EXCLUSIVE:Luke Thallonis in good company when it comes to playingHamletfor the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Ben Kingsley gave hisHamletat Stratford-upon-Avon Upon Avon in 1975.
The rest is Academy Award history.
Luke Thallon in rehearsals for ‘Hamlet’ at the Royal Shakespeare CompanyIkin Yum/RSC
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Hes unknown outside of the theatre world.
Over the years, actors have confided that preparing to playHamletis like training for the Olympics.
I think its, its certainly athletic, Thallon responds.
Ben Kingsley in 1975 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ‘Hamlet’. Jay Cocks Studio Collection/Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
He notes that he turned down work three months ahead of rehearsal to prepare.
Its kind of uncomfortable.
And it starts asking you all these massive questions about why do you better tell this story now?
What do you believe about theater?
What do you believe about mental health?
Or what is your health?
Do you suffer this grief?
What is your relationship with your parents?
Its just the sort of purest, most uncomfortable, most painful, most exposed version of you.
Youre holding the mirror up, he says.
He observes that its a sprawling play with a thousand different variants ofHamletin it.
And he cites the celebrated German director Thomas Ostermeiers assertion that its a mess of a play.
And its true, a dramaturg would look at it nowadays and go, Whoa!
Pick a story ,Bill.
Theres so much in it.
And it means that a thousand different actors can playHamlet.
Theyre both in the play.
So you have to, without being reductive, you have to understand what the part means to you.
One reason for so doing is one that hes open to discussing.
I feel vulnerable and privileged and nervous.
But yeah, fragility I suppose is a theme that Im interested in all my work.
Its a condition that hes had help with since he was a teenager.
Hes silent for a moment and decides that he doesnt have any qualms talking about it.
I dont know whether its nature or nurture, I dont know.
You know, the more vulnerable you are on stage, the more you have to protect yourself.
I want to sort of hurry home and curl up on the sofa and watch some crappy TV.
Yeah, I find it sort of grueling.
Hes seen a few actors play the Danish prince.
I played it cool for Rupert, but I didnt sleep that night, he tells me.
Those stand-out performances showed him what was possible.
I would love to do something on screen.
And your responsibility to that, to keep questioning and contributing to the conversation about what is it?
Rolls Royce astonishing, he calls her.
He enjoys watching movies and television and admits that hed love to make some money.
He laughs and says I need to knuckle down, get over myself and do some screen work.
Thallon wasnt paid by the RSC until rehearsals began.
The legendary agent Dallas Smith, of United Agents, signed Thallon when he saw him perform at Guildhall.
And that theyve taken that risk with me.
I mean, I mustve made them no money whatsoever.
He didnt emerge from the womb wanting to be an actor.
Up until the age of 17, he wanted to be a dentist.
I was completely captured by it.
But he wasnt smart enough, he laments, to practice dentistry.
I didnt get my science grades.
I, for one, am grateful that Thallon was useless in those disciplines.
Otherwise, he wouldnt have become one of the best and most striking actors of his generation.
