Olivier Award Nominees 2016 - Interviews

Dom O'Hanlon
Dom O'Hanlon

With the Olivier Awards this weekend, London's theatre industry is collectively dusting off their top hats, white tie and tails for the most glamorous award ceremony in the calendar.

Since the nominations were announced last month, we've been catching up with a number of nominees to talk about their relevant productions as well as their reactions to the awards and nominations.

Below is a round-up of some of the nominees, and our interviews with them.

Denise Gough - Best Actress

"I'm lucky at the moment to be in such an amazing role where I've got a platform to say this - I'm opposite a man and thinking "I'm not here because of you!" Even in the great roles, the great tragedies - the women are there for the men. I'm trying to be as vocal as I can now because I'm in a position to be! I want to be part of the conversation for future generations..." read more...

"So, my Mum didn't push me. She was neither for nor against it. She knew I was quite good at it because I'd been in all the school plays and she trusted my teacher, Mrs. Stoker, and so she thought: "Well, give it a go!" read more...

"A very good friend of mine is a comedian called Barry Cryer, and when I found out I was doing this role I rang him to talk to him about it because I knew that he'd worked at the Windmill. He gave me really interesting pieces of information which I have used to help build the character." read more...

""I don't think I have a hope in hell of winning...the nomination is the thing that I think is great...when I think about the fact that it's my third I think...oh, okay. That's crazy! It is sort of ridiculous to me, but I do feel very very lucky and privileged". read more...

"I'm not the most sociable person...large numbers of people and high levels of anxiety are not necessarily my cup of tea, but I've got a young kid at home so it's nice to be out the house!" read more...

"The last time I was at one of these things I was the young boy. I was nominated for an Olivier Award for An Inspector Calls (1993) and was up against Paul Eddington and Paul Scofield - I was the youngest one! Everyone said to me when I didn't win that I looked so happy. To be honest, I was just so happy to not have to give a speech!" read more...

"One of the things I feel most lucky about is the diversity of the work I've been offered", he begins. "It's easy in this industry to become known for a 'thing'. I've worked on lots of shows that have been very well received and had a great response, but I haven't had one defining production yet - I don't have a 'tag-line' yet." read more...

"I've absolutely loved every moment of it - I loved the wonderful company. For me, the fabric of the piece has been a joy to work on. Much of the work has involved learning - learning about the structure and style of new music...it's just been a fantastic experience." read more...

"The highlight has to be winning the Olivier. I genuinely didn't think we'd win. I wanted us to win obviously and we deserved to be there - we had all worked really really hard. All of the guys who have got behind us even just for a second and believed in the shows, to win that was just a huge achievement for everyone." read more...

Originally published on

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