Get Carter

Stephen Kay directed this American remake of the Mike Hodges' classic Get Carter, which starred Michael Caine in the 70s.

This time round Carter was played by Sylvester Stallone, and I played Jeremy Kinnear, a young dotcom billionaire mixed up in some shady goings-on which resulted in the death of Carter's brother.

The film was shot in Vancouver and also starred Miranda Richardson, Michael Caine and Rachel Leigh Cook, who Alan went on to work with in Josie and the Pussycats.

What I remember most about this is that Mickey Rourke is a big chihuahua-loving softie and Sylvester Stallone is very well-read and knows a lot about the arts.

The Flinstones in Viva Las Vegas

A prequel to the Universal Pictures Flintstones live action movie, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas stars Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin, Jane Krakowski and Kristen Johnson as the Flinstones and the Rubbles.

I played two roles: The Great Gazoo, a green alien sent down from outer space to learn earthlings' mating rituals, as well as Mick Jagged, a Stone Age rock star who takes a fancy to Betty. The role of Gazoo was shot entirely on blue screen with me in a lot of prosthetics as well as a harness in which I was flown around a sound stage having to act to paper plates bearing Fred and Barney's names.

It was a pretty hard thing. There was a lot of chafing. But how often do you get to tell your niece and nephews that you are going to be playing Gazoo in a Flintstones movie?

Annie

Rob Marshall (who choreographed Cabaret on Broadway) asked me to take on the role of "Rooster" in this reworking of the popular American musical, Annie.

Kathy Bates plays Miss Hannigan and the rest of the cast includes Victor Garber, Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, and Alicia Morton as Annie.

I had never seen Annie and didn't know the story when Rob asked me to do it. It was really scary for me, because I felt so out of my depth in so many ways. I'd never done a musical like this before, but Rob has a way of making you feel confident about things that you can't do very well, like dancing and singing! Dancing down the street at the backlot of Warner Bros. in Burbank, singing Easy Street was one of the best moments of my showbiz life!

Company Man

Company Man is a 1950s CIA romp starring Doug McGrath (who had previously directed me in Emma) as a nerdy grammar teacher who accidentally joins the CIA and heads up their operation in Cuba, just before the Bay of Pigs crisis.

I was cast as General Batista, the dictator of Cuba (natch!) who had been recently ousted by Castro. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, John Turturro, Woody Allen, Dennis Leary, Ryan Phillipe and Anthony LaPaglia. It was shot in New York and Puerto Rico, and written and directed by McGrath and Peter Askin.

I had such a laugh on this film. I was exhausted because I was still doing Cabaret at nights, but it was such a good atmosphere on the set and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I also loved playing a manic former dictator obsessed with household goods!

The film was released in February 2001.