Rising stars in the arts firmament

GREAT BRITISH HOPES
Rising stars in the arts firmament
MATTHEW McFADYEN

Age: 23

Profession: Actor

Surface tension: He is about to play Charles, younger of the two Surface brothers in the RSC's new production of Sheridan's The School for Scandal, which opens in Stratford tonight and moves to the Barbican at the end of the month.

What's Charles like? “After being disinherited he has become a degenerate, but underneath that exterior beats a heart of gold.” Joseph, Charles's brother and rival, is played by Jason O'Mara, last seen as the fugitive Ned Jones in the BBC's Berkeley Square.

Who gave him his first break? School for Scandal's director, Declan Donnellan. “Immediately after I left RADA in 1995 he cast me as Antonio in The Duchess of Malfi. After one performance in the last week of its ten-month tour, Declan gave us more than an hour's worth of notes – and no one minded. We all admire his perfectionism.”

If you're good enough, you're old enough: He resumed his partnership with Donnellan earlier this year, picking up rave reviews as Benedick in Cheek by Jowl's Much Ado About Nothing at the Playhouse. “There's no way I would have been cast in the part by RSC or the National at my age, so I'm lucky that Declan likes giving opportunities to young actors.”

Fan Mail: “I got a lot of letters during the Much Ado run. Many were from autograph hunters who hadn't even seen the show which I found very strange. The letters from schoolchildren and drama students who said they'd loved the play were much more gratifying.”