Jack Ryder – Shakespeare’s Mister
One Nation Magazine’s Nige Burton chats to Jack Ryder as he tackles Shakespeare, and makes the role of Romeo his own.
It’s been a few years since former EastEnders heartthrob Jack Ryder played out his final, highly emotionally charged scenes as Jamie Mitchell as the soap said goodbye to one of its most popular characters. Since that dramatic exit, Jack has been focussing hard on building a career where he’s more in control of his own life as well as dealing with the emotional fall out of a broken relationship, still at times under the watchful eye of an unforgiving press. But he’s emerged the other side of it a mature, confident young man whose feet are firmly on the ground, tackling his most challenging role to date; that of Romeo in the Wales Theatre Company’s touring production of Romeo and Juliet.
Loosely rooted in Baz Luhrmann’s modernist approach to Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers, this dynamic production uses a contemporary setting, replacing swords with knives, guns and chains and gritty, finely choreographed fight sequences. Ryder brings an edgy pathos to the lead, investing the character with purpose and presence, yet with an almost ethereal detachment that suits the lead role perfectly.
“I’d never read a word of Shakespeare in my life,” Jack told me as we chatted between performances at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre. “So you can imagine my surprise when the director, Michael Bogdanov, asked me to take on the role pretty much on the strength of my performance in Alan Bennett’s Single Spies.”
Jack’s initial fears about learning the Bard’s lines were unfounded: “It’s actually much easier than I thought,” he explained. “Once you get into the natural cadences of the language, it’s a bit like learning the lyrics of a song. And the more you perform, the more you get into it – I really love it!”
Two-time Olivier award winner Bogdanov’s production has certainly hit the mark with the younger generation, and Jack and the rest of the company have been holding workshops, affording local school kids the opportunity to explore both Shakespeare’s timeless theme and the intricacies of bringing it to the stage. “That’s something I’ve really enjoyed,” says Jack. “It’s fantastic to be able to open up the works of Shakespeare to a new, younger audience, and help them to really ‘get it’. I think we’ve all found that to be really rewarding.”
It’s all a far cry from Ryder’s hectic days as a soap star, but a lifestyle which suits the actor much better. “The decision to quit EastEnders was not taken lightly,” he says. “I’d been agonising over it for a year, but realised that I just didn’t seem to have a private life any more, and that’s really important to me.
“I remember going to buy a pair of trainers once, when a rather large group of fans had noticed me going in and almost stormed the store. Security staff couldn’t really cope, and so the manager asked me to leave. I’d no problem with the fans – that comes with the job – but I just wanted to buy a pair of trainers, like any normal person.”
Jack made the tough decision that leaving the show was the only way to get back a sense of normality. “I’ve concentrated very much on theatre since then – it means I still get to do the job I love, but I can have a life as well, and I’m much happier now. Don’t get me wrong – my time in EastEnders was great, and I made some good friends and learned a lot, but there’s definitely a price to pay for staying in any soap on a long-term basis.
“I would like to do more television, but the role would have to be right – I’m more interested in playing character roles these days, exploring my talents to the full.”
These are talents that definitely shine through in his characterisation of Romeo, which is pitched against a backdrop of fine performances from the rest of the company.
“I loved Leonardo DiCaprio’s version in the Luhrmann film,” says Jack, “and I suppose I’ve tried to bring a little of that to the role. I didn’t want to copy him, and I hope I’ve managed to bring my own interpretation to Romeo, whilst retaining the essential strength of the character Shakespeare created.”
It’s a tricky manoeuvre, but one which, in my opinion, Ryder has pulled off with aplomb. The prose is delivered passionately and eloquently, with a real understanding and insight into the profound tragedy as it unfolds.
So what next for this mature, handsome young actor, who seems to have completely found himself, both professionally and personally? “I’d love to do more comedy,” he says with a wry grin. “It was a wonderful experience in Single Spies, making people laugh every few lines – and it’s something I was much better at than I thought I could be.”
And if this latest performance is any yardstick, the theatrical world will surely be his oyster.
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Glad to see that Jack is back and doing something a little more contemporary than Eastenders. Good luck to him.