‘Withnail And I’ star Paul McGann recently revealed that he passed his driving test in order to film the drunk-driving scenes in the 1987 film.
In the movie, characters Withnail and I drive an old Jaguar on the motorway and Withnail is subsequently arrested for driving while intoxicated.
According to MSN, McGann said:
I didn’t actually qualify to drive until I was well into my twenties, and on my first film, I had to drive. This was ‘Withnail And I’. I passed my driving test in order to do that picture. In that film we drove an old Jag. I couldn’t really drive it to be honest. I was really novicey, and Richard Grant who was having to sit next to me was quite nerve wracked from time to time.
The actor continued: “It was a powerful old car. The classic one of them was a 3.8, and for a novice driver, a 3.8 mark II Jag is a flying machine. Even that battered old one that we were using on the picture could fly around.”
The actor also revealed he purchased his first car with the paycheck he received from the film.
McGann is set to host a new four-part television documentary series for Sky Atlantic called ‘The Petrol Age’, which will examine Britain’s motoring heritage and interest in classic cars.