Shaun Williamson: “I wanted to be a helicopter pilot like Prince Andrew”


You’re starring in a new jukebox musical called Love Me Tender [pictured].

I’m a massive Elvis fan so I was very excited about being in this. As well as the music being great it’s such a funny show.

Have they managed to piece together a story using his songs?

You know how in the Elvis films he was always this loner who drives into town on a motorbike in a leather jacket? We have that character called Chad, he drives into the most depressing town ever full of unhappy people and through the medium of song changes everyone’s lives around.

Is there any better medium than song to change things?


I do think that when you do see someone truly unhappy they probably haven’t got music in their life.

After the uplifting video of you singing Something Inside So Strong, at the World Bowls Championships, went viral last year I ordered a CD from your website. I’m still waiting for it to arrive.

Oh, I promise I will chase that up.

It was just before Christmas so it might have got lost in the rush.

I’ll send a text right now.

[Update: a couple of years later, the CD has still not arrived]

Thanks! So, have you been to Graceland?

No, I’ve been all over America but not Tennessee. When I was younger I signed up with Camp America and worked as a counsellor in Pennsylvania. You spend six weeks at camp then have six weeks on your visa before you have to leave. Me and my friend – we were fans of Jack Kerouac – hitchhiked the route from On the Road. We got to Atlanta before our luck ran out.

What other jobs did you have before acting?

My first job in entertainment was as a Pontin’s Bluecoat, then I was an 18-to-30s rep in Tenerife. I was a postman, every winter I’d stack shelves in Safeway; I was in the Navy.

What did you do in the Navy?

We’d just had the Falklands, I wanted to be a helicopter pilot like Prince Andrew. I was accepted, had a number and everything – Aircrewman Williamson – then the last thing they did, which is bizarre, was a medical. They said: “You’re colour blind.” I said – what does that mean? “You’ll never fly a helicopter.”

You went to drama school and within six months were in EastEnders.

I did the circuit: The Bill, London’s Burning, then they got me in as Barry. It was frustratingly slow for the first year and a half. I think they liked me but they didn’t know what to do with Barry. He was a bit of a villain at first. Then cuddly Nigel left – they needed someone to take his place and they lobotomised Barry overnight.

Were you happy to become cuddly?

I thought it a bit odd but when you start getting regular cheques you think it’s wonderful. After 10 years I’d had enough. People say: “Do you miss it?” No. “Would you ever go back?” I can’t.

You played Barry from EastEnders on Ricky Gervais’ Extras. Did you have to teach big Hollywood stars how to laugh at themselves?

No, I’ll tell you why. Everyone who signed up knew what they were in for. They were all up for it.

You’ve worked with Ricky Gervais many times, will you be in the David Brent film?

Oh I’d love to. He put me in 10 Extras, four Life’s Too Short, The Invention of Lying – so if he never talks to me again I can’t moan. But I’m always on the end of the phone, Ricky!

In the 11 years since you left Albert Square you’ve starred in 25 stage shows. Is that where you feel most at home?

On TV all you’ve got to do is concentrate on a take. If you cry, great. If you produce a moment of comedy, it’s there for posterity. In theatre you’ve got to recreate it every night for six months. Even when you’re bored of it, to be brutally honest. You can’t let the audience know that because it’s not fair on them.

So it must be better when it’s a feel-good show featuring Elvis songs!

I dunno. I play an old boy in love with a woman who doesn’t know I exist – the most miserable character in it. But I’m not complaining.

Love Me Tender is touring the UK