Interviewer: Hello everyone and welcome to our Artistic Salon programme. I am really excited to be joined today by an amazing actor, whom you can now admire in his latest role as Quinn in “The Ferryman” in the Royal Theatre. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mathew Coleman.

Mathew Coleman: Hello, thank you for such a warm welcome.

I: Well, let’s start from the beginning. Can you tell us what inspired you to pursue a career as an actor?

MC: When I was 12 or 13 years old, a friend who was involved in a children’s theatre group invited me to come to one of the rehearsals they had. I remember being fascinated by the process behind creating a theatre show, and it was that moment that inspired me to become an actor. I signed up for the group the next season, then acted throughout my high school years until I went to Art college and majored in theatre. 

I: And now you’ve had a career full of spectacular theatre roles and prestigious awards! When you think of your achievements, what do you feel is more important for an actor: talent or training?

MC: Talent is very important, no doubt about it. But I’d say it is training and hard work which set the successful actor apart from many others who try and fail in this profession. There is no such thing as overnight success. You need to go through a lot of rejections and failures, minor roles and bit parts, and stay humble while waiting for your big break. Your persistence will finally be rewarded when you get an opportunity to show your craft in a role and you are appreciated for it.

I: What techniques do you use to create believable characters?

MC: I always try to understand my character first, and think about their motivations, their interactions with others, who they are as a person. It helps me build my role, and sometimes, if it is really intensive, I will assume the character’s traits for days and stay in character for long, so once I get on set, all of this preparation becomes apparent. My job is to play a character that will convince people that I am that person. To do that, I always have to do a lot of homework and come to the set well‑equipped with emotions and ideas on how to portray my character.

I: Is it difficult to enchant the audience?

MC: Oh, sometimes you really have to exercise your acting muscles to grab and hold their attention! I think that most of the success lies in a good story. All theatre is all about story‑telling. With a good script, it’s not so hard to do, because it’s a ready‑made story for you and all you have to do is make people believe that you are that person in that circumstance. But you have to give people something entertaining or some conflict or suspense - something that will keep the audience on tenterhooks until the final curtain. Then, they will follow your story until the end and will appreciate how you narrate it.

I: And how do you react when you get a negative review of your performance?

MC: Well, I try to read it several times to analyse what the critics didn’t like about my performance, where I possibly went wrong, but also what they liked. Negative reviews are the tools that I use to examine my acting and identify areas I can work on.

I: That’s a really good attitude. One final question. What do you like most about your job?

MC: I love it that in my job I get to show all kinds of emotions which you are not normally allowed to in real life and, thanks to that, I can move people or make people laugh or anything - it’s just fantastic! And the fact that I can express so much just through body language or my facial expression makes this job a really special one.

I: Mathew Coleman, thank you very much for this meeting.

MC: Thank you. Hope to see you at the theatre!

Autor:  Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń