By Darlene Donloe
Contributing Writer
Chukwudi Iwuji is a classically trained thespian who loves the language of the masterworks.
The Nigerian-born and raised actor started his career playing classic characters on stage in the United Kingdom and New York. His credits at the New York Public Theatre include “Othello,” “Anthony and Cleopatra,” “King Lear” and “Hamlet.” For the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, he played “Henry VI” and “Richard III.”
Currently, he’s set to play the iconic Cyrano de Bergerac in a Pasadena Playhouse production of the same name, set for Sept. 4-29. Mike Donahue directs.
There have been many adaptations of the rarely performed, beloved classic ranging from original translations to modern takes like the film, “Roxanne.”
Playwright Martin Crimp shares his interpretation, paving the way for new audiences to embrace this universally received story while still paying homage to the play’s original prose.
De Bergerac was the real 17th-century French playwright and duelist whom the French poet Edmond Rostand published a play about in 1897, telling of the life of a fictionalized Cyrano with an abnormally large nose.
The play is a romantic comedy about the self-conscious poet and swordsman who pines for the love of his life, Roxane.
Believing that he’s not attractive enough to win her love, he devises what ultimately is a flawed plan whereby he writes poetic letters that his handsome friend, Christian, signs his name to, unintentionally helping Christian win Roxane’s love. After discovering the love of his life has eyes for another man, Cyrano, who loves Roxane, still won’t reveal his true feelings because he believes he’s too unattractive to win the affection of the love of his life.
Iwuji is no stranger to high-profile roles. He was in DC Comics’ “Peacemaker” and played the villain High Evolutionary in the film, “Guardians of the Galaxy 3.”
Iwuji, 48, lived in his native Nigeria until he was 10. As a kid, he acted in a few school plays while living in Ethiopia.
“Where I come from, you are either an athlete or you’re everything else,” Iwuji said. “You couldn’t do both. The idea of doing plays started forming in my mind.”
Iwuji, who has been an actor for 24 years, wanted to go to California but his father was against it.
“He said, ‘All they do is surf,’” Iwuji said. “My father made a bet with me. He said he would only let me go to America if I got into an Ivy League school. I went to school in England then I got into Yale where I did several plays and studied economics. When I think about it, that was the most expensive bet my father ever made.”
I recently spoke to Iwuji, a married, father of a six-month-old boy, about his upcoming role as Cyrano de Bergerac.
DD: The play about Cyrano de Bergerac has been called one of the greatest ever written. What would you call it?
CI: I’d agree with that. In drama school, I watched the 1950 version with José Ferrer. It’s exhausting. It’s a monster of a role. He is the warrior poet. It’s taxing. He was skilled with language and martial. It’s challenging but in all the good ways. Cyrano is a beautiful piece. We are getting to the meat of how you see things in the mirror that no one else sees. It’s grounding and powerful and tragic and funny. You have to scratch way beneath the surface.
DD: Why did you want to play Cyrano?
CI: A week before the director made the offer, I said to my team, I fancy some heavy lifting. I want a role where you learn more about yourself. I crave things I might fail at. I might not pull this off, [but it’s] a great thing to take into the room.
DD: Since becoming an actor, what have you learned about yourself?
CI: So many things at different stages. I’ve learned and relearned. I’m aware now of the amount of anxiety I carried around. My one wish would be to go back to my younger self and tell myself it will be all right.
DD: Have you ever written a love letter? Are they still in style?
CI: I hope they are still in style. I wrote love letters over the summers when I was in boarding school. For those long summers, I wouldn’t see my love interest. As a teenager, you write in a coded way. For my wife, I like writing cards. I like sending physical cards. I express myself by writing stuff down.
DD: How do you approach a character that is so iconic?
CI: I don’t think of it as iconic. It’s the same process I go through if I was doing a new character created for me. I learn the lines. This is my vocabulary. Then I use my imagination.
DD: How long did it take you to connect with the rhythm of the show?
CI: I’m still connecting. It’s not just my rhythm. You have “the rhyme” with the other actors. We have to find the dance. We’re embracing the verse structure. There’s a lot to learn. Don’t swallow the last word. Knowing when to breathe. It’s a lot of homework. I am listening and picking up on cues. You have to enjoy speaking. You have to enjoy the dance of wit.
DD: Talk about your director Mike Donahue. How do you two work together?
CI: He’s a wonderful observer and director. He is very honest. He lives in the details. He was always about cutting through the romanticism and finding the truth of the characters. I love how he watches out for details — like when you move, how you move, making things clear. He’s a wonderful director.
DD: Is Cyrano a colorless role?
CI: I absolutely think so. In our world of theater, people have decided to put limitations on who can play what. There is nothing in the play that says Cyrano has to be white. It’s 1897 in England. At that time he was white because the actors were white. I played Henry VI and Hamlet. People don’t care. Give me a real-life person.
DD: What does this role represent in terms of where your career is going?
CI: This isn’t me avoiding the question, but I don’t think in those terms. This is a role that has come along at the right time for me. I just want to enjoy it. I don’t know the answer to that. I’m playing something that was on my bucket list.
DD: What is it about the classics that attracts you?
CI: Language. The answers to all the acting questions are through language. The language guides you. Trust the verse. It makes you soar to places. It’s a gift.
•••
“Cyrano de Bergerac” stars Iwuji, Rosa Salazar as Roxane; Will Hochman as Christian; Kimberly Scott as Madame Ragueneau; Larry Powell as Lignière; Jens Austin Astrup as Alastair/Act 3 Soldier; Aaron Costa as Le Bret; E.M. Davis as Usher/Denise/Medic; Christine Lin as Woman Sent By Roxane/Marie-Louise; Barry Livingston as Theatre Owner/Priest; Michael Nathanson as De Guiche; Kila Packett as Fencing Referee/Sentry; Sawyer Patterson as Valvert; Jonathan Slavin as Montfleury/Armande; and John Garet Stoker as Annoying Person.
The Pasadena Playhouse is at 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena. Tickets start at $40. Information: pasadenaplayhouse.org or 626 356-7529.
Darlene Donloe is a freelance reporter for Wave Newspapers who covers South Los Angeles. She can be reached at ddonloe@gmail.com.
