Jemaine Clement on creating Time Bandits for families to go on an adventure together

Time for a Time Bandits reboot. The 1981 film featured a few ex-Pythons – directed by Terry Gilliam, co-written by Michael Palin, with John Cleese riding in as Robin Hood. Now a refreshed remake comes from a team with equally high comedy credentials.

Its brilliant ensemble cast is led by Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe from Friends) with the super Kal-El Tuck playing 11-year-old history buff Kevin who finds his bedroom is also a time portal. The series is created and written by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor sequels and plenty more), Iain Morris (behind The Inbetweeners) and Jemaine Clement. 

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Clement first found fame as half of prolific parody band Flight of the Conchords and will be best known to younger audiences as Tamatoa, the shiny crustacean in Disney’s Moana. He has a long history with Waititi. The New Zealand pair met studying drama at Victoria University of Wellington and came to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1998 in their early 20s. After Flight of the Conchords really took off, first as a BBC radio series and then an HBO TV series, they continued to collaborate, creating vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows and now Time Bandits, with both making an appearance; Waititi and Clement playing respectively the Supreme Being and Pure Evil.

THE BIG ISSUE: Was Time Bandits big in New Zealand when you were growing up?

Jemaine Clement: It was big to me because it was one of the first films that I saw as a kid. It made a big impact.

Were you like Kevin at that age, a bit of a loner, prone to fantasy?

I think Taika, Iain Morris and I all have aspects of Kevin. We had times when we were alone. Mine was not being interested in sports. Iain is like Kevin in that he’ll go on about history when no one’s requested him to, and Taika had his own load of times that he insists are cool but wouldn’t come across as cool if you were to hear them described.

Kevin goes on time travel adventures, where did you find escapism?

I loved watching comedy, making puppets.

Did your puppet collection make you more popular at school? 

Well, I actually only made one puppet, but it took me a long time. I don’t know if I was trying to be popular. I just wanted to make things. Eventually you find other people who want to do that as well. In high school there’s art, then you find your friends who were lost to sport for a while.

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When you were young and looking for escapism was there a risk you’d become a real bandit?

I was in trouble with the police a couple of times when I was a kid, and it did scare me. I was treated very seriously and I thought I don’t want to be in the police station again.

Kids today don’t seem scared of being in trouble.

UK kids are a different breed. I was terrified of those kids when I lived there. Kids find their danger online now, which is possibly worse than going out in the street smashing something up.

But now they can access adventures via Time Bandits.

The three of us creating it, we’re all kids of the ’80s and wanted to capture the feeling of entertainment that was around then. Now there isn’t something to watch with your family, where you can go on an adventure together. People are split into different audiences, genres, networks and streamers. Things are often catered to individuals now. If you like Star Wars, you can watch a Star Wars animation or you can watch a gritty Star Wars drama. Such tiny increments. We wanted a family experience.

You have said you wanted to add your own flavour to the original story. What is your flavour?

Pavlova. We didn’t want to imitate Terry Gilliam, but we wanted to be Gilliam-esque.

Have you had any feedback from Gilliam or Palin?

If they’ve seen it, they’ve kept quiet. I’m not sure if I’d watch something of mine that’s remade. Even after leaving What We Do in the Shadows, I don’t want to see them messing around with things I started and changing it. I didn’t watch it. So I would think it totally reasonable if Terry Gilliam didn’t watch this.

You play a character called Pure Evil. Where did you draw inspiration from?

Firstly, we tried to bring in well-known actors, but that didn’t work out with our budget. For a long time, Taika and I were going to play the opposite parts because I always play the bad guy and Taika’s always the wacky inventor. Then we just went with what we knew. But I really relate to being in the Fortress of Darkness. It’s very similar to a writer’s room, where you’re just frustratedly trying to come up with ideas. You try to think of terrible things that can happen to people. I like this combination where I act a little bit. It gives me a break and makes me appreciate the fun of acting.

Like the 11-year-old you, you’re still creating stuff whereas the ones who went into sports might not be doing that so much any more.

I do feel sad about my friends who played sports and now they can’t go for a jog because their knee’s messed up.

Time Bandits is on Apple TV+ with two new episodes will be released every Wednesday until 21 August

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