Rake in Progress: Dónal Finn
The Irish actor Dónal Finn is starring — or singing his heart out — in the London production of the hit musical Hadestown. But he saved enough of his voice to chat to us about his childhood, life lessons and greasy spoons.
Dónal Finn is incredibly generous with his time when I chat to him at the Soho Hotel in central London. Interviewees are often quick to the point, with pre-planned answers they know will tick the journalist’s boxes. But Finn is thoughtful with every response, and gives his full attention to our 90-minute conversation over a coffee and a red-berry smoothie. It’s especially generous as his vocal cords will need as much rest as possible over the next nine months. He’s just landed the lead role in the award-winning musical Hadestown, in which he’s required to sing throughout the entirety of each performance — and there are eight shows a week.
Hadestown makes its London debut at the Lyric theatre after an electric run on Broadway. It won eight Tony awards in 2019, including best musical and best original score for its jazz-infused soundtrack. Finn plays Orpheus, a troubled young singer who puts his life on the line to save his lover, Eurydice, in the dystopian world of Hadestown. It’s a departure from Finn’s recent work, which includes SAS Rogue Heroes and The Wheel of Time, but he’s never shied away from the mic. “It’s a part of our culture,” he says in a thick Irish accent. Finn, from Dromina in County Cork, is part of a new generation of exceptionally talented Irish actors looking to put their mark on stage and screen.
How would you describe Hadestown?
The show was originally booked until July or August, but now it’s been extended to December. It will be the longest stretch of theatre I’ve done. It’s entirely sung-through, so there isn’t any dialogue as such, and the conversations happen to music. There’s a heightened kind of a reality to it.
The story of Hadestown is based on two Greek mythic love stories, which are the stories of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone. Essentially, the world is in disarray because the seasons are out of line, and there’s only a roasting summer and a freezing winter. Orpheus meets Eurydice — she changes the course of his life and they fall in love, but they get divided in a storm. Along the way she’s coaxed into going to the underworld of Hadestown, where she’s offered all the comforts of food and shelter, and when Orpheus learns this he starts a quest to save her. And it’s all through song. The music is by Anaïs Mitchell, and it’s amazing. It has a quantity of jazz and a kind of 1920s New Orleans feel within it, but she’s a folk singer as well, so it has this fireside quality in a kind of storytelling tradition.
Have you always sung?
I started singing in school, but there was always music in our house. I suppose it’s like a part of the family tradition as well. For family gatherings, as the night rolls on people do start to sing. So the notion of singing in front of other people I always saw as a kid. People that aren’t from Ireland or whatever, maybe that’s not their background, but it’s definitely part of our culture.
Who are some of the people who have had the biggest impact on you and your career?
I have a lot of inspirational influences from people I haven’t worked with — people I really admire, like Jessie Buckley, Cillian Murphy. People who are doing incredible, incredible work; people navigating that line between stage and screen. I worked with Jack O’Connell on SAS Rogue Heroes, and that was my first time doing a screen job with a character that had a big arc. He put me at ease with the creative process, and I didn’t feel nervous telling him that this was kind of a new thing for me. He was so generous and careful in discussing the scenes, the relationship between the characters, and exploring what risks we could take in the scenes that would live in the parameters of this amazing script from Steven Knight. He was really generous and has stayed constantly, really supportive and really engaged. Yeah, he’s a great man.
What’s the most important life lesson you’ve learned?
It’s a lesson I’m still learning. I have by no means mastered it and I need to practise it a lot more: it’s the importance of keeping things in balance in your life. And trying to ensure there’s a harmony between work and family, life and friendships and relationships. Anything that’s going to be good in your life is not good because of it being passive. Even relationships with friends that you’ve had for years. Family, partners, they all have to be worked on. I think that’s a massive lesson.
With such a long run of live performances, how do you wind down?
Last year I got big into exercise and looking after that side of me. I like to run a lot. And I’d like to balance that out with a bit of different exercise this year, because I did a lot of running last year. There is something comforting about the routine and the structure of theatre which is different to filming. But I’ll switch off by seeing my mates as well. They’re a big part of my life.
What is the best city in the world?
I have an awful lot of love for Cork, because I think I could definitely live there. I don’t really see any faults with the city, and I love the humour of the city. And then I have a lot of love for Prague. I think that’s because of the experiences and the people I’ve met there when filming The Wheel of Time. We’ve built a bit of a community there, and it’s picturesque and has incredible food.
Favourite restaurant in London?
I love a greasy spoon. I like going to Bar Bruno in Soho because it’s so reliable. It’s so close to the theatre at the moment. There’s Crisp in Hammersmith. It’s kind of like a pub but it does really good pizzas. There’s some great places in Shoreditch as well, like Padella and Manteca for pasta.
Aside from Hadestown, what are you most excited about this year?
We are wrapped on season three of The Wheel of Time. But I think this year could be an opportunity, while I have the routine and structure of theatre, to go about exploring other outlets, like writing, creating. If you’re an actor, you naturally have an interest in telling stories. I think there’s a further exploration of that, obviously, in being part of creating a story that you want to be told.
Fashion Assistant: Elena Garcia
Grooming: Ky Wilson at Joe Mills Agency
Shot on a location at Rio Cinema, Hackney at JJ Locations
