Interview: Marc Antolin, the Welsh star lighting up London’s West End

Rhys John Edwards

Much is made of Port Talbot’s big three – Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen (or, as Rob Brydon is keen to point out to Steve Coogan on their sitcom, The Trip, “the big four!”).

But the town’s creative legacy stretches far beyond those headline names, having produced numerous actors, singers, writers and poets. Amongst them is Marc Antolin, who is currently lighting up London’s West End as Leo Bloom in The Producers.

‘Port Talbot is a huge hub of talent’

He offers a strikingly different perspective on what it means to “make it” from a small industrial town. Conversations around this subject tend to focus on geographical isolation and limited opportunities, the idea that a career in the arts is somehow unattainable. But for Antolin, the opposite was true. The visibility of Port Talbot’s acting greats actually made the dream feel tangible.

“Port Talbot is a huge hub of talent, so acting always felt like a viable career because of the people that have gone before,” he tells me, calling in from his dressing room ahead of an evening performance.

That belief, combined with family support, allowed him to commit wholeheartedly to his desired career. His route, however, was anything but straightforward. If it were not for a sports injury, he might never have caught the bug at all.

“I had a knee injury in school, so I basically had to give up sport for 18 months,” he recalls. “I was just so used to training all the time and suddenly I had all these evenings free.”

An unlikely remedy for his boredom came in the form of amdram, a left-field suggestion from a friend. He was hesitant at first. Acting hadn’t even been on his radar, but in retrospect the signs were always there.

“I was always doing impressions as a kid. Watching Mr Bean and trying to replicate that. Just being stupid around the house, really!”

‘I joined every drama club in south Wales’

Youth theatre, specifically West Glamorgan Youth Theatre, whose alumni include Russell T Davies, Rakie Ayola and, yes, Michael Sheen again, gave him a structured outlet for that restless energy.

“I really found my tribe. I think I joined every drama club in South Wales. My parents would drive me to a new one practically every day.”

The rush of performing was immediate, as was his addiction to the stage. Formal training followed at Arts Educational Schools London, where he honed his craft in musical theatre.

Following graduation, Antolin began to build an impressive and wide-ranging career across stage and screen. His theatre work alone includes roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe.

Even so, landing the role of Leo Bloom in The Producers took him by surprise.

“I was so shocked when it came through,” he says. “My agent called and said, ‘Patrick Marber wants to meet you for The Producers…’”

‘So much of my career has led me to this point’

Marber had seen Antolin in The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk a few years earlier. “And he remembered my clowning! He said I was the first person he thought of for Leo.”

In effect, Antolin had been auditioning for the role long before it was in fact available.

“It’s something that I’ve only come to realise in the last few years. There’s so much of my career that has led me to this point. I mean, obviously this is a massive role for me in a West End show, which I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing all those years ago because I didn’t feel ready for it. Whereas now, I feel like I can see how everything aligned to get me to this moment.”

But he initially struggled to imagine how such a larger-than-life musical could work in the intimate space of London’s Menier Chocolate Factory.

“I did think, how the hell are they going to do that show there? But Patrick’s vision was clear from the off.”

This version – which has since successfully transferred to the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End – is very much a reinvention, yet maintains the magic that has allowed the show to endure across the decades.  

“Patrick is remarkable. And he was just so lovely to me. I’ll never forget his kindness and transparency during the whole process.”

‘I had the part, but they needed Mel Brooks to say yes’

There was, however, one final hurdle. “Patrick said, ‘We need to put you on tape to send to Mel Brooks…’”

Mel Brooks, the Hollywood legend behind The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, remains closely involved with the show. You’d think the 99-year-old would be resting up with his millions, leaving casting decisions to his trusted minions, but no, Brooks still insists on personally signing off on his revivals.

The wait was agonising. “They told me I essentially had the part, they just needed Mel Brooks to say yes.”

When that approval eventually came, it felt surreal. “Apparently Mel was going round showing my video to people saying, ‘This is our Leo, this is our Leo!’”

Leo Bloom is one of musical theatre’s most demanding comic roles. He’s chaotic, neurotic, perpetually anxious. In terms of physicality, it is pretty relentless.

“I throw myself around the set, throw myself on the floor. There’s also a lot more dancing in this version than Leos before me.”

‘There’s no way to compete with what’s gone before’

Eight shows a week bring their own pressures, but the nightly rush outweighs the strain.

“Sometimes if you’re injured or your voice is tired, it can feel like a lot. But as soon as you step on stage and hear that first laugh, it’s just amazing.”

One of his biggest challenges was resisting comparison. The role was immortalised on screen by Gene Wilder and later reinterpreted on stage by the likes of Matthew Broderick and Lee Evans.

“I just thought, how on earth do I make this my own? There’s no way to compete with what’s gone before.”

Instead, Antolin embraced his own approach and instincts. Simply put, “This is my version of this role.”

‘I’ve always been identified as the Welsh curly-haired boy’

Wales remains central to Antolin’s identity, even after two decades away. On camera, he points out his framed painting of Port Talbot and a poster with text reading Hiraeth – both on display in his dressing room. 

“Ever since I moved to London, I’ve always been identified as the Welsh curly-haired boy. I’ve still got my accent. And I get home whenever I can.”

Returning to work in Wales across his career has been particularly meaningful. In recent years, he starred in a Sherman Theatre production of Hedda Gabler, and said it was “simply amazing to work with Welsh creatives in a Welsh theatre.”

He is also delighted to watch from afar the ‘renewed energy’ of the Welsh arts scene, spurred on by the continuing work of companies such as Theatr Clwyd, Sherman Theatre, Theatr Iolo and Grand Ambition, as well as the much-publicised Welsh National Theatre.

“It’s a really exciting time to be a Welsh creative. I’d love to do more work there.”

‘I can do this, and I should be doing this’

As for The Producers, he describes it as “the most fun you can have in a West End theatre at the moment.”

“It’s shocking, it’s outrageous, it’s hilarious. But above all, it’s two-and-a-bit hours of pure belly laughs”

Towards the end of our interview, Antolin allows himself a moment of self-reflection. After years of graft, doubt and perseverance, he is taking on a role he once thought was beyond him but has since stretched him further than he imagined possible.

“We’re our own worst critics, I think, and sometimes you get disheartened when things aren’t going well and think, should I give up? But this role has, in a way, taught me I was right to do this. That I can do this, and I should be doing this. It’s been kind of a… ‘You’re doing alright, boy!’…” he laughs.

“I still feel like every job might be the last one,” he admits. “But looking back now to twenty years ago, moving away to drama school… I’m so glad I went for it, had a go, and chased that dream.”

The Producers is playing at the Garrick Theatre in London until Saturday 19 September 2026. Find out more here.