They might be nice actors, however Sophie Okonedo and Ben Daniels are actually difficult themselves to play Medea and Jason, Greek tragedy’s most venomous couple, in a brand new West Finish manufacturing – as a result of in actual life, the celebrities are the celebrities. finest pals.
Ben tells with amusement how they first met throughout an audition some 30 years in the past: ‘Soph did not know I used to be homosexual. Then she went again to [the job] she labored on and mentioned, “I simply met the person I’ll marry!”, and the director [who knew me] went, “I do not suppose you are going to marry him!”‘
However, working collectively, Ben says they’re like an “previous married couple… you possibly can immediately bang on a extremely deep degree with one another.” And when you cannot get a extra grueling play to carry out than Medea, a narrative a couple of rejected girl who takes probably the most grotesque revenge potential, Ben says rehearsals had been a variety of enjoyable.
“We all know the warts and stuff, so it is nice to simply play them slightly bit and throw them out at one another and see the place it goes.”
A twist on this manufacturing is that Ben performs not simply Jason, however all of the male roles, from 20 to 75 years previous, representing in all its varieties the patriarchy that Medea despises and is damaged by. Jason, who deserted Medea and his kids for a youthful princess, is usually seen as the actual villain, however Ben has some sympathy for him.
“There’s one thing naive about him and he obtained right into a political state of affairs he cannot get out of,” he says. In the way in which they play it, Ben finds resonances between the 2500 yr previous tragedy and the turbulence of Charles, Diana and Camilla. “It is a related story – three individuals in marriage.”
It is at all times a deal with to see Ben’s electrical depth on stage: I keep in mind his Olivier award-winning efficiency in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons on the Nationwide Theater over 20 years in the past, returning there triumphantly final yr as an AIDS survivor. activist Ned Weeks in Larry Kramer’s The Regular Coronary heart.
Rising up in Warwickshire, says Ben, he was a “actually shy and fairly scared child,” however he discovered drama a strategy to get previous shyness. ‘I had one thing to do [acting] with out realizing what it was.’ Early on he constructed his popularity as a severe stage actor, however discovered fame with a really completely different position within the daring and brassy BBC cleaning soap Reducing It, set round a Manchester hair salon, by which he performed the caddic Finn.
Extra lately, he sparred compellingly with Helena Bonham Carter as Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband, in The Crown. And he is quickly to be seen within the second collection of two large reveals, Apple TV+’s sci-fi epic Basis and Amazon’s The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Energy.
When it comes to theatre, The Regular Coronary heart was particular to him. Directed by his good friend Dominic Cooke, who additionally directs Medea, it was one of many first main productions to open after the pandemic, and its highly effective depiction of a public well being disaster clearly had further resonance. Ben additionally loved appearing with a predominantly LGBTQ+ ensemble: ‘It was nice; it is so uncommon.’
As an actor, he has been out and proud all through his profession regardless of the obstacles he has confronted. “Once I got here out of drama college, I wasn’t allowed to face up for Mr. Darcy [or leading roles of that sort]. There have been sure doorways that weren’t opened,” he says, revealing that “even with Reducing It, initially there was a producer who mentioned ‘over my useless physique.’ [about casting me].’
And there is nonetheless an imbalance: “I might be actually shocked if even now they even remotely thought-about a queer actor to play James Bond – when any straight actor can play Elton John, Freddie Mercury or a homosexual icon.” play, so I feel it is slightly bit [unfair].’
At 58, Ben is stuffed with boyish vibrancy about what lies forward: he is an avid horror fan and has “actually large” conferences arising for a queer horror collection he co-created. And he’s decided to maintain pushing himself. “Even once I’m doing Medea, I am like, ‘Oh my God, what am I doing?’ Nevertheless it’s good to go, ‘How am I going to make this work?’ It is all an experiment, and it is up for grabs, and it is nice.”
Medea will be seen on the Soho Place theater in London till April 22
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