Tom Chambers tells Chris Evans about starring in Elf The Musical: 'It’s a non-stop party on the stage'

Virgin Radio

15 Nov 2022, 12:50

Actor Tom Chambers joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky to talk about taking on the role of Walter Hobbs in Elf The Musical.

The musical takes place at London’s Dominion Theatre, with previews having begun yesterday (14th November) and the show officially opening on Thursday 24th November. Speaking about how previews have started, Tom told Chris: “We’re like glass bottles on the wall in the wind. We’re rattling around. You can see the white of the eyes, as we’re all thinking, ‘Are we going to get through this bit?’

“It’s incredibly heartwarming actually, after four weeks in a rehearsal room, where you’ve got nothing, to have an audience.”

The musical is based on the much-loved 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, with Tom playing James Caan’s role. Explaining how he got the gig, he said: “I had to self-tape… I was working on Father Brown at the time, and it was in the lunch break. So, I filmed it in my trailer and I did my best job.

"They said, ‘Ah you’re great but you’re 15 years too young.’ So I thought, ‘Right, I’m not going to let this one go’, put some talcum powder in my hair, did it again, sent it out and eventually, eventually, it took them a while - I think three or four other people had turned them down - they came to me and said, ‘You’ve got the job’ and they didn’t tell me anything else. 

“Second day of rehearsals, they took me into a side room. I thought, ‘This is it. You’re off, you’re gone, you’re out.’ They said, ‘Are you okay? You’re struggling a bit.’ And I went, ‘No. no, I’m fine. I’m just finding my way’. No-one had told me that they wanted me to scrap the whole ‘act 15 years older’ and just be more yourself. They were like, ‘Why’s Tom trying to act really old?!’”

On playing the role made famous by James Caan, the Holby City and Casualty star said: “Huge shoes to fill.”

Simon Lipkin will play Buddy. Of his co-star, Tom said: “I would like to almost say, and I’m going to be brave, he could be the Ryan Reynolds of the UK. He’s so funny. 

“He’s done a whole lot of stuff. He’s just incredibly funny. He’s really on it. It’s like he’s on a sugar rush of all sugar rushes. It’s a non-stop party on the stage.”

Tom won the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008 with Camilla Dallerup, and he also starred in the West End production of Top Hat. Of the latter, he said: “I loved Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly. Most people don’t know who they are nowadays, if you asked younger folk who Fred Astaire was. And it was a dream come true, probably my mother’s more than myself! 

“Fred Astaire’s daughter said, ‘Do you want to come round for a cup of tea?’ And I was like, ‘Oh my word, yes!’ And she said, ‘Do you want to look at some old letters from my dad?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah!’. And he wrote in his letters, ‘I cannot wait to get off this stage, this is exhausting. I would like to get into film. I can’t wait to get it in the can. Job’s done. Goodbye. Go to lunch.’

“I was so relieved that, ‘Oh, I’m not the only one that finds this… you have to be like an athlete.’”

Tom also told Chris about how he once auditioned to play James Bond. “I think I got as far as the doorstep on the way into the room,” he said.

“If you were playing Bond, I would just be so scared, because it’s a whole world now of media explosion, and I’d be scared to say a single word.”

Elf The Musical at London’s Dominion Theatre officially opens Thursday 24th November. For tickets visit elflondon.com.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky, weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or  catch up on-demand here.