A Quick Chat With Jamie Kristian
The Hayes theatre has proved itself to be a home of firsts, so it seems only fitting that it’s the home of actor Jamie Kristian’s first foray into musical theatre. He’ll be playing Sammy in Blood Brothers, and we sent him our Q&A to get a sense of how it feels to cross over into the realm of singing your feelings.
Who are you, and what do you do?
Jamie Kristian, I’m an actor currently playing Sammy in Blood Brothers at the Hayes Theatre.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
An actor or a chef.
Now that you’re a grown up… what do you want to be when you grow up?
An artisan cheese maker or psychotropic ethnobotanist. However I still also want to act. Perhaps there is room in the market for a flick that sees an artisan cheese maker from the south of France embark on a shamanic journey through the Amazonian rainforest, kind of ‘Chocolat’ meets ‘Aya Awakenings’ with a spot of ‘Hair’ thrown in for good measure, may as well make it a musical while we’re at it.
You’ve never done a musical before – what’s your first experience with one like?
Bloody superb thus far. Thoroughly enjoying every minute of it!
What has been the most exciting thing about doing a musical?
Becoming an honorary musical theatre luvvie, if only for a few weeks.
What has been the most challenging thing?
Learning to harmonise.
What would be your perfect holiday?
Any trip with the perfect blend of natural beauty, rich history, obscure culture, gluttony and hedonism.
What’s your best party trick?
Buy me a few pints and if you’re unlucky you may find out.
Whose advice do you always take?
My brother’s. He truly is a god amongst men.
What’s your best/worst embarrassing actor story?
During the 2nd half of A play at the young vic in London the venue changes to a church across the road. An actor who is supposed to make a surprise entrance never got their call… and so ensued 5 mins and 37 seconds precisely of panicked improvisation. Surely some kind of balls up of a record? That said, a whole Lot of fun it also was!
Tell us something on your bucket list.
Beat cool hand Luke’s boiled egg record.
When you have been the most nervous in your life?
Thought I had some terminal disease. Turns out I didn’t, other than my own impending death so all good there. Phew.
When have you been happiest?
Been very lucky so far in my life with this. I count right this second as one of those moments.
What’s one of your pet peeves?
People calling ‘perry’ pear cider! There is NO F-ING such thing as ‘pear cider’ a fermented drink made with pears is called ‘PERRY!!!!!!’ You don’t call it grape cider do you? No we call it wine! Damn that irks me. I could bang on about companies selling ‘Apple flavoured’ drinks under the name ‘cider’ as well but I guess I probably shouldn’t. Bastards! Thanks for asking.
Who is your actor hero?
Timothy Spall
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would you change?
We’d all be multi-millionaires.
How are you finding working at the Hayes?
Absolutely delightful. When I first moved to Aus from the UK four years ago I lived next door when it was the Darlo and wondered if I would ever work in the theatre.
Tell us a little bit about Blood Brothers.
It’s a working class Liverpuddlian Greek tragedy from a stunning writer with songs to boot. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.
What drew you to the show initially?
When I was 10 years old the first theatre piece I ever did was from Blood Brothers. It got me hooked on acting.
How would you describe the show in five words or less?
Best musical of all time.
Catch Blood Brothers at the Hayes Theatre from 6th February – 15th March. For tickets and more information, visit http://www.hayestheatre.com.au/coming-soon/blood-brothers.html
