MEAN business

JOHNNY VEGAS on turning villain for an animated adventure inspired by a Roald Dahl favourite

- REBECCA FLETCHER, VICTORIA WILSON

A master of the whimsical, Roald Dahl's timeless children's classics have enchanted generations of readers as well as inspired countless film and TV adaptations. However, the British author's macabre 1980 story The Twits has never been reworked for screen – until now...

Landing on Netflix this week, the feature-length animation has Johnny Vegas (Benidorm) and Margo Martindale (The Americans) leading the voice cast as married couple Jim and Credenza Twit, the ‘meanest, smelliest, nastiest people in the world’, who take great joy in tricking one another.

The dastardly duo also happen to run an amusement park, Twitlandia. But their meteoric rise to power soon brings them into conflict with brave orphans Beesha and Bubsy, plus a community of magical animals, who are determined to bring this reign of terror to an end!

‘Roald Dahl’s work is rather sacred, so it’s a privilege to be part of this and to play a proper villain!’ smiles Johnny, 55, during an exclusive interview with TV Times. ‘I was introduced to his work mainly through films and adaptations. The Twits was a book I didn’t know much about but, reading the script, I knew I could have some fun with it!’ Here, Johnny tells us more...