The Graham Norton Show

Bruce Springsteen talks about the longevity of his band; Matthew McConaughey says some of his diary blew his mind; Kristin Scott Thomas admits she thought Four Weddings And A Funeral was a bit of a dud; Stephen Mangan talks art; Mawaan Rizwan reveals he hadn't seen Taskmaster before agreeing to take part; and Sam Smith performs live in the studio.

Bruce Springsteen, joining Graham from his farm in New York State for a chat, and asked about his new album and documentary Letter To You, says: "It's the first record we (E Street Band) made together in a really long time. We all got together and cut the record in four or five days. It was very quick, and we sort of did it the old-fashioned way in the sense that everyone played at once and we kept what we got."

Talking more about the band, he says, "We've been together for 45 years at least, so it's a big deal when we get back together."

Asked about the documentary's retrospective look at the band, he says, "It's interesting to see. You'll see us doing something 30 years ago and the film will move forward 30 years into the present day, and we are doing the exact same thing!

"Imagine meeting a group of friends at 17 and then 50 years later those very same people are the people you are still working with. That only happens in rock and roll music. It's a miracle and it happens in no other business or line of work in the world. It's a unique set of circumstances and when it works, as it has worked with our band, it is a wonderful thing."

Matthew McConaughey joins Graham from LA to chat about his new memoir Greenlights. Asked about the background to the book, he says, "I've been keeping a diary for 36 years and originally the idea was to see if anything in them was worth sharing. I originally thought it would be a nice little hardback for college kids to put in their back pocket with some aphorisms and aspirations but, as I got deeper into my diaries, stories and life lessons started to come out and they were quite funny. I noticed over the last 50 years the hardships - the red and orange lights - revealed green light assets for me later in my life."

In researching his diaries, he reveals a prediction he made in 1992. "I made a list of 10 goals in life and number eight was 'Win an Oscar.' It is strange because at that time I wasn't even verbally admitting that I wanted to pursue acting. I did more than that in my diary, which was wild - it kind of blew my mind!"

Kristin Scott Thomas, talking about the new TV adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, and asked about playing the iconic role of Mrs Danvers, says, "I had no idea I was so frightening. I couldn't understand when people kept saying. 'Kristin Scott Thomas, she's a bit frightening,' and it turns out she is! I did enjoy it - it was great fun."

Admitting she wasn't impressed with Four Weddings And A Funeral, Kristin says "I thought it was a bit of a dud at first. The only time I saw it I was all by myself in a cinema in Paris where there wasn't anyone to laugh with, and I didn't find the jokes particularly funny. But then I was then on a plane in days when everyone watched the same film and people were laughing so I thought, 'Maybe I am mistaken, maybe it's quite good.'"

Stephen Mangan, talking about recent work, says "Just before lockdown I was doing a movie in the Middle East about a pandemic. It was written four years ago and it's about everyone panic buying, queuing for food, and wearing masks. So, we start filming it, and suddenly the whole world starts doing it as well. It was really weird. It's a comedy so I'm not sure who's going to be up for a light-hearted look at a pandemic - we will see."

Asked about the new series of Portrait Artist Of The Year, he says "I am utterly hopeless at art and for me it's magical. How they get from a blank piece of paper to the finished thing is completely mesmerising. People love it because there is so much drama - it's totally absorbing."

On taking over Graham's mantle as one of the presenters of Children In Need, Stephen says "They are big shoes to fill and I am very excited."

Mawaan Rizwan, talking about his role in the recent comedy Two Weeks To Live, says "It was a proper action film and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm up for an action thing, I want to kick some butt. My character is a total nerd and does nothing, there is no action going on at all, but they gave me a body double because they didn't trust me. It was nice having one because he looked like me and was hot! It's worrying that I quite fancied myself!"

Asked about joining the cast of the latest series of Taskmaster, he says, "I hadn't seen it before I went on it. I really didn't know what to expect and thought it was a pretty chilled panel show meets game show, and how hard could it be. It turns out it's a pretty brutal personality test and exposes all the parts of you that you don't want people to see. I didn't care about winning, but I ended up really wanting Greg [Davies] to like me! His disapproving nature reminded me of my dad, and I got emotionally attached!"

Sam Smith performs Diamonds live in the studio before joining Graham for a chat. Asked if Covid had affected the release of the album, Sam says, "Yes, massively. It was going to be called To Die For - not a great title now, so we shifted and changed it to Love Goes."