Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Laura Michelle Kelly interview
Interview by Rob Carnevale
LAURA Michelle Kelly talks about appearing alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, the challenge of singing Sondheim and what she has coming up next in London’s West End…
Q. How did you get the part?
Laura Michelle Kelly: I met Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter when they came and saw Mary Poppins. They came backstage and Tim was jumping on and off the sets, absolutely loving it, saying: “Wow! This is how it works!” And then I was filming Miss Marple – playing a nun [laughs] and another part as a blonde bombshell – so I sent a tape of me doing both to Tim. Then we had a meeting, which is where I met the rest of my cast members, we had a laugh, and as I was walking out of the meeting, I got a call from my LA agent saying that I’d got the part.
Q. Sondheim is notoriously difficult to master and you’re the only professional singer in the entire cast, so how did you find tackling it?
Laura Michelle Kelly: I think everyone is pretty intimidated by singing any of Sondheim’s work because he’s such a genius. It takes a lot of work to accomplish the lyrics. I was excited to be working with Tim but at the same time I was amazed at how easily people that hadn’t professionally sung before were able to just do it naturally.
Q. Were you initially nervous about meeting people like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter for the first time?
Laura Michelle Kelly: I was actually nervous about meeting Alan Rickman for the first time, because I’d seen him in the Robin Hood movie. He really scared me in that! [Laughs] But it was nice to get to know the real person.
Q. How did you cope with the violence? Because this is a particularly grisly adaptation…
Laura Michelle Kelly: I have to say, I said I’d never do a horror movie. I can’t bear to watch them because I have nightmares. But this isn’t a horror movie. I mean I did see hearts and limbs, and they did look very real, but at the same time you know what goes behind it, you know the heart of the story, and you don’t even think about it.
Q. What was your abiding memory of working with Tim Burton?
Laura Michelle Kelly: He’s so passionate about every detail. I think that’s why he’s so successful because he cares so much about each scene.
Q. Do you think the musical is coming back?
Laura Michelle Kelly: I think this is going to change the way people view musical movies. It has been said that you can’t have acting and singing in the same space, but now I think you can. They started to show it could be done with things like Chicago and Dreamgirls but this is completely different.
Q. What’s next for you?
Laura Michelle Kelly: I’m in The Lord of the Rings at the moment and I’m rehearsing during the day for a play I’m doing with Jeff Goldblum and Kevin Spacey called Speed-The-Plow at the Old Vic. It’s very challenging. I finish perfoming at Drury Lane on January 26 and start at the Old Vic on February 2.
b>Read our interview with Johnny Depp