My culture picks: Timothy Spall

18 June 2018

Timothy Spall’s latest film Stanley: A Man of Variety sees him take on the role of a psychiatric patient who hallucinates comedy greats from the past, including Noel Coward and Alastair Sim. As the film hits UK cinemas, Spall shares his top cultural picks with Front Row.

The bestselling 2016 novel My Name is Lucy Barton, by Pulitzer Prize-winner Elizabeth Strout, tells the story of the title character’s childhood and complex relationship with her mother.

Spall says: "I used to read almost exclusively nineteenth-century literature. Then when I was boating in the Mediterranean, in a toilet, I found a book called My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Strout. I read that and I read her entire oeuvre. All her books are brilliant.”

My Name is Lucy Barton is published by Random House.

Ruben Östlund’s 2017 Palme d’Or winner The Square, starring Elizabeth Moss, sees disaster strike when a PR firm is hired to promote an esteemed Swedish museum.

Spall says: "The film that I love the most at the moment, and I can’t get over how brilliant it was, is The Square. It's about the curator of this uber-trendy modern art gallery in Stockholm, and through an act of petty revenge his entire life absolutely unravels.

"There are some amazing set pieces in it - they have this big dinner where a guy who’s a performance artist turns up as a Neanderthal ape man, and it's very funny at first. Then it gets seriously out of hand.

"It’s the first time for a long time – since I was a kid – when I have actually felt like I was going to cry I was so frightened. And I was so embarrassed by the people’s predicament in it. That is rare and that's brilliant. And very funny."

The Square is available now on DVD and Blu-ray. Image: Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy

The second series of The Handmaid’s Tale, which continues the story of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel, portrays a world in which women are subjugated to men, viewed solely as property. Offred, played by Elizabeth Moss, is one of the central characters fighting to find the daughter taken from her.

Spall says simply: "The Handmaids Tale – that is great. Telly-wise and drama-wise."

The Handmaid's Tale is currently on Channel 4 on Sunday nights. Image: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy