Here Jean Catharell shares her “Day In The Life” with Aidan Quinn.
(Note: British spellings have been retained to maintain authenticity and to confuse American readers!)
"It all began with a call from Martin Lewis asking if I would be interested in showing someone around the Liverpool Beatle sites. Always happy to do a friend a favour I said yes. Martin asked about tours and stuff and I suggested that I would ask my friend Jackie who has her own tour company Here There Everywhere Tours - and specializes in Beatle tours to join me. As Founder of the Liverpool-based Beatles fan club, Liverpool Beatlescene http://www.come.to/liverpoolbeatlescene. I was sure that with all of our combined Beatles knowledge we could put together a great day.
I called Jackie to ask if she was free to do a private tour. “Yes, when and who with?” she asked. I started to tell her and when I said the customer would be Aidan Quinn she couldn't believe it. Aidan would be joined by Ian Hart - who had played John Lennon in the film "Backbeat." They had become good friends after working together on "Michael Collins."
Martin was very keen to keep the customer a secret and over the next couple of days we talked about why this person was coming to Liverpool. Martin then told me in confidence that the customer was about to play Paul McCartney in a VH1 movie and that he wanted to do some research in Liverpool. "No better place!" I said.
Aidan had asked for no fuss and just wanted to be anonymous. Right! Anonymous we could do, that wasn't a problem. Jackie and I knew how important this was and so we put together the tour and waited for Aidan and Ian to arrive.
Secret? What secret?!! Or "Do you want to know a secret?" !! A few days after Martin's call it was splashed all over the newspapers and Internet that Aidan was about to play Paul! By the time, Aidan and Ian arrived in Liverpool the whole world knew!!!
We were scheduled to meet both Aidan & Ian Hart at Liverpool's Adelphi Hotel.
We met Ian first of all - a lovely, unassuming typical Liverpool lad - not at all like I’d expected. We were chatting in the foyer of the hotel when Aidan strolled over - and the funny thing is that all four of us seemed to hit it off and were at ease immediately. It was nice to find that Aidan wasn't your typical Hollywood star. He was as ordinary as could be and a gentleman. The Irish charm was evident and Jackie and I knew this was going to be a great day.
We strolled through the streets of Liverpool on our way to Mathew Street and the Cavern Club. This was bizarre! We were in Central Liverpool with a top Hollywood actor - and no-one recognized him! In fact, it was Ian Hart grabbing the attention! Most of the people stopping him seemed to be old Liverpool mates. I think Aidan was quite pleased at his anonymity - and this was a great chance for him to see the warm character of the Liverpool people.
We reached Mathew Street and took the lads into the Cavern, The Grapes, The Mathew Street Gallery, the Beatle Shop etc. Aidan was taking it all in, but the funniest thing at this time was Ian's reaction to the changes that had taken place. He has been living in London for a while now, and a typical statement from him was “What the $%*#! have they done to The Grapes?!!!” Not all changes have been for the better (“Better! Better!! BETTER!!!”)
For Jackie, as a Liverpool tour guide, discretion about VIP customers is really important, so we had told no-one about our 'guests.' The best reaction was from our friend Christine who was running The Mathew Street Gallery at the time. She really could not believe that her idol was there in person!
At The Beatle Shop, Aidan purchased several books about Paul to aid his research as well as some spoken word tapes to help him achieve the ‘Scouse’ accent - and some gifts for his wife. He was quite happy to pose for daft pictures, so we got a great one of him standing next to the cardboard cutout of Paul himself! I think at this stage he was quite worried about the resemblance..... He was really very keen to get this part right and even asked questions about Paul's height, weight, etc. This was a star in action!
We picked up our taxi at the Eleanor Rigby Statue to set off on our 'Magical Mystery Tour' of The Beatles’ Liverpool. We visited Paul's old school, which is now “LIPA” - The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts - known as Paul McCartney's ‘Fame School' Then on through Sefton Park to Penny Lane - with The Bank, The Barber Shop and The Shelter In The Middle Of A Roundabout.
Aidan was fascinated by it all - Ian was just noticing the changes..."Where the #%$* has the Rialto gone?!" We tried to teach Aidan to speak with a Liverpool accent... With his slight Irish twang, he was part way there anyway! I can’t wait to see the film - just to find out how the accent went!
We had made arrangements for us to visit Paul's childhood home - 20 Forthlin Road (which is now a National Trust Property) so we made our way up to Speke Hall to catch the minibus. We had about 20 minutes to spare and decided to visit the Tea Rooms. It was bizarre! We were sat there enjoying ‘tea & cakes’ with two Hollywood stars!!! This was one of those 'pinch-me' moments! Was this for real?!
20 Forthlin Road is the place Paul called home from the age of 12. It was here that he wrote many of the early Beatles songs with John Lennon. It used to be a ‘council house’ (public housing) with three bedrooms. The smallest one was Paul's. (His brother Mike needed storage space for his photographic equipment.) At the age of 14, his mother Mary died so from then on, Paul and Michael were brought up by their father Jim, as single parent.
Aidan lost himself in this house. He wandered around, soaking up the atmosphere, studying every photograph, reading every piece of text and listening to every piece of dialogue. He also asked a lot of questions. If there was one spot on the tour that helped him to 'become' Paul McCartney - then this was it.
We had planned to take a taxi back to Liverpool City centre, but after explaining the story of how Paul had met George Harrison on a number 86 bus - Aidan had the bright idea to catch the bus home! As we left Forthlin Road, it was just pulling in to the bus stop, so the four of us ran as fast as we could - and just about caught the bus! (“Made the bus in seconds flat...”!) We sat upstairs on the back seat like a gang of Liverpool school kids... No one had a clue that they were sharing their journey with such Hollywood stars! (And Aidan paid the bus fares too!!!)
We tried to teach Aidan how to say “back of the bus” in ‘Scouse’ - and Ian tried to explain the Liverpool saying - “She's got a face like the back of a bus!!” to our American friend - amongst other Liverpool colloquialisms - some of them quite naughty!!!
Jean was showing him Paul's little quirks - such as the way he rubs the side of his nose with two fingers when he's nervous. And the famous McCartney 'thumbs up'. On the way to our next location we got another insight into how nice Aidan is. We stopped on the way so that Aidan could buy some cigars. It turned out to be a nightmare because it took the assistant so long to find the price of what Aidan wanted. Aidan just stood there as patient as a saint while we three were getting very irritated!!)
Back in the centre, we popped in to a pub called the Jacaranda. The Jacaranda is famous for its Lennon & (Stuart) Sutcliffe artwork on the basement. It was formerly a coffee bar owned by Allan Williams, the Beatles’ first manager, and the Beatles would play there in the very early days. It was from the Jacaranda that they departed for Hamburg for the very first time. Having starred in the movie “Backbeat” - the ‘Jac’ was fascinating for Ian, with its memories of Stuart Sutcliffe - the original fifth Beatle. We all enjoyed drinks in the basement before it was time to say goodbye. We really did enjoy our day with Aidan and Ian and it was sad to have to say goodbye. But we did....
But within a couple of hours of us going our separate ways Jackie and I were speaking on the phone to confirm to each other that we had indeed just spent the day with Aidan Quinn and Ian Hart. Wonderful!!! I have to say, that our 'Day In The Life' with Aidan Quinn was one we'll never forget. Not because he's a Hollywood heart-throb. But because he was such a lovely, down-to-earth guy with no ‘airs and graces’ at all. I know he was worried about doing Paul justice in “Two Of Us” But from what I saw - he was totally committed to the role. We wish him the best of luck!!!
Jackie Spencer & Jean Catharell