Russell Tovey: the unlikely lad | Television & radio | The Guardian.

The lovely Russell Tovey, a terrific actor who’s never been compelled to be “in.” He’s playing his first ever gay role this year. |Image: The Telegraph.

“I had loads of spots, but I went in and said, look, I want to play this part. Dakin [in The History Boys] was meant to be the lead, lothario, sex object, and nobody was going to lust after me, this spotty, pasty, big-eared thing. But Alan Bennett really liked me and he thought, well, he obviously wants a bigger part, so he wrote up the part of Rudge for me.” Tovey’s skin problem almost led to him quitting the production. “My skin was so bad, I thought, I just want to leave. It was really affecting me psychologically. You go into makeup and they’d paint each spot. It was self-esteem-crushing. Horrible.”

Great article in The Guardian.

I’ve loved Tovey since he was in the movie version of The History Boys. He’s done loads of movies and TV shows in the U.K. primarily since then. He’s signed on for HBO’s gay-themed dramedy Looking opposite another out actor, Jonathan Groff. The series, Tovey’s first major U.S. role, is set to begin shooting in the San Francisco area shortly.