Audio
Hollywood actor Jeffrey Wright waxes lyrical about his love of Manchester music
New favourite actor just dropped.
Danny Jones -
20th March 2024 
Hollywood actor Jeffrey Wright recently mused over his love of Manchester music in a recent radio interview and now he’s probably our new favourite A-lister.
Speaking on a recent BBC Radio 6 interview with host Deb Grant who was subbing in for Lauren Laverne’s regular show, the Batman, Westworld and James Bond star was discussing his passionate obsession with lyricists and named Manc songwriters in particular as among those he admires the most.
Clearly a man of culture and who knows what he’s talking about, ‘r Jeff.
With Grant broadcasting from MediaCityUK, Wright saw his moment to dive into a subject he clearly knows and loves, starting off by saying: “I’m fascinated by the music that comes out of Manchester”.
@bbc6music Which Mancunian lyricist is your favourite? ✍️ #jeffreywright #manchester #manchestermusic #bbc6music ♬ original sound – bbc6music
As you can see from the brief clip, the 58-year-old American film and TV star goes on to state that it’s “Particularly the lyricists” that have arisen from this city’s music scene that he reveres the most.
Citing the work of Morrisey and Johnny Marr, as well as Joy Division‘s late great Ian Curtis, it was yet another reminder of just how international music from our region has been over the decades.
He even details having played The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths non-stop during his college (university) years, insisting that it “stayed on our turntable, my last year, for an entire semester. I don’t think we took it off.”
“The lyrics, the poetry — is there something in the air that builds these people out here, what’s the deal?”, asked Wright, to which Grant quickly replied: “Rain, mist, cold weather. It’s kind of famous for it, isn’t it? That kind of acerbic, sort of, turn of phrase which is kind of unique to Manchester”.
Read more:
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- One Day star Leo Woodall says ‘soft Mancunian’ is the most attractive accent
- Speaking with Maggie Rogers before her spellbinding stripped-back set at Gorilla
Confessing that he’s never visited the city before but would love to come and see it for himself — quipping that maybe he’d be able to “‘drink the water’, or whatever, be so inspired” — the BBC host said that he’d “be so welcome”. Amen to that.
Let us know whenever you fancy popping over to 0161, mate, we’ll show you ’round and town, make you a proper brew and we can just sit and listen to tunes all day. Sounds heavenly, to be honest.
You can listen to his full interview on Radio 6 HERE or via BBC Sounds.
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Featured Images — BBC Radio 6 (via TikTok)/Remko Hoving (via Flickr)
