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.
This week, we have the pleasure of presenting the answers of Joseph Marcell. You might recognise Joseph as Geoffrey Butler, the British butler on 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, but he also has an illustrious theatre career.
Joseph is currently starring in Sam Shepard’s Ages Of The Moon alongside Christopher Fairbank at The Vaults.
1. My route into theatre was…
Watching and being inspired by the Negro Ensemble part of The World Theatre Season in London in 1964.
2. My West End idol is…
Juliet Stevenson
3. My colleagues would describe me as…
Eccentric
4. My favourite show present or past (that isn’t one I star in) is…
The Man in the Glass Booth. Donald Pleasence and F Murray Abraham acted in it. I was just about to become a drama student at that time. John Wood playing King Lear at the RSC is also a highlight.
5. The career moment I’m most proud of is…
Joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1972 as part of Trevor Nunn’s Roman Season, playing the boy Lucius in Julius Caesar and Eros in Antony and Cleopatra. And in more modern times, being asked by Dominic Dromgoole, Bill Buckhurst and the poet Derek Walcott to perform Walcott’s poem, Omeros.
Derek Walcott. Photo by Jorge Mejia Peralta
6. The hardest part about my role is…
Attempting to be creative and original in my ideas.
7. If I didn’t work in theatre I would be…
An electrical engineer.
8. Something people don’t know about me is…
I really love the land of my birth, St Lucia in the West Indies.
Christopher Fairbank & Joseph Marcell in rehearsal for Ages Of The Moon. Photo by Mark Senior.
9. The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…
Learn your lines.
10. The one thing I wish I could tell my younger self is…
Being prepared is the only game in town.