Charley Boorman
Within approximately 5 minutes of meeting Charley Boorman, I already knew that writing a 1500 word feature about him was going to be a challenge.
Mongolia? He’s been there. The dangerous Dakar Rally? Done that. Met gorillas in Rwanda? Got the t-shirt. Throw in a life changing motorcycle crash and a brush with testicular cancer and you’ve got yourself a trilogy of Tolkien-sized books, let alone a double page spread.
Born in August 1966, this TV adventurer and motorcycle enthusiast in fact started life as an actor. As the son of costume designer Christel Kruse and acclaimed film director John Boorman, Charley found himself appearing in a number of his father’s films from a young age, including Deliverance, Excalibur and The Emerald Forest.
“If he needed child actors dad wouldn’t hire anyone - he would just use his kids and not pay us! It was cheap, forced labour!” Charley laughs.
“The truth is that I found school very difficult. I am heavily dyslexic and people didn’t really understand, so dad started throwing me into movies and I loved it – it was the only way I could really express myself”
Boorman senior’s career required almost constant travel to far-flung places, and whether it was the South Pacific, South Carolina or Los Angeles the whole family would come too.
“Growing up like that left me with such a sense of adventure” Charley enthuses.
The Boormans moved to Ireland when Charley was 6 for the making of the 1974 film Zardoz, and leading man Sean Connery and his then 8-year-old son Jason came to stay. Charley and Jason tore around the Irish countryside together and one fateful day discovered a Honda monkey bike in an old garage…
“I’ll always remember riding passing my dad and Sean and thinking ‘yeah look at me! I can ride a motorbike!’ and then my dad pulled me off it just before it went straight into a barbed wire fence!” Charley laughs.
“I should have known then that would be a theme for me!”
Charley’s acting career continued well, but things took a turn when his lust for travel and adventure became his priority.
“I basically started choosing movies based on their location” he confesses.
“If a job was shooting in South Africa - I’d take it. Then I’d be sitting on the plane, reading the script and it would be rubbish! So my career quickly went downhill!’ he laughs.
Charley started painting and decorating – ‘any actor’s favourite job!’ he says. Nearly 10 years passed with little to no acting work, until he landed a small part in a film called The Serpent’s Kiss, starring another motorcycle-obsessed, travel-hungry actor called Ewan McGregor.
“We became friends and did bike stuff together, and started talking about doing a long trip. We were just going to ride down to Spain, but then I went over to Ewan’s house and he had this world map out on the table…”
And the rest is motorcycle history. In 2004 Charley and Ewan embarked on the adventure of a lifetime biking overland from London to New York via Western and Central Europe, Ukraine, Western Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia and Canada, documenting their journey in the iconic and award winning television series and book Long Way Round.
“Mongolia was one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been. Super difficult to get across - it’s a huge country and there are no roads! But the people are wonderful – they’re incredibly generous, gentle and kind” Charley explains.
In 2006’s Race to Dakar Charley braved the Dakar Rally; one of the most demanding and dangerous motor races on earth. Starting in Portugal and ending in Senegal, Charley broke both of his hands in a serious crash in the desert but maintains that the race has been one of the biggest highlights of his life. He returned to the saddle with Ewan once more in 2007 for Long Way Down, which saw the duo ride from John O’Groats to Cape Town, with plenty of memorable encounters along the way.
“Going into Rwanda and seeing the gorillas was amazing. Ewan and I were watching this family and suddenly this huge silverback appeared - he pushed Ewan over, walked between us and then stopped and looked at us both. He then covered us in snot and just walked off!’ he laughs.
Charley then traveled solo from Ireland to Australia in By Any Means; using trains, tuk tuks, boats, bikes and elephants he covered Nepal, Iran, Thailand, Indonesia and more, before doing the same from Sydney to Tokyo. Other adventure-packed exploits have included Extreme Frontiers, Charley Boorman’s USA Adventure, South African Adventure and more.
“Sometimes when you tell people you’re going to Africa or India they say ‘oh it’s terribly dangerous there’ and so I ask if they’ve been, and they nearly always say no! It’s entirely based on fear” Charley explains.
“It is so important for us all to travel - to understand what’s really going on in the world you need to actually go there”
In 2016 Charley’s life was put on hold after he was knocked off a motorbike in Portugal, shattering his left leg and breaking his hand and ankle. It was unclear if he would ever walk properly again, let alone ride a motorbike. He released his autobiography aptly named The Long Way Back last year; a story of his recovery combined with a look back at his fascinating life, told in his typically humorous but reflective way.
“I was launching a motorcycle for Triumph and instead of launching the bike, I launched myself!” he laughs.
“My agent was worried that I was going to go mental lying in bed for 5 months, so suggested I write a book! It’s about the accident, my recovery, and it’s about sitting on the toilet again for the first time and how delightful that is! It’s the little things that become so important’
After a battle with testicular cancer in 2010 Charley is now an ambassador for Movember, working to increase awareness of men’s health. He is also a supporter of Help for Heroes and has been an ambassador for UNICEF for several years. In between his adventures and charity work Charley lives in Barnes with his wife Ollie and their two daughters Doone and Kinvara.
“When you’re away for months Barnes is a really lovely place to come back to,” he grins, however it’s clear that his wanderlust is as influential as ever.
“I want to go to Central and South America next - I haven’t been. It’s a whole new continent to do! Ewan and I have been talking about doing another trip…so we’ll see!”
Following countless operations, Charley lead his first motor biking expedition since his accident in September 2017 and he is understandably delighted to back on his bike, and back on the road. There are more tours planned for this year, which will see him first lead a group of bikers across Australia and then Africa a few months later, travelling from Cape Town to Victoria Falls via Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
“Namibia is incredible. Where else do you have stop in the middle of the road to let 40 elephants pass by? It’s another world” he enthuses.
“But you don’t have to go to Africa, or Australia - anywhere you haven’t been before is an adventure! And it doesn’t matter if someone else has done it before either – it’s YOUR adventure’
Published in the February 2018 issues of The Barnes Magazine, The Richmond Magazine and The Wandsworth Magazine, and online at Essential Surrey and SW London
