What could be more cozy than having lunch by a crackling fire in the company of three sympathetic actors in autumn knitwear? Nothing, really - although the subject that brought Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland together in this quiet London pub is about as cozy as a hand grenade.
They are busy rehearsing Ulster American, David Ireland's brutally funny three-hander about the explosive misunderstandings between Ruth, a principled playwright; Leigh, a well-meaning director; and Jay, a dominant Hollywood star. As the three prepare to perform Ruth's incendiary play about Northern Ireland, which features beheaded priests and the ghost of hunger striker Bobby Sands, they discover that they are not even in the same bookstore, let alone on the same page. Jay struggles to come to grips with the Troubles, Leigh mistakenly thinks the whole play is about post-Brexit tensions, and Ruth flatly refuses to do any rewrites. She's been promised an introduction to Jay's friend Quentin Tarantino, but as things stand, there could be enough blood spilled before opening night to make even the director of Kill Bill queasy.
My youngest daughter is extremely awake. Boy, does she ride me rough
Woody Harrelson
Fortunately, life today does not imitate art. Harland, 30, best known as the enchantingly offbeat Orla in the sitcom Derry Girls, is described as "bloody phenomenal" by Harrelson, now 62 and who plays the Hollywood star. He directed her in 2017 in his risqué comedy Lost in London, the world's first (and so far only) single-take film to be broadcast live to cinemas during filming.
Meanwhile, Serkis, 59, is "a beautiful spirit," according to Harrelson. The pair met in 2016 while making War for the Planet of the Apes. "Andy became that damn gorilla!" Harrelson says admiringly. Serkis clears his throat. "Chimpanzee, Woody. A small point."
Harrelson last trod the boards in a West End revival of The Night of the Iguana in 2005. Or as he calls it, "The Night of the Living Hell." So bad, huh? "Yes. I didn't like the production, the part or the way I did it. It's been even longer since Serkis has been on stage. He was Iago in a 2002 Othello, but has since been tied up acting in blockbusters (Apes, Jedis, Hobbits, Avengers) or directing one (Venom: Let There Be Carnage, starring Harrelson and Tom Hardy).
The story continues
"When you're away for so long," says Serkis, "you feel like you have to come back with a big Richard III song." He was set to play Johnny "Rooster" Byron in last year's revival of Jez Butterworth in Jerusalem, until Mark Rylance returned to the role for a victory lap. "Then Woody sent me Ulster American and I said, 'Bang! That is it.'"
What grabbed him? "David's language is so muscular and musical. And because it's a comedy, it gives you the freedom to think more openly." Serkis sees the piece as a reflection on the 'post-truth' world. "You can be canceled at any time. There is misinformation everywhere. Common decency disappears. Theater should be a place to express the wrong thought, the unspeakable statement, but today that is a dangerous thing to do." Harland agrees: "We go to the theater to be challenged. David's writing certainly does that."
Ulster American skates on the edge of bad taste. It starts with Jay thinking about his right to use racist language. He then proposes an offensive thought experiment involving a member of the royal family. "I gasped when I read it," says Harrelson. "There's a real chance you'll make people laugh hysterically, but you'll have to do some heavy sledding at times."
He is optimistic that British theatergoers will experience the play in the penetrating, analytical spirit in which it was written. "The American public is offended by words and ideas. They are much more awake than here. Me, I look a lot like Jay." Harland quickly intervenes. "Not that extreme," she emphasizes. "No," says Harrelson. "But I can be a provocateur. My youngest daughter does extremely woke up. Boy, does she ride me rough. I'll say, 'It's a joke! I know you're awake, but can you take a nap?'" What did they argue about? "Oh, let's not go into details," he says in a sing-song voice. His co-stars respond with relieved laughter.
Harrelson got a taste of controversy earlier this year after hosting Saturday Night Live and joking about drug cartels buying up the media and politicians and then creating a crisis to make the world dependent on their product. When the penny dropped that he was making a satirical point about the pandemic, an eerie silence descended on the studio. He must have suspected that the crowd might not be on his side. "I knew That wouldn't be the case,' he says with a twinkle in his eye. "It was ironic that it was interpreted as anti-vax when in reality it was anti-profiteering. I would feel better if trillions of dollars weren't pouring out of our pockets into the hands of big pharmaceutical companies."
Provocation is one thing, but Harrelson's character in Ulster American combines A-list power with toxicity. Has the cast ever met any real Jays? "Yes," says Serkis. "But I can't say who." Harrelson shakes his fist and demands, "Get rid of that son of a bitch!" How did Serkis deal with such a dysfunctional presence? "You're trying to change the temperature in the room to deprive that behavior of all the oxygen," he says. For her part, Harland says she is generally positive about her workplace in the post-#MeToo climate. "There is certainly a greater understanding, but it will take time to undo the damage. There is a lot to undo."
What brings the characters in the play to an impasse is their stubbornness, each defending their own territory. "That's what the piece is about," says Serkis. "How far will you go to fight for your truth? Leigh wants to engage with the complicated nature of Northern Ireland, but his understanding only goes so far. The question of whether you can ever really tell someone else's story is being scrutinized."
This raises a thought for Harland, whose character in Derry Girls was widely interpreted as autistic. "It's nice that people identified with Orla," she says. "But I am not autistic and the choices I made were not specific to autism. But I was really moved by all the letters I received from girls who felt like they were outsiders."
Ulster American repeatedly jokes about how childish actors can be. Did that ring a bell? "I became a professional actor when I was 23," says Harrelson. "And the is a bit like being a child. If there's no one to take me to the next thing, I don't know where I'm going. I am led by the hand everywhere." He adopts a docile expression and offers a limp arm to an imaginary babysitter. "I even got lost yesterday while cycling home. I couldn't remember the name of the road I'm staying on. And I don't have a phone. That was awkward." Doesn't he have a map? "But where I am is just off the map," he says, making it sound like a metaphor.
On the first day at Cheers, Teddy Danson found out I was playing ping pong. The next day there is a table there
Serkis says that he too has felt infantile as an actor, which surprises Harrelson. "You seem like the type who could change a flat tire and fix an engine," he says, then turns to Harland and me, "Doesn't Andy seem like he can do something?" Serkis looks shy. "I can get myself out of situations in a Boy Scout way," he says.
This all brings Harrelson back to his career as a sweet, dorky bartender, also called Woody, in the sitcom Cheers, alongside Ted Danson. "The first day on set, Teddy discovered that I was playing ping pong. He also plays ping pong. "Hey, can we get a ping pong table?" The next day it's there." He shakes his head. "People take care of you all the time. Everything you want. The point is, it's okay if everyone tells you you're great. The problem is when you start to believe it."
Did he? "I certainly did that. When I was younger, my ego ran away from me. Or with me. It's almost inevitable. Either you catch yourself and realize what's happening, or you get fucked as a human being. Now I have mastered it well. I feel an appropriate level of humility."
Right on cue, his assistant arrives to escort him back to rehearsals. "I mean, we're not surgeons," Harrelson says, clambering to his feet. "We are not saving Mother Earth here."
* Ulster American is at Riverside Studios, London, from December 4 to January 27.
