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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Paul Hilton

The play that changed my life: ‘It was frightening at first but The Inheritance let me discover myself’

Paul Hilton as EM Forster in The Inheritance by Matthew López at the Young Vic, London, in 2018.
A huge responsibility … Paul Hilton as EM Forster in The Inheritance by Matthew López at the Young Vic, London, in 2018. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

In 2018 I had recently lost my mother, so I was looking for connections with the spirit. The Inheritance allowed me to talk about matters of the heart.

It was the world premiere at the Young Vic in London, so we were making something brand new, which is always thrilling. They’d already done a week’s rehearsal with another actor who had pulled out of what became my role. I stayed up all night reading Matthew López’s script before my audition. It was so gripping. I was nervous of Stephen Daldry going into the audition, as he has an enormous status and he’s very front-footed in the rehearsal room. I like to be in the background and find my way, so his working methods frightened me a little bit. But I put all of that aside to serve this story.

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