RORY KINNEAR On Singing With DEF LEPPARD In BANK OF DAVE Films

Wednesday, 29th January 2025

Screenshots

Def Leppard appear in Bank Of Dave 2 The Loan Ranger and actor Rory Kinnear has talked about working with them.

The 'Bank Of Dave' movie was released in January 2023 in the UK and featured Def Leppard in a major end of film concert sequence.

The follow-up 'Bank Of Dave 2 The Loan Ranger' was released on 10th January 2025 on Netflix UK.

Rory Kinnear Interview

Bank Of Dave star Rory Kinnear (son of the late Roy Kinnear) appeared on Planet Rock radio on 26th January and mentioned Def Leppard during his interview.

Rory who plays Dave Fishwick in both films was interviewed for the 'My SECRET Planet Rocks' show where he picked seven songs.

'Pour Some Sugar On Me' was played (now featured in both films) and Rory talked about working with Def Leppard, singing on stage with the band and their participation in the second film.

He also discussed his childhood and acting career.

Read his quotes below and listen to the full show via the links.

Bank Of Dave 2

'Bank Of Dave 2' was first announced in April 2023 with Def Leppard featuring once more.

The movie was filmed in March/April 2024 in Burnley/Leeds.

This one sees the band performing in a local pub in Burnley with Dave towards the end of the film and doing a bit of acting themselves.

'Just Like '73' is also featured in the end credits and as for what song they perform, that is given away in this interview (if you haven't seen it yet).

The film remains inside the Top 10 movies on Netflix and like the first reached Number One.

Visit the Tour News section. For more news on future tour plans.

Visit the Album News section for more news on new music (based on band member quotes).

Rory Kinnear/Planet Rock - Interview Quotes 26th January 2025 - (Transcribed by dltourhistory)

Mark Jeeves

My guest today is a man who has served as Prime Minister twice, chief of staff in the British Secret Service a number of times.

And he’s currently to be seen taking on American loan sharks in a brand new Netflix movie.

Welcome to Planet Rock, Dave Fishwick, otherwise known as Rory Kinnear

Rory Kinnear

Hello, thank you very much for having me.

Mark Jeeves

It’s the second Bank of Dave film, Rory.

We’re going to talk about the movie shortly as we go through the show.

But the first film, it was adored by people, wasn’t it? How did that feel?

First Bank Of Dave Film

Rory Kinnear

Yeah, we were slightly taken aback. I’d say flabbergasted actually by just how much people took it to their hearts.

And I mean, whenever you make anything, you never know if it’s gonna land.

You think you’ve done a decent enough job and you hope it might chime with some people, but it seemed to chime universally.

Not just in this country, but internationally as well

Mark Jeeves

So when it came to making the second film, I’m guessing there was no hesitation from you?

Rory Kinnear

No, I mean obviously we wanted to make sure that it was just as good, if not better.

We didn’t want to ruin the experience for people and luckily there was source material available.

The first film was based on the documentary that Dave had made about taking on the big banking institutions when he was trying to set up his own bank in Burnley.

And this one was similarly based on a documentary that he had made taking on the payday loan companies in the UK.

Mark Jeeves

Well, it looks like it’s gonna be exceptional.

It’s on Netflix now and what we’ll do is chat more about that after we’ve talked about a bit of music, the other reason you’re here. How important is music in your life generally, Rory?

Music

Rory Kinnear

Well, I mean, it’s actually been quite a constant throughout my life, but particularly around my early sort of 12, 13, 14.

Hey, I started playing the trumpet when I was little.

I was handed a trumpet on my first day at school, actually, and the headmaster said, “We don’t have any trumpeters left in the school. Who’s going to do it?”

And no one put their hands up, and he said, “Fine, I’ll choose.”

And so he gave out three trumpets and we all duly went back to our parents and said, “Guess what, Mum and Dad?”

Which they were thrilled about.

Mark Jeeves

I bet they were thrilled about.

Rory Kinnear

Absolutely, you can imagine what a four-year-old trumpeter sounds like.

Absolutely heaven-sent.

And then I started playing the piano.

But it was more listening to music that got me when, after my dad’s passing when I was about 10, and it was the sort of thing—it was sort of the bomb for me, both playing and listening.

And quite a lot of that was classical music and jazz music, but also, particularly at times of grief, there was nothing quite like rock music as well.

Mark Jeeves

It is very cathartic, isn’t it, for that sort of thing?

Rory Kinnear

Yeah.

I mean, it is so entwined with that period of my life.

I’m not sure what I would have done if it had not been there.

Def Leppard 2023.

Mark Jeeves

That’s fascinating.

So I’m guessing that the first track we’re going to play is Def Leppard, Pour Some Sugar on Me.

Of course, you were actually a member of Def Leppard for a short period of time. It has to be said, well, in two different stints.

Working With Def Leppard

Rory Kinnear

Yes, they were lucky to have me back for the second film.

They were very, very, very joyously on board for the first film.

There was a scenario in which we had to raise a certain amount of money with a fundraising concert, and Def Leppard turned up, and I got to sing Pour Some Sugar On Me with them.

And they were so pleased with how the film went, and so thrilled to have been part of it and the reaction that it got, that they were desperate to come back for the second stint.

So I got to sing Stand By Me with the band the next time.

And yes, I like to consider myself the extra missing member of Def Leppard...the sixth Leppard.

Mark Jeeves

Yes. Yes, it’s like the fifth Beatle all over again.

So we’re going to go with Pour Some Sugar on Me, which, for those of you who haven’t seen Rory’s performance, do check it out. It’s enthusiastic, I think you’d probably put it.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

Rory Kinnear

You have to, don’t you? I mean, you have to give it energy.

I’m actually, at heart, reasonably shy, so having to step on stage with Def Leppard and sing one of their iconic tunes, I did have to leave most of myself behind.

Luckily, Dave is such an irrepressible ball of energy that I entirely relied on his spirit to get me through it.

Def Leppard 2023.

Mark Jeeves

Def Leppard on Planet Rock, Pour Some Sugar On Me, one of the choices of our special guest on My Secret Planet Rocks,

it’s Rory Kinnear. And as we heard, Def Leppard returning for the new film, which, as you mentioned before, a dramatic version of a documentary that Dave Fishwick made taking on the American loan sharks.

I mean, the story is again another compelling one, isn’t it?

Bank Of Dave 2/Dave Fishwick

Rory Kinnear

Yeah, and I mean, we highlight both in the first and second film. It’s based on a true-ish story.

It says, and there are some embellishments that we’ve given to give it the movie feel.

But at heart, the story is a true one of Dave seeing his local community of Burnley being devastated in some respects by these payday loan companies after the financial crisis in 2010.

Companies that had been shut down in the US because of the punitive interest rates that they were charging, but had rebranded and refashioned themselves, and they just sprouted up in the UK.

And yeah, people taking out small loans within months, ending up with huge and crippling debts.

And Dave, who by his own admission was bullied himself at school, he absolutely cannot abide a bully, and he saw the banking institutions as bullying fair and regular customers and wanted to do something about it.

And he similarly saw these payday loan companies bullying his colleagues, his friends, people that he knew from his hometown, and wanted to take them on.

And there’s nothing that galvanises him more than trying to take on a bully.

Mark Jeeves

No, you can see that. And I’m interested in your portrayal of him because he’s clearly a force of nature.

When you’re taking on a role like this, what do you look for? What do you try and get hold of so that you can portray that effectively?

Rory Kinnear

Yeah, I mean obviously, I think he’s probably become more famous since the first film.

When I was making the first film, I didn’t feel like I necessarily had to do an exact impression of him, but I obviously wanted to get his spirit and find—and this is quite often when I play real-life people or with anyone, you try and find where they sit within you as an actor and as a human as well.

So I went up to meet him before we started the first film and had a good sort of four or five-hour chat in his kitchen, just trying to obviously pick up on some of the mannerisms and obviously the accent, but also what drives him and what has driven these two big pursuits that he’s had.

And sort of, you know, seeing that who he has become was all fashioned as a kid.

He left school at 16, wasn’t without any qualifications, wasn’t expected to do much in life, and through sheer grit and determination and stubbornness and refusal to hear the word “No,” he has made himself not only personally quite wealthy, but has also made sure that he’s looked out for his fellow man and women as well.

And I think we all like a David and Goliath story, and this obviously is a David and Goliath story.

And I think we mainly see ourselves as Davids.

Mark Jeeves

So going back to you and your childhood, you know, your father was a famous actor who we all knew and loved from various television roles.

Was it always going to be that for you, or did that only come later on for you that you decided to follow in his footsteps?

Childhood/Acting Career

Rory Kinnear

Yeah, it was never baked in. I enjoyed doing—I started doing, I was lucky enough to go to schools which did plays, and so I was always doing them, and I guess people said that they could see me doing it as a career.

And I went on to university and did a degree and continued to do plays, and at the end of the degree, I sort of thought, “I’m gonna have to decide now,” but I felt like I hadn’t really investigated much. I just sort of did it. I didn’t really think about it.

And I thought, “I quite like the attention, and I quite liked people telling me I was good at something,” but I didn’t know really what it meant to me.

So that was when I decided to go to drama school and see what it actually was.

And when you—the great thing about going to drama school as well as the things that you can learn, you also, for the first and only time in your career, get a prolonged period of actually thinking about acting.

Most of the time, you just kind of try and get another job and then do the job.

This is, there’s a bit more philosophy and reflection that you can do when you have a period of time when you—and also, you’re acting every day from 10 till 5.

So it was sort of at the end of the first term, I realised, “Oh, it’s as rewarding as you make it, and the more that you give yourself to it, the more that you investigate, research, the more that it frees you up to be a better performer.

That’s what I found.

Listen to the full interview at Planet Rock.

Bank Of Dave 2 The Loan Ranger

Release Date - 10th January 2025
Platform - Netflix
Starring - Rory Kinnear, Chrissy Metz and Jo Hartley
Co-Starring - Amit Shah, Rob Delaney, Dan Fogler, Pearce Quigley, Leila Farzad, Hugh Bonneville and Def Leppard

View Bank Of Dave 2 The Loan Ranger ow at - netflix.com

Read the Bank Of Dave 2 Netflix release story: