The Times - Access Interviews

Victoria Beckham

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

David may be crocked but Mrs B is dressing Madonna and conquering the fashion pack. This, she says, is her job for life. It may be indelicate. But if you’d choose to describe Victoria Beckham as a “hot mom”, then fair enough. However there are better times (and better places) to do this than to her face at 11am on Valentine’s Day in the £19 million townhouse on East 63rd Street where she is showcasing her latest ready-to-wear collection.

Felicity Kendal

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

The actress is a doting grandmother but she’s still game for a bit of transgressive fun. “Shall we sit here instead?” asks Felicity Kendal, folding down a plush red seat and patting it invitingly. “It’s so much more comfortable.”

Anna Arrowsmith

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

I have interviewed countless politicians over the years, of many a persuasion. Never before has one seen fit, while outlining her electoral credentials, to dwell on the pornographic films she has made in her lounge. Anna Arrowsmith, also known as Anna Span, is the new Liberal Democrat candidate for Gravesham in Kent. She is also the auteur of hundreds of “female-friendly” porn films. Her neighbours in Tunbridge Wells may or may not be disgusted to learn that some of these, including Be My Toyboy, were shot in the front room.

Peter Moore

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

The survivor of Britain’s longest hostage crisis in 20 years revealed yesterday how he endured months of torture during his ordeal in Iraq. Peter Moore told The Times that he was hung by his arms from a door as a punishment and doused in water by his captors. Speaking in detail for the first time since his release, he also told of a series of mock executions. At one point, guards put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, simultaneously firing a real round from another weapon. “I remember thinking: I’m dead. It’s not that bad. It’s not that painful. And then, reality check, hold on I’m handcuffed and still blindfolded. I can hear people laughing.”

Gontran Cherrier

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Rising star Gontran Cherrier has big plans to bring his baguettes to Britain

Sandy Powell

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

One of only two Brits to win an Oscar was Sandy Powell, costume designer, for The Young Victoria. And it’s her third

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Catherine Raw, a manager on the BlackRock Gold & General Fund, explains how it has multiplied investors' money sevenfold over the past 10 years. To isten to the interview, click here.

Chris Moyles

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

I’m a poor man’s Jonathan Ross’ — the Radio 1 DJ talks rivals, money and his new quiz show

Pauline Prescott

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Pauline Prescott talks to Ginny Dougary about public humiliation, private anguish – and why her husband now does the housework

Carly Simon

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Rarely in recent popular culture has there been a more fevered debate about the identity of a person being addressed in a hit song. It is now 38 years since the release of Carly Simon’s barbed classic You’re So Vain, about some man who is tasteless enough to have eyes only for the mirror while in her company. Heaven knows there was a gallery of suspects composed of the men she had dated — Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, James Taylor, Cat Stevens and other peacocks.

Martin Scorsese

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Martin Scorsese gives a wince of discomfort and then spits it out. “I have a ten-year old daughter,” he says, frowning. “So it was just unbearable for me to do, to make real.” The 67-year-old director is talking about a pivotal scene from his new movie, Shutter Island. The film, set in an asylum for the insane in 1950s Boston, is a psychological thriller that follows a fragile federal marshal, Teddy Daniels, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and the hunt for a missing high security patient — a woman called Rachel (Emily Mortimer), who has drowned her two small sons and her beloved daughter in a country lake.

Mary McCartney

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

The scion of our most famous vegetarian dynasty talks about Linda’s cooking, Paul’s favourite dish and what her kids eat

Chris Woodhead

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Since his motor neuron disease diagnosis, Chris Woodhead is putting his energy into campaigning for sufferers’ rights

Jane Clarke

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Seven years ago, desperate for a baby, Jane Clarke went to India There is a dense blanket of snow outside and Maya, who is 7 and minus several front teeth, has just arrived in a grand English country hotel. She takes off her boots. “Hindus don’t wear shoes,” she points out.

Rose Tremain

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

The author who made her name with Restoration deserves to emerge from the shadow of her illustrious peers. William Golding nicked Rose Tremain’s suitcase. Yes, really. “It was a British Council tour I did with Richard to Lisbon” — Richard Holmes, that is, biographer of Coleridge and Shelley, author most recently of The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, and Tremain’s partner — “it was an amazing group of people, and it included William Golding — one of the last tours he did before he died. We had identical suitcases, and at the airport he took mine, which caused a deal of ructions. I never got to see what was in his,” she says, laughing at the memory and arching an eyebrow. “Richard had to handle it. He’s such a diplomat. ‘Sir Bill ... I think you’ve got Rose’s underwear . . .’ ”

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

For some here, these Olympics have been about medals. For Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, it is about beating three people in today’s slalom. If he beats three, his sponsor, Paddy Power, will give him a £10,000 bonus. He thinks he can beat the Moroccan and his friend who skis for Cyprus, but the third remains a test of nerve, technique and sheer leopard magic.

Liam Byrne

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Liam Byrne has a three-month diary on a whiteboard in his office and issues a weekly “to do” list to staff. His watch is set ten minutes fast, ensuring that he arrives one minute early for every meeting. This former management consultant is a man in a hurry. While his colleagues are planning their memoirs, retirement and holidays for after the election, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury is fighting on. He is clever, determined and demanding.

Married Women

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Last month we received a huge response when we asked men about the secrets they hide from their wives. Now women get their own back.

Nick Kent

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

He fell in love with Chrissie Hynde, took drugs with Keith Richards and partied with Iggy Pop. Alan Franks meets Nick Kent, the music writer whose rock’n’roll lifestyle almost destroyed him.

Robert De Niro

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:13:58 +0000

Robert De Niro has become the quintessential family man. But is there still a part of him that’s married to the Mob? Robert De Niro is giving me the Face. You know the one: mouth turned down at either corner in a kind of inverted smile; eyes puffy and narrowed; the brow gathered into folds of contempt or indignation. “I just don’t want this to become a thing,” he says, very quietly, as we stand alone in the wood-panelled library of a Beverly Hills hotel.