The Ferryman's Tom Glynn-Carney on Returning to the Stage Post-Dunkirk and Singing Dear Evan Hansen

As Shane Corcoran, the explosive young cousin of The Ferryman’s central family, Tom Glynn-Carney successfully hijacks the annual feast of the Harvest, as well as the second act of the new Broadway play. “There's an element of hostility in the air,” Glynn-Carney says of the family reunion. “There is something that isn't quite gelling as much as it has done previous years.” That’s because The Troubles, a violent thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland (where the play is set) haunts the entire clan. “Shane comes with a different outlook this time, he wears a different skin,” he says. “I kind of see Shane as a catalyst in the story that makes it fizz on quite a dark and dangerous level.” His performance, which won him an Evening Standard Award for Emerging Talent in 2017, has also been a catalyst for his personal and professional life.

Amateur Hour
Growing up in Salford, England, Glynn-Carney says he was "exposed to some pretty interesting scenes” in the local community theaters where his dad would act. “That was really how I was made aware of performance and what it was to be on stage,” he says. His first professional job was playing the son of Macduff in Macbeth at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. “A gruesome take on the story, brutal and violent, and very exciting for a 12-year-old to be involved in,” he says. “I think, from that moment on, I knew that this line of work was was what I had to do.”

Post-Dunkirk Stage FOMO
Movie fans will probably recognize Glynn-Carney from his breakout role in Dunkirk, the Oscar-nominated Christopher Nolan 2017 war drama. The actor calls his first movie “the baptism of fire” after only working on theater acting at drama school. “Being thrust into this movie-making world was hugely educational and incredibly exciting,” he says about the high-profile film, which also stars Mark Rylance and Harry Styles. After Dunkirk, Glynn-Carney says scripts started rolling in, but after working on a few other screen projects (he also played Lance Corporal Tony Armstrong on the British mini-series The Last Post), he was keen to return to the boards. “To go back into a rehearsal room again, constantly investigating every day this character that you play, and that you will be playing for months, it was a very attractive idea for me at that stage," he says. "And to see a script come through with Jez Butterworth written on it, I was just like, 'Oh my God. Gotta do it.'”



Come to the Dark Side
Glynn-Carney says playing unpredictable Shane in The Ferryman has helped him explore new parts of his personality: “I've never had the opportunity before to play a character like Shane, which has, I think, somehow stifled something within me and not allowed me to investigate that side of me that is manipulative and angry, and wanting to kick back, wanting to reject a lot of things,” he says. “Whenever I talk about it, I feel a sour taste in my mouth. There's a bitter sort of ringing effect inside that has definitely been there my entire life.” Now, he says being able to live out those feelings in character every night feels cathartic. “You don't get told off for it. You don't get put in detention for it. And there's no lawsuit against you,” he says. “You're allowed to go on stage and really let rip.”

On His Brit Broadway Pals 
An upcoming biopic on The Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien will star Glynn-Carney, as well as another British import currently on Broadway: Anthony Boyle, who plays Scorpius Malfoy in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Although they had been acquainted before, having both seen each others plays while in the West End, the two became fast friends while shooting the film. “We spoke at [The Ferryman] after-party, and he's like, 'Oh, man! We've got to do a project together. I'd love to work with you,’” Glynn-Carney says. “Lo and behold, a few months later, we end up on the same call sheet.” Now that both of their shows are up and running on Broadway, the actors see each other at least once a week. ”We just have catch-ups, go a few pints after the show sometimes,” he says. “It's good having a mate here.”



On Getting into Character with Punk Rock
Music has a deep effect on Glynn-Carney, which is why he says it’s one of the first starting points in his character development. “I've been listening to a lot of music from the time, the early, mid, late 70s,” he says. “Punk, especially Northern Irish punk, Irish punk in general and also American bands.” In addition to the music he thinks resonates with his character, the actor pumps himself up before a show by putting on Eminem. “Something that's angry, kind of like ‘walking out into the ring’ music, something that gives me a bit of a rocket up my ass, if you like.” In his personal life, however, Glynn-Carney prefers easy listening. “[I’m] big into jazz as well, so all the jazz bars down in Greenwich Village are very exciting for me.”

... and Dear Evan Hansen
Don’t think that it’s all punk rock and angry rap backstage at The Ferryman, though. Glynn-Carney says the boys in the ensemble are big fans of Dear Evan Hansen. “In London, we all got absolutely obsessed with 'Waving Through a Window,'" he says. One day, the actors opened all the windows in their dressing rooms at Broadway's Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, right across from Dear Evan Hansen’s home at the Music Box Theatre, to give a special rendition. “We all just blasted the song out, and there were a lot of people down there waiting for people to come out of their stage door. They're turning around, and they're getting a second show. It was like something out of The Muppet Show!”

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. 
Grooming by Angella Valentine