Downton Abbey star Tuppence Middleton said her own “love affair” with theatre allowed her to relate to actress Elizabeth Taylor, who she plays in the National Theatre’s latest show.
She is joined in The Motive and the Cue by Johnny Flynn as her husband Richard Burton and Mark Gatiss as Sir John Gielgud. It is set during rehearsals for the 1964 production of Hamlet.
She said director Sam Mendes told her not to do an “impersonation” of Taylor, whose career started as a child star and included two best actress Oscars and a tempestuous private life that saw her married eight times — including twice to Burton.
Middleton said she was intrigued by Taylor’s “respect” for the theatre and how she sought out stage roles despite big-screen success. She said: “Elizabeth was raised by the studio system in Hollywood so there are parts of her personality which are solely being an actor in a sense. Of course she was a person and she had her own private life but her whole life was built by and lived in the industry so she is a product of Hollywood and as one of the lines in the play says she was born on the silver screen so there is a theatrical element to her.
“For me just by chance most of the work I’ve done has been on screen, I’ve always wanted to do more theatre but the right play has not come along or its not been the right time or its clashed with something else I’ve done so I really relate to her in that sense.
“I’ve always had a real love affair with the theatre and wanted to do more of it so it felt like the perfect play to introduce myself back into that world.”
