Ben Faulks (Mr Bloom) plays Peter Pan in this year's CBeebies Christmas show, Peter Pan - which you can see for the first time on Friday 19th December at 5pm. We caught up with Ben to find out what it was like to play Peter...
How does it feel to be the star of the CBeebies Christmas show?!
It’s a huge pleasure to get the role of Peter Pan. It’s a character I’ve grown up with having been read the story as a child, so to get the chance to fill his boots is extremely exciting. There’s a lot to play with too, as he’s brave but reckless, petulant then all of a sudden the life and soul of the party. I tried to remember what it was like to be a young boy so being the elder brother of three siblings has gone a long way to helping me prepare for this, (Joe & Beth, my life long apologies...)
Hi Ben! How does it feel to be playing the title role in the CBeebies Christmas show?!
It’s a huge pleasure to get the role of Peter Pan. It’s a character I’ve grown up with having been read the story as a child, so to get the chance to fill his boots is extremely exciting. There’s a lot to play with too, as he’s brave but reckless, petulant then all of a sudden the life and soul of the party. I tried to remember what it was like to be a young boy so being the elder brother of three siblings has gone a long way to helping me prepare for this (Joe & Beth, my life long apologies...)
Can you tell us a bit about the process of rehearsing and filming the show – what did it involve?
We had limited time to get it on its feet: three days' rehearsal & two days' technical rehearsal on stage but it was an exciting process. In some ways it was the best of both worlds for us performers because we were building towards both a live show and a broadcast performance. There was the excitement of delivering a theatre performance for the immediate audience who would boo and cheer, but we also knew there were some cheeky cameras positioned around the auditorium filming it all. It was strange to think that that live show would be enjoyed not just by families up and down the UK, but by us too! It's a weird but rare opportunity to sit back and watch your own stage performance! The theatre audience were great, as you can well imagine. They were really willing us all to do well and gave us such a buzz as we performed. There was the odd mistake during some of the performances (most notably tangled wires and spinning bodies) but the audience stuck with us while we sorted them out. I think it’s pretty safe to say that those moments won't make the edit that you see on the TV!
You perform some pretty impressive flying stunts during the show – how did you get on with the wires?Did you have to train to use them?
Flying is a lot of fun, but the tricky bit is trying to make it look good whilst attempting to sing in tune and tell a story. I was lucky enough to have flown in shows previously, so I had an idea of what was to come. Prior to the production week we had two flying sessions, working with the crew to get us used to the equipment and to try out some of the moves. Being hoisted around like a sack of spuds is actually exhausting, demanding a lot of core strength to stay in control and make it look realistic. That said, there’s not many shows where you get to fly AND sword fight and I relished the opportunity. [Note from the producer: Ben is being very modest here! He worked VERY hard to get himself into great shape for the performances. As he says, it requires a lot of core strength so he undertook daily exercises months in advance of the shows. There was also lots of limbering up throughout the week – warming up and warming down – to minimise the risk of injury.]
What was it like working with all the other CBeebies presenters? What do you all talk about when you get together?
When we come together to work on the Christmas show, it’s always a cherished time. Outside of this incredibly intensive period we rarely get to work with each other, unless of course you’re in the CBeebies house. The first Christmas show I did felt like stepping into an Avengers Assemble or X-Men movie, where all your preschool heroes are supping cups of tea whilst discussing the challenge ahead! But as I’m sure you can imagine, it’s a lot of fun and genuine good times. A mention should also go to the production team and their superhuman levels of patience as they endeavour to herd a group of chattering CBeebies characters around rehearsals. Not an easy task, I’m sure.
What did you most enjoy about the performances? Any funny moments during filming?
A stand out moment was swinging in on a wire to kick Andy Day on the bottom and getting a huge cheer. I won't say more than that for fear of spoiling the surprise. Sorry Andy...!
CBeebies Peter Pan premieres on CBeebies on Friday 19th December at 5pm.
Check out when you can watch Peter Pan, and the rest of your little ones' CBeebies Christmas favourites in our festive planner.
Go behind the scenes and see Ben in rehearsals in our exclusive Grown-ups video diaries.
Visit the CBeebies Christmas webpage.
Excited about the Christmas shows? Share the joy on our CBeebies Grown-ups Facebook and Twitter pages.
