Throughout his quarter-century as a talk show host, Graham Norton has interviewed everyone from Hollywood movie stars and game-changing musicians to sports icons and heavyweight politicians.
In short, he’s a man who knows what makes for a good interview. And, evidently, what doesn’t.
During a new interview with the Australian news website News.com.au, Graham was asked about whether his celebrity guests ever get nervous when they come on his show.
In response, he recalled an interview he did with Daryl Hannah, who is apparently “terrified of a studio audience”, and therefore struggles when it comes to talk shows.
“She did our show, and bless her, she wasn’t a great guest,” Graham said of the Splash star. “But what I loved was, because she got through it, afterwards she was high as a kite. She really felt like she’d done an amazing thing.”
“And I was thrilled for her that she had gotten through it,” he added, before pointing out: “It was still a very poor show.”
However, Graham insisted he’s “always quite forgiving of people who are bad guests because it’s nobody’s job”.
“If you’re able to sit on the couch and string a funny story together, that really is a bonus – it isn’t part of your job description. So I think we’re lucky the number of people we get who can do it,” he said.
While Graham is mostly discreet when it comes to his more difficult famous interviewees, he has lifted the lid on one or two instances in the past.
He previously admitted to finding Mark Wahlberg’s erratic appearance on his show from back in 2013 “annoying”, and more recently named the music icon that “doesn’t make it easy” for the people who are interviewing her.
Graham also had an unlikely pick for his favourite celebrity guest when asked about the subject back in 2019.