Harry Lloyd

Hey Harry! How are you today?
I’m great thanks!

You’re currently in the play, “A View from the Bridge.” Can you tell us a bit about it?
It is an Arthur Miller play set in the 1950’s in New York about a man called Eddie, his niece, his wife, and a bunch of immigrants who live with them, one of which is me!

What’s your character like?
My character is called Rodolpho and he is blonde, Italian and very flamboyant and excitable!

A blonde Italian? That’s not realistic!
Well that’s the idea! The fact that he’s blonde and Italian makes people not trust him and they think its ridiculous.

Do you wear a wig or did you dye your hair?
My hair is blonde at the moment! I had to dye it…

Oohh! What’s it like being a blonde?
It’s funny because I don’t really notice it as much as everyone else does. When I catch myself in the mirror, I’m like oh my gosh! My friends and family were all stunned when I dyed it. You get used to it eventually. I’ve also got a funny period haircut which is pretty ridiculous. It doesn’t really feel like me; I’m just wearing it for a couple of months!

“A View from the Bridge” is going on tour in the UK. Are you excited?
Yeah! After we finish in the West End, we’re doing a little 3 weeks tour; just a little national tour. I’ve never done a tour before! I think it’s going to be a lot of fun! It will be interesting to take a play we’ve done for 130 performances in the same theatre and take it to different spaces! It’s going to be fun.

Which scene from the play is your favourite?
It depends night to night to be honest. Some scenes you love but then they don’t turn out so great and other ones that you aren’t looking forward to end up brilliant! I’ve got a big scene after the interval, which is my main scene I suppose where I have a big argument with the girl I’m engaged to and that’s quite interesting because that’s where you see my character’s true colours. It’s a great scene and I really enjoy it!

Was it difficult trying to relate to Rodolpho and playing a character who’s cultural is completely different to your own?
It was a long and slow process. When I got the role, I had a lot to learn! I had to change the colour of my hair, I had to learn to sing (my character sings a song at some point), I had to learn the Italian accent and all the gestures…so it took a long time but by the end, you picked it up and felt more comfortable doing it.

Have you ever had any embarrassing moments on stage?
I had a terrible one last week actually! I ran onto the stage for the big climax scene and my shoe fell apart! The bottom of the shoe just fell off! The audience were slightly giggling and I was thinking okay, when I stand up I will rip the shoe off! Unfortunately that didn’t work out too well…the shoe didn’t come off properly and I broke it…it was a complete nightmare! It was during the massive revelation of the play, where the secret comes out and it’s so tense! It was so surreal…I ended up in my socks for the curtain call. It was so embarrassing!

Harry as Will Scarlett on Robin Hood

Do you meet a lot of fans after the show?
Sometimes there’s a few. There are quite a lot of famous people in the play so there aren’t many for me. There are a few people out afterwards who’ve seen it and want me to sign their program and the odd Robin Hood fan…

Fans travel from places like the US and Australia to see you perform! How does that feel?
It’s strange but lovely! If they want to come and see the play, that’s great! I hope they weren’t disappointed!!

Apart from theatre, you’ve done a lot of television as well. Which do you prefer?
I love being able to do both! If I had to pick only one of them, I’d be missing out! They really complement each other! I do both because I love both. If I don’t have to choose, I won’t.

You’ve also got a short film, Oscar and Jim coming up. What’s that about?
It’s a short film I did with a friend of mine from university actually, Charlie. It used to be a short play that Charlie had done a reading of and she wanted to shoot it as a film, so she recommended me and I got the part. We took a small crew and went out to Paris to film it! It’s all about this couple who get lost in a famous grave yard in Paris and you realize what their relationship is really about. It’s quite a romantic city break film. We had a screening at a big West End cinema last week actually! It was great!

What were the audience’s reactions?
I couldn’t actually stay till the end because I had to do the show so I watched half of it and then ran out. I think it went down well! It’s my first short film and it was a great project! We had a lovely few days shooting it in Paris.

Where can people see it?
If you go to the website, www.oscarandjim.com you can find all the information there, read up about the film, buy it or download it!

What other upcoming projects do you have?
Well I’ve got this play for another two months. I’ve not got any work guaranteed for afterwards, so we’re back to maybes. I’ve got a small (tiny really) part in a new BBC comedy series coming out soonish called Taking the Slack, which follows a bunch of BBC reporters covering a fictitious war in Africa and it’s all about the nightmare of getting a story etc. they have a producer back in London who’s completely hapless and doesn’t know what he’s doing, and that’s my part! They all filmed in Africa for a few months and I did my part over the phone in a BBC studio! Haha! That’s just a bit of fun.

Where would you like to be in 20 years time, both in your working life and personal life?
I was having a conversation with somebody about this yesterday! You know what? I don’t know what I’ll be doing in July, let alone the end of this year! And I love that! In 20 years time, I genuinely have no idea and I kind of like that! I wouldn’t want to predict because I’d probably mess up and choose something rubbish! Life usually comes up with interesting things…that’s a rubbish answer isn’t it? Okay let’s try again…in 20 years time I’d like to have made some films, I’d like to still be based in London and hopefully still be excited about what I’m doing as I am now.

And moving onto some random questions so fans get to know you.

If you were a super hero, who would you be?
Spiderman! He’s got the weirdest power but there’s something really cool about the web coming out of his hands. I’ve always been a sucker for that! I don’t know what I would use it for but I love the idea of swinging around!

If you were stuck on a desert island with only three things, what would they be?
A football- I’m not sure why but I think it would be a good way to pass the time. A pen and paper…and a fridge full of ice cold beer! That would be nice…I could live there for a while! Maybe I should switch the beer for some sun cream…

Tell me a secret!
I really need to cut my toenails at the moment…I just noticed this morning in the shower…it’s that time!

Do you prefer eating popcorn or sweets at the cinema?
In the cinema, popcorn. Out of the cinema, sweets.

What’s your secret addiction?
Chocolate raisins!! They’re amazing!

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would love to go to China! I’d like to wander around there for a while.

What are your hobbies?
At the moment, not very much I’m afraid! I’m sleeping, eating and then I have the play! But I play a bit of football, I read quite a lot, watch movies and I’m getting quite into decorating and doing handy stuff to my flat with my room mate.

What kind of books are you reading?
I read the Watchmen last week, the graphic novel. It was brilliant and now I don’t want to watch the film because the book is like a film already! I really enjoyed that! You should read it!

Do you have a myspace?
I don’t have anything actually! I’m rubbish at that kind of stuff! If I had any social networking site, I would get way addicted!

How can fans contact you?
The old fashioned way I guess…by letter!!

Harry Lloyd
c/o Curtis Brown Ltd
Haymarket House
28-29 Haymarket
London
SW1Y 4SP