We thought you’d like to know a bit more about the people behind Sybil, Basil & Manuel so every month we’re going to introduce one of our actors. This week is the turn of Jordan Edmeades, an Australian actor who has been playing Basil for just over 3 years now. He is currently touring in Europe and made in his debut on the West End last October.
You can find out a bit more about Jordan and other projects he is currently working on here: www.jordanedmeades.com
Q1: What’s your favourite part of working with Faulty Towers The Dining Experience so far, or your favourite Faulty moment?
A: Travelling the world as a working actor and being given the chance to open a five-star show on London’s West End. Big career moment for me and one I’ll never forget.
Q2: Describe yourself in three words?
A: Direct, curious, considerate.
Q3: What’s your best (or worst) corpsing story?
A: Children crack me up. They have the most amazing ability to say exactly what they think at any given moment, which is an improv actor’s dream. One night during a show at Charing Cross, a young boy who wouldn’t eat his soup began to cry as I told him to stop complaining and just eat the soup. Sybil spent the next ten minutes consoling him, telling him I was a bad man and not to listen to a word I say. She made me apologise and I discovered he liked chocolate… “right, chocolate soup it is then!”.
Later in the show I was having trouble opening a bottle of cola. Eventually I gave up and admitted defeat, at which point I heard a bold reply ring out throughout the room… “I’ll do it!”. The young kid got out of his chair, snatched the bottle out of my hands and proceeded to try to open the bottle between his legs just like Basil. I couldn’t help but cry with laughter as Manuel quickly came over to help him. I was laughing uncontrollably for a good five minutes, head out the side door trying to catch myself. I had been upstaged by a five-year-old. Brilliant fun.
Q4: What similarities and differences are there between you and the character you play?
A: Like Basil, I have moments of social awkwardness and frequently run into things. The biggest difference is our hair, of which I have a full head, requiring me frequently to artificially ‘recede’ it with a buzz cutter. It’s like mowing the lawn every couple of days.
Q5: If you were an animal, what animal would you be and why?
A: An albatross, one better than an eagle.
Q6: Who’s your favourite other cast member to share a dressing room with and why?
A: I have a different relationship with all of them. I enjoy regular bowel-movement-related conversations with Anthony Sottile, wine and music with Daley Donnelly, poetry and prose with Brian Roche, theatrical brainstorming with Andy Foreman, and in-depth film talk with Ed Howells. When blessed with a lady in the room I enjoy gutter talk and sage advice with Karen Hamilton, wild stories with Suzanna Hughes, business and marketing with Alison Pollard-Mansergh, the trials of houseboat building with Karina Garnett, and exploring the wonders of writing and family life with Donna Gray. Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to room with other Basils, but we catch up at the bar whenever we get a chance.
Q7: If your character had a dating profile, what do you think it would say?
A: I’m manic, impatient, intolerant and not really a fan of people. Contact me if you relate and don’t answer to the name of Sybil.
Q8: What was your last tweet or Facebook status?
A: Signed an online petition to help save the threatened orangutan community in Indonesia.
Q9: What don’t you leave home without?
A: Water
Q10: Do you have any hidden talents?
A: I love my Aussie Rules and can match it with the best of them on a good day.
Q11: What would Basil have to say about horse meat in lasagnes?
A: “Well… horses for main courses, really”
