Narnia has become a bit more grubby and dangerous
SAMANTHA WOMACK TELLS MARION McMULLEN SHE IS READY TO CAST A SPELL OVER
You’ve gone from the Queen Vic to the Queen of Narnia. Are you looking forward to playing the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe?
I can’t wait to seduce, plot and terrify Narnia into a permanent winter.
I must have been seven or eight when I read the CS Lewis books. I recently re-read The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and it felt like I had only read them yesterday. I can still vividly remember the description of the little girl Lucy walking through the wardrobe for the first time and the smell of mothballs as she walked through the coats, followed by the crunch of the snow underfoot on the other side. Writing that good just stays with you. I also remember Lucy’s first meeting with Mr Tumnus.
How would you describe your White Witch?
The initial look we thought of was of a faded beauty star, which was interesting, but in rehearsals that has now changed and Narnia has become more of a natural world and a pagan place – a bit more grubby and dangerous.
Past productions have set the story in a Christmas background, but this production feels a bit more true to the world of Narnia and feels really cool. The story can be enjoyed on so many different levels with the natural world, the pagan world and the meaning of life and death.
What has it been like working again after the lockdowns?
It was strange walking into a rehearsal room again and being with 40 plus people for the first time after all the lockdowns.
Many of the cast play instruments as well and I have been blubbing in the wings in some scenes when the cello and violin have been playing. I’ve been like ‘come on, get a grip’ but the music does get to you.
It’s so emotional.
Have you managed to take a holiday with restrictions lifting?
I went on a trip to Madrid with my partner (actor Oliver ‘Ollie’ Farnworth) and we went to an opera. We didn’t have any plans to go, but the opera had come back on when we were there and we went on a whim. It was not one of the classics, it was a modern opera, and we were in a box looking down on the orchestra. It was like ‘look how many people are playing music... and so close together’.
It’s crazy.
How did you spend your time during the lockdowns?
We had the whole of my family together during lockdown. I’m in a relatively new relationship of two years and there was my ex Mark, who I had been with for 19 years, our two children and his son from a previous relationship, and Ollie, all together in a house together.
It was really nice having that time together and we had the privilege of the countryside and being able to spend time outside.
I’m addicted to RightMove. I can be on the website two or three hours a day and properties with land that used to go for £200,000 and £300,000 are now fetching £500,000 and woodland is being snapped up. They come up for sale and are gone within four weeks.
We watched so much television. You get into box sets and keep going and suddenly it’s finished. You just go through them. We watched
Succession, we might even have watched it twice, and then it was documentaries and then we got into cooking programmes. All I wanted to see was cooking shows. I think it was maybe because you couldn’t go to restaurants. It was like experiencing life through television.
You’re enjoying puppy love as well at the moment...
(Laughs) Yes, the puppy’s not very old – big paws and missing patches of fur. They’ve just been on a training course so I’m stocked up with frankfurters for rewards. I have three other dogs so it would be mayhem without the training.
You’ve done EastEnders, The Kingsman and stage shows like The Addams Family and The Girl On the Train. What does the future hold?
I’ve always been a jobbing actor. I’ve never been in a position to pick and choose roles and you really don’t want to say no to anything.
Multi-tasking was just normal, but lockdown has led to a lot of people looking at their lives and I really don’t want to go back to the pace I was at before.
There is already talk about other work after this tour but I think I need to find a balance going forward and find my own calm.
It’s OK to say no to a couple of things. (Laughs). It’s weird how hard that is.
CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is on tour until next April. Go to lionwitchonstage. com for tour dates and tickets