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Playing in the intimate Trafalgar Studios 2, Ken Urban’s A Guide for the Homesick is an intensely dramatic two-hander about secrets and identity. Two young Americans satisfy in an Amsterdam hotel, and as Teddy( Clifford Samuel) and Jeremy( Douglas Booth) get to know each other, the truth about them both is gradually revealed. Nick Myles met with Samuel after the show’s press darknes to talk about the play and get a snapshot of the actor’s feel of his career to date and what the future might hold.
Were you happy with last night’s concert? Yes, I am. Press nights are always strange, because it’s not a typical audience . … This fragment is so nighttime and traumatic that people laugh as a release.
You can never tell where you’re going to get a laugh until you set it in front of an audience, are you able? No. And the giggles from the first preview are distinct from the next darknes. We’re not storying where it is “il go to” titter, but it’s hard-boiled because your first preview is your first citation and you always try subconsciously to reach these kinds of performance again, but you never will because it’s always different.
Do you read reviews? No, but I like to hear’ Oh, there’s a nice mention here’ or’ You’ve had good reviews’. At the completion of its lead when there’s nothing you can do I like to reflect by speaking them all. It’s not about’ Love me! Adoration me! ’- it’s about who got it.
You have worked systematically since drama school and hit some pretty big organisations along the way, in particular the RSC, the National Theatre and The Globe, as well as is collaborating with heads including Deborah Warner and Peter Brook. Would you say you’re successful even further? That’s a difficult question for me to answer, because you always go’ What is success? ’ and formerly you know the definition, are you? My answer’s yes, but out of self-confidence more than cockiness.
Is success only is now in task, or is it being at a degree where you’re actively making alternatives and shaping your job? The latter, utterly. From the get-go I’ve ever made options. I’ve been careful- panhandlers can be choosers.
Are you confident that you always construct the right choices, though? Have there been any mistakes, or missed opportunities? I ask myself that quite regularly, and I have no repents. Some of the jobs I didn’t get, when I’ve looked at the product I’ve ever dodged a bullet! Or sometimes when I’ve looked at the actor playing the role and it’s a astonish because they’re completely different: an entire generation older, different background, race…
How do you cope with the ups and downs of an actor’s life? A really good friend of mine said,’ If you’re having a down period, look at your CV.’ And I did and I conceived’ Oh my goodness…’ Because sometimes you can be a headless chicken chasing the next occupation, and you forget where you’ve comes in here and how you’re progressing, and that ever stops me in my lines and allows me to be still and be present and enjoy.
Do you still have that nervousnes of are concerned about being able to keep working? Yes, always.
What are your criteria for have been selected to take on a role? Number one is good writing- it’s the bedrock and the foundation. I don’t even worry about the genre, I always go for good writing, then how the specific characteristics fits into the tale. I have to identify with the specific characteristics in some manner, which is always easier with good writing because they’re real people. I always read a script three times: once as the audience, once as the actor, and then from the character’s point of view.
How important is a character’s ethnicity to you? Because there’s now diversity casting going on, I have to be careful. I simply can’t be a token in a production. There have been a few makes this year that I’ve been offered but said “no” to because I’m not comfortable with the specific characteristics. There’s a sort of apologetic casting, and the audience know,’ Oh, that’s the token part’.
What about sexuality? Ken’s written such a brilliant play that you forget about gender and sex direction. I’m straight, but there’s no such thing as’ playing gay’- it’s as silly as saying’ play black’ or’ play a feather boa’.
Having performed in everything from one-man shows to large-scale ensembles, what is it that stirs two-handers unique? It’s the intensity. There’s no escaping it- it’s only the two of you. It’s so immediate and just so relentless. It’s this incredible tennis match. The challenge is there’s so much to learn, and you end up learning the other place – you are required to. And it needs an immense quantity of concentration.
The fourth wall is definitely intact, isn’t it? Whereas monologues are direct storytelling whatever it is you engage actively with the audience, this fragment is the exact opposite: the audience’s persona is almost entirely to observe. The rhythm is just brilliant- there’s an incredible musicality to the writing and the characters, and you’re trying to hit every tone perfectly. And what a great dancing collaborator Douglas Booth is.
Did you two performers know each other previously? No, but we had very good mutual pals, which helped. We knew our personalities would be quite alike, which was a good start.
What does your future maintain? If you are able write your vocation, what parts would you give yourself? I always want to keep doing interesting run. I enjoy what[ Black Panther director] Ryan Coogler’s doing. I love what Chris Nolan’s always done.
So you wouldn’t be averse to a massive Hollywood blockbuster? No, but also drama. Ryan Coogler does a lot of indie films. I’m trying to do more screen study, so the theatre operate that I do now has to be like this play-act: challenging.
You were recently on television in the BBC’s international crime drama McMafia. How was that experience? Working on a really high budget production like that, you do see it. The product values are simply better. These unbelievable places are written in and the budget gives a hand because you actually can go to them. And you feel it on specified- the time that was taken to really perfect a frame or picture. Hours and hours of lighting, and you appreciate why, and everything there is constructs sense. It was nice to be a part of something that large-scale- although it is didn’t feel large-hearted on established. It was never imposing, there was no pressure. It was actually quite domestic, which was nice.
But are you one of those actors who will always return to theatre? Yes. I believe theatre genuinely re-energises me and gives me a focus. Leading a play for how many weeks and months reminds you what it takes to keep that stamina up.
Do you find long runs intimidate? It can be, but for me I ever use it to find new things to discover, and it naturally evolves with your behaving partner. You find inspiration in a line or a moment, and that helps lift the scene, which stops it from being stale.
Have you got any pre-show procedures? I do, and I’m getting more self-confident in saying what it is: I’m ever brushing my teeth! Perhaps it’s the minty freshness at the back of one’s throat? It’s become a superstition- it gives me security.
As well as serve, you’re also a columnist. How is that subject, which is a very different challenge to acting? Actors typically start with writing for themselves, but then it changes once you’ve written the whole story and you’re not attached to it as a performer. I’m deep into a writing job at the moment- it’s a Russian story, that’s all I’m saying!
A Guide for the Homesick is playing at Trafalgar Studios through 24 November.
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