THE RISE OF MADDEN
WThe success of Scots actor was inevitable, according to theatre bosses and stage peers who spotted his talent and desire to get to the top
ITH a Golden Globe award under his arm and a bow tie on his neck, Richard Madden took a step closer to the role of James Bond last night.
Winning the gong for Best Actor in a TV Drama ramped up the odds that he will follow Daniel Craig into the role of 007.
William Hill currently have 32-year-old Richard at 4-1, behind Tom Hiddleston and James Norton, and neck and neck with Idris Elba.
But the rumour mill suggests Bond franchise producer Barbara Broccoli has the Bodyguard star at the top of her wish list.
If any of this has gone to his head, it wasn’t visible at the ceremony on Sunday night as Richard, from Elderslie in Renfrewshire, said he was “starstruck by everyone in the room”.
His parents, Pat and Richard. flew in from Scotland to join him at the party in LA and he made a point of thanking them for their support.
Richard said: “I don’t come from a background that has any actors in it. They never understood what I did at weekends or weeknights when I went to youth theatre, or when I was in productions or auditions. And they had to drive me for hours to do it.
“They never questioned or discouraged it, they only encouraged it, so it’s thanks to them I’m even here.”
Richard joined the PACE theatre group in Paisley when he was at primary school, to overcome shyness he describes as “crippling”.
According to Pace director Jenni Mason, he stood out from the start.
She said: “He was an absolute delight and had something really special about him as an actor. You can see it now, and he had it at a very young age.
“He had a brilliant ability to connect with the character he was playing, and also had a sense of maturity way beyond his age.”
Richard played the demanding role of John Proctor, in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, while he was still a pupil at Paisley’s Castlehead High School.
Jenni said: “He gave everything and worked so hard. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he’s achieved what he has because not only does he have the talent, he also has the work ethic.”
Richard was cast in the film version
of Iain Banks’s Complicity when he was 11 but back in the playground, he was bullied and teased. He then appeared in a BBC kids’ TV show, Barmy Aunt Boomerang, before finding the attention a bit too much. For the next few years, he kept his head down. He returned to PACE when he was in sixth year at school and applied to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow (now the Conservatoire).
Director of drama Hugh Hodgart remembers a determined young man who arrived ready to start work. He said: “Richard had focus, was serious about what he was doing and was driven but not in a bad way. He had that extra level of clarity every actor needs.”
While he was still a student, Richard was cast in a Citizens Theatre play, Tom Fool, that transferred to London. There, he auditioned for a Globe Theatre production of Romeo and Juliet. It came to Glasgow on tour and theatre lovers still recall the show, staged on the university quadrangle in the drizzle, with a dizzyingly young and intense cast.
Hugh says Richard’s background in youth drama groups, and his experience in the industry, gave him a head start. He turned up at college knowing the importance of arriving on time, being well-prepared and getting on with everyone.
Hugh said: “Acting is a very vulnerable thing to do. You need a sufficient sense of self plus an openness and ability to collaborate and be generous.”
After college, Richard got a part in National Theatre of Scotland production Be Near Me, with Blythe Duff.
The Taggart star said: “Having enjoyed working with him 10 years ago, it’s lovely to see all his hard work pay off. He was a young actor with a strong work ethic, which has served him well. When we spent two months in London at the Donmar Warehouse, it was easy to spot he had the talent and the look to go far. But it all takes hard work and that’s what he’s done.”
Richard’s breakthrough role, in 2011, was as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones.
Actor-director Sir Kenneth Branagh is a fan and cast Richard in the Disney remake of Cinderella, then as Romeo in his all-star version of the Shakespeare play.
Now, Richard is up for another gong, at the National Television Awards on January 22. But there are bigger prizes in his sights.
He has a major part in Rocketman, the Elton John biopic due out in May, and is also ready to reprise the role of Bodyguard’s David Budd, if writer Jed Mercurio can come up with a suitable adventure for him.
Hugh said: “I imagine Richard’s got a whole load of stuff he’s looking at. A lot of interesting and tough choices. Being the new Bond, alluring as that part might be, could be a little bit too easy a leap.
“I would like to see something that gives him a chance to be a little more playful. To have a smile on his face. But whatever it is – more power to him.”
Richard had focus and was driven – but not in a bad way DRAMA TEACHER HUGH HODGART ON MADDEN