Actress Jenny Jules meets me in a bustling New York City coffee shop by Union Square. She's just rushed over after a rehearsal for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in which she will be stepping into the iconic role of Hermione Granger. No stranger to New York theatre, the London native has an impressive resumé that boasts productions at St. Ann's Warehouse and The Public Theatre, among other great venues. She made her Broadway debut playing Tituba in the critically acclaimed 2016 Ivo van Hove production of The Crucible and is now moving on to a very different kind of witch-related production.
The production, a 2-part, 5-hour event (complete with breaks) at The Lyric Theatre, is written by Jack Thorne and based on an original new story by Thorne, J.K. Rowling and director John Tiffany. It explores what happens nineteen years into the future, when Harry is sending his middle child, Albus, with whom he has a somewhat tumultuous relationship, off to Hogwarts to become a wizard.
I spoke to Jules about recent developments (and lack thereof) in diverse casting, the daunting task of taking on such a beloved character and the perks of starring on Broadway at the same time her husband, Ralph Brown, is making his Broadway debut in The Ferryman at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
Jules grins toward the end of the interview and says, "Thank you for not pushing me about any of the secrets." It's then I realize the pressure she must be under to not accidentally leak any spoilers to avid Potterheads. After each performance, audience members are encouraged to remain discreet, receiving badges that say #keepthesecrets. No such spoilers will be found in my discussion with Jules below.
Risa Sarachan: When did you first know you wanted to be an actress and then what education did you seek to enable your career to happen?
Jenny Jules: I’m one of seven kids, there’s one boy, and he’s just ahead of me. I was the one in the most insignificant position in the family, that’s probably why I’m an actor. Give me attention! I’m a December baby. There was a school play, and my brother was chosen to be in the play being performed on my birthday. I had my hand up really high, and they didn’t pick me for the play. I remember being able to go and see him perform. I was so competitive that I was like, "I can do that better than you." I was determined to act better than him. If something else had happened to me when I was five then maybe I’d be doing that.
I joined a youth theatre called the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn, it’s now called the Kiln Theatre. That was fantastic, we had profession directors, writers and producers. I had professional writers writing roles for me and the directors were incredible. I was there for about five years and then was chosen to do a production at the Tricycle as a supernumerary. From there I got picked to do something with a new company that was starting up with one of our directors. I wanted to go to Manchester to read Psychology and I’d been offered my Equity Card. I said, "I’m going to go to work." I had been in college doing A Level Theatre Studies and English. I didn’t go to drama school. I didn’t want to for many reasons, too boring to go into.
I was offered my card and I was so happy to just literally get on so I trained in the job and I spent most of my career, especially at the beginning, working with amazing people who were training me and teaching me how to use my voice. I feel blessed. It’s not the same now, there is no rep system, it’s a different industry. I was listening to a radio show once and I learned that Brian Cox played every single role in Shakespeare before he was 30. He wasn’t under any pressure to do so but he was in repertory theatres and he could just learn his craft. The industry changed over the last 20 years or so, and I just think there’s so much pressure on young actors to be brilliant on their first go-round, to be brilliant when they do their showcases for drama school. Actors always try to be the best performer they can be when they aren’t even ready yet, they’re still learning what it is. There’s no room for failure and I think that that’s not fair and it doesn’t bode well for the future of theatre.
Sarachan: It seems like if you’re not in one of these graduate school programs, maybe it’s harder to get chances?
Jules: If you’re not wealthy and you don’t come from money then it’s harder.
Sarachan: What is it like to have the good fortune of having a partner who is starring on Broadway at the same time as you? What advice did you give to Ralph on his Broadway debut?
Jules: We are really supportive. We’re best friends. We listen and we’re respectful of each other and each other’s needs. Sometimes it’s tough but we try to practice that every day. I tell him to focus, not to listen to the demon voice in his head telling him he’s not good enough, just ask him to be really focused and be centered and to do his job because he’s really rather brilliant at it. He doesn’t suffer from nerves so much, so I don’t have to worry about that. He’s such a lovely character and such a brilliant actor, it’s lovely to see him performing on stage. I saw the show last week in previews, I was like yes.
It is extraordinary that we are both on Broadway at the same time, and it’s not lost on us we are very blessed and we feel grateful and happy. For us, Ralph mainly does television and film and I mostly do theatre and that’s kind of a choice. I love being on stage, it’s my passion and someone has to make the rent, so he takes roles on television for us to continue to live the way we want to live.
Pictured (l-r): Jonno Roberts (as Draco Malfoy), Bubba Weiler (as Scorpius Malfoy), Nicholas Podany... [+]
Sarachan: What’s it like stepping into a role originated by another performer?
Jules: I’ve done it a couple of times before, my last job I did the show Sweat and I did exactly that. I took it on a national mobile tour with the Public Theatre across the states, and we had the same director, Kate Whoriskey. We had no pressure on us to do what the other had done. We felt like we needed to honor what the playwright Lynn Nottage had written and what Kate had seen. So I kind of felt like I was taking the role from somebody else even though I wasn’t taking Michelle’s (Wilson). I still felt the difference that it wasn’t me that had created it. For Harry Potter, I love Noma (Dumezweni), she’s an excellent performer and so generous. I’m happy to be stepping into her shoes because I respect her as an artist. I know the choices she made were strong choices. So, therefore, I will do some of them and try to work around some of the choices that I’ve seen she’s made because there is room to make it my own. It’s kind of harder and easier if that makes sense? It’s harder because there’s a sort of map that you have to follow in different ways and it’s easier because it’s already a success, so there’s less pressure on you to not mess it up.
Sarachan: How do you feel about the stage magic in this show?
Jules: What’s lovely about the magic is that all the magic that is performed in the show is performed live on stage. There’s no pretend; there’s no CGI; it’s all real magic.
Sarachan: Do you ever feel scared having that performed around you?
Jules: Totally! It’s a new skill.
Sarachan: Is it daunting to be starring in such an iconic and beloved role with such an intense fanbase? Were you a Potter fan before this?
Jules: Huge nod. Huge. (laughs) I laugh because I can’t even think about it like that. My first week whenever anybody said, Hermione Granger, I think I did a little wee in my pants. I’ve got to get over that because that’s going to be me shortly. I have to try to be calm and try to be a little bit cool because she’s cool. She’s so brilliant and clever. If I can touch the hem of her skirt on those different things then I will be happy. I’ve got a long time to grow, so I’m going to be finding lots of joyful things. I was a big Harry Potter fan before this. Ralph had read them and told me I’d like them and I said, "how dare you try and give me children’s books to read?" (laughs) I started reading them and just got sucked into the world and so I loved the books and all of the characters.
Sarachan: Do you know which house you would have been in?
Jules: I am in Gryffindor.
Sarachan: How does performing in the United Kingdom differ from performing on American stages? Is the rehearsal or performance process any different?
Jules: The rehearsal process is interesting because it’s usually quicker here in the states. So, you typically get three weeks and then there’s a week of tech. It feels like “quickly, let’s try and get this ready!”
In England, you have more time. I always feel that when one goes into previews in the United Kingdom, you’re much more ready to show your work to an audience. I do feel that there’s a constraint of finances here which is that as soon as it’s almost ready, we’ve got to get bums in seats and get the revenue. That’s how I feel and sometimes it makes me frustrated. I don’t think it’s fair. As an actor, I feel responsible for the audience who have paid to see me. It is my job to be professional. If I’m assisted in being as professional as I can be, then the previews are a joy in a way. I love the first preview, that’s one of my favorite performances.
Sarachan: You’ve also been on Broadway in Ivo van Hove's The Crucible, how does this experience compare?
Jules: This is a much larger role so I feel more responsibility and it’s also, we’ve had a very long rehearsal process and it’s been a joy. The crucible was difficult because we had four weeks and then we were up doing it. I felt like I wanted more chances to do my scene but that’s par for the course. Here, every tiny little minutiae we are allowed to go over and go over and fine tune and fine tune. It’s been such a joy. I think it’s the play; it’s two plays.
Sarachan: Do you think theatre's relationship with race has shifted in recent years?
Jules: I think it has. I know some people don't think it has. I think it's slow, but there is a seismic shift. Years ago, I wasn't allowed to play certain roles. I remember going into a meeting and having to perform my monologue. I wanted to read a monologue by a man and I was ridiculed in the meeting. That doesn't happen now. I've played men, I've played Shakespeare's men. I've been Cassius in Julius Caesar. I believe I've been given roles over the last decade that other actors who are older than me who are generations above me weren't offered. I played Ruth in The Homecoming. That was the first time a black actor had played her and I was chosen by Michael Attenborough who was running the Hampstead Theatre at the time and by Harold Pinter. So I felt very honored and it was great.
People had a debate about this character, and then after I played it, they were like, "well we can't see her any other way now except as somebody who is other coming into the family." So that was positive to me. I think it is always changing. Change is always slow and it's not quick enough for us. It's never quick enough in one's lifetime but yeah, it is changing. When I did The Crucible, there were six actors of color on that stage and that's the first time I'd ever seen that. I was very happy that Elizabeth Proctor was played by a woman of color, Sophie Okonedo. So yeah, things are shifting. I think that the casting directors are part of the change. They don't want to just cast kind of homogeneous anymore, they want people in the community to be a part of telling the story and I think that's the only way forward. And directors have a vision. I know that John Tiffany had an amazing vision to cast Noma in the first place as Hermione.
Sarachan: It also seems like there is more work being produced by writers of color because we want to hear their stories. Do you agree?
Jules: Yeah, people are getting behind writers of color, saying please can we have your stories now. Some of them are commercial stories. You're going to make money. It's not in the ghetto; it's not somewhere in the corner where people don't want to see it. I have many sayings and one of them is "producers don't want to see in black and white they want to see in green." So if you can convince them that they can make money from the story, then they can have a go at telling your story.
Sarachan: You’ve been acting for a long time now, any advice you wish someone had told you when you were just starting out in theatre?
Jules: You have to love it. It's going to be really tough. Even when you're happening, it's still tough. Even when the best things are happening in your life, you still have to work really hard. You have to continue to work on yourself, at your craft and be pleasant. Be good to be around because people like to have good energy around them when they're making stuff. In the theatre, because you become a family, good to be around is especially important. In this show, there's not one bad egg. Everybody is so positive; we're having such a brilliant time. It's a wonderful experience; I feel happy to be a part of this.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is currently running at the Lyric Theatre.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
