Notorious drug smuggler Howard Marks was once Britain's most wanted man.
Now, as a new film tells the story of his extraordinary life, the adopted Loiner talks Rhys Ifans, ex-wives and his new career as a crime writer. Interview by Grant Woodward.
Howard Marks was once famously described as sounding like Richard Burton while looking like a Rolling Stone.
That, together with his rollercoaster life as an international cannabis smuggler, has always made him perfect fodder for the big screen treatment.
Sure enough, this week sees the release of Mr Nice, the movie based on his bestselling autobiography of the same name. The only surprise is that it has taken someone so long to make it.
By the mid-1980s, Marks had 43 aliases (including the aforementioned Mr Nice), along with 89 phone lines and 25 companies operating throughout the world.
He was smuggling consignments of up to 30 tons of cannabis from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organisations as diverse as the CIA, MI6, the IRA, and the Mafia.
His motivation, apart from the obvious financial benefits, was his belief that the drug should be legalised. He even went so far as to stand for parliament on the issue in 1997, once he'd served seven years of a 25-year jail term at one of America's toughest prisons.
Now 65, Marks says he thinks the filmmakers have done a "first-class" job translating his story for the screen. Though he admits the experience of watching your life play out in front of you is a bizarre one.
"It's obviously different from seeing any other film because it all seems strangely familiar," he says, in his distinctive South Welsh burr.
"A hell of a lot has been cut out from the book because otherwise it would have to be about a week long, so it differs a bit in that respect.
"They had to make a few fictional shortcuts just to hold the whole thing together. For instance, they had to roll a couple of my ex-wives into one... which I suppose is what I was trying to do at the time," he chuckles.
"But as far as capturing the emotions and tensions I think it does a better job than the book, just because you have the sensory input of the film format which lends itself to creating a much stronger emotional impact."
In a part he was seemingly born to play, the role of Marks is filled by fellow Welshman Rhys Ifans, who brings a rakish charm to the character as he plots daring deals with eccentric accomplices, while all the time trying to keep one step ahead of the authorities.
Marks reveals the idea of Ifans playing him had been a done deal for more than a decade, after the pair met while hanging out with rock band Super Furry Animals.
"Yes, Rhys and I pretty much shook on that about 14 years ago," he says. "Just before he became a famous actor and before Mr Nice had been published we had a drunken conversation in Cardiff.
"We agreed that if my book was ever published and if it was ever made into a film, and if he did ever become an actor, it would be alright if he played me. And there's never been any other choice in my mind since then."
Given their obviously close friendship, it surely wasn't too much of a stretch for Ifans?
"No, he didn't really need to do any studying because we're good friends and see each other pretty regularly. He asked me the occasional question, what lullaby I'd sing to my kids and stuff like that, but that was about it.
"There are some very funny bits in the film but there are some sad moments in there as well. The stuff in Terre Haute Penitentiary (where Marks was imprisoned) brought back memories. Not altogether bad ones, but a few bad ones, yes.
"As far I was concerned they had full licence to do what they wanted with it because once you sell the rights to something that's it. But I thought they did an excellent job."
Marks, whose partner works as a teacher in Leeds, moved to the city about five years ago and lives in a waterfront apartment.
"I love it," he says. "I've got my own bar there (he is involved with Brewery Wharf bar Azucar) which makes things easier."
For the last two years he has been concentrating on writing crime fiction and his first novel is due out next March.
Set from the mid-1970s to the present day and based around drugs and corrupt cops in Cardiff, he says a lot of it is written from personal experience.
But before that he is heading out on another tour of his hugely successful one-man show, An Audience with Mr Nice, stopping off in his adopted home city later this month.
"It's all a bit hyperactive at the moment," he says, clearly relishing every minute of his busy schedule. "But yes, life seems to be going pretty well."
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