Why it’s wicked getting to play a baddie in panto
SOMETIMES I GET BOOED IN THE STREET
became evident that being a goodie wasn’t really a good fit for me. “The panto villain was the part I’d always wanted out of all the principal parts in panto. I thought the villain could be where I could learn to push my acting skills. “I was given a chance to be the villain in 2003 in Jack and the Beanstalk at the King’s in Edinburgh. “That was my first villain and I’ve been the resident bad guy in Edinburgh ever since.” Grant is now so well-known for playing the bad guy that he even gets heckled in public.
He said: “As someone who lives and works in Edinburgh all year round you will bump into people or people will see you at an event and I have been booed in the past. I can only hope it’s all down to my panto performance.”
Hibs-daft Grant is appearing again with panto stalwarts Allan Stewart and Andy Gray.
“We’ve become very close friends,” he said. “That’s the secret of how we’ve managed to do it every year for so long.”
Grant, right, is married to Claire and the couple have two children, their son Sam, 20, and 16-year-old daughter Lori.
He said: “They’ve grown up and all they know is at Christmas time Dad disappears and starts wearing these silly costumes.
“I’m in the most embarrassing dad in Edinburgh category given the exposure the panto gets, especially when my kids were younger and growing up and seeing their dad on the side of a bus in a dress and a wig.
“It’s not the coolest thing. They’ve accepted that and really enjoy it.”
They take to the stage every night expecting to be booed – oh yes they do. With panto season on, MARIA CROCE speaks to three of this year’s show villains about what it’s like to be bad.