Jerome Flynn tells CityLiving about his dream role playing national treasure Tommy Cooper.
The prospect of portraying one of your heroes on the stage can be a double-edged sword for an actor; its a dream come true, an honour but youre also conscious the last thing you want to do is sully the memory of a much-loved celebrity. Sean Foley and Hamish McColl pulled it off with great aplomb and applause with The Play What I Wrote, their tribute to the genius of Morecambe and Wise more the essence of the comedy duo than an out-and-out impersonation.
In the same vein Jus Like That has been doing it for Tommy Cooper, Jerome Flynn taking up the role of the Fez-wearing comedian/magician who tragically died performing on stage in 1984.
For Flynn, best known as Paddy Garvey in the ITV drama Soldier, Soldier and one half of singing duo Robson & Jerome, it was, to paraphrase Marlon Brando, an offer he couldnt refuse: 'I had no hesitation,' says Jerome ahead of the latest leg of the shows national tour. 'If there was one part I wanted to have a go at playing it would have been Tommy; hes an old hero of mine, a genius as far as
Im concerned, so to be able to go out there and actually be him for a couple of hours and have that relationship with the audience has been a joy.
'It was daunting to start off with, when I didnt know exactly what the response was going to be before I opened the show,' Jerome admits.
But the fact that hes so loved meant once I was accepted as Tommy it paid off 'I could feel the love coming off the audience, its extraordinary.
'Its like when I went to see The Play What I Wrote I really wanted Eric Morecambe back; I didnt care how they did it but I wanted the essence of him back and when they did kind of do that and he went into Eric you could feel the whole audience just change.
'Im not trying to do a straight impersonation,' says Jerome. 'Its more letting the essence of the man take me over I feel like hes setting the clown in me free.'
Directed by Simon Callow, Jus Like That is, says Flynn, a Tommy fest; a classic Tommy Cooper variety show 'daft jokes, magic tricks that appear to go wrong, dancing girls... plus a glimpse at the man as he rests in his dressing room preparing for the second half: 'You see both sides of him, although offstage he didnt really differ,' says Jerome.
While he has no plans to return to music in the near future, Jerome chuckles when fondly remembering his 15 minutes of fame in the mid 90s as half of Robson & Jerome and their trio of UK number ones produced by the then relatively unknown but already highly savvy Simon Cowell: 'He was much the same. I dont think his ego was as big cos he wasnt an international celebrity at that point,' Jerome laughs.
Alexandra Theatre until Mar 5, Belgrade Coventry Mar 29-Apr.
