This post is long overdue, I'm sorry guys, but what can I say, I'm a busy person. The real rush to finish this comes as I'm going to another Q&A with author A. L. Kennedy on Monday 16th (of March) and will most definitely want to write about that as well, and I don't want to confuse anyone with the order of things. So the particular evening I'm talking about was a couple of weeks ago, the 22nd of February to be exact, and I apologise for the lateness, but I made 6 pages of notes so don't expect any less than if it had been yesterday.
I went to the 50th anniversary opening of the Nuffield, as an ambassador from the youth theatre, which was hosted by the new creative director Sam Hodges, who also hosted the Q&A. I remember him mentioning in his speech that he had got a number of associate actors signed on, including Celia Imrie and Tom Hiddleston…
'Remember him mentioning'! - the news was plastered all over my Facebook feed for days leading up to and after, and with the Nuffield boasting such big names onside it's difficult to forget!
A few months ago now a friend of mine messaged me, very excitedly, to say that Tom Hiddleston would be coming to the Nuffield Theatre to do a Q&A session on the main stage, knowing that I was a member and wondering if I wanted to go with him. It must have been a week after the tickets went on sale, and when I bought our tickets we were in row Q. My Youth Theatre director Max Lindsay called it the Hiddlespocalypse, as we literally had people buying memberships from all over the world to go to the event - indeed, one of the question askers at the end said she'd travelled a thousand miles to be there tonight.
And whaddya know: Tom Hiddleston turned out to be nothing less than a polite, charming and enlightened gentleman, and Sam Hodges an intelligent and insightful interviewer - this was more of an interview than a Q&A, in that Hiddleston often asked Hodges to give an opinion in response, or Hodges just spoke to him conversationally, which gave the evening a lovely informal feeling. I resent fandomism and this cult of worshipping the famous, and thankfully the audience were polite and sensible, and Hodges and Hiddleston's warm sense of humour helped to keep things cordial despite the (understandable) strictness of the Nuffield security.
Not having masses of experience with his career besides, obviously, the popular 'Thor' and 'Avengers' series and 'War Horse', and a couple of persuasive videos (1, 2) on acting training at RADA, I was delighted to discover that Hiddleston is rather a man after my own heart - something of an idealist. He has a huge respect for drama as an art-form and in particular for drama in a theatre over film and television, saying a small stage like the Nuffield is able to 'contain the epic, but [is] intimate enough to not be miles away'. 'Visceral… is what I'm after' - he said he particularly enjoyed the 'audible gasp' from the front row when he was killed in the Donmar's 'Coriolanus' last year. He claimed that theatre can create a sense of community, which is an idea I can certainly get behind - I've made more friends in 3 years of youth theatre than 12 of forced education, all through striving for a common goal of creating art and entertainment. With reference to people being 'turned away' from theatre to TV and cinema, Hiddleston says that despite all the tech developing around theatre 'actors still must learn lines, turn up on time', and creating an individual experience is what sets theatre apart from its closely related arts - he talked of using a different entrance each night of 'Coriolanus' as an example of how to keep scenes fresh and genuine, that something different happens each time. These sentiments may have been voiced because he was sat directly beside a successful creative director in a theatre full of theatre goers, but Hiddleston's enthusiasm thoroughly persuaded me that his opinions were genuine.
Further to idealism in theatre, Hiddleston has wonderful ideals on the importance and opportunities of the individual. In relation to the the problem of privilege when trying to establish oneself in creative theatrical spheres, he claims that 'theatre people are the most egalitarian and meritocratic people you will ever meet' and privilege is a problem 'less so than in law, politics and medicine'. A speech of his I remember quite clearly from the evening as it struck a chord with my own opinions about theatre as an art form and its relation with the individual: 'Your story is worth telling - if you believe in storytelling, join in. Your voice should be heard, that is the point of art, to bring people together, to make us feel alive, united, that we share something. The power of theatre is to reach across, to connect, to bring together.' He describes his time of actor training at RADA as a period of 'humiliation, expansion and growth', and admits that he managed to study at Cambridge and RADA via a loophole that doesn't exist anymore.
Hiddleston certainly comes across as intellectual - without delving too deeply into topics it's obvious that there is a higher mind at work in that head - but there's certainly an innate enthusiasm and curiosity in him as well, which I wish more people from our generation possessed. Questioned by Hodges on his famously good work-ethic, he said 'commitment comes from… never wanting to regret. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing you best', a message which has inspired me somewhat to work harder myself. He seemed interestingly anti-alcohol at several points during the talk, especially when saying he couldn't understand people drinking at a theatre - going in with a 'lesser state of awareness' to witness an art-form that is 'visceral, physical, abstract'. I'm sure he isn't anti-alcohol in general or in others, but this does suggest an apollonian sobriety and level-headedness which I whole-heartedly respect.
Talk of acting itself, the act/task/profession as opposed to theatre/drama, was relatively thin on the ground and came mostly towards the end of the talk. However, when questioned by Hodges on what true acting is Hiddleston used the famous Meisner maxim 'acting is being truthful in imaginary circumstances', after some talk about playing Loki in 'Avengers' and using a motion-capture machine used him to use the phrase 'pure acting', which Hodges found interesting. On the topic of Loki, Hiddleston used the character in an example when asked about what helps him choose a character, in that it is often a 'contrast to previous roles' that makes new roles appeal to him - as in playing Captain Nicholls after playing the psychopath. On playing Loki and exploring darker sides to human nature, and referencing Anthony Hopkin's observation while playing Hannibal Lecter, Hiddleston said 'People are fascinated by darkness, but don't want it in their lives, they want to observe an exploration of darkness. In real life we'd be terrified, but in art we like darkness'. He said he chose Nicholls subsequently because he liked his kindness, and hopes it is a kindness that he shares himself as a person as well as a character.
The questions by audience members, which took up the last up the last half-hour-or-so, weren't really that insightful as most were from fans with a skin-deep interest, however one question came in relation to the recent He-For-She campaign: 'Is feminism something you were aware of growing up?' After affirming that he'd grown up with a lot of strong women in his family home, his mother and sisters, he said 'enough of all the fighting, we're all the same' which thank goodness proved him definitely, irrevocably on the right side of the gender-equality debate.
So, all in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening, in which I gained insights into the industry I want to enter, felt thoroughly invigorated and encouraged, possibly even a little inspired, towards my purpose, and had Tom Hiddleston reaffirm himself as a good role model, an intellectual and a gentleman.
My Facebook page
No comments:
Post a Comment