Sidekick’s a rising star after A-list encounters
His interviews with A list actors like Mila Kunis and Jennifer Aniston have propelled Chris Stark from merely being DJ Scott Mills’ sidekick on Radio 1 to becoming a household name. But, as Kaye Holland discovers, he is still resolutely more Harrow than Hollywood
CH like his beloved Watford FC, Chris Stark has been making big strides in 2013. His chance encounter with Mila Kunis earlier this year, which saw him cha to the star about Nandos, has spread like morning sunlight. To date, the video has been viewed by 10 million people. “I only found out that I was interviewing Mila about 10 minutes before I was put in front of her,” he said.
Despite the short notice, the 30-year- old actor has hailed the encounter as ‘the best interview I’ve had’. Chris then added actor Robert Downey Jr to his CV – not bad for a boy from Pinner.
But it was his recent interview with former Friends star Jennifer Aniston – covering Prague strip clubs – that registered on everyone’s radar. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old remains refreshing untouched by his new found fame, and is still getting used to racking up the column inches.
“The interviews were for a radio show and I knew they would be quite funny on radio, but I didn’t expect the videos to do so well,” Chris said.
After half an hour in his company, it is easy to see why the A-listers were not immune to his charm. There is something of Jamie Oliver’s everyman and affability about him. He is a genuinely nice, normal bloke, who asks honest questions.
That said, like Marmite, you either love or hate his interviewing style, with critics claiming that his ‘awkward’ act is just that – an act. “In a way I wish it was an act because then it would justify the way I am in the videos,” he confessed. “But it’s not an act. Anyone who sits in front of Jennifer Aniston or Mila Kunis is going to be nervous. Plus the whole situation – you’re sat in a room in a posh hotel – is nerve wracking. It’s not a natural environment for me.”
Who was Chris’s favourite interviewee? “It’s ridiculous that you’re even asking me who’s my favourite out of Jennifer Aniston, Mila Kunis and Robert Downey Jr,” he laughed. “I never thought I’d have the opportunity to meet any of them. “But probably Mila Kunis – she was very down to earth.
“I look back on that interview and it feels like a weird dream. It was afterwards that I was like, did we really talk about Nandos?”
When he’s not interviewing celebs, Chris works on the Scott Mills show, which has Radio 1’s 1pm to 4pm slot. “I’m Scott’s sidekick,” he said. “I’ll do whatever Scott wants me to do for his amusement – or that of the public. I’ve always been a massive fan of Scott Mills and it’s mental that I am now working on his show, which was my goal growing up.”
That is not so unusual. Along with notions of marrying Demi Lovato or a member of One Direction, most teens indulge fantasies about working as a presenter, but it says something about Chris, that he made it happen.
He demonstrated his determination by joining Radio Northwick Park, the Harrow hospital station, as soon as he turned 16. He says: “I joined Radio Northwick Park, which is a very professional set-up. It’s not dissimilar to a national radio station in that, behind the microphone, there is still just one person doing a show.
“My time at Northwick Park made me want to work in radio even more so, while at uni, I started doing as much work experience as I could,” he said. “Eventually, I got offered an internship at 6 Music, which led to my role at Radio 1.”
When he is not working at Radio 1, watching Watford FC play ranks high on Chris’s priorities. Footie is serious business to Chris – he persuaded Kunis to go to the club’s Vicarage Road stadium and presented Aniston and Downey Jr with their own personalised Hornets strips.
Chris – who got a degree in politics at university – is confident Watford will do well this season in the Championship. “We have great backers and a classy manager in Zola,” he said.
Chris also famously invited Kunis to join him and friends for ‘lad bombs’ – a Jägermeister shot dropped into a double vodka and Red Bull – in the pub.
If the club wins promotion to the Premier League, will Chris be celebrating with a few of the explosively alcoholic combinations?
“My mates up and I came up with the name ‘lad bombs’ on a night out, but lad bombs have been around for ages,” he revealed. “I can’t recommend them. They’re horrible – although they have led to some amazing nights.”
Regardless of whether Watford go up a league, Chris has plenty to smile about with his star firmly in ascendancy, but says he will not be forgetting his Pinner roots.
“My family are in Pinner and it’s home,” he said. “What I love about Pinner is that it’s hardly changed. I still think that the High Street is the nicest road in the world.”
Watch Chris’s interview with Mila Kunis at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wkt4.
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