In our profile series, Tell Us In 10, we ask cast members and creatives of top London shows to tell us all about themselves in just 10 questions. From how their castmates would describe them and alternative careers, to their Theatreland idols, we want to know it all!
This week, we hear from Daniel Monks, who’s currently playing Konstantin in Jamie Lloyd’s much-anticipated adaptation of The Seagull, alongside Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke and Olivier Award winner Indira Varma.
Daniel is a rising star on the London Theatre scene. Originally from Australia, he won Best Performer in a play at the 2020 Stage Debut Awards for his role in Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse. He was one of the Olivier Award-nominated cast of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart at the National Theatre. He was also nominated for a whole host of awards for his performance in 2017 film Pulse, which he wrote and starred in.
Daniel Monks in rehearsals for Teenage Dick. Photo by Marc Brenner.
Find out more about Daniel and his career so far below:
1. My route into theatre was…
My mother was an actress, and when she was seven months pregnant with me, she wrote & performed a one-woman show about pregnancy called From Here to Maternity – so I’ve been getting my stage kicks since the womb. I wanted to be an actor for as long as I can remember, but when I became disabled at age 11, I gave up that dream and instead made detours through filmmaking and dance, all which ultimately lead me back home to the stage
2. My West End idol is…
I’m relatively new to the West End, coming from Australia, but some actors whose performances I’ve been inspired by are Andrew Scott, Anne-Marie Duff, Amara Okereke, John Hollingworth and Sharon D Clarke.
Dame Vanessa Redgrave as Mrs Higgins and Amara Okereke as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady
3. My colleagues would describe me as…
I had zero idea how to answer this, so I asked my Teenage Dick colleagues Susan Wokoma & Callum Adams, who described me as “tremendously dedicated, genuine, sweet, sexy and one of the most ferocious actors I’ve ever had the joy to share a stage with” and “an incredibly playful and generous scene partner. He has zero ego and is intensely dedicated. Both on and off stage, he gives you 110%.”, which all sounds ridiculously amazing.
The fact that Susan & Callum are my beloved friends now whom I love dearly holds absolutely no bearing on this – these obscenely flattering descriptions will forevermore be seen as objective fact, in print, and I thank you for that, Society of London Theatre.
4. My favourite show present or past (that isn’t one I star in) is…
Jamie Lloyd’s Cyrano De Bergerac – Jamie’s vision of theatre and its possibilities really inspires me, and I feel such a kinship working with him.
James McAvoy as Cyrano De Bergerac in Harold Pinter Theatre
5. The career moment I’m most proud of is…
Writing, producing, editing and starring in the feature film Pulse, which is directly responsible for me being able to have a career as an actor in a time when that was an impossibility for disabled people in Australia.
6. The hardest part about my role is…
Navigating chronic pain with a rehearsal and performance schedule. It’s like a job on top of the job.
7. If I didn’t work in theatre I would be…
A filmmaker. That’s what I was before I revived my dream of acting.
Daniel Monks in rehearsals for Teenage Dick. Photo by Marc Brenner.
8. Something people don’t know about me is…
I speak Japanese.
9. The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…
Don’t try to be interesting. Just be honest, because there’s nothing more interesting than the truth.
10. The one thing I wish I could tell my younger self is…
All your dreams for your life are possible, and you don’t need to abandon any of them just because you’ve become disabled.