Newcomer Lydia Leonard makes a killer Broadway debut as one of this season's most delectable stage characters, the conniving, social-climbing queen Anne Boleyn in the epic, two-part drama Wolf Hall. Her Tony Award-nominated performance is so great: you'll hate her, you'll love her, you'll want to be her for Halloween. (And after leaving the Winter Garden Theatre, it's going to be nearly impossible to pronounce Cromwell without thinking of her.) Below, we get to know more about the leading lady and first-time Tony nominee.
1. Scene in which I find Anne’s actios most horrifying:
It's horrifying how violent Anne can be especially to Jane Seymour.
2. Scene that really endears her to me:
When Anne is arrested, she battles to retain her status while everything is being pulled out from beneath her. Her attempt to mask her palpable terror is courageous and, I think, heart wrenching.
3. When I first saw my face on a Broadway marquee, I felt:
First disbelief, I just couldn't get my head round it....then total excitement!
4. Favorite place I’ve discovered in NYC during the run:
I love the high line! And Marie's crisis downtown for singing.
5. Thing I miss most about life in the U.K.:
My mum and Dad and their chickens.
6. My favorite queen from the stage, screen or TV is:
Queenie from Blackadder played by Miranda Richardson.
7. If I had to describe the coronation scene [pictured above] in a hashtag, it would be:
#WINNING
8. Book I’ve read that really rocked my world:
Eloise at the Plaza.
9. Film I love so much I know every word to:
Mean Girls.
10. Three items I have to have backstage during the double-show days of Wolf Hall:
A pillow, a book and my knitting. I've requested kittens, but they haven't shown up yet.
Don't miss Lydia Leonard's Anne Boleyn in the eight-time Tony-nominated Best Play Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2 at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre.
