dud and Spike Milligan. It felt like anything was possible, and there was a real lack of strict censorship compared to today. We could write whatever we wanted for Monty Python without worrying as much about boundaries. Our approach was simply to be playful and have fun.

Mackenzie’s writing style is very clean and efficient, similar to the Python programming language – it doesn’t overdo things. I think the funniest moments happen when there’s no obvious attempt at humor. In fact, I find it funnier when people are completely earnest. That’s the spirit of Python: finding humor in everyday absurdities.

Authors

Emma Cox

Read More

2026-02-02 20:39