Actor Lucas Hedges: ‘I love nostalgia, so walking around England is another level’ | Theatre

Brooklyn-born Lucas Hedges, 26, began his acting career in his teens with a supporting role in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. His breakthrough was Manchester By the Sea, which earned him an Oscar nomination. Subsequent film credits include Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Boy Erased. Hedges now makes his West End debut in the stage adaptation of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain.

The world premiere of Brokeback Mountain is rooted in Annie Proulx’s original novella, but what’s your relationship with the 2005 film?
I saw it when I was young and thought it was great. Certain moments stuck in my mind but I’m trying to forget those now that I’m doing this play! I’m just seeing it as playing Ennis Del Mar from the book. I can’t compare it to Heath Ledger’s performance. He was just the best actor.

What attracted you to this production?
When I met Jonathan [Butterell, the play’s director], he said we’d go into the dark areas of this story but they have to be energising. With tragic stories, it’s tempting to twist up and torture yourself. He was clear that there’s no point in doing this if it doesn’t give us life. We’re creating something, not destroying something. I’m also a big fan of Mike [Faist, who plays Jack Twist], and was blown away by him as Riff in West Side Story. Finally, I love a challenge.

There’s no nudity but there is physicality between you and Mike, right?
Yes. The energy between these two characters is unfathomable to them and we explore that. It’s like anything new. I remember my first kiss was confusing because the sensations were new. I was like: “Woah, so this is what it feels like.” That’s how it is for Ennis and Jack. On some level it takes care of itself when we just commit to it. Obviously we’re not going to do anything the other one’s uncomfortable with, but as it’s been happening it surprises us too.

Are you working with an intimacy co-ordinator?
Yeah, that helps. We have to do this thing a billion times. There’s a choreography to the piece that we have to know or the story won’t get told. This isn’t about me and Mike up there. It has nothing to do with us. It’s about Ennis and Jack.

Has West End theatre been an ambition of yours?
I’ve always wanted to work here. Growing up, I was such an Anglophile that my dream was to go to a British boarding school. From what I hear, I may have been let down. I’ve seen extraordinary plays here over the years, like The Ferryman and Angels in America.

Soho Place is a very intimate theatre. Was that part of the appeal?
Definitely. I love off-Broadway theatres in New York. My favourites are the Signature and Barrow Street. No audience member will be more than six rows away from us. I love intimate spaces and the acoustics are fantastic.

Music is integral to the play, with Eddi Reader as the balladeer and her country band on stage. How is that?
I love it. Eddi’s really funny and sweet. We all look up to her. The other night she took us to a bar she used to play at back in the day. We ended up on the Thames at 11.30pm, right by Albert Bridge. Eddi played guitar and we were all singing on the water.

What type of music are you normally into?
Oh man, every kind. I love Neil Young, Future Islands, Dirty Projectors. A formative British influence on me was King Krule. Me and my best friend wanted nothing more than to be like King Krule.

Where did your love of UK culture come from?
Harry Potter, Roald Dahl and Dickens. I just like places with history. I was obsessed with vintage typewriters growing up and had a pocket watch when I was in middle school. I love nostalgia, so walking around England is a whole other level. You can see the past everywhere. Mike Leigh is a hero of mine. Monty Python and Not the Nine O’Clock News were huge for me growing up. Most of my favourite actors are Brits, like Andrew Garfield, Bill Nighy and Ralph Fiennes. I love Harry Melling and think he’s the next great British actor.

How did your Oscar nomination for Manchester By the Sea change things?
All of my other opportunities stemmed from that. [Writer-director] Kenneth Lonergan is unparalleled. Ethan Hawke once said it’s easy to be great in a great film-makers’ movie. That stuck with me. When you’re in a Kenny project, you’re spoiled by how good the writing is. Have you seen Margaret? Watch the director’s cut, it’s a masterpiece.

Didn’t the film come out while you were still at drama school?
When I was a freshman. I planned to keep studying, even after filming Three Billboards in the summer break, but then I got offered Lady Bird. I had to choose between doing Lady Bird and staying on my theatre degree course. I couldn’t say no to being in a high school movie with Saoirse Ronan.

In Boy Erased, you played a teenager forced into gay conversion therapy. Was that a tough role?
Very. I underestimated how much the roles you play have an emotional effect on your life. I had four years where I was consistently doing tragic roles. I needed to take a break because my brother started giving me shit for crying in all my movies. I was like: “I should probably look for a comedy.”

You played a drug addict in Ben Is Back, directed by your father, Peter. How was that?
It was wild – not only working with my dad but Julia Roberts too. I didn’t do it because it was my dad, I did it because I believed in the script. I think my dad directing made me less likely to do it, in fact.

You wouldn’t want to be called a nepo baby…
[Laughs] 100%! But that was pre-nepo – the term hadn’t been coined yet. Fortunately, I’d had a bit of a career before that. My dad’s a very smart director. He’s the first person I call when I’m struggling with something.

What’s in the pipeline?
A supporting role in Shirley, a biopic of Shirley Chisholm [America’s first black congresswoman]. It’s a smart script and Regina [King, who plays Chisholm] was a true mensch, a true leader on set. After that, I’m hoping to make some of my own stuff, whether it’s a music video, a short film or short stories. Life is better when you do stuff.

Brooklyn-born Lucas Hedges, 26, began his acting career in his teens with a supporting role in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. His breakthrough was Manchester By the Sea, which earned him an Oscar nomination. Subsequent film credits include Lady Bird, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Boy Erased. Hedges now makes his West End debut in the stage adaptation of Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain.

The world premiere of Brokeback Mountain is rooted in Annie Proulx’s original novella, but what’s your relationship with the 2005 film?
I saw it when I was young and thought it was great. Certain moments stuck in my mind but I’m trying to forget those now that I’m doing this play! I’m just seeing it as playing Ennis Del Mar from the book. I can’t compare it to Heath Ledger’s performance. He was just the best actor.

What attracted you to this production?
When I met Jonathan [Butterell, the play’s director], he said we’d go into the dark areas of this story but they have to be energising. With tragic stories, it’s tempting to twist up and torture yourself. He was clear that there’s no point in doing this if it doesn’t give us life. We’re creating something, not destroying something. I’m also a big fan of Mike [Faist, who plays Jack Twist], and was blown away by him as Riff in West Side Story. Finally, I love a challenge.

There’s no nudity but there is physicality between you and Mike, right?
Yes. The energy between these two characters is unfathomable to them and we explore that. It’s like anything new. I remember my first kiss was confusing because the sensations were new. I was like: “Woah, so this is what it feels like.” That’s how it is for Ennis and Jack. On some level it takes care of itself when we just commit to it. Obviously we’re not going to do anything the other one’s uncomfortable with, but as it’s been happening it surprises us too.

Are you working with an intimacy co-ordinator?
Yeah, that helps. We have to do this thing a billion times. There’s a choreography to the piece that we have to know or the story won’t get told. This isn’t about me and Mike up there. It has nothing to do with us. It’s about Ennis and Jack.

Has West End theatre been an ambition of yours?
I’ve always wanted to work here. Growing up, I was such an Anglophile that my dream was to go to a British boarding school. From what I hear, I may have been let down. I’ve seen extraordinary plays here over the years, like The Ferryman and Angels in America.

Soho Place is a very intimate theatre. Was that part of the appeal?
Definitely. I love off-Broadway theatres in New York. My favourites are the Signature and Barrow Street. No audience member will be more than six rows away from us. I love intimate spaces and the acoustics are fantastic.

Music is integral to the play, with Eddi Reader as the balladeer and her country band on stage. How is that?
I love it. Eddi’s really funny and sweet. We all look up to her. The other night she took us to a bar she used to play at back in the day. We ended up on the Thames at 11.30pm, right by Albert Bridge. Eddi played guitar and we were all singing on the water.

What type of music are you normally into?
Oh man, every kind. I love Neil Young, Future Islands, Dirty Projectors. A formative British influence on me was King Krule. Me and my best friend wanted nothing more than to be like King Krule.

Where did your love of UK culture come from?
Harry Potter, Roald Dahl and Dickens. I just like places with history. I was obsessed with vintage typewriters growing up and had a pocket watch when I was in middle school. I love nostalgia, so walking around England is a whole other level. You can see the past everywhere. Mike Leigh is a hero of mine. Monty Python and Not the Nine O’Clock News were huge for me growing up. Most of my favourite actors are Brits, like Andrew Garfield, Bill Nighy and Ralph Fiennes. I love Harry Melling and think he’s the next great British actor.

How did your Oscar nomination for Manchester By the Sea change things?
All of my other opportunities stemmed from that. [Writer-director] Kenneth Lonergan is unparalleled. Ethan Hawke once said it’s easy to be great in a great film-makers’ movie. That stuck with me. When you’re in a Kenny project, you’re spoiled by how good the writing is. Have you seen Margaret? Watch the director’s cut, it’s a masterpiece.

Didn’t the film come out while you were still at drama school?
When I was a freshman. I planned to keep studying, even after filming Three Billboards in the summer break, but then I got offered Lady Bird. I had to choose between doing Lady Bird and staying on my theatre degree course. I couldn’t say no to being in a high school movie with Saoirse Ronan.

In Boy Erased, you played a teenager forced into gay conversion therapy. Was that a tough role?
Very. I underestimated how much the roles you play have an emotional effect on your life. I had four years where I was consistently doing tragic roles. I needed to take a break because my brother started giving me shit for crying in all my movies. I was like: “I should probably look for a comedy.”

You played a drug addict in Ben Is Back, directed by your father, Peter. How was that?
It was wild – not only working with my dad but Julia Roberts too. I didn’t do it because it was my dad, I did it because I believed in the script. I think my dad directing made me less likely to do it, in fact.

You wouldn’t want to be called a nepo baby…
[Laughs] 100%! But that was pre-nepo – the term hadn’t been coined yet. Fortunately, I’d had a bit of a career before that. My dad’s a very smart director. He’s the first person I call when I’m struggling with something.

What’s in the pipeline?
A supporting role in Shirley, a biopic of Shirley Chisholm [America’s first black congresswoman]. It’s a smart script and Regina [King, who plays Chisholm] was a true mensch, a true leader on set. After that, I’m hoping to make some of my own stuff, whether it’s a music video, a short film or short stories. Life is better when you do stuff.