Town to screen top theatre show live

YOU’RE on TV now in Sky Atlantic drama Britannia and have appeared in everything from Doctor Who to the recent League Of Gentlemen TV specials, but what do people normally recognise you from?

It depends where I am. I get people coming up to me saying ‘I love The Walking Dead” or in Liverpool it can be One Summer, which I did in the early Eighties, which people of a certain age still remember.

I’m known for many different things. I’ve had quite a diverse career and people pick out different parts of my work. I enjoy that.

I’m very proud of playing Gordon Brown (in The Deal), State Of Play, Blackpool and I recently did Hangmen on stage.

Are you surprised at the roles that you are offered?

(Laughs) I’m just surprised that I work. I’m surprised every time a job comes along, but I want to be surprised. It’s like Julius Caesar now.

It’s easy to run away from things if they are difficult, a bit of a challenge, but because of all of those reasons I jumped on it. I want to be challenged.

What appealed to you about playing Roman general Mark Antony in the production?

I didn’t know the play at all really when it was offered to me.

I had not seen it before or read it, but I wanted to work with Ben Whishaw, an actor I have admired, who is just fantastic, wonderful in this as Brutus.

I wanted to work with Nicholas Hytner, the director, as well.

The production is modern dress and it’s very relevant – there are no togas or sandals. It’s very much a modern situation that’s very recognisable.

Do you enjoy performing Shakespeare?

I did Macbeth in Liverpool and Much Ado About Nothing in the West End years ago. I was also with the RSC when I was a kid, but I don’t consider myself a Shakespeare expert when we have people in this cast like David Calder and Michelle Fairley who have done a lot of Shakespeare.

What was your early introduction to the Bard like?

I had a terrible experience of Shakespeare at school. I remember we were reading a play, we were doing Romeo And Juliet, and the teacher reading it was so boring that I just closed up. I didn’t get it.

I didn’t fall in love with Shakespeare until I became an actor and did it professionally.

What audiences have you been getting for Julius Caesar?

What’s great about the show is that when you look out in the audience the average age is about 26 to 27.

There are lots of young people getting into it. When I did Macbeth, the majority of people seeing it were young people and we went to schools afterwards as well.

There’s an appetite for the stories and that language. The plays have a real contemporary feel and are filled with human emotions that are very present in any age.

Are there any other Bard roles you’d like to play?

There are lots I’d like to do. I might be a bit old for Hamlet, but there is Iago in Othello and Benedict in Much Ado About Nothing. It’s always about the people doing it – the cast and the director – that is important to me. Do you ever read reviews? (Chuckles) I don’t. They are not written for me. I’m not the target audience. They are for people thinking they might or might not see a show, and so they read a review to find out what they want to go and see in the West End.

I’m already doing it so reviews don’t have to sell it to me. Don’t get me wrong, I like reviewers. I’m not someone who’s down on reviewers who offer informed, intelligent criticism, but I don’t read my own reviews.

Julius Caesar is a promenade production and the audience are the Roman mob. Do they ever surprise you?

The director wanted to have the audience around us and they are very much part of the show. Every night, each performance, there is something that surprises me, but I think we surprise the audience more than they surprise us.

It’s a very fast production, under two hours, with no interval. That’s good because the audience is standing the entire time.

The production is going to be broadcast live to cinemas across the UK and internation- ally. How is that going to work?

(Laughs) I have no idea. I’ve never done it before. I suppose we’re going to have to suck it and see. I’m not really sure how it is going to work, but it’s also quite exciting.

The audience won’t know how it’s going to work either.

Maybe people in the cinemas should stand for the broadcast as well to get the authentic experience. What’s next for you? I’m returning to TV with The City & The City. It’s a four-part drama on BBC2 based on China Mieville’s novel. I’m a big admirer of his work and that should be going out about mid-April.

The National Theatre live broadcast of Julius Caesar will be in cinemas including Hinckley’s Cineworld on Thursday, March 22 (see the cinema’s website) and runs at the Bridge Theatre in London (bridgetheatre.co.uk) until April 15.