Transcript: How to Unleash Your Inner Gangster, Guy Ritchie Style

Production designer Martyn John and costume pro Loulou Bontemps pulled out the stops to match the 'maverick' auteur's expansive vision for Netflix's 'The Gentlemen'

WORLDS COLLIDE British country aristocrats find themselves at the table with London and Liverpool gangsters on the vibrant sets of The Gentlemen. (Netflix)

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Jeannine Oppewall: Welcome to The Ankler In Conversation, Art & Crafts, the podcast. I’m your host, Jeannine Oppewall, and today I’m interviewing costume designer Loulou Bontemps and production designer Martyn John. We’re going to talk about their magnificent work on Netflix series The Gentlemen. Thank you, guys. It’s great to see you.

Martyn John: And you. Hello.

Jeannine Oppewall: Hello. Hello. Okay, so I thought that rather than my describe what I think the series is about, I’d like to ask you two to talk a little bit about how you would describe it. Because I know, Martyn, in your case, you’re out looking at locations and the first question out of everybody’s mouths always is, “What is this story about?”

And I know, Loulou. you’re out talking to various vendors and I’m sure they’re asking the same question, and you get it again and again and again, and after a while you develop a shorthand kind of description. So, let’s start with you, Martyn. Could you tell me what your shorthand description for the project was?

Martyn John: Yeah, certainly. So, first of all, because we made the film first, that was an incredibly brilliant calling card. So, I’d say to landlords of beautiful houses, have you seen the [movie]? And, they said, “Oh yes, we loved it. We loved all the gangster element. We loved the aristocratic element.” So that was an immediate get-in to their property to have a look around.

So it’s a fusion of the worlds of the aristocracy . . .