 intellectual of mid-20th century US conservatism – arguably entails the biggest leap of all. How to describe the switch? 'I've never liked the term 'colour-blind casting',' says Harewood – whip-smart and sharply dressed when we meet in the midst of final rehearsals in Southwark. 'It sounds like, 'Let's ignore the fact that he's black.' I prefer 'cross-casting'.' There is a considerable provocation in seeing Harewood as Buckley, acting out a series of real-life televised ding-dongs from 1968 with liberal colossus Gore Vidal (played by Star Trek star Zachary Quinto), with Enoch Powell an interviewee as well. 'I couldn't find a way in at first,' Harewood says. After committing to the project, its demands belatedly hit home, and hard. 'I freaked out on the first night when I walked out on stage at the Young Vic and was confronted by the sight of black members of the audience. I thought, 'Have I put myself in such a Right-wing place that I've forgotten I'm from the black community?'' Yet he's fully convinced of the approach's artistic value. 'I think it's similar to Hamilton – having people of colour representing people who are white makes the){kind=link}
The Homeland star is set to play US conservative writer William F Buckley. He explains why no role should ever be ‘off-limits’
“You can hear people’s brains clicking for the first 10 minutes,” David Harewood says with a smile, as he relays how audiences have responded to his performance in Best of Enemies, the hit James Graham play of last year that is about to open in the West End.
Harewood, 56, has pulled off some eye-opening career moves in his time. He was the first black actor to play Othello at the National, 25 years ago. In 2009, he triumphed as Martin Luther King Jr in The Mountaintop, enabling Katori Hall’s two-hander to jump from the fringe to the West End, and beating Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem to the Olivier Best New Play award. Two years later, he broke through in the States, landing the major role of the CIA’s counter-terrorist chief in two seasons of the TV espionage thriller Homeland.
Still, playing William F Buckley – that leading (white) intellectual of mid-20th century US conservatism – arguably entails the biggest leap of all. How to describe the switch? “I’ve never liked the term ‘colour-blind casting’,” says Harewood – whip-smart and sharply dressed when we meet in the midst of final rehearsals in Southwark. “It sounds like, ‘Let’s ignore the fact that he’s black.’ I prefer ‘cross-casting’.”
There is a considerable provocation in seeing Harewood as Buckley, acting out a series of real-life televised ding-dongs from 1968 with liberal colossus Gore Vidal (played by Star Trek star Zachary Quinto), with Enoch Powell an interviewee as well.