An Interview with Roger Jean Nsengiyumva & Tadhg Murphy from ‘Time Bandits’

Tadhg Murphy and Roger Jean Nsengiyumva as Alto and Widgit in Season 1 of ‘Time Bandits’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

We wrap up our season one coverage of Time Bandits with not one, but two interviews with those incredible bandits. Courtesy of a grand discussion with two of the quirkier bandits in the bunch, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva & Tadhg Murphy, who played the absent-minded yet brilliant Widgit, and the time traveling thespian Alto, respectively.
 
John Betancourt: I like start by getting to know what it was that attracted you as actors to this opportunity.
 
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva: Taika Waititi. Jemaine Clement. Iain Morris. What? Monty Python What? Because I didn't even know Lisa (Kudrow) was on until I landed in New Zealand. So, I didn't, I didn't need any more of a pull. Actually, that's a lie. I didn't even know it was Monty Python, because it was a secret name at the pitching stage. So, yeah, just comedic legends.
 
Tadhg Murphy: Absolutely the same John, I was a huge fan of Time Bandits, and I recognized off the audition that it was Time Bandits, that it was going to be a reimagining of it. And I thought the idea of trying to reimagine an iconic piece under the helm of like, like heroes, Taika, Jermaine and Iain, like, I can't, it's hard to it's hard to fathom, because when it happens, part of you goes, “Of course, I was born with this.” And that's, that's the truth, I swear to God. So you go, like, “I'm supposed to be doing this. This is” -- I was saying to Rog the other day. I wrote down, you know, like, you know, people manifest and stuff like that. I 100% manifested this show, and the people around me in the show. And that's not saying that the show's about me, even though it is bit. (Laughter from everyone) But I absolutely ate up the chance. And this, it was… the cake that was offered was tastier, more beautiful, more surprising and more unimaginable than I could have even fathomed. So it was, clearly a no brainer, so I'm blessed that whoever refused the roles before me. It's great. (More Laughter)
 
John Betancourt: Now a question I posed to some of your co-actors earlier, is I am curious to know if there was any pressure in being part of a franchise that so iconic.
 
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva: I've got this pressure of everyday life. (Laughs) I was on a building site when my agent called me to tell me I got the job. So, I think that if there was that pressure, I don't think that I would have done a good job. I think how I felt on set from day one ‘till the last day was… I just felt so free. I think Monty Python comedy is so silly that it would -- for me anyway, it was definitely extremely helpful that I felt very comfortable with the group and with the crew and with the environment, to be able to just try things so I didn't feel any of that, any of that pressure.
 
Tadhg Murphy: I have a very… I don't know if it's healthy or unhealthy, but I've had this my whole acting career. I always think I'm about to get fired. (Laughs) I remember for the first, because, you know, it's in contracts as well. At the start, there's always the, if you’re doing a pilot of a new show, they can always replace you. And I've seen it happen to actors, and it's so soul crushing. So, part of you is going, “Am I good enough?” And then the other part's going, “Yes, of course, you are.” So, these two things are traveling at the same time, so you feel the pressure of that until you land into a space with people that are allowing you to be free, which is what it's all about. And they cast so well on this show, and they wrote so well on this show, that everything came together very, very fast, and you felt you were in something very special immediately, and that immediately popped the pressure off in that sense, and brought the new pressure of, I love it so much. I hope everyone else does.
 
John Betancourt: I think everyone does, and that does lead me to my next question. Because we’ve talked about its iconic nature, and I’m curious why you think this franchise resonates so well with audiences?
 
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva: I think, I think the duality of having jokes that you know, really young children can understand, whilst also older ages can also understand. I think that when we, when we were in the table reads, that's what I really got a sense of, because you'd have Kal-El (Tuck) and Kiera (Thompson) laugh at something, and then you'd, you know, you'd have me and Tadgh laugh at something, and I went, “Oh, wow. Okay, it universally age wise resonates.” I also think we're all so different as well the bandits, and I think that helps with people being able to connect. So yeah, Monty Python is so silly. Like, you know, “He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy.” That is just that's hilarious to everyone, or to at least everyone who likes that kind of humor.
 
Tadhg Murphy: I would echo everything that that Roger has just said, and I'd add in I've never been in a show that's built entirely for family, for family viewing. And there's a great sense of heart in this show, and there's a great sense of, there's a sort of a love letter to joy in the show and like who, I mean I for me from loving the original so much, one of the… the “Narnia” moment of the doors opening and being able to travel through time like that. Fantasy is so alive in your youth, and you don't want it to disappear, and you want to hold on to it and for it to return to me as an adult in the literal sense of doing it, and to watch it in Kal-El’s eyes appear.
 
I think of it for my own sons as they grow that they watch this show, and hopefully they will feel that excitement as well. And the idea of, you know, possibility beyond the realms of what it is, because we all have, you know, we all have to live on Earth. We all have to live in reality. And this, what this show does so well, is it shows you the benefit of fantasy and the heart that sits inside of that, and that's something we can all enjoy together, especially sitting down in front of a television set to connect together, doing something that ostensibly seems like shutting off. In fact, you are connecting to everyone, because you can't experience the show and the joy without knowing love in your heart and for the people around you. And so, for me, that is a joy, and that the joy is within the silliness of that. Also, everything I just said was gold by the way! Just amazing! (Laughter from Everyone)
 
John Betancourt: I totally agree! Get all of that, put it on a poster. Put it on the DVD cover. (More laughter) The last question that I have for you gentlemen today, what are each of you most proud of when it comes to your work on this first season?
 
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva: Pride is a weird one for me. I struggle with being proud. I think, I think gratitude is quite a strong feeling that I have, being able to be involved, being able to have, like a really, I mean me and Tadhg were on the phone last week. We both, we both had children that are a week apart from each other. I've just had a three, three-week-old daughter and Tadgh, was it month and a little boy?
 
Tadhg Murphy: Yeah.
 
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva: So, I'm really grateful to now have that in my life. I'm really grateful to have made people laugh. I think that's so fun. I think that's such a great you know; I’ve played all kinds of characters. I think one of the first things that my fiancé’s dad said to me was about another show that he saw me on was, “Oh, you were really scary.” I was like, “this is a great first impression.” So, yeah, gratitude. Gratitude is the biggest feeling that I have about the show, just being able to make people laugh and being able to be in that environment.
 
Tadhg Murphy:  The thing. I'm most, obviously, most proud of my children. But apart from that, I'm very proud. I'm very proud to be in this in this show. I'm very proud to be part of a show whose sole reason to exist is to bring joy. That makes me proud, and I, like Roger, do struggle with pride, I have to say. But the very strong bonds within the cast, and from conversations that I've had, both individually, with Rune (Temte), with Lisa, with Kal-El, with Roger, Kira, that there is such camaraderie and such care within the group and with one another, that you can't help but know that you're a cog in that wheel, and because you are a cog in that wheel, you should be proud, because look at the people that are around you. So that's, I think we've all given that to one another, and so that's probably my proudest thing, is that I'm part of this show with these people.
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
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