The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star, Simon Haines discusses his career, life and the future

Can you tell us about your most recent project and what drew you to the role?

I’ve just wrapped on a very funny and very gripping American series - brilliant scripts, incredible cast, lovely people. I can’t say much more yet but I am so excited. One very special moment was the director and showrunners getting excited by what I was doing, and writing new scenes and a whole different arc for my character. Next up, I’m doing an LGBT coming-of-age indie film. My character is a single father who’s been brought up in an old-fashioned, toxic-masculine, patriarchal way and he’s now doing his best at raising a queer kid with the limited emotional resources he’s got. It’s always a juicy challenge getting into the mindset of characters who at first feel very different to me. But every character we play has something of us in it. Even the real wrong’uns. We’re all human. And then I have a lovely little part in the The Running Man which is in cinemas in November.If you remember the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, forget it! This version is very different. It’s directed by Edgar Wright who made Hot Fuzz and Sean of the Dead. He’s been more faithful to the Stephen King book that it’s based on, plus Edgar has brought his own totally idiosyncratic pizazz. It has a very cool cast - Colman Domingo, Josh Brolin, Katy O’Brian and - as the lead - Glen Powell, who was a total dream to act with. That was a very fun job.

Looking back, which role has challenged you the most as an actor and why?

Another LGBT role. The UK premiere of a semi-autobiographical play by the iconic Mart Crowley (best known for Boys in the Band). It was about an imagined meeting between a survivor of child abuse and the priest who had abused him. As you can imagine, it was complex, sensitive, harrowing material, and it was just me and my co-star alone on stage for 90 minutes in this emotional pressure cooker. Mart flew over from New York to see our opening, to watch me basically play him. No pressure! Then he disappeared straight after press night without speaking to me… until a few weeks later, I got a beautiful letter. He’d watched with tears rolling down his face and he said I was marvellous. He died not long after. That letter is one of my most treasured possessions.

On screen, in a strange way one of the roles that has challenged me was playing Owen Michaels in Emmerdale. There are all the technical challenges: Emmerdale shoots fast. Sometimes you only get one take.But most of all, it was the character. I’ve played a lot of villains, and I love that. Most people when they play villains, they make it 2D, but I’ve always been able to see things from the character’s point of view. Until I started working on Owen. I found it very hard to understand how someone could do what he does in the show. I put a lot of effort into researching what brings someone that point (a big folder of psychology research paperson my laptop), plus two long phone calls with my lead director Eamonn Norris, and a session with my acting coach exploring Owen’s backstory. When the subject matter is touching on real traumas some people in the audience will have gone through, I feel like I have a duty of care to really do my homework and play it as truthfully as possible.

How do you typically prepare for a role; are you more methodical, intuitive or a mix of both?

For many years, I was a sort of eclectic magpie. I hoovered up acting books. I did comedy with the Cambridge Footlights. I trained for 3 years at Guildhall (which was very exciting - I was there at the same time as heavyweights like Michaela Coel and Paapa Essiedu). I took classes with an amazing Meisner teacher. Lots of different influences. Now I have some tools I always use which I learned from this amazing director and coach Adrienne Weiss, who’s now my mentor. My favourite story about Adrienne is her first ever coaching job: back in the 90s when she was a fresh out of college, she coached a friend for a role in a movie, then when the film came out… her friend got nominated for an Oscar. Imagine! Your first job. She’s been coaching the crème de la crème for about 30 years. We started working a decade ago, and she’s training me to take over her teaching in London, to pass on her tools on to the next generation.

I’m definitely not a Method actor, but I think in every role we play we always draw on parts of ourselves. The casting director will send a description of the character, and sometimes when you read those your ego gets a bruising. I had one recently that was brutal. It started “very hot” (thanks!) “and very vain” (ouch!), and it just got deeper and deeper. It read like my horoscope! Not in a good way! But it’s nice to play real flawed people. No one’s perfect, and the more honest you can be accepting all parts of yourself, the more you can bring to the role. It’s sort of dangerous when people are in denial of all their spiky wobbly bits.

Is there a character type or genre you've always wanted to explore but haven’t had the chance to yet?

Well, I’ve already ticked some off the bucket list. I was an elf, Malendol, in The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power - and being part of Middle Earth was a real childhood dream come true. There are a few more on my list. I’d love to be swinging a lightsaber around as a Jedi or a Sith in a Star Wars series. As I get older, I’m looking forward to playing more mentor figures. I’d like to be a wizard. A few years ago, I was at the pub one night in wizard fancy dress for a Lord of the Rings pub quiz - white beard and cloak and everything. A grown man in fancy dress on a Thursday night… The next day I got a call out of the blue to offer me the part in Rings of Power.Point being, these stories have such an impact on us. The characters feel real and we learn a lot of our worldview and moral compass from them. For me, I never met my birth dad or my grandad, so as a kid characters like Gandalf, Dumbledore, Qui Gon Jinn were so meaningful to me. I enjoy paying that forward and being part of stuff that has a special place in other people’s hearts. I was really moved the other day reading a reviewer say that watching Murder Most Puzzling felt “like coming home” and that as he watched he felt connected to his late grandma, knowing she would’ve loved it. It’s so special to be part of moments like that.

What initially inspired you to pursue acting as a career?

I think probably because like many kids I was quite outspoken and a bit outrageous, and on stage that gets a more positive response than it does in real life! I remember in my first play in front of a big audience - aged 9 - we were halfway through a scene and another character was meant to enter, but he didn’t come on. We waited for a few moments, and the other kids onstage froze. I just turned to the audience and said, very earnestly: ‘This didn’t happen in rehearsals.’ They all fell about laughing. I still love improvising - I keep getting lucky with jobs where they let me ad lib. Edgar Wright and Michael Bacall added things that I improvised in my audition into the script of The Running Man. Even jobs where I didn’t think they’d be into it, like Emmerdale.In Murder Most Puzzling, I playa local news anchorman, and whenever we got to the end of the scene as scripted, I just kept going. All sorts of nonsense.You know you’re onto something when the crew are laughing. The director loved it and sent me off to improvise a bunch of bizarre local news stories - most of which ended up in the show! I’m very lucky that I get paid for that sort of silliness. I do think originally when I was younger (like most actors) I was unconsciously drawn to acting because I craved validation and connection, and I wanted to express myself emotionally while also hiding behind a mask. But I hope - after a lot of amazing therapy - my reasons for staying in the profession now are much healthier! There isn’t any weird pressure on it anymore. It’s just fun, challenging, satisfying work.

Outside of acting, what are some passions or hobbies that help keep you balanced?

I wish I could say crochet and kite-surfing and candle-making, but I’m pretty boring outside of work. I spend time with family and friends. I grew up in a small town in Somerset by the sea, so I have to get my regular fix of open water and green space - I’m mainly in London now but luckily I live near a little park. I read murder mysteries. I love audiobooks. I haven’t actually recorded an audiobook yet, I’ve been too focused on screen. I used to make them all the time for fun as a kid! I even made a very illegal audiobook for a friend for her birthday a few years ago. I won’t say which book or the author will hunt me down for royalties. This isn’t a hobby but I definitely feel more balanced in life through being not just an actor but also a writer and director. I wrote/directed my most recent short film for a group of early-career working-class actors. Some of them hadn’t done any screen before this, and now our film is premiering at a BAFTA-qualifying film festival. That’s a special feeling: elevating other people’s talent, moving other people’s careers forwards. Okay, that’s still not a hobby. What else? I work out at my local gym. I love sport, but I don’t have time to play or watch much anymore. My masochistic hobby is supporting Man United. But when I’m not looking to suffer, I love watching snooker. It’s so calming. And I’m very very slowly teaching myself jazz piano.

If you weren’t an actor, what other path do you think you might have followed?

My childhood list was teacher (tick), actor (tick), prime minister (pending). Which definitely says something about my ego as a 6 year old! As a teenager, I wanted to be a professor but then when I got to Cambridge for my English degree, I saw there was more fun to be had outside of academia! But I love teaching and coaching. I teach in drama schools and I coach clients privately - actors and directors, for film and TV. It’s so rewarding helping other people grow.

1. Are there any causes or messages you’re passionate about using your platform to support?

Yes!

1) LGBT+ causes, especially bisexuality. I’m bi and I never had any bi male role models growing up, so I’d love to be a visible figure for bi kids and adults. Bi folks are still facing stigma and prejudice, even from people who are in other ways pretty liberal. It’s getting better in terms of bi female role models but I can still only name two openly bi men in the public eye.

2) Young people’s wellbeing and mental health. Childhood can be a lottery, and it has such a profound effect on the course of the rest of your life. But with the right support, I really believe you can turn your life around. Therapy totally changed my life. It was the best money I’ve ever spent. So much of my twenties was wasted fighting my demons. I’d like to see affordable therapy available for everyone.

3) Homelessness, poverty and child poverty. I find it shocking that even in the richest countries in the world like the UK, we allow people to go without adequate food, heat and shelter. There’s a strong correlation between having adverse childhood experiences and experiencing homelessness. And the child poverty statistics are ridiculous: 4.5 million children growing up in poverty in the UK. As a society, we’re systematically abandoning so many vulnerable young people and adults, and that breaks my heart.

What kind of roles or stories are you hoping to be part of in the next few years?

I’m ten years into my career now, and I only recently realised how few LGBT stories I’ve done. So being part of more LGBT projects is a big focus now. It’s wild that I still haven’t played a bi character. (Although I did persuade the writer to make one of the leading men bi in a film I was asked to direct.) Most actors want to play the Marlon Brando part from A Streetcar Named Desire: Stanley Kowalski. Sure, but I’d prefer to play Brick from Tennessee Williams’ later play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.Paul Newman played him in the film but they watered down everything about his sexuality. People say that character is closeted gay, but as I read it he’s very clearly attracted to men and women. I’ve been blessed with loads of screen work lately but I’d love to get back on stage, ideally with something LGBT. New writing. Or The Importance of Being Earnest. I want to keep working with people who love improv. Mike Leigh is a hero. Jesse Armstrong. Jamie Adams. And I’d like to be part of a long-running show for a few years, because there’s a beautiful family dynamic that builds up on longer projects. Those connections are so special: not long after I graduated from drama school, I did a year on a show in the West End, and I still meet up regularly with that cast. But really, no matter what the project, every day working is a blessing because I know how many people want to do this job, and how lucky I am to be getting paid to do something I love.And I love that each day I learn and get better, so really I just relish every day on any set or stage. I’m a nerd for the craft.

Finally, what advice would you give to emerging actors?

Be proactive. Take action. Enjoy the relationships with the people around you; this is a team sport. Look after your health and happiness: get a good therapist, if you think you might need support - unresolved psychological stuff can sabotage you, and your mindset and wellbeing is the foundation of your career. Trust that you can’t miss what’s meant for you. Things unfold exactly as they are meant to be: I’ve felt gutted to miss out on jobs I’d set my heart on, but then when I looked back months later I realised that if I had done that job, I wouldn’t have been free to do this even better job or I would have missed some other great experiences in my personal life. So trust and enjoy the journey. Once, I arrived on set for a huge dream job and I put so much pressure on the experience and on myself that by the end of the day, I felt miserable. Now with every job or audition or self-tape, I set my intention to have fun and to learn something. If you enjoy the journey, then the destination doesn’t matter.

Instagram @thesimonhaines