Interviews

20 Questions: Hugh Quarshie – 'I want to swap places with Lewis Hamilton'

The star of ”Othello” at the RSC talks ”Star Wars”, Nelson Mandela and filling in the gaps left by Shakespeare

1. Where did you grow up?
Amongst the chosen few in Golders Green and then Cheltenham. I wish I'd grown up somewhere else…

2. What made you want to become an actor?
I was always slightly ambivalent about acting; I also wanted to be a journalist and initially tried to do both. I came to a crossroads when I had the choice of a West End Show or a job at a small magazine. The West End won.

3. If you hadn't become an actor, what might you have done professionally?
A journalist. I would have liked to have seen more places in the world, so maybe a foreign correspondent or travel journalist, touring Africa and South America.

4. First big break?
In theatre it would have been joining the RSC for John Barton's double bill. In film The Dogs of War (1980), directed by John Irvin.

5. Career highlight(s) to date?
In theatre The Great White Hope at the Tricycle and at the Mermaid with the RSC. In TV working with Paul Greengrass playing Neville Lawrence in The Murder of Stephen Lawrence. And then in film it has to be being in Star Wars, you feel part of cinema history.

6. Worst ever audition?
A cattle call for an advert, I arrived not realizing I had to dance in the audition. I can't remember what the advert was for, but I was prepared to do a speech or scene and we all had to do a dance routine — I was cut pretty quickly and was very pleased to get out. It was bad but funny.

7. What was the first thing you saw on stage that had a big impact on you?
In 1988 Peter Brook's Mahabharata at the Glasgow Tramway. It had a multi-international ensemble, for many of them English wasn't their first or even second language; they learnt English for this production. Brook used language as a theatre tool. The memory still has a big impact.

8. And the last?
The Argentinian group De La Garda at the Roundhouse, how they used their bodies and movement as language, it was a spectacle.

9. Who are your idols?
Nelson Mandela – I've tried to imagine if I could have endured what he endured and come out of it with such grace. I know I couldn't have done it; I'd have come off Robben Island wanting to kill someone. And Mohammad Ali, his strength of character to defy the US government and refuse to go to Vietnam, they took everything from him. Both of them are almost super human. I'm impressed with people who demonstrate grace; they leave you feeling less cynical about life.

10. What's the best advice you've ever been given?
My brother-in-law is Danish and he always says 'Don't forget to be good to yourself'. Meaning don't be hard on yourself.

11. Why did you want to get involved in Othello?
I wanted to test my thesis – I don't think Shakespeare was interested in Othello's psychology, he was more focused on Iago, and I wanted to fill in the gaps he left. In the first part Othello is wise, mature, and in the second part maniacal and murderous. I wanted to find a way of getting from one to the other.

12. Tell us more about playing the title character?
Othello is steeped in theatre tradition; Olivier was once seen as the bench marker, but now over the top. The difficulty is bringing this character into a post-modern, post-Freudian and secular world, that's the stress and also the fun. I thought it was worth having a go before I get too old.

13. Favourite moment/line in the show?
Iago's description of Cassio: "He hath a daily beauty in his life. That makes me ugly."

14. Any rehearsal room mishaps?
There is a picture of me in the book The Half and I wanted to see if I could get back to looking like that so I tried really hard to get uber-fit. But I over did it and tore a muscle. Thankfully Ayesha Dharker's (plays Emilia) husband who works for a company specialising in these things got me some patches.

15. What do you enjoy most about acting?
Finding a true and fresh way to express something stale and clichéd.

16. And least?
When people want to stick to convention and don't embrace a true and fresh way.

17. If you could go back in time and see a single production, what would it be?
Peter Brook's Dream.

18. How do you unwind?
Exercise, I'm cycling a lot in Stratford. I've also got my Bluetooth speaker so I can listen to my current musical genre of choice, Soukous.

19. If you could swap places with anyone for a day, who would it be?
Right now — Lewis Hamilton, what's not to envy? Winning races and enjoying his life.

20. What's next?
I don't know yet… Ric Griffin is on sabbatical in Australia, will he go back to Holby City??


Othello is playing at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon until 28 August. For more information and to book tickets, click here.