Striking the right chord

Some people are capable of actions unthinkable to the rest of us

Monica Dolan plays Ann Branson, a formidable crime-family matriarch who is out to avenge her son’s murder.

You’ve been in so many terrific series, from BBC parody W1A to playing serial killer Rosemary West in Appropriate Adult — and then there’s the recent Mr Bates vs the Post Office and now Sherwood. How do you choose your roles?

It’s intuitive and instinctive. I look at what’s in front of me and I think, “Do I want to do this?” I didn’t have to audition, playing Ann Branson – by the way, it’s Ann with no “e”, which I kind of like. Makes her a bit meaner somehow. And I didn’t audition for Marion Thorpe [opposite Hugh Grant’s Jeremy Thorpe in A Very English Scandal]. But I definitely did have to audition to play Rosemary West.

Your performances are brilliantly subtle and you are transformed in each role. Do you get recognised?

What I found, particularly after The Post Office, is that people think they know me from somewhere… but what’s extraordinary is how quickly they fill in the blanks of how they know me. Not long ago, I was walking my dog, and this woman said, “I know you. You told me I wasn’t controlling my dog properly.” And I was thinking, “I’ve never met you before in my life and I’ve never told anyone how to control their dog.” Then quite recently I met another woman and she said, “Oh, how’s Philip?” And she started filling in all the people and the relationships of how she knew me. And it’s a bit embarrassing to explain, “I think you might just have seen me on telly”, because it sounds really bigheaded! Sometimes it’s just easier to go, “Yes, that was me with your dog.”

I don’t judge anyone’s behaviour – it gets in the way

You seem to have perfected the banality of evil — in Sherwood, when we first meet you, you’re talking about vegetables but have murder on your mind…

Sometimes very unnerving people who are capable of actions that are unthinkable to the rest of us are inclined to give very different things a similar emotional weight. So, when she’s talking about the vegetables, I think she might talk about a body in a similar way. I must say I looked at those lines about the vegetables and thought “I’m not sure what’s going on here, but I’ll just say them and see…” Also, I remember when I was reading about Fred West, one of the things that struck me, often when he was talking about inanimate objects, he would call them “he” or “she”. And with people, he would call them “it”.

How did you feel about Rosemary West before you played her?

I probably approach things in a fairly clinical way. I look at what a person does and think, “Why do they do that?” I don’t judge anyone’s behaviour because it gets in the way and that’s when I get in the way of what the character’s doing. It is challenging, but it’s not going to serve the piece and it’s not going to serve the public if I’m in the way of Rosemary West, saying, “This isn’t a very nice person”. I think people know that. Also, that isn’t my role in the drama.

David Harewood

There are no bright lights – this is real and quiet

David Harewood plays kind and considerate Denis Bottomley, who finds his run-of-the-mill life suddenly turned upside down. Were you a fan of the first series of Sherwood?

I only watched it when I was offered the job because I’d been in North America for ten years, going back to Homeland. Sherwood writer James Graham has the ability to paint complex characters but land them in socially conscious dramas that really speak to people. Who’d have thought we could look at the miners’ strike in a new way?

Do you remember the strikes?

I was a little young to understand what was happening, but I think the way James has written about them brings them back to life.

You have played strong, authoritative figures, but in this you’re more vulnerable...

Denis is an ordinary man living in extraordinary circumstances. It was something I’d never done before. It was about turning off all the bright lights and fancy stuff, and just being real and normal and quiet.

You’ve spoken about people of colour getting big roles in the US. Have things changed in the UK?

It’s changing and it’s great to see the younger generation being successful and having the opportunities that we never got.

Speaking of which, you recently became president of Rada, your alma mater…

I’ve taken it to prove that I’m not simply a diversity man. When I was at Rada, Richard Attenborough was president and we never saw him; previous presidents were also more of a figurehead. My own personal history and the difficulty I had transforming from a student to a professional actor… I think it’s common knowledge that I had a breakdown. My goal is to be hands on, be visible and really help students. It’s a tough business.

My first review was personal, racist and tough to read

As you know from experience…

I wasn’t prepared for the outside world. At Rada, I was free to play whatever – Dostoyevsky, Strindberg, Chekhov... I loved the classics and I loved being able to turn up on stage and disappear into these characters. Suddenly, when I came out of drama school, I was told, “You can’t do that because you’re black.” Reviewers were brutal. In my first job, I played Romeo and one reviewer said, “He looks more like Mike Tyson than Romeo.” It was personal, it was racist and it was tough to read those things.

What have you learnt that you could pass onto the students?

That one day you’re in drama school, the next day you’re out in the real world. And personal criticism is difficult to deal with.

But criticism is tough for everyone…

It is – except when you’re an actor, it’s not a criticism of your work, it’s a criticism of you. You start losing confidence in yourself, your art and talent. When that starts to happen is when you really start to be very vulnerable. Building resilience in young actors is very important.

How do you hope to do that?

Just by talking. When they come out of drama school, the goal isn’t to get famous or be successful, it’s to work. Find the work, do it to the best of your ability, and what will be will be. We all have difficult times and sometimes it’s the difficult times that are more rewarding, because they teach you resilience.

What makes you sad?

Thinking of myself before I had my breakdown. Thinking of the little boy, the innocent child I was.

What makes you happy?

Riding my motorbike.