When Harry Potter's Jason Isaacs Encountered The Merseyside Mafia
A return to Liverpool culminated in the actor running into the sort of chaps people cross continents to avoid...
“I don't think people in general know that I come from Liverpool. Because I've got this RSC accent, I imagine most people assume I was born and raised in the Home Counties. When I go back to Liverpool to visit family, it's not long before my strong Scouse accent returns.
“In 1997, I was back home shooting a film for the BBC called The Fix. I'd been cast as Tony Kay, the former Everton footballer who caused a storm in the 1960s when he and a number of other players took bribes to throw important games. An ex-player called Jimmy Gauld was behind the whole thing - in our film he was played by Christopher Fulford from Whitechapel.
“Playing Tony Kay (above left with Jason) was a big deal for me, but it also posed a problem because he was an Evertonian and I'm a die-hard Liverpool fan. There was one scene where I was meant to be driven through the gates at Goodison Park and we managed to rig it so that I didn't have to set foot within the stadium grounds. If I'd done that, there are members of my family who'd never have spoken to me again.
“The other thing with playing Tony - who was working on the film as a technical advisor - was that, after he was kicked out of football he'd got involved in some pretty messy business. One story I'd heard was that he'd sold some Mr Big a cubic zirconium and the guy had put a bounty on Tony's head.
“Whenever I go back to Liverpool, I always stay in the Britannia Adelphi Hotel - it's the place that featured in the BBC documentary Hotel! It's a nice place and it's got a sauna which I always enjoy. Anyway, I was in the sauna one day, sweltering away, when these two guys come in covered in gold and tattoos.
“‘You're that Jason Isaacs, aren't ya?’ says one of the two in the thickest Scouse accent you've ever heard. ‘You're playing Tony Kay in that thing, right? Next time you see Tony tell him [names redacted to protect the not-so-innocent] says 'hello'.’
“The next day on-set, I saw Tony having a cup of tea and thought I'd join him for a chat. ‘Hi, Tony. I met a couple of your friends the other day at the Adelphi. Well, when I mentioned the name to Tony, he blanched. He was so shocked that he bolted his tea, said his goodbyes and rushed off the set.
“I can only presume those gentlemen have still to catch up to him.”