15 December - 17 December 2008
Movie: The Wolf Man
Status: Filming
Release: 3 April 2009 (USA)
Role: Unknown
Project: The New Voices
Where: Southbank Centre
Date: 12 October 2008
Time: 7:30pm
Book:
HERE
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Online since: October 24th 2007
In News >>> Interviews >>> Fresh Face
FRESH FACE...Dianne Pilkington! By Glenn Rice
Name:
Dianne Pilkington.
Age:
32.
Currently:
Bringing beauty and sparkle to the Land of Oz as Glinda the Good
Witch in the musical Wicked at London’s Victoria Apollo theatre. Although she
has featured in major London shows before, including Les Miserables and Taboo,
and also in tours of Cats and Beauty and the Beast, Pilkington’s role as Glinda
in Wicked opposite Kerry Ellis’ Elphaba marks her ascendancy to the West End
big league in a starring role.
Hometown:
Billings, near Wigan, Lancashire. For such an accomplished performer,
it’s a surprise to find out that the acting game was little more than a hobby
for Pilkington until comparatively late on. In a voice that’s always on the
edge of bursting into good-natured laughter, she explains how she eventually
came to the stage.
“I went to an am dram in Stockport when I was 13 or 14, quite a good one,
but I wasn’t one of those people who knew that they wanted to do it.
I was quite academic as a young girl. A few years later there were quite a few
people who came back from drama school and did the summer school at the
am dram place, and one of the guys said to me, I really think you should think
about going to drama college.
So I thought about it and mulled it over for about a year. I think I was about
18 when I suddenly turned ‘round and said I wanted to go to drama college,
and my parents nearly had a heart attack.
But it’s all right—I think they’re quite happy now!”
A Spell in School:
A pleasing hint of Lancashire occasionally slips through Pilkington’s otherwise
beautifully modulated RP tones. It’s touching to hear her imply her presumed
terrors of London when discussing her move south to study at the Guilford School of Acting.
“It was amazing,” she says.
"It was a big departure for me, completely different to anything I’d done
before. I don’t know what it’s like now, but then it was pretty tough—you know,
if you don’t turn up on time you get sent home, that sort of thing.
It was enough of a traditional school environment that it suited me, and it
wasn’t too much of a shock, but the grounding that you get in all aspects of
theatre was perfect for me. And it was close enough to London that you could
go and see things, but not be terrified by the whole big city life.”
Watching and Waiting:
On leaving drama school, she went straight into her first professional role in the
West End.
“I was very lucky,” she recalls.
“I got into the ensemble of Les Mis and I was covering Fantine and that was
fantastic. Again, a really good grounding. It’s so valuable to be able to go
into something like that, which is a bit of an institution.
You can learn so much from the people that you’re working with without being
immediately thrown into a spotlight where everybody’s staring at you, and it
gives you the chance to learn your craft in private—almost.”
Breaking Through with Taboo:
In 2002, she received positive attention for her portrayal of Kim in Boy
George’s off-beat musical Taboo, which caused a stir at the time for its frank
depictions of sexual polymorphism, drug taking and more.
“It was fantastic,” she says.
“I think the thing that I liked about it was that it was very different to
anything I’d done before. In fact, a lot of things I‘ve done are very different
from each other, and I think that’s why I still really love what I do, because
I’ve gone from one extreme to another.
Kim was a mad punk with a terrible chip on her shoulder and a big PVC wig.
And yeah, it was very far-out and a little bit pushing the boundaries—and I
think my mum might have been a bit shocked by that. But it was good fun, and
it was so much fun working with Boy George.”
Musical Magpie:
Pilkington’s boyfriend is a member of rock band
The Vinyl Stitches . Suggest to
her however that’s she might just be putting up a musical theatre front to conceal
the fact that she’s secretly a “rock ‘n’ roll gal” and she breaks into a tinkle
of laughter.
“Is that because my boyfriend’s a rock ‘n’ roll guy?" she smiles.
"I do tend to like a lot of different types of music, and before I really got
into musical theatre, I didn’t really listen to it that much.
I grew up listening to bands like The Verve—they’re from Wigan, so I listened
to them. And of course my boyfriend’s in a band, so I do have that side of
my personality but I wouldn’t say I was massively rock ‘n’ roll—I just embrace
whatever scene is around.”
Over the Rainbow:
It turns out that there’s a satisfying resolution for the star regards her
casting in Wicked. Ask her if she had a creative role model when younger,
and she’s quick to reply.
“Oh, absolutely. Judy Garland. I loved her,” she exclaims.
“I still do. She just embodied for me everything that a singer should be.
She’s got a beautiful voice—she’s got a great tone to it, but she doesn’t just
rely on that. She put so much heart into what she did; it was amazing.”
Your Dreams Come True:
So being in Wicked really is something of a dream come true?
“Absolutely! One of my favourite films, obviously, would have been
The Wizard of Oz, and so I knew that inside out,” she says.
“I loved the book of Wicked when I first read it, which was before the musical
was even talked about. Glinda is a slightly nastier person in that than she is
in the show—she has very few redeeming qualities. And I love the music of
Stephen Schwartz, so for me it is absolutely an ideal musical to be a part of.”
Good Girl Glinda:
Glinda’s journey in the show takes her from being basically a rather spoilt and
quite bitchy little girl to someone rather more compassionate and mature.
From the audience, it looks like Pilkington absolutely revels in the sheer
deliciousness of her early scenes.
“Oh, thank you!” she says, but goes on to qualify the assumption.
“The thing is, I don’t think she means to be nasty. I think she has moments of
bitchiness—every young girl does. And I don’t think that she’s any nastier or
any nicer than any young girl. It just happens that she has advantages that she
uses, like the hair and the money and the clothes and everything, and that could
make anybody oblivious to the plight of other people.
But eventually, she finds her way.”
Warmth Among Witches:
There is a very warm, relaxed vibe among the Wicked cast when they’re together
offstage. It’s natural then that Pilkington should speak so fondly of her fellows.
“I knew Kerry before,” she says.
“She’s one of the most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met in this business.
Do you know what? I think It all comes from the top, and Kerry’s leading the
company and is an absolutely lovely person, who is not pretentious, she’s not
precious, she’s just very, very down-to-earth. And when you happen to be like
that at the helm of the project, it filters down, and everybody follows that.
It’s great. I did some work with her a few years ago and, yes, she’s always
been like that. Such a laid-back girl.
And she knows Ollie [Tompsett, who plays Fiyero], and he’s really laid back as
well. So it’s genuine. Everybody’s appreciates their jobs and appreciates each
other and their talents. It’s just a great company.”
Next Steps:
The future is assuredly dazzling for such a charming performer. She’s loosely
considering her next step but for the moment, she’s happy with her place in
Wicked.
“I’ve always done musical theatre, so I’d love to do straight theatre or TV.
Film? Wow, that’d be a leap in a totally different direction, but I’d never
