For SideTracked: Jeremy Notham

Hi,

Yikes, from those quotes it makes it sound like I thought Jeremy was some sort of mad satyr.

I cast Jeremy after he came in and read for the role. I was very impressed and flattered that someone of his stature would be willing to audition. He gave, by far, the best reading I saw for the role, and we read many wonderful actors.

In the audition, a key thing he had was a sense of playfulness. He liked doing the scenes different ways. He really ran with direction. I knew, given all the levels that Potter has to be played on, that his flexibility and sense of humor would be key. He managed to give the material an ironic edge, without making it 'jokey'. He also had the 'feel' of the period.

I guess his was of working could be called 'academic'. But, like most good modern actors, the line between 'method' and 'academic' gets ever more blurry - which I think is a good thing.

Jeremy was very aware of all the details. Costumes were important to him, and he worked very hard on losing his accent (although I liked the hint of upper class British rhythm he gave to the villian in the noir sequences. Many of the bad guys in the 50s b-movies were foppish, and upper class.)

He liked to reherse, and was good at coming up with ideas for blocking, etc. He was touchingly vulnerable about his work. He was always worried that it wasn't good enough.

I hope that's helpful.

Keith