Michael Hurst: Heroes, Hercules, and more...

Michael Hurst is an acclaimed theatre actor and director, who has also featured in a broad range of screen roles, including his long-running gig as sidekick to Hercules in TV series Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. In the mid-90s Hurst also began directing for the screen, initially on episodes of Hercules and Xena, but also helming the feature film comedy Jubilee, and TV mockumentary Love Mussel.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Hurst talks about:

• Early days in theatre, and his first television appearance—  in 30 Minute Theatre teleplay Tinkling Brass
• His first major TV roles in Sunday Theatre one-off Casualties of Peace, and rock band drama Heroes
• Making his movie debut in 1984 splatter film Death Warmed Up, and thinking he'd "made an appalling job of it"
• How his work on 1993 classic Desperate Remedies made him "love film again"
• The story of how he won the part of Iolaus in Hercules, and of his ongoing connection to the role through Hercules and Xena fan conventions
• How Hercules and Xena led him into directing, including movie Jubilee and the television mockumentary Love Mussel

This video was first uploaded on 18 April 2009, and is available under this Creative Commons licence. This licence is limited to use of ScreenTalk interview footage only and does not apply to any video content and photographs from films, television, music videos, web series and commercials used in the interview.

Interview - Clare O'Leary. Camera and Editing - Leo Guerchmann