Behind The Scenes On The Inbetweeners

RS faves and all-round winners Failsafe made a guest appearance on C4's The Inbetweeners this week, so we caught up with vocalist Jim Norris to find out exactly what it's like on the set of one of the funniest and sharpest shows on TV

Posted Thursday, 23 September 2010 in

We've said this before and we'll say it again: Failsafe are a brilliant, brilliant band. You know what else is brilliant? The Inbetweeners on C4, a painfully accurate depiction of growing up that normally has us laughing and wincing at the same time, like when someone tells you a joke at the exact same time you stub your toe and your face can't decide what shape to make.

Put the two together and you get this week's episode, where Failsafe appeared as part of the storyline. We've always wanted to know if the actors are actually as funny as their characters, so here's the inside story.

How did you feel when you found out you were going to be appearing on the show?
"We were well excited, there was lots of fist-clenching and giggling going on. We must have looked like a right bunch of muppets from an outside perspective - five grown men turning into giggling little girls for a solid 45 minutes or so! We were thrilled and we still are to be honest."

Were you fans of The Inbetweeners beforehand?
"Of course! There was one point where we'd have a laptop with it playing on the dashboard in the van while we were traveling to gigs, it's probably like nursing a crack habit or something, but we wouldn't really know about that. We love watching it."

Were you nervous about appearing on screen?
"From a personal point of view, I think I was a little bit. We'd shot videos before now but never a full TV show, so we were wary as to how it was going to work. We were all packing it about meeting the cast too, because we see them as legends already!"

What memories do you have of being onset? Did anything in particular stick out?
"We were struck with how much effort and precision goes into filming just one scene! Besides the delicious catering we were lucky enough to watch a lot of the other scenes being filmed. At times it was pretty difficult not to laugh at the lines, especially Jay and Will's, and Neil's dribbling. It felt awesome to be witnessing it first hand, we felt very proud and lucky in a sense."

What were the cast like? Were any of them like their characters?
"It seems like their characters are extreme versions of themselves, I'm sure they've invested a lot of themselves into their roles. They're all lovely guys, very professional and extremely talented. The crew was fantastic too, slick and calm."

What was the weirdest moment of the day? And the best bit?
"It's got to be the cast coming over and introducing themselves, they said they recognised us.....from the posters... And the best part was getting sneak peeks of footage from previous shoots, and watching the boys do what they do best on set."

Finally, was it hard having to mime to camera?
"It was very difficult, especially when we were miming to nothing at all. Rob had to try and not make 'any' noise out of his kit when we were filming, which is pretty difficult for him at the best of times..."