It is 20 years since Will Young first found fame, winning the ITV talent show Pop Idol, but he returns to Manchester this month with a rather different style than fans are accustomed to. Newly bright blonde, Will is preparing to take on a new challenge in his career, starring in the one man show Song From Far Away at Manchester's HOME theatre.
While most may know him for his music, his acting career has continued to progress after making his stage debut right here in Manchester 14 years ago. On that occasion he was at the Royal Exchange in The Vortex, a production he remembers fondly.
Since then he has performed on the West End and for film and TV, but there's nothing quite like heading back to Manchester, which has a special place in his heart. He says: "This is my third or fourth acting job in Manchester so I seem to constantly be drawn back to Manchester, which I love.
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"I did The Vortex at the Royal Exchange which was the first play I ever did, then I did a TV show for Sky called Bedlam so I lived outside Ramsbottom for a while, I was out in the hills. I can't keep up with how much it has changed in Manchester, every time I come there's a new building.
"But I love being around the people, they are so funny and down to earth, and coming from the South you don't have that so much. As soon as I step off the train in Manchester I think ah here we go, it's like a safe place. I don't feel pretension in Manchester, I just like people, they're friendly and they care."
What lured him back was the unique challenge of performing in a one-man show - and reading the powerful play penned by Olivier-award winning Simon Stephens and Mark Eitzel that premiered back in 2015 at the Young Vic to huge acclaim.
Will plays Willem, who receives a phone call at his New York apartment that must see him go home to Amsterdam - to an estranged family and forgotten relationships. As he reflects on his life, unwilling to face the future, he finds himself reaching out to the brother he has lost.
Will, 44, opted for the new ice blonde hair look to create a new character away from the traditional pop star "Will Young" people might expect. He said: "I just thought I wanted it to be, slightly kind of blank in the way he looks.
"I thought Scandinavian blonde, and I thought of him being obviously blonde could make him look slightly robotic, that's what I wanted from him.
"I wanted him to look a bit inhuman in a way because he's quite robotic in his life, and I probably think he's quite vain so would dye his hair." Do blondes have more fun, I ask Will? He laughs: "I'm loving the blonde. It's quite a fun thing to do. I'm really pleased I've done it it's definitely helped with my character. I think it's important to show a different look for the posters to slightly disseminate between me as the singer, and me as an actor playing a part."
Will says he aims to find the lightness in the play - although admits that it is "heavy" themes. He says: "It's about someone who is pretty cold emotionally, and there's no real conclusion in terms of a pay off. Even though it's a monologue he's writing it as letters to a family member who has died.
"He's coming back from New York to Amsterdam while he's gone. As he's writing these letters there's so many characters he comes across, the taxi driver, the man in the bar, that's where the humour can come in, but it's pretty bleak."
Will says despite the character's coldness, he's "fallen in love" with him. He says: "For me it's making me think how someone can get to a stage of being so repressed and cold. But I still sort of love him.
"You've got to fall in love with the character. I do think he's likeable but he's very shut down. You learn about the human condition and I find that fascinating through a lot of the wellbeing stuff I do. Even as an actor. Even if you're horrible you're fascinating. Fascinatingly horrible!
"The writing is so good. It's wonderful to know that people will be getting a great bit of theatre from a great script and I'll do my best to bring that to life."
It also represents a new challenge for Will as it's the first time he has performed in a one man play - but of course has his years as a solo artist as a musician to draw on.
Will says: "I'm used to being a solo musician, I'm used to fronting something alone, although of course usually I have a wonderful band with me, but this is quite exciting actually, I can really get into it. I always loved Alan Bennett Talking Heads, and always loved what monologues can bring in terms of the intensity the variety within the piece, the humour, the sadness there's always something very frank and honest about a talking heads."
Naturally after 20 years as a pop star, Will has an army of devoted fans willing to support his new work. But he hopes that the show will inspire his own audience as well as new audiences to the theatre.
Having just toured the UK in celebration of his 20 years in music, how does he feel now about his journey? He laughs: ""20 years? Pretty bonkers really isn't it? But amazing.
"It's been great to do the tour, that was a real highlight. I came off that tour, and did an Amazon acting job that I can't talk about just yet, and then straight into this. I like the variety of it."
Finally, we can't let Will leave without asking him about his famous namesake that's been causing a bit of confusion over in the ITV Love Island latest series. Farmer Will Young is seen as one of the favourites to win the show, but our Will Young says he hasn't had time to catch any of it - although is already used to being mixed up with another famous Will Young.
He says: "I've never watched Love Island is he nice? I know there's a cricketer called Will Young, a New Zealander cricketer. I know sometimes if Phil Tufnell is doing the commentary he'll make puns up, like if he gets a wicket they'll say "I think he better leave right now" which I think is quite funny. But I don't know about this other chap."
Song From Far Away will be at HOME from 22 Feb – 11 Mar 2023. Tickets are priced from £10-£32 For tickets click here
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