Flying New York visit led to meeting with pal Gary Barlow

I’d love a second bite of the Big Apple.

Planes to New York are like the No 44 bus.

You wait for ages then two come along at once. Thankfully that creepy guy who always sits next to you on the bus wasn’t on the plane.

I had a couple of big interviews lined up so it was a working visit to the Big Apple.

After a whirlwind bout of work I was then on my way to Nashville to meet up with Dolly Parton again.

And no sooner did I arrive back in Hollywood than I was booked to go back to New York to interview Emma Thompson and Aretha Franklin.

I’m not saying I’m a bit disorientated but I can’t wait for next week’s referendum vote.

First up was a big interview with heartthrob actor and director Ben Affleck, star of Gone Girl and, of course, the new Batman.

I’ll bring you more on that next week but I really liked Ben. We got to chatting and found we were fans of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon’s The Trip.

In that show the pair of them resort to doing Michael Caine impressions at each other.

Somehow Ben and I, waiting for the sound and light guys to set up, ended up doing a Caine-off.

It’s not over yet, but I doubt this year will have a more surreal moment for me than doing an impression of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead from Zulu with Batman.

I’d tell you to watch this space for more on Ben next week but I’m moving to the shiny new IN10 magazine next week. Make sure you have a look.

Later, I dropped an email to my old pal Gary Barlow to check how he was doing after a big week for Take That.

I revealed in this column last week that Gary said Jason Orange left because his heart wasn’t in the music.

He also let me listen to the new single from the boys’ forthcoming album and believe me, it’s classic Take That.

Gary emailed back to say he wasn’t in the same time zone as me as he’d just touched down in…New York. So, since we were both in the same city, we arranged to meet up.

Gary turned up with his lovely mum, Marjorie, and we all had a good old chinwag. They’re all doing well, and I just love talking to Marjorie.

She remembers going to the Cavern Club back in ’60s and has some great tales. Don’t tell Gary, but I think I prefer talking to her than him!

After that I managed to get some time to see a Broadway show. I was lucky enough to get a brief for the hottest ticket in town.

It’s Only A Play stars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, who you might remember appeared together in the 2005 version of the musical comedy The Producers.

They’ve teamed up for another bash at taking the mickey out of theatre with what’s turned out to be a smash hit.

It’s a satire of Broadway shows, much like the Producers was. It also stars our old pal Ron Weasley, better known as Harry Potter’s Rupert Grint. He’s had some fantastic reviews.

Got to chat to Rosamund Pike when I was in New York, too, and she’s the woman of the moment.

She stars opposite Affleck in Gone Girl, and she’s all over the cinemas at the moment she’s also in the comedy What We Did On Our Holiday alongside David Tennant.

Pike has previously starred with Pierce Brosnan in the Bond movie Die Another Day, and Tom Cruise in Jack Reacher. But she’s also been opposite another great leading man…me!

Rosamund was my neighbour when she first moved to Los Angeles.

We Brits need to stick together out here, and I helped by loaning her an electric kettle. They’re quite difficult to track down in the US, actually.

They’re getting better at it, but most prefer a triple-half-caffeinated soya latte to a mug of tea. They’re crazy out here.

Rosamund’s fantastic in Gone Girl as Amy Dunne who fans of the book tell me is a very interesting character and has received a lot of plaudits.

Already there’s a bit of an Oscar buzz. You know I love a punt on who gets the wee golden statues in February, and my first tip might just be Rosamund as Best Actress.