Interview

Una Stubbs

Una Stubbs was a 1960s star, appearing in the classic sitcom Till Death Do Us Part (with Cherie Blair's dad) and the Cliff Richard film Summer Holiday, and went on to co-star with Jon Pertwee in the children's tv series Worzel Gummidge. However, a look at her credits in the programme for Don Carlos, the play she's currently appearing in, shows that the great majority of her work has been in theatre, as Paul Webb found when he went backstage at the Gielgud to meet her.

You're best-known for your film and television work, but you've clearly done a lot of theatre! "I have, but theatre is less noticed by the public so people sometimes think I've just disappeared, when in fact I've been happily working on stage."

You play a very dark character in Don Carlos - the Duchess of Olivarez. "Yes, she's not a very big role but she's an interesting one. She's very formal and strait-laced, but I've created a history for her and I think that, when younger, she was one of Philip II's mistresses. She's now older and in that sense on the shelf and I think she's very bitter about it. She's not a happy person!"

It's a very powerful play, though I think it could be called King Philip, as Philip II, played by Derek Jacobi, is much the strongest character on stage. "He's written very powerfully, but then it's also the case that Derek is fabulous in the part, so he's bound to come across strongly.

"Playing the Duchess in Don Carlos is ideal for me - I want to do more classical work, I'm a great admirer of Michael Grandage as a director, and Christopher Oram as a designer, and I'd much rather be playing a relatively small part in a company of this calibre than a leading role in a less impressive production.

"I was first spotted by Michael Grandage in a production of Peter Pan, and he asked me to work with him at the Crucible in Sheffield. It's a wonderful theatre and he's done great things with it. Don Carlos started there and the production seemed to fit the space so well that we were a bit concerned about how it would transfer, but the reviews were terrific and the audiences love it, so it obviously works as well in the West End as it did in Sheffield."

I last saw you in the West End in Star Quality. Are you likely to be appearing in any more Coward plays in the near future/ "No, I don't think so. And in any case I'd rather be in Ibsen!"
You had an early start to your stage career? "I was 15 when I started - my parents couldn't afford for me to stay on at school any longer, so I started at Windsor Rep - playing a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream!

"My training really is as a dancer, and I find the discipline and physical stamina that gives you to be very helpful. I had an early start in the West End, appearing at the Palladium when I was 16, then transferring to the Follies Bergeres, which were appearing at the Prince of Wales. It's close to the Gielgud - whenever I come out of the stage door I can see it. We had very strange audiences, because there were nudes in the show, so we attracted the dirty mac brigade - you could see them queuing up outside before the show - they couldn't wait to get in. And as for how they behaved inside - it was something of a show for us watching them!"

Did you appear naked? "No, but my costume was pretty skimpy."

Presumably at that young an age, in a job like that in a show like that, and in effect in Soho, it must have been an education? "It certainly was!"

Do you look back at your earlier career, at films like Summer Holiday, with nostalgia? "No. If I see myself on screen I think, 'Oh, that's interesting, that was me then' but actually I think I'm in my prime now. My children are grown up and working in interesting jobs and in a sense it's like being a teenager again - no responsibility for bringing up children, free to pursue my career, and with more pennies than when I was in my teens. I'm having a great time working with this company - and we're getting some very interesting people round backstage. In fact the stage manager is on 'star patrol' to spot stars in the audience, and for example we've had Will Young and Alan Rickman round. That was very exciting!"

When you finish the show, do you have a favourite restaurant to unwind in? "Probably Sheekey's, though I also like the Wolesley, which is a bit larger."

A lot of stars mention Sheekey's. What's the main attraction for you? "The food's very high quality and it attracts a very interesting clientele but it's understated and discrete, it's not at all showy, so it's a good place to relax."

Buy Don Carlos tickets

By Paul Webb
Wednesday March 2