Jack Roth – son of Tim – has risen to attention since starring in BBC’s Great Expectations and the second series of Sky’s Bedlam, which premiered last week. Wonderland sat down with Roth to discuss his career to date just ahead of his newest film,Strawberry Fields – out early next month.
When did you start acting?
I was born and raised around it. When it comes to that decision of what do I want to do with my life, I went right I’m an actor. I threw myself into everything I could, I missed the drama school auditions, so I joined Royal Court, writing programmes, directors courses, the Oval theatre – any programme I could get on.
Would you ever want to work on a project with your dad?
It’s come up a couple of times where people have been looking at him and me for different roles. But the problem is we look so similar we can’t do the same things together. So we always have that problem, but he’s doing much bigger stuff now. Because we look similar we’re cast in the same thing. I think. We come from different waves and backgrounds and ethics. It’s great, because I appreciate him. Gary Oldman’s amazing and Ray [Winstone]’ they all kind of came out and smashed the industry. This is just what we do; we’re characters, that’s I want to be a character actor – I’ll never be the pretty one.
What do you enjoy most about acting?
When you’re not acting, it’s very self-indulgent to sit in a room and practise emotions. You can’t really practise that kind of thing. I’m trying to get my band together at the moment. I’m going to be like “hi guys, remember me? [laughs]”
Do you feel theatre prepared you for TV work?
Definitely. It’s a different way of doing it – usually you have six weeks, so a really intensive rehearsal period. They’ll ask you silly questions, like does your character play the piano – given any situation, you’d know how to react. You don’t really get that in film, but I try to do it anyway. Like with Orlick in Great Expectations; he’s the bad guy, but you’ve got to feel sorry for him. It’s all the little things, when they’re not saying anything, that’s when you see a lot.
How was it working on the same set as Ray Winstone on Great Expectations?
I know Ray – he sat me down in his bar, made me pour pints and told me about the industry. He’s so lovely. We didn’t get to film together, but we saw each other quite a few times. I just felt so privileged being in his presence.
Where do you hope to be in your career in five years time?
I want to be the character actor of Britain. Whenever there’s someone odd, weird or that has to really delve into something, that’s where I want to be – I want to be
known for that.
Words: Kerina Duhra