We spoke to the guest presenters at this year’s Olivier Awards with MasterCard and discovered a mutual love of theatre, long-awaited West End returns, jealousy towards Helen Mirren and a Willy Wonka darker than ever before.
Suranne Jones
Are you enjoying the evening?
Do you know what, what a brilliant thing it is to come to an awards ceremony and be properly entertained by talent. I’m used to the television awards season and it’s nothing like tonight. This is just a ball.
Are you enjoying being on the London stage yourself? [Jones is currently starring in Beautiful Thing at the Arts theatre]
Yes, you forget sometimes when you’ve been doing a lot of television, there’s nothing quite like telling a story to a house full of people. For those two hours it’s just you and them and you’re telling the story to them and they’ve paid to come and sit and listen. There’s nothing quite like that. I’m loving it.
Douglas Hodge
You’re in a world of chocolate at the moment, how are preparations for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory going? Is your costume all sorted?
It is, it’s quite simple actually, exactly as it is in the book. The music is fantastic and Sam Mendes is brilliant: at the top of his game.
What level of darkness are you going to bring to the character [Willy Wonka]?
I think it’s going to be darker than it’s ever been…
Myleene Klass
Are you enjoying yourself this evening?
I am absolutely in my element. I thought I was going to cry tears of joy after watching A Chorus Line. Everything is just such a visual spectacular and a sensory overload. It’s just everything that you want the awards to be.
What does theatre mean to you?
Theatre to me is everything. It gave me my first job only 300 yards down the road from here at the [Theatre Royal] Drury Lane and that was over a decade ago. I was just a lowly chorus girl. Maybe that’s why A Chorus Line really did strike a chord with me. To be able to stand on that stage and perform to a live audience is a privilege and to then walk 300 yards after 10 years down the red carpet here and to be a part of celebrating that talent, I just pinch myself.
Could you see yourself coming back to the stage?
Well, Andrew Lloyd Webber asked me to perform for his 40th anniversary. He dragged me out of my theatre show retirement. I kind of owed it to him because I was supposed to play Mary Magdalene but instead I went and joined a pop band [laughs]. But never say never. There are whispers in the water, shall we say.
Lee Evans
Are you enjoying the evening?
Oh it’s horrible! It’s the worst night I’ve ever had in my life. I’m leaving as soon as I can. Helen Mirren got Best Queen. That was me! That was meeeee!
Are you looking forward to starting your role in Barking In Essex?
Yeah I am actually – being serious now – because we’ve had a good laugh in rehearsals with Sheila Hancock. She’s mad and brilliant at the same time.
Do you think, this time next year, you could be returning to the Olivier Awards?
Oh I would have thought a clutch of awards. I’m going to bring a bag next time. No, I don’t get awards because I’m a bit of an idiot. It’s nice to be here though. I think everyone works really hard so anyone who gets an Olivier, they’ve worked their arse off. Theatre is a massive industry in this country and it should be looked upon as an incredible thing. It’s great that we’re having this and particularly that it’s televised, I’m really pleased about that.
Tim Minchin
After the success of Matilda last year, are you planning to write more musicals?
I was writing musical theatre when I was 17, so it’s actually what I’ve done most in my life. Comedy was just an act of desperation really through lack of gainful employment. I mean, I want to balance it. I am acting a lot at the moment, which is the other thing I used to do, but for the last two months I’ve been writing my next musical.
Theatre’s important to you then?
It really is. Good theatre, theatre which I enjoy, transcends any other art form. We need to figure a way to get more people to see it. It took me 20 years to get there and that required subsidised theatre in Perth as it turns out. No one’s just suddenly able to write a commercial musical.
It’s incredibly important, not just for people who come to the West End, but for everyone, for children, for social movement, for autistic kids, for people in poverty who want to see their world reflected back at them. You don’t need a million quid to make a play, but a little bit of f**king help would be good.
Daniel Radcliffe
Are you excited about starring in The Cripple Of Inishmaan at the Noël Coward theatre in June?
Very excited about it. It’s incredibly dark and I’m happy to be doing it. It’s gone really well up to this point and now I just need to get into rehearsal, meet the other actors, and start playing around. Hopefully it’s going to be something really special.
Lynda Bellingham
Are you enjoying the evening?
I’ve loved every minute of it. Honestly, I’m so thrilled that they’ve filmed it. It’s not for me to make a speech, but the theatre is so important. And yes, you have soaps and you have reality telly, but this is the heart and soul of this country and we must support it.
Tom Hiddleston
What have you enjoyed most about this evening?
I loved seeing Top Hat because it was my grandparents’ favourite film and it’s one of those things that they forced me to watch when I was probably too young. But it’s formed in part of my brain and to see it win tonight and see the performance was amazing. The tunes from that show are part of my childhood.
Do you think it could lure you back to the London stage?
Oh, I’m coming back to the London stage. I can’t tell you what it is. I promised my collaborators that I wouldn’t steal their thunder. But by the end of the year I will be back on stage. I can’t wait, it’s been too long.
David Suchet
Have you enjoyed the evening?
I’ve had a wonderful time. An evening that is really a celebration of our theatre in all its forms. On an evening like this, one is just reminded of what has gone on in one year and the amount of work that has been put into London theatre. It’s quite extraordinary. And, of course, 2012 was an extraordinary year for London theatre. We never knew what it was going to be like with the Olympics, but people were coming to the theatre because they had heard of the reputation of British theatre. I was in Long Day’s Journey Into Night and I met audiences who were in London for the first time and wanted to see everything because of the reputation. Tonight was just a glorious celebration of that.
