LondonTheatreDirect.com: Where were you born?
Samantha Bond: Hammersmith, West London
Where do you live now?
Richmond, South West London
Where did you receive your training?
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
What would you consider you first big break?
Playing Juliet opposite Kenneth Branagh in his production of R & J at the Lyric Hammersmith Studio.
What would you consider as your career highlights to date?
Ooh la! That's difficult. These come to mind: Juliet. Beatrice. Rosalind. Hermione. Lady Macbeth. Lady Arbuthnot (A Woman Of No Importance). Amy (Amy's View)
Who have been your favourite co-stars?
Kenneth Branagh. Dame Judi Dench. Dame Maggie Smith. Will Keen. Ed Stoppard. Pierce Brosnan.
Who are your favourite playwrights?
Shakespeare. Oscar Wilde. Sir David Hare. Sir Tom Stoppard. Terry Johnson. Christopher Hampton. Michael Frayn.
So what attracted you to the part of Mrs Cheveley in An Ideal Husband?
I've done a lot of crying in my career - on stage! And it is very exciting to approach a woman so in command, so eloquent and, frankly, so bad! I've never played a part remotely like her - and that prospect is thrilling!
What relevance do you think the play has to a modern audience?
The play has enormous current resonance. Although much of it is very funny indeed, it scrutinizes a Political Marriage - and questions political honesty, integrity and morality. When a beautifully written and constructed Classic still hits home with such truth, it is always relevant. What's astonishing is how little in the political arena has changed!
What roles would you most like to play still?
I can't answer that question. I daren't breathe their name. Besides, half the parts I long to play have yet to be written.
If you hadn’t become an actor, what might you have done professionally?
I have absolutely no idea!!!
What do you prefer, stage, film or television and why?
I love them all. But, particularly, stage. I love the live relationship with a different audience every night, and the chance to get things better or different. But I also love the spontaneity of film - and the Just One Chance element. And I LOVE the simple, honest truth of radio.
So to sum up why should our visitors come and see An Ideal Husband?
It is quite simply a fabulous play!
LondonTheatreDirect.com would like to thank Samantha Bond for her time and wish her every success with An Ideal Husband at the Vaudeville!
(c) 2010 London Theatre Direct Ltd. Please do not copy without permission.