INTERVIEW: Star of stage and screen Jonathan Hyde talks about playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at The O2 (From News Shopper)

INTERVIEW: Star of stage and screen Jonathan Hyde talks about playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at The O2

1:18pm Thursday 19th November 2009

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Star of stage and screen Jonathan Hyde tells MATTHEW JENKIN how Captain Hook is more complex than he looks and why he loves playing the villain.

THERE are only a few things I would never do. Karaoke and naked discos are two of them.

Fortunately, neither of these two no-nos are available in Never Never Land.

Although, I have a feeling the late Michael Jackson wasn’t too familiar with the original Peter Pan story when he named his notorious Los Angeles ranch after the fantasy land featured in the classic tale.

With a plethora of film, television and stage adaptations, few staying faithful to J M Barrie’s play, who can blame the King of Pop for taking a few liberties.

After a sell-out summer run in Kensington Gardens, the latest incarnation of the story is flying into The O2 like a breath of fresh air and boasts a breathtaking and specially-commissioned 360-degree projected scenic design.

Actor Jonathan Hyde plays Peter’s nemesis Captain Hook and insists the spectacular production remains true to the original and is light years away from a camp panto version.

He said: “Thematically what they have attempted to do is to go back to the Barrie and make it considerably less pantomimic, though there are plenty of thrills and spills in it.

“The whole psychological landscape of what motherhood and childhood is - what it is when you’ve got it and what it is when you haven’t - is more faithfully depicted in this production than it would in a normal Christmas show.”

Peter Pan tells the story of a mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up.

As the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, he finds adventures with Indians, mermaids and, of course, in fighting pirates.

Jonathan is no stranger to playing the villain, having starred as the nefarious hunter Van Pelt in the family adventure film Jumanji with Robin Williams.

It is clear the classically trained actor has put as much thought into the cartoonish Hook as he would into playing a psychologically complex Shakespearean character.

He said: “Captain Hook is a very beautiful apple gone very rotten. He clearly had a privileged, if not a very loving upbringing.

“He’s an old Etonian so he’s been through the splendours of the upper-class system, but socially he’s gone bad.

“He’s like any of those rotters who haven’t taken advantage of their status. Instead he’s turned into a terrible tyrant who kills on a whim, but who is neverthless as frightened and as obsessed as anyone else in the play.”

Jonathan also plays the role of the immature and insecure Mr Darling, the father of Peter’s sweetheart Wendy.

But it is playing villains such as the ruthless Hook which he seems to really relish.

He said: “Villains usually have the best costumes and they don’t hang around too long.

“There’s no sort of redemption for them. I like that sort of brutal conclusion to these lives and these characters.

“They don’t wander off into a sunset. They just go back to where they belong, which is down below.”

As a long-time member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Australian-born Jonathan feels a great fondness to the theatre, both classical and modern.

He sees its current revival and popularity with both audiences and actors alike, as a result of television’s move towards producing more reality shows.

He said: “Drama is dying on television and there are fewer projects around.

“There is also more opportunity to go back on stage, which is a much sterner test in many ways than working in front of a camera.

“It’s fantastic and is wonderful to see theatre in the midst of a hideous recession coming out fighting fit.”

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