Natural Blonde Susan McFadden on Starring as London's Elle Woods

It’s not always the case that an alternate leading lady ends up the star, but that is now happening at London’s Savoy Theatre, where 27-year-old Dubliner Susan McFadden has replaced Sheridan Smith as law student Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. McFadden has been with the production from the beginning, playing the cheerleader-ish Serena and doing two shows a week as Elle since November to give Smith a break. Now that the star part belongs to McFadden full time, Broadway.com phoned for a chat about playing a perky Harvard hopeful and moving on from being a reality TV phenomenon (via British TV’s Grease Is the Word) to a genuine West End name.

So, the role of Elle Woods is finally yours—no alternates, no sharing.
Yes, though I have to say that it was very nice to ease into it, as opposed to being thrown in the deep end. When I began doing those Monday and Tuesday shows in November, it was kind of strange because I had never been an understudy or a swing and I’d never had to think about doing more than one part at a time. The rest of the week, I would go back to playing Serena, a part I absolutely loved. In fact, I find now that I miss her a little bit. It was lovely to play two different parts [in the same show]!

As an Irishwoman, surely you should be playing Paulette, who gets to sing a rousing tribute to Ireland!
I know. It’s amazing to hear that sung to me every night. Believe me, I can relate [laughs].

Is it a challenge to play Elle, having watched Sheridan in the role for so long?
Sometimes it is a bit strange, but the fact is we definitely play [the role] very differently, and all along I’ve tried to block anything I’ve heard, even from the girls who’ve done it on Broadway. I think I’m quite a girly girl anyway, so maybe my Elle has a little bit more innocence—to the extent that she’s not so much a dumb blonde as an innocent and naive blonde. I don’t think the character’s actually that far removed from me.

Are you a natural blonde?
Yes, in every sense of the word, actually, so I know that whole thing of not choosing a book by its cover. I’ve not perceived too many assumptions made about me because of my hair, but I’m sure there are things I’ve done or said that would have been perceived differently if I had brown hair!

Do you get to parade your own locks during the show?
No, I still use a wig. If you use your own hair during the show, you’re going to look like a drowned rat at the end of the performance.

You’ve played an American blonde on the West End before, in Grease, when the current London revival first opened.
But you know, the two characters feel very different! Sandy is only 17, whereas Elle is 22, so they’re at different points in their lives. Also, I think Elle isn’t afraid to be herself, while Sandy is a contradiction: She totally changes at the end to get her man.

Which role is more difficult to sing?
The vocals are fairly similar, but I think Elle has 11 songs, or something. It’s a lot of singing—probably one of the most difficult sings for any musical “girl” [laughs].

You got Grease via one of the many theater-themed British reality TV shows. What are your thoughts on that casting process, now that it is behind you?
It’s been a double-edged sword, really. For me, it was great at the time, and I think it was what I needed to get myself seen. I’ve not stopped working since, and without it, I doubt I’d have got to the point of playing Elle Woods. But at the same time, there’s always a next batch of people from the next reality TV show, which makes it harder for other people to get jobs. I did exactly a year in Grease, but it was about getting my foot in the door and carving a career, not about being in magazines and newspapers and being famous.

That sounds eminently sensible: take the TV gig as a way into the profession without letting it take you over.
That’s why it was important to do something very different after Grease in order to open up people’s minds to the fact that I’m not just this person from that TV show. So I did Seven Brides for Seven Brothers on tour, playing Milly, which was more like the mother hen part than the schoolgirl from the 50s. Serena [in Legally Blonde] was completely different yet again, with a black bob: very feisty and vampy and sexy.

And in every show you’ve played an American!
Growing up in Ireland, you inevitably get exposed to a lot of American TV and movies, so it all seems pretty familiar. My boyfriend [actor-singer Adam Booth] is from Chester, in the north of England, and now he’s doing Footloose on tour as an alternate Ren, so we practice our accents together! I’ve actually seen quite a lot of America, having toured on three occasions with various Irish shows and cabarets, but I’ve never been to the Harvard campus. I would like to after doing this.

Where do you feel this role is leading?
I don’t know. I’d love to do Wicked and play Elphaba, though I’m sure I’d be thought of as Glinda first because of my looks. It’s funny with theater contracts, because by the time you finish your existing contract, something you might like to be in may not be contracting parts again for another eight months. To an extent, you just have to wait and see. Obviously, Elle is such a great role and such a good showcase that I’d like to use this to get people in to see me—and then we’ll see what’s next!