Paul Thornley on Leaving ‘Cursed Child’ After Successful First Run

Apr 30, 2017

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Actor Interviews, Broadway, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Interviews, Jack Thorne, News

Paul Thornley, currently portraying Ron Weasley in the West End production of Cursed Child,  shares details of his latest project and talks of leaving Cursed Child after a very successful first run!

The show is currently leading the way on stage, and the script is also breaking records – with 1.5 million copies being sold in the U.K. last year according to Insider. As the process of recruiting a new cast to move across the pond to Broadway continues (read The Stage‘s hilarious piece on how to get a part in the production here), just how successful will this move be?

Shows such as The Lion King, Les Miserables and Hamilton dominate Broadway, however, Cursed Child recently cleared out at the Oliviers with a record-breaking 11 nominations and 9 wins, so it’ll be no surprise if the show is equally successful on Broadway – there’s a whole continent of patiently awaiting fans itching to get their hands on tickets!

Thornley gives no indication of moving to the Broadway production, though Jamie Parker and Noma Dumezweni said they’d love to at the Oliviers. Thornley says he’s currently unemployed post-Potter, but will be voicing Black Beauty’s Merryleg, in a dramatisation of the classic by Audible.

He spoke of the pressure of being in such a large production:

“I certainly felt the expectation when playing Ron. JK Rowling said to me “you do know that Ron Weasley is a lot of people’s favourite character?” and I was like “oh, brilliant!” Obviously there was huge expectation from the play and they protected us from most of it and you can’t help but see it, but it seemed to go down pretty well.”

He also says (as many have before him on set of the Potter films) that he wants to take his wand as a keepsake:

“I do want to nick my wand but I know I won’t get away with it. There’s this little guy from Surrey somewhere who individually whittles our wands. It’s beautiful what he’s done with my wand but I’ll have to hand it over. I’d love to [steal it], but they’d know it was me.”

Thornley will be leaving the West End’s Cursed Child on May 20th, and we’ll be sad to see him go! Thomas Aldridge (who just tied up his role as Graintaire in Les Miserables) will take his place, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to such a beloved character.

Interestingly, Aldridge portrayed Roger Parslow in the National Tour of Phillip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials, which Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne will be bringing to the TV in the coming years – small world!

 

Read the full interview with Paul Thornley here.

 





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