RUSSELL TOVEY - No.1303

Liam_Dalton: My bday dream would be getting a birthday wish from @SarahMillican75 @mermhart @russelltovey @mfhorne @jopage_ @JoeyEssex_ or @ollyofficial

russelltovey: @Liam_Dalton happy b day Liam x

russelltovey: Terribly sad to hear that the contemporary artist Mike Kelley has committed suicide in his LA home... its a huge loss :-( x

DJIanHarris: @russelltovey could I get a retweet from one of your biggest fans on my 40th today?

russelltovey: @DJIanHarris Happy 40th!!!!! x

Above: Mr. Tovey’s dressing room sign for the play ‘Sex With A Stranger.’

HERE WE GO HERE WE GO

TMarkstahler: @russelltovey BREAK A LEG!!! I'm sure you'll be brilliant tonight!!! :-)x

BoyVirginiaMade: @russelltovey Break legs tonight! #sexwithastranger is going to be awesome. I know it!

88tickets: @russelltovey Good luck GB - don't forget - breath in!

edwardclarke: @russelltovey Break a leg! :-) I'm there on Friday - can't wait!

FoxyLorri64: morning @russelltovey you'll be brilliant! #SexWithAStranger 'Break a leg!' (ouch) lol xx

BALANCED DIET

Yummerz: Am sure I just walked past @russelltovey near Trafalgar square, totally gutted if it was!! ='(

russelltovey: @Yummerz you probably did x

russelltovey: Started to get addicted to 'snack-a-jacks' will someone inform me this is ok if enjoyed as part of a balanced diet? X

russelltovey: Ok then... Caramel snack-a-jacks are my bitch x huzzah!

russelltovey: RT @Steevil: I going out tonight to have sex with @russelltovey I think thats what the ticket says anyway. I also have a spare seat if anyone wants.

russelltovey: RT @SueTerryVoices: BEING HUMAN: SERIES 4 HAS ARRIVED! Fourth series starring @russelltovey and Lenora Crichlow, Sunday 9pm on BBC 3.

DanielClancy: @russelltovey Tovester, Can you send my friend @ninjastacey one of your 'x's please? #muchlove

russelltovey: @NinjaStacey x :-) x

NinjaStacey: @DanielClancy damn, now I can't use my 'it was the Tovester or you...I chose wisely' gag. 'x'

DOWNLOAD ;-) x

russelltovey: First preview of #sexwithastranger tonight wittys... Oooooooooo... That'll be nerves then x

Julie_Atherton: @russelltovey sending condoms and lube! Xxxx

aBoywithaBeard: would anyone recommend watching #HimandHer I can't decide whether to download… i do love a bit of @russelltovey

Swldn: @aBoywithaBeard @russelltovey it is very funny, it's fab #loveit

aBoywithaBeard: @Swldn @russelltovey i'm getting an error on iTunes..! it won't even let me download! #ffs i'll download tomorrow instead...

Swldn: @aBoywithaBeard @russelltovey defo a keeper

aBoywithaBeard: @Swldn @russelltovey do you think our messages back and forth are annoying Russ? hehe… I wonder if he will tell me to download…? Russ…?

russelltovey: @aBoywithaBeard download! ;-) x

The Big Interview: Russell Tovey

First published: 01 Feb 2012

http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/

“I bumped into someone the other day who is doing a play and getting a bit stir-crazy on it and they reminded me of a story I told them about when I was in New York,” Russell Tovey tells me laughing, recalling his days on Broadway with The History Boys. “I would fantasise about getting stabbed on the subway so I’d get a couple of shows off. Not a fatal wound, just a surface wound would be enough to get me hospitalised for a few days.”

This story is characteristic of Tovey’s refreshingly honest and unselfconscious disposition. During our chat that takes place in 30 stolen minutes from Tovey’s packed schedule, the Being Human actor also reveals a talent for storytelling to rival Jackanory. It’s a case of life imitating art then that Tovey has found himself playing characters equally as frank and upfront. In the BBC’s grimy sitcom Him & Her, Tovey and co-star Sarah Solemani give the most naturalistic, realistic, body odour and grabby hands-included performance. Now Tovey is starring in the series’ writer Stefan Golaszewski’s new play Sex With A Stranger.

“I can’t wait. I cannot wait.” Tovey tells me with a habitually dramatic tone when I ask whether he’s excited to be returning to the stage after a three year hiatus. A love of theatre aside – “My dream would be to do a play a year” – the chance to work with Golaszewski was a big part of the incentive to take some time off from screen work, which has recently seen him appearing in Sherlock and Doctor Who, and spend a month at the Trafalgar Studios 2. “Stefan said I’ve got this play I’ve written, I want you to do it, so I said ‘Absolutely, let’s make that work’.  I really feel like it’s an exciting relationship that I’m building up with him.”

 

“We’re still discovering what type of kissing it is."

For Him & Her fans, the play should tick all the boxes, tackling the subject Golaszewski is making waves for exploring,  a celebration of the average. “It’s kind of the mediocrity of being 20-something and it doesn’t really glamourise that period of one’s life. There’s definitely a parallel with the tone of Him & Her.”

We can expect then that Sex With A Stranger will be both painfully and wittily observant, and that there will probably be more than your average quota of physical contact. As Tovey confirms, there’s already been lots of it in rehearsals. “It’s kind of odd, you’re just standing there kissing and there’s a room full of people just watching you. You have to bite the bullet and you have to make sure that you feel like you trust the other people you’re working with.” But, as Tovey tells me, amused by the intellectual tone we’re taking when discussing, well, snogging, it’s not quite as simple as one might think. “We’re still discovering what type of kissing it is. There are so many different ways of kissing which you don’t really think about, you just do your kissing and you get kissed back, but when you’re playing a different character who feels insecure or uncomfortable or confident or there’s hidden agendas...” Cue quick pause to break into laughter again, “as in the words of Cher, ‘It’s in his kiss.’”

As Tovey’s co-star Jaime Winstone, who he describes as “a dream”, laughs in the background, the actor is keen to impress the seriousness of the play. “It feels like we’re making something that’s not really covered in art, this kind of dead period that people have in their 20s” While ‘dead period’ may sound slightly depressing to anyone successfully making their way through a decade which can equally be quite a lot of fun, it’s undeniable that Golaszewski will hit a nerve with numerous people when it comes to Tovey’s character, who he describes as “an average guy. I think he’s reached the point where he just wants something exciting to happen in his life.”

His way out of a safe but boring relationship is to have a one-night stand, a solution that doesn’t quite live up to the glamour Hollywood would have us believe. But it is something that Tovey himself can relate to. “The way this play works is you’ve got three sides to the way people conduct themselves with other people in a relationship or sexually. I can probably vouch for every single side. I’ve been in the position of settling and not having the balls to break a pattern, I’ve been the person who is in denial and pretending everything’s great, I’ve been the person who has had quite low self-esteem, I’ve been the person who’s been a bit cocky with it and cool.”

 “There’d be days when you’d just go ‘I can’t do it anymore, I can’t play this anymore and keep it up’

But for Tovey, his 20s are a thing of the past having celebrated his 30th birthday last year, a fact he’s pleased surprises most people. “I feel like I own 30! I suddenly, in a weird way, feel more adult. Also the reaction to it from most people is ‘You’re 30? You don’t look 30’, so I have the maturity but youthful, moisturised skin on my side.” He must have sidestepped the ‘dead period’, I suggest, knowing he’d already forged a successful career before reaching the milestone. Tovey tentatively agrees, “I really feel like I’m secure in what I’m doing and it’s kind of going the way I want it to go which is brilliant.”

Tovey’s breakthrough moment, like many of the other seven young actors cast in the show, came in the National Theatre’s runaway hit The History Boys. While Tovey freely admits to having been “hysterical” having to perform it so many times, he also fully knows how lucky he was to have been involved.  “There’d be days when you’d just go ‘I can’t do it anymore, I can’t play this anymore and keep it up’, and being homesick because we were all still quite young. But on the other hand we were absolutely living the dream.

“The first preview was the most incredible experience I’ve ever had on stage because we didn't know how funny it was and suddenly the audience was just a wall of laughter, it was phenomenal. Especially my line ‘How do I define history? It’s just one f***ing thing after another.’ I was sitting there going ‘don’t laugh, don’t smile’ and the laughter just went on and on and on and it was amazing. I thought ‘blimey, I’m pleased I got that line and I bet the other boys are jealous!’” When the play transferred to New York, Tovey was suddenly thrown into a world where the cast were treated “like the Spice Girls. People would come backstage all the time” – Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Paul Newman and Harrison Ford are just a few of the phenomenally famous people he mentions – “I met Dustin Hoffmann and we went on a little mini run around Central Park. Things like that that were just unreal, it was like an absolute fantasy.”

Tovey’s career had in fact started long before the all-conquering production. He starred as a child in kid’s shows including Mud, famous for also kicking off Russell Brand’s career.  With no theatrical blood in his family, it was his overactive imagination and obsession with films The Goonies and Home Alone that made him so serious about joining the profession. “My mum was always very behind me and my dad was panicked that I wouldn’t have an education, that all I’d be able to do is tap dance, [that] I’d become one of those weird show kids that have don’t have an adulthood and live in the past. But luckily that’s not been the case.”

After being suspended twice from school for probably the most amusing reasons ever invented; once for running into the girls’ toilets to steal their cakes and the other for calling a teacher ‘sweetheart’ – “I got escorted down to the headmistress’s office and the Head of Maths said to me ‘This is Mrs Palmer, the headmistress. Would you call Mrs Palmer sweetheart?’ And I said ‘Yeah, if I knew her a better’” – he was eventually politely asked to leave college for refusing to turn down acting work.

Tovey’s work ethic hasn’t swayed since. When I ask him if he thinks he’ll ever need to take a year off, he adamantly insists “No, I’d never stop no. You give yourself a holiday and you chill out but I’m a lot happier when I’m working. When I’m not working, the washing piles up, nothing gets posted, things don’t get sorted. As soon as I’m working and I’ve got no time at all, everything is covered, it’s really weird. 

"You read so many gay parts and the gay character is always quite a tragic story and there’s always a terrible ending."

“I’ve actually told all my friends and put on my Facebook status ‘I’m on lock down’ because I literally have no time to do anything.” Adding with a deliberately tongue-in-cheek tone, “When I do have free time I’m down the gym because I’m topless in this.” Although he admits being in the “average man casting bracket” where there’s no pressure on the number of packs you can boast, he jokes: “I want to hear gasps [on stage]. It’s a Brucey bonus you get with me! You don’t expect it!”

It can’t hurt either for his next adventure which will take him to the bizarre world of pilots’ season in Los Angeles when Sex With A Stranger finishes its run on 25 February. With cult BBC hit Being Human reformatted for US television and an American remake of Him & Her in progress, he’s in the fortunate position of already being on the radar of producers over the pond. “I went before Christmas and did a power week of meeting all the studios and all the casting people”. Laughing, Tovey adds, “Everyone said you’ll go over there and they’ll make you feel like you’re going to change the world and I said ‘okay fine’ and I left and thought ‘I’m going to take over the world’ basically.”

Tovey’s decision to leave the BBC’s supernatural drama Being Human after four successful seasons was partly due to his desire to be open for filming elsewhere, but also came down to a gut feeling. “You just know when you know, you know? It was like the end of a relationship when you’ve had a really lovely time, you really care about each other but you know it’s not the one for you. I had a lovely time and then Aidan [Turner, his Being Human co-star] leaving made me sort of go ‘hmmm’ and I’ve been with it a long time playing that character.”

If acting wasn’t enough to keep him busy, Tovey is also taking tentative steps to make his way to the other side of the camera. He is the author of three plays but also, somewhat unfortunately, has a short attention span. “They have all had readings, then they’ve suddenly gone ‘we want to see a second draft or a third draft’ and I think ‘I’m bored of that, I want to write something else now’ so I’ve never followed through with anything.” The actor has also spoken at length about the lack of interesting gay roles, so I wonder if it’s a role he would like to write himself? “Yeah. You read so many gay parts and the gay character is always quite a tragic story and there’s always a terrible ending or they’re terribly lonely or they get AIDS, I just want to play someone who’s kind of sorted, not something that’s going to break boundaries, just something that’s going to tell a different side.”

Different sides is something Tovey has lots of. He may be the cheeky Essex boy I’ve read him described as numerous times, but to me, he mainly stands out as being as interested in and fully engaged with as many things as he possibly can be. When I ask him what he’d be doing if he weren’t acting, without a beat he answers: “When I was a little boy I used to want to be a history teacher,” a passion he manages to get into our conversation during the interview. “If I wasn’t doing that I would do something in contemporary art. I’d be a curator or I’d run a gallery” he adds, before reeling off a list of names of artists he’d love to play.

Perhaps those American casting agents should widen their brackets. An average man he is not.

ONLY HUMAN
FROM 
BENT MAGAZINE

January 31, 2012

Oh, you would. You know you would. You know that given half the chance you’d love to take a post-transformation tumble with Being Human star Russell Tovey. As the luscious lad with lycanthropy on the hit TV show, actor Tovey is one hot hunk and is most certainly up there with the fittest werewolves of them all. Seeing him whip his arse out during episodes of the supernatural show is like watching porn; (acceptable porn, but porn nonetheless) and it’s helped perk up many a dull evening.

Fans have been treated to Tovey’s tight tushie ever since he first bagged the role of George Sands in the cult BBC 3 series and what a treat it has been. As one member of a very sexy supernatural group, he’s seen more of his fair share of things that go bump in the night and for three years he even got to work with the gorgeous Aidan Turner (the lucky sod).  Sadly however, in November 2011, Tovey announced that he was finally ready to hang up his claws and a collective sigh was heard amongst the gay community. The news was devastating and it looked as if the world really was set to end in 2012, with fans unable to have inappropriate thoughts about one of the UK’s hottest properties.  But fear not, the terrific Tovey is not disappearing off our screens for good, so there’s still an opportunity for inappropriate thoughts to continue.

For those not familiar with Russell Tovey, shame on you!  He’s that cute guy you’ve watched countless times on TV; seen on numerous occasions in theatre productions; and heard on a variety of radio dramas.  At the age of 11 Tovey appeared on kid’s TV show Mud and he’s continued to work like a man possessed ever since.  This has included small roles on some of the nation’s best-loved shows and even a little programme that goes by the name of Doctor Who.  It was here that he got to play the part of Midshipman Alonso Frame, in a Christmas special that not only had him working with the delicious David Tennant, but also Dame Kylie of Minogue herself!  If that’s not reason enough to bow down before the might of Russell Tovey then what is?  Surely you don’t get much gayer than Doctor Who and Kylie?  Actually, correction, you do.  Tovey returned to the role a couple of years later to hook up with John Barrowman’s serial shagger Captain Jack. Now that’s definitely a gay overload of epic proportions! Oh and former Doctor Who show runner Russell T Davies also loves him. Not only does RTD throw in a good word here and there about Tovey all the time, but he’s also suggested that the actor would make an excellent replacement Doctor given half the chance.

At age 18, Tovey came out to his parents and during his varied career he’s played a few gays here and there. It’s not gone unnoticed and he recently appeared in Digital Spy’s annual Fitty Fitster poll, on the site’s gay blog.  Pictures of Tovey in the buff have certainly helped him catch the eye of voters and it’s clearly something the 30-year old is all too aware of.  Oh yes, Russell has been known to post saucy pics of himself on Twitter and he’s even made promises about getting his kit off on stage during his next theatre production. He’s obviously a criminal mastermind that should be rewarded for his cunning use of social networking.

Russell’s star is definitely on the rise and he’s soon set to provide voice duties on Aardman Studios’ The Pirates!, the latest animated movie from the creators of Wallace and Gromit. Although his Being Human days are almost over, he is set to make a brief appearance during the show’s fourth season to explain his character’s exit. 

Tovey will also return to screens for a third series of hit sitcom Him & Her during 2012. Oh and not just content with appearing on every bloomin’ TV show going, Tovey has also written three plays and a short film, so expect more from his dexterous digits in the future too. Russell Tovey is the boy next door that you wished actually lived next door to you. Admittedly you’d never get anything done, but you’d definitely enjoy popping round for the odd cup of sugar. As top totty goes he’s got a lot to offer and it’s different from what’s being flaunted by the usual crop of screen queens and macho Marys.  He’s the sort of guy you’d love to take out for a drink and then take home for a quick bunk up. Oh and he’s got ears that you could just grab and… well you get the idea. If by now you still don’t know who Russell Tovey is then maybe you should check your pulse before swigging back that next double vodka and Coke, after all, he’s only human, but are you?

TOVEY SCRUMPTIOUS

Not sure where you’ve seen Tovey before?  Try episodes of Poirot, Marple, Sherlock, the Bill, Little Dorrit, Silent Witness and Ashes to Ashes.  He certainly knows how to impress all the drama queens out there, doesn’t he?

As well as an impressive TV CV, Russell has also appeared in a number of theatre productions including Henry V, His Girl Friday, Tintin in Tibet and History Boys.

Him & Her isn’t Russell’s first brush with comedy, he previously had parts in Rob Brydon’s Annually Retentive, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret and Gavin & Stacey.

Russell was expelled from college. Sadly it had nothing to do with bumming behind the bike sheds, but because of a choice in acting jobs.

Tovey has previously stated that when it comes to his professional career he aspires to be a male Julie Walters.  Well don’t we all darling!

To catch Russell Tovey having SEX WITH A STRANGER, you can see him live in the world premiere a new play by award-winning writer and comedian Stefan Golaszewsk which kicks-off Feb 2012.

Synopsis: Adam is stuck in a relationship rut.  His over-protective girlfriend keeps him on a tight leash but his mate’s birthday is an opportunity to spend a few hours free of the ball and chain, until a chance meeting in a nightclub offers the opportunity of excitement and a test for Adam’s resolve. Sex With A Stranger explores what happens when the ties that bind start to strangle us.