Acting with Facts/Performing the Real: interviews with actors

A new resource is now available online, in which 23 actors discuss their experience of and views about performing in TV and theatre dramas based on real events, and portraying real people.  The interviews were conducted for the AHRC-funded research project 'Acting with Facts: Performing the Real on Stage and Screen, 1990-2010', based in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading.

The interviews were conducted mostly between 2007 and 2009. All of the interviews can be viewed or downloaded from the link below. We have also provided an 'About the Interviews' document on the web page. It explains the role of the interviews within the Acting With Facts project, gives an overview of the research results obtained from the interviews, and reflects on the methodology of interviewing for research.

The actors interviewed were: Anne Reid, Alecky Blythe, Beattie Edney, Bella Merlin, Bill Hoyland, Caroline Blakiston, Chipo Chung, Chris Ettridge, David Annen, Esther Coles, Harriet Walter, Hugh Bonneville, Ian McNeice, Jan Ravens, Lloyd Hutchinson, Maxine Peake, Michael Maynard, Phil Davis, Robin Soans, Roger Allam, Simon Callow, Thomas Wheatley and Timothy West.

The research team was led by Dr Derek Paget, working with Prof. Jonathan Bignell, Prof. Lib Taylor and Postdoctoral Researcher Dr Heather Sutherland.  The link to access the interviews is:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/ftt-actingwithfacts-interviews.aspx


A brief description of the 'Acting with Facts' research project can be found at:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/ftt-actingwithfacts.aspx