Would you say that Lord Dudley represents a departure for you?
I don’t think I’ve played someone like him before. I tend to get offered nice people. There is a warmth to him, but he is scheming and manipulative, so it was really good fun to play somebody a little bit different and slightly darker . . .
At the beginning of the year, talking to my agents, I was saying: “I think I should do something that reminds people that I am an actor.” Because when you are known for creating your own things, it’s a very common situation that those people often don’t get offered that much stuff. There’s an assumption that they’re doing their own thing. No, offer us some parts! This [show] came up just weeks after I’d had this conversation with my agents saying I want to do something that reminds people that I play parts; it doesn’t have to be, like, a version of me. So, it was perfect for that.
How does working on a project like this, where you’re a “hired gun,” compare to creating your own material?
What I like about my career is the variety. I wouldn’t want to be a hired gun all the time. But when I am, I really get off on “the actor’s life,” as it were. In this, I’m being a character actor; I’m a well-known British comedy figure who comes in to play your No. 7 on the call sheet — which is a lovely sweet spot because you’re not in every day, but when you are, you can make an impact. And you can have a life outside. I can arrange to have lunch one day. I really like that. If it was all I did, I probably wouldn’t be happy being No. 7 on the call sheet, I’d want to be further up — but I have these other things. I was touring Australia and New Zealand with my band earlier this year, and at the moment I’m hosting another series of Would I Lie to You?. They’re very different disciplines and I really like each of them, but most of all I like that together they’re bigger than the sum of their parts.
Is it freeing to do a historical drama that isn’t married to the history — that tosses in shapeshifters and pop songs?
[Laughs] Yeah, the history was not sacrosanct at all. Which is fantastic, because the real Lady Jane’s story has been told many times. This is just taking it as a starting point and then indulging in fantasy and creation. It’s a fantastically imaginative script.
I’d say it’s a “romp.” That’s the word I keep coming back to. The comedy has a nice edge to it, and there’s a great romantic story. It’s a feast for the eye and the ear . . . It was more lavish than any TV show I’d ever done. It was more like being on a movie set. You can see the money on the screen.
How helpful is it as an actor to have such lavish costumes, makeup and sets? Could you just grow your whole performance out of that pearl earring?
Yeah, I had the earring and I had quite a few rings — and I grew a beard. Now, that was me thinking: “Right, let’s grow a beard so I look a bit different.” But of course, it was a seven-month shoot. You’re stuck with that beard for a long time. I would go and do some standup gigs, and people assume that it’s a lifestyle choice. They assume you have decided that, in your late 50s, you’re now going to have a goatee beard, and it’s very easy to interpret that as a cry for help [laughs] . . . I do a podcast, and you’d see in the comments on YouTube — they go full 180, where it’s “Oh, the beard really suits you!” to “My God, you look like a serial killer!” But I think the beard does a lot of the heavy lifting for me in this series.
My Lady Jane, streaming on Prime Video
MEMORABLE ROLES:
The Welsh funnyman is a ubiquitous presence on stage, screen and radio across the pond, with roles in TV comedies like Gavin & Stacey, films like A Cock and Bull Story and as emcee of quiz shows like Would I Lie to You? Internationally, he’s perhaps best known for the Trip movies, wherein Brydon and his pal Steve Coogan play fictionalized versions of themselves — quipping and bickering their way across the globe. Recently, he also popped up as “Sugar Daddy Ken” in Barbie.
CURRENT GIG:
A giddy swirl of history, fantasy, comedy and feminism, My Lady Jane rewrites the saga of Jane Grey and her nine-day reign as queen of England in 1553. Brydon plays Lord Dudley, Jane’s conniving father-in-law turned unexpected ally.