It was extraordinary to experience 'Mamma Mia!' What an injection of good spirit and heart it was.
In a way, 'Mamma Mia!' was such a left-field thing for me.
I'm doing a play, a musical. The musical follows the Mamma Mia concept. It's my first LA theater project.
I'll tell you how it happened. The phone rang. Paul, my agent, goes, 'Would you like to play Meryl Streep's?' I said, 'Yeeees! I'll do it, whatever it is.' He said, 'It's Mamma Mia!.' I said, 'Oh no, which character? The fat friend?
There's parts of it that I connect to - being a father and everything - but 'Mamma Mia!' allows me to go out there and be me and have fun. I've never really had the chance to do that with so much freedom.
I used to go to musicals every birthday - that was my birthday present. We'd go to London, me and my two brothers and mum and dad. I think I saw 'Mamma Mia' about five times.
I think I wanted to do something that retained the improvised chaos of 'Mamma Mia' the theatre show which set it apart from all the slick packaged productions.
OMG, I have my 'Mamma Mia!' playbill framed in my bedroom. It was magical! I totally cried... a lot! I remember collecting playbills my entire life, and then to be in one... I have no words.
