Stephen Matthews

“I started at a drama school in London. I left after four days.” Stephen Matthews has been a jobbing actor for over 30 years, but he’s never forgotten who’s in the seats. We talk about the trap of long running shows, how easy it is to slip into autopilot when you’ve done 500 performances and how he fights against it every night. He also reveals why he walked away from a four year stint in The Lion King after a moment of brutal honesty backstage. “An actor I was on stage with looked at me and said, ‘Sorry mate, I wasn’t listening.’ And in my head, that was when I went. I’ve got to go.” It’s a fascinating chat about staying present, surviving the uncertainty, and the art of keeping it fresh when the 8 shows a week start to blur together.

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