what group you're in, so many people seem to be questioning whether this country is a great one. in this case you realize it really is. the american dream is alive. the freedoms and dreams of this country are amazing, doing well. it was an inspiring moment that we wanted to share with you, naz and his family. thanks so tonight newt gingrich is the front-runner star fading in iowa. >> you get enough negative ads, your numbers go down. >> are attack ads the price of admission in politics? >> i believe the people of iowa are smart enough that they can see the difference between somebody who's trying to help the country and somebody who is simply running a negative campaign. >> campaign insiders, do you have to play dirty to win. plus a phenomenal tim tebow. superstar even if you know nothing about football. who is he really? why his on section with 24-year-old christian quarterback. i'll talk with former nfl coach and the man who wrote the book on tebow.

also kenneth brenner. shakespeare, to hollywood's leading man. this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. while the rest of the country is deep in the holiday preparations, the world is buzzing over the official opening of the 2012 campaign. the first in the nation iowa caucuses are two weeks away. the stakes couldn't be higher in the republican field. latest cnn orc poll puts newt gingrich and mitt romney in a dead heat battling for the top spot. ron paul makes a surprisingly strong showing in third place. with all of this back and forth in the polls, i want to take for a clear front-runner to emerge in time to win. joining me now is tim pawlenty, national co chair of the romney campaign and kellyanne conway. seen advisor to newt gingrich. tim, start with you. clearly i would have thought a

good week for your man. good debate performance. good on the attack. lacerating newt gingrich with these shocking tv ads. you've gone on the offensive and it's working. would you agree? >> it's working for a variety of reasons, pierce, but what i'd satisfy is this. you have an economy is reeling, it's hurting. you have somebody who knows how to get jobs growing. there's nobody in this field that has the private sector, entrepreneurial leadership and record of mitt romney. by the way, as a candidate and as a president he's also got a steadiness and reliability about him that i think people expect. that's why you've seen these other candidates surge for a week or month. when you get a full look at him, they can't sustain t. mitt's been at or near the top for many months in part because of his steadiness as a person and leader. >> kelley, let me bring you in. obviously newt gingrich came from a position of apparently

being dead to being front-runner and the surge has temporarily hit the buffers, although he's still in joint lead with mitt romney. what's your reading of these fluctuations? >> there's durability in newt's numbers based on what you've shown. there's other polls that confirm what you've shown. mitt romney has basically been the front-runner. he's been running for five years. he's had a slight uptick. a lot of gains have not gone to him. they've gone to ron paul, some of the former herman cain voters are looking for a comfortable place to park their votes. they're up for grabs. i think what you see is that the electability argument that was propelling the romney candidacy for years now, i can win, has been completely swept away because in these polls most voters, republican voters say that either newt or mitt could beat barak obama and that's why they've got credibility in the polls. it's disappointing though, and i'm glad you use the word

lacerate. that is the best description i've heard for what's been happening to newt. we've absorbed over $9 million in paid negative advertising. $9 million. yet look at newt's poll standings. the reason he's still standing is because he talks about issues, not other people. let me stop you. let's play one of these negative ads to see what you're talking about and then we'll discuss it afterwards. >> newt has a ton of baggage. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. newt supports amnesty for illegal immigrants and teemed with nancy pelosi and al gore on global warming. >> i suppose, kellyanne, the obvious question when you see that, yes, it's negative. yes, it's brutal. yes, it's, as i said, lacerating, but it also has the benefit of being factually, correct. >> not all of it. >> would you dispute the details? >> that's not true. look, those are all sound bytes. what you need are the facts behind all of those allegations.

they've been vetted beyond the comfort of somebody else's 30-second ad where they're just trying to scare the voters rather than inform them and engage them. we have more faith in the voters of iowa and across this country. they're far more interested in a candidate that wants to talk about ideas and solutions, particularly in these tough economic times, than talk about other candidates. everybody knows i'm sure governor pawlenty knows that newt does not support amnesty for, quote, illegal immigrants. he gave a very specific example. if somebody's been here for 25 years and you're going to look at them in your churches, you'll look at them in the grocery store and say go back? nobody's ever had the courage to tell them to go back. it's heated political rhetoric. >> let me bring tim pawlenty back in. these are negative ads. a lot of people will be watching them going, well, they've got a point. most of this is son the money. newt gingrich by his own

admission brings a lot of baggage with him. >> well, piers, a couple of things. if i'm remembering that ad correctly it was done by a third party, not the romney campaign directly. these third parties are not controlled, in fact legally can't be controlled by mitt romney or any of the individual candidates. the excerpt you played is factually accurate. the statements they made are accurate. as long as it's focused on issues and it's not overly personal, you'll have a campaign that's about the differences of vision and policy positions between candidates. we're running -- these candidates are running for president of the united states. it will be hotly contested. it points out three or four factual things in newt gingrich's record that are supported. people can make a judgment. they can look at that and say does that concern me or not? as people get re-introduced to these candidates, in this case newt gingrich, you see their numbers recede. that's what's happening now. >> kellyanne, jump in there.

>> he is steady and persistent. >> governor pawlenty, romney calling newt zany on national tv is not a personal attack? that's the kind of rhetoric that you simply didn't use when you were running for president. we were all a better nation because of it. you had a very, like newt, you had a very bold muscular pro growth lower tax pro entrepreneurial tax and economic plan. i would respectfully ask you to e-mail it around the campaign because it was really bold. it was about deregulation. it was about flatter taxes. you were very positive. >> let me stop this love fest between you and tim pawlenty. that's not the point. 's no longer running. let's discuss president obama whose own poll ratings are beginning to numbering up. he made a surprise appearance today at a press conference. watch what he said. >> the clock is ticking. time is running out. if the house republicans refuse

to vote for the senate bill or even allow it to come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days. >> that's president obama today. clearly this lockdown in washington continues. i suppose i'll go to you, tim pawlenty. do you get a sense that people in washington just do not understand how fed up the american people are of turning on their television news and hearing they're still squabbling over this stuff and can never get anything done? it seems like the whole year has been spent with people wasting time. >> well, absolutely, and that's why we need somebody to be from outside of washington as their next president. mitt romney has spent almost his entire life, save for four years as governor of massachusetts, in the private sector. he's not from washington. he's not part of that culture. he isn't a former lobbyist or advocate. he is somebody who's been in the private sector, started businesses, grown businesses, grown jobs.

when people look at the experience differential, leadership differential, and frankly the difference in world views between barak obama's governmentcentric view of the world verse what is mitt romney has proposed and done cutting taxes in massachusetts, cutting spending in massachusetts, inheriting a deficit when he became governor, leaving a surplus. and, by the way, lowering the unemployment rate as governor. >> we're drifting slightly away. >> it's not even a close call. >> we're drifting slightly away from my point. kellyanne, let me bring you in here. what is newt gingrich's view of this apparently intransigent position by the republicans which is causing endless grief to anybody. >> if anybody wants to know newt's views on anything go to newt.org. i would submit to you you'll never see another candidate's name on the website. it's all about solutions. i'm glad you mentioned do these candidates understand that folks are so upset with washington? congress has an 11% approval

rating. you want to talk about solutions and having done things. when newt was there as speaker we had welfare reform. that is the last major entitlement reform in our lifetimes. that was real. that was done with a democratic president bill clinton. they had a balanced budget for four straight years when newt was speaker. that's a sound bite now. it's a total elusive dream in washington, d.c. there were millions of jobs created when he was speaker. let's talk about not just a vision, let's talk about a track record. i can turn that negative awful ad around and talk about the things that newt has done as speaker. you just can't parachute into washington, d.c., as president of the united states, as leader of the free world and pretend you'll learn your way around. you need experience. >> tim pawlenty. >> another quick thing now. mitt was the first presidential candidate on the republican side to actually call for keeping and maintaining the lower employment tax reduction.

in other words, embraced the payroll tax reduction and keep it lower. >> let me ask you a wider point though, tim pawlenty, about mitt romney which is you said, look, he's been mr. reliable, mr. steady in the campaign. hasn't put much wrong. that is true, but there is another argument. the reason he's been unable to break out of the shackles of his poll ratings at a certain level is that the republican party don't find him that exciting. let me play you a clip from david letterman's top ten things that mitt romney would like to save the american people. >> isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970s game show host? >> yes. yes, it is. >> i mean, i guess that could be a positive. isn't part of the problem for mitt romney is that people do look at him and think '70s game show host? >> well, first of all, none of

these candidates are perfect. the fact that mitt would make fun of himself on david letterman, i think that shows a playful and joyful spirit. we should celebrate that, not pile on. beyond that, look, mitt romney, i like this old saying, piers, the best sermons aren't preached, they're lived. you look at his life, not just over a couple of years of this campaign but his whole life, it's a life that's been of service, leadership, character, integrity, steadiness, perseverance. those are the characteristics you want this a leader. they're certainly characteristics you want in a president of the united states. it will serve him well in a campaign. it will serve him well as president. people are looking for steadiness. you don't see that in the rest of the republican field. >> steadiness means you haven't changed your mind on really core issues. of course, that is newt gingrich. i'm glad that you showed what a comedian had to say. >> he has changed his mind. >> governor pawlenty, we really don't want to have the debate, do we, about which candidate in this field has changed their mind? >> we haven't got time for the

debate. we've run out. thank you both very much for a spirited exchange. i'm sure we'll talk again soon. thank you both very much. does your crowded republican field need more candidates? i'll ask a couple of experts when we come back. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day, gummies for grown-ups.

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it's not too late. any chance we can see you making a play even after iowa, new hampshire? there's still plenty of time, governor? >> it's not too late for folks to jump in. i don't know, who knows what will happen in the future. >> that was sarah palin on follow the money from fox business. with a crowded field do republicans need more candidates? steve deace is here with the salem radio network. he's co author of "we won't get fooled again." welcome to you, both. mary, is it too late for sarah palin? >> not technically.

it hasn't been done. we haven't had a brokered convention for a couple of decades. there's a lot of cocktail chatter about a late entrant because of some of the issues you were discussing in the previous segment where no candidate's really broken above 30% or stayed above 30% consistently. more than that, we have never had on the republican side this process where the duration that's going to be demanded by a front-loaded proportional allocation of delegates. in other words, nobody can lock it up early and it stays sort of amorphous or in suspended animation as it appears to be for the moment. i don't think it's going to stay like that. that leads to conversations, and i do think they're cocktail conversations, about another entrant or brokered entrance. >> let me bring in steve deace. clearly the republican party itself is wrestling around the kind of candidate they want to get behind. they haven't decided.

what do you think? is the field open or are they going to choose from what would appear to be a narrowing field? >> well, i would say this about sarah palin. if anybody could pull it off, it's probably her. she's been defying the odds, both good and bad, throughout her political career. i think mary's right that there's a lot of cynicism about the process in general. i think she's right to point to the interview you just did. i once sat in my own office building and listened to tim pawlenty look me right in the eye and tell me one on one he was running for president so that somebody like mitt romney doesn't become the nominee. here i am sitting waiting to come on your show listening to pawlenty extoll the virtues of mitt romney, the man -- tim pawlenty is the guy that coined the phrase obomnicare. if he thought mitt romney was such a great candidate, why did he put himself into debt, takes months away from his family to run for president himself? he could have saved himself and the american people a lot of

time by endorsing and supporting romney from the get-go. >> steve you know iowa well. ron paul is getting a bit of traction there. newt gingrich slipping back a bit. knowing the lay of the land there, how do you see things panning out in the next couple of weeks? >> i think that we are on a collision course with a ron paul victory in the iowa caucuses. i think the only thing, piers, that's going to stop it at this point is some kind of coalescing of conservatives, values voters, and one candidate, maybe even a team-up of candidates. i think this is so fractured now and the time is so remote and the clock is ticking that ron paul, as unconventional of a candidate he is, he did the best job of setting up a conventional candidate. he has the best political organization in the state of iowa, and he's done it the right way. he has cultivated iowa for years.

i think barring a coalescing, we'll see ron paul win the iowa caucuses. it seems the crazier he gets, the more crotchedy he gets, they love him more. they're so fed up with washington and the system, that even on the stuff paul says on foreign policy, they sort of view him as a way to hit control alt delete on the system. mary, let me ask you, ron paul could win in iowa. you could see mitt romney win in new hampshire. you could see newt gingrich then win in south carolina. the way this has been structured now, this year coming up with new york and california coming much later, this process could go on for months and months and months with the leadership changing quite dramatically, couldn't it? >> that's right. or perry, depending on how he does in iowa, could make his mark in south carolina. what i don't think is going to happen, i'm loathe to make

predictions in a cycle like this, is that ron paul is going to make much of a difference beyond iowa other than the parts of his message that are really relevant, the federal reserve, growth of government. he's a good message candidate in the way that several elements of the ross perfect row message was so important. long-lived. if he wins in iowa, that's not dispositive or predictive of anything else. bob dole and pat robertson beat my candidate in 1988, george herbert walker bush. reagan was forced to put bush on the ticket and the rest is history. iowa has a checkered history, it has a history of being iowa and carefully vetting candidates that make sense to it and it does clarify a lot of positions. there have been plenty of

candidates who have lost iowa or won iowa, whatever the case the opposite that, did not impact the future of the nomination. >> that is completely true. it may continue to be fluid for i think quite some time. thank you both very much indeed. coming up, america is obsessed with superstar tim tebow. i'll talk to the man who wrote the book on him when we come back. i had a heart problem. i was told to begin my aspirin regimen. i just didn't listen until i almost lost my life. my doctor's again ordered me to take aspirin. and i do. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. [ mike ] listen to the doctor. take it seriously. gives you a 50 percent annual bonus. so you earn 50 percent more cash. if you're not satisfied with 50% more cash, send it back! i'll be right here, waiting for it. who wouldn't want more cash? [ insects chirping ] i'll take it. i'll make it rain up in here.

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>> spins out of it. >> they're talking about tim tebow making another miraculous run. he's gotten national headlines for his play on the field and displays of faith off the field. he wrote about it through my eyes, a quarterback's journey. joining me now is tebow's co author, nathan whitaker. and tony dungy. welcome to you both. let me start with you, tony dungy. from a football point of view, it's not the football i'm massively expert in, let me put my credentials on the table right away, but i watched the game on sunday and his team didn't win. i was fascinated by the phenomenon of tim tebow. there was something extraordinarily compelling about him to watch, even if you're not a football nut.

he's a fascinating character. why is that? >> i think it's really the words you used, character. he's got a ton of it, and that's what impacts people and affects them. he won a high school state championship here in florida where i lived. he won two national championships at university of florida. you get the feeling if he's on your team he's going to give you a chance to win the championship. i think that's the phenomenon. >> from a technical point of view, how good is he? what makes him special? >> well, what makes him special is his will to win, his drive, his desire. he's not a polished nfl quarterback yet, but he's a winner. he's the guy that's going to make the play that you need to win the game. the other thing that he does is he inspires belief in his teammates. he's a strong runner. he's an athletic quarterback. he's a powerful guy, but all of that really kind of falls underneath the topic of that will to win.

>> nathan whitaker, you wrote this book with tim tebow. you know him as well as anybody. what is really fascinating about him is this relationship between his performances on the field and his faith. some of these things really are quite extraordinary. tebow woron 3: 1: 6. biblical reference. 92 million people searched that reference. that's an incredible power, isn't it? for anybody, never mind an athlete. to be able to influence people is extraordinary. >> tim takes seriously his ability to be a roll model. he was very intentional in all of these things. he spent a lot of time thinking about what to do and put on the eye black before that game. he certainly didn't know it was going to be 92 million people, but he knew it would be a fair number. >> incredible that that could happen. i like the fact that as a role model he's such a positive force.

the critics that sort of complain about it i think are completely barking up the wrong tree because you become a michael vick roll model? a very, very different kind of roll model. what is wrong with a god-fearing guy who goes out, works hard, does his job but believes in god and sends a positive message? >> right. tony has said before repeatedly that 99% of the athletes in the nfl are positive roll models. they do the right thing and you don't hear anything because of the 1% that does do the wrong thing. with tim you've got a guy who really is very intentional and does the right thing all the time and says the right things. he's a great teammate and gives credit when the kicker's making long kicks, he gives credit to the kicker and tries to deflect praise. >> i was watching him just to see how he compared to my, as i say, not massively expert eye. i love sport. he had a lot of time. this was a guy who had time and

intelligence and patience, always waiting to the last second before releasing the ball. am i wrong about that or is that a particular talent that he has that is putting him slightly above the others at the moment? >> well, because of his skillset and his athleticism, he can get away from the rush and can he buy time. he does get more time to throw than a lot of other quarterbacks, but he's still learning the position. that's what people have to understand. this is a young player, but he's galvanized kind of the attention of the country. he's going to use this platform really well. i think in tim's mind it's more about that than it is about winning championships. i know he wants to win, but as nathan said, he wants to use the platform and be a role model. i admire that. >> also, we would call him in my country, a big unit. i mean, he takes some felling, doesn't he?

>> that's a good way to put it. i've not heard it stated that way here but, no, he is a big man. he's a strong guy and he has a strong will, too. he's not going to give in easily. so because of that he is able to take some shots out there. he does it in such a way that it kind of inspires the rest of his teammates. >> tebow phenomena has exploded to such a degree, he even got the ultimate badge of honor which was an s and l skit. let's watch this. >> best of luck next week. i'll try to watch. tim. tim, i love you. >> i love you too. >> all right. just take it down a notch. >> yes, lord. whatever you command. >> not a command, just a request. >> i was going to say, pat robinson responded to that sketch. we need more religious faith in our society. we're losing our moral compass in our nation. this man has been placed in a unique position and i applaud him. god bless him. whether you're religious or not

actually doesn't really matter. the message that he is communicating is so positive, isn't it? if you're a young person watching football right now, tebow magic isn't going to do you any harm, is it? >> it's really not. all his lessons, as tony talked about, hard work, faith and for him it's faith in god but also faith in his teammates. faith in what hard work's going to bring. everything tim does. and the deflecting of praise. his parents taught him at an early age proverbs 27:2. let another person praise you. >> let's take a break and talk more about his upbringing. that's been central probably to the character he is. i also want to learn from both of you, if i can, how you do the tebow. it's about time i did one live on air.

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my dad has had a huge impact on my life. not because of what he's told me, but because of the example that he was in front of me every day. it wasn't something that i had to go outside of the house to look for a role model. i had one that i could watch every single day who when he said something, he did it. >> that's tim tebow talk about his relationship with his

father. it's key to understanding the man is that both his parents were christian baptist missionaries. he was born in the philippines. his father is a pastor. he was clearly brought up very much a man of the church. as you said, sort of almost ridiculously modest individual too. tell me some other stuff about the real tim tebow. >> he's incredibly kind and sensitive. that was one of the interesting things that came out is people talk about him wearing his emotion on his sleeves at times. what's really interesting to see about tim is that he does that in a way that really makes him seek out if there's somebody that's kind of on the periphery of the crowd or even as i was, there were 12 of us in the house as brothers, friends, whatever. he was always coming over and making sure, nathan, do you need anything? is there anything i can do for you? not only just one of the guys but also going out of his way to be kind and generous to those around him. >> one thing he's not on the pitch is either kind or

generous. he's a beast from what i was asking. he's got a big game, the buffalo bills. how's he going to do? >> they need one more win to get into the playoffs, and i know tim wants to deliver that. that's the important thing to him. and as a coach, that's what you really appreciate about him. he's all about winning. he doesn't care about individual accolades, he doesn't care about headlines, he wants to win. this is going to be a big game for him. i expect to see him play very, very well. >> nathan, when you wrote the book you spent a lot of time with tim tebow. he's become this super star now. how far is he going to go, do you think, and how will he deal with it? >> i think he'll deal with it great. you're right, i can only assume that it's the book that put him on the map and made him so popular. no, he's so down to earth and his parents really brought him up to continue that way. one of the things that you touched on earlier about being a role model is that he gives a lot of thought to what he does, the situations he gets in and

how hard he works. he always puts himself in good positions because he makes good decisions. i think that's going to serve him. >> tony, his big thing is the come back kid element to his game where he rescues the broncos in this dramatic last-minute fashion all the time. that's what's making him the sort of people's hero, isn't it? >> it is, but i think that really has to do with his faith too. tim is not a person that's ever going to give up at anything. he's never going to look at anything hopeless, as being hopeless, even if they're two scores down with two minutes to go. he always feels like they can win. that's a great quality to have. >> now we've got to get to the point now which i never thought would come where i need to know how to do the tebow because if everybody else is doing it, it's become a cultural and social phenomenon. i've got to do this. i'm going to have a go. i want you to advise me. nathan, you're here. tony, you can see me.

if i'm wrong, it's this, right? is that it? no, it's this. am i now doing the tebow? >> you are. >> what does this bring me? >> well -- >> other than an early moment of television ridicule. >> i'm not entirely certain. i think tim would hope you're praying at this point. >> i can do that. you do feel quite powerful doing this. i can see why he does it. >> the tebow brings you power. look, he's an amazing phenomenon. that's why we're covering him tonight. i think he's one of those people who is absolutely the right kind of person to be a big superstar in this country. he's just what america needs right now, people like tim tebow doing his stuff, flinging his arm, winning matches. i wish him all the best. thank you very much for coming in. thank you for talking over the phenomenon that is tim tebow. i won't say good luck to him because no one with the buffalo bills will ever talk to me again. i will say may the best team win. when we come back i'll talk

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will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. cut! >> what's the matter now? >> you wait. mary, please. tell me how i can help you. >> i don't know if i can act. i don't know who she is. >> you understand her. all your gift. >> she's not real. >> then why not simply rely on your natural talents? >> my week with marilyn. for that performance he's been nominated for golden globe awards. kenneth brennan joins me. welcome. >> thank you very much. nice to be here. >> congratulations on the double nomination. must be satisfying.

back in britain, as i know, you've been bracketed as the new olivier as long as i can remember. >> it has been satisfying. always satisfying to have work recognized. as you know, sometimes that doesn't happen. you keep going. i've been in the business for 30 years. it's nice when things go well. particularly with this part where, as you say, one had had the great flattery of being compared to laurence olivier, but with that came the inevitable knockings because the man is unsurpassable master of what he does. if you followed anywhere near him, played any part that he ever played, you were measured against his greatness. so it was a kind of double-edged sword. this time with this i think very sort of honest account in this snapshot in the movie, "my week with marilyn," i felt honored to be asked to do it. i'm delighted that it's had recognition. it's very thrilling. >> when you play a role like

olivier in a movie, compare and contrast to some of your great theatrical performances. i have seen you perform live in theater, and it's electrifying. you are, to my mind, this is not secretness, i'm happy to say that, you are in my view the great current british actor on stage. do you get as much of a thrill at the boring comparison of making a movie? >> first of all, thank you very much. i very much appreciate that. the difference, i suppose, is in approach. what you have to do in film, i think, is just enjoy it in a different way. understand it to be a very different sort of art form. you don't get that, the atmosphere, the connection of the live theatrical experience which is unique for everyone, but it's a beautiful and different thing on film. you have to get used to the

hurry up and wait. one of the things that is funny about "my week with marilyn" is a chance to play his frustration with film. he goes on record as saying he thought directing a movie was the best job in the world, but i think he was most impatient with the process of filming, and particularly with the process of waiting on one occasion three days for marilyn to show up. now that's when filming does get to be a little bit talking. i think with his discipline, i think that's where approaches are very extreme version of the method, which is what marilyn was following. this incredibly disciplined theatrical approach from the man who had been in the staged version of this for a whole year. he had done it in his sleep. marilyn shows up and the crazy making thing for olivier is after this process, much longer than anticipated process of filming it, when you see the finished film, i don't know if i have you've seen "the principles and the show girl," i think it would be fair to say, olivier goes on record as saying she

comes out of it rather more effectively because whatever it cost, those marilyn qualities, the easy comedy, the innocent and yet sexual kind of provocation in the performance was all there. by contrast olivier seems something of a stuffed shirt as "the new york times" described his performance. and i think that was frustrating. he was a master in his own right and either side of it was giving naturalistic method performances that could outshine anyone. it was an unusual moment of almost artistic mid-life crisis for him. >> talking about stuffed shirts you're in pretty good nick at moment and i think i know the reason why because i can exclusively reveal you and i share the same personal trainer. a 6'7" austrian giant called alexander rankovich who spends most of his life beating seven bells out of you and me. >> remarkable creature.

you apparently have a different technique with him and take him on. i'm simply crushed by him on every occasion when i do meet him. he's a delightful guy. he pushes and pushes and is of course much stronger and taller. you are a match for him, no doubt. what i haven't seen, i'd love to pay tickets for a ringside seat on occasions when you and he and are doing stomach crunches. prepared to reveal number of press-ups and stomach crunches? >> we get in the ring and i do boxing. >> really? >> you're too nice a guy. i basically get in the ring, you want to see the previous show i did with manny manny pacquiao, i like beating him up. >> are you a fair fighter? >> everything you know about me, kenneth, would you imagine i'm a fair fighter? >> i'd be pretty careful where the gloves go. >> let's take a little break. when we come back, i want to talk to you about who you think

is it greatest ever actor and who has been your favorite leading lady.

there can be no trick. a conference was sadly born. they have the truth of this from hero. love me! why. >> it must be requited. >> my guest kenneth branagh's 1993 film "much adieu about nothing." you don't look old enough. in all of that time, i like to ask actors this, who has been panetta pound for pound the greatest actor that you've ever seen in action? >> well, i have to say, sorry it's a boring answer given what we're talking about, olivier, i think, does take some beating. around the period of the prince and the showgirl we talk about "my week with marilyn" prior to the play richard iii, one of the

greatest screen performances, it's so sexy, witty, dangerous, all of the things you expect from a modern contemporary actor at their very best. he gives there, they makes a classical role seem utterly contemporary. it's breathtaking. i love watching other actors at work. it's hard to pick favorites. having studied him recently and revisiting the work, i have to say it's an amazing achievement. amazing career. amazing talent. >> when you're in hollywood, do you hang out with your old muckers like hugh laurie, reinvented himself in this americanized mr. bad guys. do you have the old gang get together. >> i do see people, you will know that one of the amazing things about america is that, a, i find it a big thrill to work here, very pleased and delighted, and frankly, sort of humbled at the chance to work here because it's what i used to watch.

i was sitting as a kid in belfast, i'd watch sunday afternoon matinees of movies and see names like burbank, filmed in burbank, california, magical places to me. to go there is amazing. the other thing that happens in america, you have the weather the extraordinary opportunity but everybody works so hard. work ethic here is pretty remarkable. i'm sure -- i know because i can see what you're doing all over the shop. it's people are incredibly busy. you don't get a chance to do so much hanging around and having a lark and having lots of brit picnics or anything but you pass very enjoyably like ships in the night and so i hook up with people whenever i can. >> finally, if i can create a desert island utopia where you can make one last play of your life, only one leading lady, it can be for screen or it can be for theater, who is the woman? who is the one you'd choose for your last, ever role?

>> wow, wow put me on the spot there. please don't hate me for this being an obvious answer. i watched michelle williams, the last picture we made from the most unlikely of the fragile an petite, seeming, beautiful young woman seemed to expand in the makeup chair as she filled out the curves of marilyn, found the voice, the face, the hair, the walk, which wasn't a walk as a float, a shimmy through the movie. she did all of that technically brilliantly, every everybody indication of the outside of marilyn and crucially made this other leap into playing the inside, the interior, the guesstimate of what the real person is like but it's an amazing guess because it's truthful vulnerable, sexy, smart as a nut and funny. i would be very thrilled if i could ever afford to pay her to be in a moe