{"id":21316,"date":"2022-09-02T13:18:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1701386"},"modified":"2022-09-02T13:51:31","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T11:51:31","slug":"the-rings-of-powers-lenny-henry-ive-given-40-years-to-playing-the-fool","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-rings-of-powers-lenny-henry-ive-given-40-years-to-playing-the-fool\/","title":{"rendered":"The Rings of Power\u2019s Lenny Henry: \u201cI\u2019ve given 40 years to playing the fool\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Robin Parker\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 02 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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This interview was originally published in Radio Times magazine<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

At six foot three, Sir Lenny Henry is not, it\u2019s safe to say, the obvious choice to play a hobbit. But thanks to digital wizardry, here he is in Amazon\u2019s Lord of the Rings prequel (arriving on Prime Video today<\/a>), pointed prosthetic ears protruding through a woolly white wig, as Sadoc, leader of the nomadic, pre-hobbit Harfoot community.<\/p>\n

Almost 50 years since he won New Faces as a teenager, Henry has been many things: sharp-suited stand-up, writer, actor, funk and soul fanatic, sitcom and sketch-show star \u2013 and a constant face of the charity he co-founded in 1985, Comic Relief<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Sadoc exemplifies his current groove: playing the elder in must-watch ensemble dramas. Henry has been an allotment gardener in BBC Two\u2019s recent drama My Name Is Leon<\/a>, and he\u2019s an extravagantly attired chief druid in another fantasy prequel, Netflix\u2019s The Witcher: Blood Origin<\/a> (expected later this year).<\/p>\n

He\u2019s rarely the lead these days, but that\u2019s OK by him. \u201cI\u2019m a man of a certain age now; it\u2019s just nice to still be asked to do things,\u201d Henry reflects. \u201cI feel gratitude every day that people still think I\u2019m worth the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fantasy and comic-book fan has read Tolkien\u2019s saga three times: as a teenager, in his 30s and to his adopted daughter Billie. He loves the novels\u2019 world-building but is grateful that screen adaptations bypass the writer\u2019s patience-testing longueurs. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to name every single flower in the forest,\u201d he quips.<\/p>\n

Having already dropped into the worlds of Doctor Who<\/a>, Harry Potter and The Sandman<\/a>, is there any franchise left to tick off from his fantasy wish-list? \u201cI\u2019m a bit miffed I\u2019ve not been asked to do Black Panther,\u201d he deadpans. \u201cI\u2019m Black, I\u2019m a panther. Where\u2019s my phone call?\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, he says, it\u2019s all \u201cdads and grandads\u201d for this 63-year-old; he\u2019s even written himself a father role in his forthcoming drama for ITV, Three Little Birds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In middle age, Henry\u2019s been drawn to drama, from ITV\u2019s Broadchurch<\/a> to the BBC\u2019s The Syndicate<\/a> and The Long Song. Bar the odd animation voiceover or cameo, his last major comic role was Radio 4 sitcom Rudy\u2019s Rare Records, which ended in 2012; on TV, the BBC One sketch show Lenny Henry in Pieces in 2003.<\/p>\n

Is comedy a young man\u2019s game, or did Henry have something to prove, to himself or others? He says the turning point was playing Othello in the 2009 West Yorkshire Playhouse production that transferred to the West End. \u201cIt was a different reaction than I was used to \u2013 people would go, \u2018Oh, I get this, he\u2019s doing Shakespeare.\u2019 Before, there was a sense that I was just the first one to the dressing-up cupboard. I love comedy but it feels that the world takes drama more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

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