Page 16 - OO_2018

so. “Actually, I auditioned for Emmerdale along with everyone else,” he revealed. “Competition is fierce in acting – though I suspect part of the reason I was on the list in the first place was because I’d worked for ITV before on Coronation Street. I wanted to play James Barton because he was almost the opposite to Charlie Stubbs. Charlie was a once-in-a-lifetime character, clever, manipulative and a fascinating moral compass. James was strong, principled, upstanding, but with a big flaw. He tried to please everyone all the time and ending up pleasing nobody. Once his wife, Emma, came into the show, I knew she would ultimately kill him (pushing him off a bridge). She was smarter than him and dangerous, which is always a recipe for soap mayhem!”
Like many actors, Bill can’t stand watching himself on TV. “You are always your own fiercest critic,” he reasoned. “But you do need to be aware of what you’re doing, particularly in a soap, as there can often be a difference between what you’re aiming for and how that translates on to the small screen (camera angles, choices of shot, close-ups etc can all make a big difference to how your performance translates). So, yes, I do watch what I
Bill as James Barton with Gillian Kearney as Emma Barton in Emmerdale
do – almost always some time afterwards and from behind the sofa!”
In his current stage role of Professor Callahan in Legally Blonde, Bill once again plays a mean and nasty character, though Bill insists he is not typecast. “I’m a jobbing actor,” he says. “I like working and work breeds work. It’s just that when casting people/directors see you doing a certain role and they like your work, when looking for a similar type of character they might get in touch. I once played Lancelot in Spamalot in the West End, dressed in lycra, dancing with fruit on my head! For the next six months I was only approached to play predominantly gay characters. I would particularly like to play the role of Macbeth at some point. I’ve got close a couple of times and would love the opportunity before I’m too old and knackered!”
Although Bill describes himself “a
jobbing actor”, he is really a star; it’s just that he doesn’t particularly want to be a star. He excelled at sport after Oundle, playing under-19 rugby and under-25 cricket for Northumberland, where he comes from originally. So, for someone like Bill, wouldn’t there be loads of pro- celebrity sporting opportunities? “I’ll be honest, I try to avoid anything with the word ‘celebrity’ attached,” he replied. “I’ve been asked to lots of things over the years, both on TV and elsewhere, and I almost always say no, because I think of myself as an actor more than anything else.”
Bill does have another string to his bow, though – he is also an award- winning photographer (see his work at www.billwardphotography.co.uk). “I taught myself photography and have been taking pictures since the age of six, starting with a Kodak Instamatic and now using various DSLRs,” he revealed. “I’m an ambassador for Pentax Cameras, supplying them with photos regularly, and also shoot for the photographic agency, Robert Harding. I’d describe myself as a landscape photographer. I take my camera wherever I happen to be for work and get out into the field whenever I can. It’s the perfect balance to my day job. I got serious about photography in the winter of 2009/10. I did a pilot for a detective show in Montreal and was contracted to wait for three months to see if it went to series. I bought my first DSLR (Pentax K20D) and spent December to February going up and down the UK chronicling winter on the beach. I finished with a far better collection than I imagined and ended up exhibiting it at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. I’ve since done other exhibitions in art galleries throughout the UK and have a permanent collection with The Mick Oxley Gallery in Craster, Northumberland. Then there has been some magazine, newspaper and book work. While the photography has ballooned somewhat, I must stress that acting is my first love – well, second to my partner and two children at home in Bristol, who I miss when out on the road.”
Kisdon Force - by Bill - winner of the Adobe Prize at the 2015 UK Landscape Photographer of the Year Awards
16 <<<RETURN TO CONTENTS
THE OLD OUNDELIAN 2017 –2018
FEATURE