‘I LOVE a story with intrigue & plotting!’
One of the UK’S busiest actors, Adrian Lester, talks to GH’S Jackie Brown about being in a power couple, his part in the epic Mary Queen Of Scots and his most embarrassing role ever
Adrian Lester has an infectious laugh, which he often releases during our interview as he pokes fun at himself, particularly about his age and stripping off on screen (more of that later). But mostly, he laughs simply because he’s in a good place.
This month, his stellar career will be boosted further, with the release of the historical blockbuster Mary Queen Of Scots, about the relationship between the doomed Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth I. Alongside co-stars Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, Adrian has a key role as Elizabeth’s ambassador, Lord Randolph, who travels between the courts of the two women in Scotland and England.
The role was offered to him by the film’s director, Josie Rourke (see interview, page 38), who knew his reputation as a Shakespearean actor. ‘She wrote me a letter and, when I read the script, I loved all the intrigue and plotting. It’s about two women in power completely surrounded by men. They were the same, they should have come together as two queens and united the kingdom, but that didn’t happen.’
Adrian had to brush up on horse riding for the film, admitting, ‘I’m not well-suited to riding a horse. I’m very, very safety conscious and I’m so used to riding a bicycle. When I sat in the saddle and put my feet in the stirrups with the reigns, I was constantly told to relax and try not to control it like a mechanical thing. But I was really getting the hang of it by the time we finished shooting. I loved it.’
He grew up in Birmingham and sang in a cathedral choir from the age of eight. His love of performing blossomed in youth theatre, and he won a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. ‘I was really ecstatic,’ he says. ‘I turned 18 and three weeks later I packed my bags, left home and was living in London. It was a big move.’ It was also where he met his wife, the actor and scriptwriter Lolita Chakrabarti. They are both from Birmingham and first met as teenagers at a drama workshop.
‘We got on like a house on fire. We still do. We’ve been together for about 30 years. What’s the secret?’ he laughs. ‘There is no secret. We just get on, we always have done. We talk a lot and help each other out. We are each other’s sounding board for projects.’
Just before their wedding, Adrian caught the attention of Hollywood with his role in the film
Primary Colors. There have been offers from the USA over the years, but the couple live in London with their teenage daughters Jasmine and Lila. Lolita is as busy as Adrian, which means they sometimes have to juggle projects. ‘I’m not leaving
If it matters to the show, it’s fine to take your kit off!
London for theatre tours until the girls are about 32,’ he jokes. ‘It’s just not helpful, it’s not a team effort, it becomes one person doing it all while you go off and do something else.’
They established themselves as a theatre power couple with Red Velvet, which is about the black American actor Ira Aldridge. Lolita wrote it and Adrian starred in it. It was a long battle to get it staged, but it won them both theatre awards and is now on the A level syllabus. He says, ‘It’s quite a moment when you spend so much time writing it, hear all of those theatres say no, watch as people just don’t get it – then for it to be put on and sell out every time it’s staged. It is phenomenal.’
It was certainly a victory for more diversity in theatre – and Adrian’s role in Mary Queen Of Scots is likely to be a talking point, too. Lord Randolph was white, but Adrian says the casting is justified as there were many wealthy black traders in Elizabethan times.
‘Of course, people will say “That doesn’t look right.” The director has shifted the character to try to represent what society would have been like at that time.’
He turned 50 last summer and jokes about spending it hiding in his bedroom. ‘It was a pretty big step, the zeros always make you think and look around you.’ In fact, he looks at least a decade younger and keeps fit by doing taekwondo twice a week. He enjoys it, and it also means that he’s in good shape for whatever his job demands. For his role as silver-tongued conman Mickey in TV’S Hustle, he was filmed running naked – his ‘most embarrassing day on the job’. ‘It’s one of my favourite episodes,’ he says. ‘Mickey and Danny were pitted against one another. The idea was to start in the centre of town with nothing, and see who had conned the most money by the end of the day. It was me and Marc Warren running naked across Trafalgar Square. At the end we had to run past the public to get our clothes back. We had to do it about 12 times. A lot of the time it’s women [actors] who have to take their kit off! You can’t say, “There should be balance,” and then when someone goes, “Okay,” say, “Not me! There should be other people balancing!” I think if it matters to the show, then it’s fine.’
For now, Adrian is keeping his clothes on. As well as Mary Queen Of Scots, he will soon be seen in sci-fi drama Curfew on Sky and will be starring in Cost Of Living at London’s Hampstead Theatre.
‘Right now, things are great,’ he says. ‘I’m working in this industry because it’s a vocation for me. The people I care about are happy and healthy. Everything is good.’ ◆ Mary Queen Of Scots is in cinemas from 18 January.