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He self-corrects and revises, and then asks for your opinion, and then revises again.
The audience gets so many more references than they did in London.
Then you’re able to just do the play.
So its a way of getting all of that stuff just deeper and into second nature.
Im used to playing lead parts that have the audience behind them.
Thats been really exciting, to let go of worrying about how the audience are going to see me.
Louis is just such a New York person.
Whats it like to play him here, surrounded by New Yorkers?Listen theres no escape.
Everyone knows what were talking about.
Id read that you met Tony and realized there was a lot of Louis in him.
Its written like music, all those introductions and stammers.
I love playing like that; its my favorite bang out of dialogue to get into.
Tony comes from a musical background and its so musical.
How do you approach it?Nathan and I have had talks like this.
Sometimes its tough in rehearsal, when you do it.
Often I wonder, Is it different now from what the actors were doing 25 years ago?
It can be uncomfortable.
The audience changes the reaction to it every night.
Sometimes the audience, I feel, are really on Louiss side.
Theyre strangely the most uncomfortable nights for me.
Other times, I think the demographic of the audience sometimes unsettles me.
Like all theater, in our country as well, I wish there was a more diverse audience.
I mean, its just obscenely white.
Between doingAngels in America,Platanov, andThe James Plays, youve done a lot of really long shows.
What draws you to them?The next play Im doing is long as well!
Its about five hours long.
But I find it exhilarating.
I love the two-show days [onAngels].
Theres a sense of completion.
I like to think its making theater eventful again, thats what it used to be.
Thats not its roots.
The boys I grew up with are these straight white men from Glasgow, and theyre all professionals.
They only go to the theater to see me.
But they love it, and its not just because Im there.
I think people long for that in this age of Twitter and Instagram and Facebook.
I find it reductive.
Theres no sweat or blood or smell.
Thats how I judge people.
Theres a whole host of men in it.
You know if these men werent controlling the strings, they would have probably resolved it.
It was written by Beau Willimon [ofHouse of Cards], and it was just fantastic.
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So, in terms of film and television, I really want to do film.
So Im totally open if the scripts are right.
But Im like, Am I?
I find it so strange, being an actor.
I cant believe Im doing it, and so Im gonna do it my way.
Otherwise, Id rather not.
If they dont want me to dance anymore, then Ill go do something else in Scotland.
There was just no other option for me.
I knew this is what I wanted to do.
Once I got to RADA, I didnt really realize the class system existed in my country.
I thought that was the extent of it, and then I moved to RADA.
I felt like I would have to prove my intelligence a lot in the room.
and Hamlets a prince.
I was like Hamlets Danish, you tit!
I had assumed equality, and learned that I was naive.
There was a party thrown at the producers house [in New York].
More than one guy was like [in the voice that sounds like Louis], Youre playingLouis?
But Im an actor.
Actors need to be able to act.
Dont worry, Ill work hard to double-check it works.
But it was the Scottish thing.
No one does it with Denise [Gough, who plays Harper], and shes Irish.
Its like, Youre so Scottish!
English people say to me, YouresoScottish.
I think they mean, Youre working class.
The thing Louis does, leaving Prior after hes diagnosed with AIDS, is so terrible.
Was it hard to get into his mind?That is one of the main things I never bought.
And it cant be that he doesnt love him and it cant be Joe.
What I love about Marianne is how collaborative she is.
I had the vulnerability and the strength of vulnerability to say, I dont know either.
What do you think?
And we didnt attempt to rush through an answer.
He is the only divine feminine force in his life, and he cant watch that die.
He actually just doesnt have the strength to watch the most beautiful thing in his life die.
Its breaking his heart too much.
Youve had to work with two different Joe Pitts Russell Tovey and then Lee Pace.
Whereas with Lee, the way Lee does Joe is that hes an intellectual match for Louis.
And I think theres that kind of pull in them.
Theres like, I want to get to the root of you.
And I think Lee has that.
Theres a wrestle between them.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
