Oh.

And then about 70 or 80 people will end up shouting something at the stage.

Um, w- I give them a card, and they shout the thing I ask them to shout.

And then five people every night will be, like, in the play with me.

[laughs]

They, they, they are like, in particular at the beginning of the show where I'm running round the theater, you can tell I'm, like, trying to get past people.

I'm, like, running up the stairs to get to the balcony, and I'm sort of talking, "Excuse me, I'm sorry." And people are looking around really annoyed, and then are like, "Oh, oh, I guess I have to let you go.

Wait, what are you doing here?" Like, it's a lot-

Daniel Radcliffe lost out to John, but gushed about the new Harry Potter series star playing Dumbledore.

It was just lovely to meet him.

Did you guys get to swap stories? He just told me it was all going really well and how much he loves all the kids.

It was nice to be able to touch base with him about it.

I mean, you, you mentioned Equus and, you know, and I'm so interested to ask about, like, you know, when you think back to the way you felt when that show was coming to a close, like, how would you compare that to the way you feel now, like, when a, when a show, whether either it's this or, or something else, is, is coming to a close?

Um, I mean, when Equus was coming to a close, I think there was a huge amount...

We did it for four...

I ca- I'm gonna maybe get the details of this wrong, but we did it for about four months in London and about five months in New York with a, with a pretty substantial break in between.

Or I think maybe we shot the sixth Potter film or, uh, a Potter film was shot in between.

And I, I think when I got to the end of those runs, you know, that was a very intense play.

I think I was probably quite excited to be done, but also, you know, again, sad that I think that the ending of that play carried the knowledge that it was the last time I was probably gonna work with Richard Griffiths in that way, and, like, it had been such a special thing to get to work with him and see him work on a play for that long.

So like what did that do for your goals as an actor?

Actually, even in the pre-show, I really wanna know how you're choosing the people to be your scene partners, how you're able to read people who you're like, "I think this will be an effective person in a- a- like, essentially playing casting director in those 30 minutes."

Yeah, I mean, really we are, uh, it sounds really corny, but we are sort of looking for kindness.

And, like, you can just tell that with some people.

Like, not sa- not that I've had, like, 100% hit record, but generally speaking, you can often tell a lot about somebody by, like, like, if I find out, like if I'm circling around somebody and I find out that they have been, like, rude to an usher or one of our stage management team, then it's immediately like, "Okay, absolutely not." Um, but then, like, you can really, like, it ...

Very often you, like, there was a woman the other day who we could just see her, like, turning around and talking to her neighbors and just, like, engaging with people in a really sweet, natural way that we were like, "Oh, you seem like you would be great for this," or, you know, that it really is you're just walking around kind of going off vibes and trying to, you're trying to first and foremost suss out if someone is not crazy.

That's, like, the first, the lowest bar that everyone has to meet.

Um, and then, um, you know, if you see someone that s- feels, like, open and playful and kind, then you just grab 'em and try and convince them to ...

What have you found in your interactions with those people once you get into scenes, uh, that has, like, awakened something in you as an actor?

Mm-hmm

... years ago.

Um, and then we had done, through COVID, we had been doing this animated show together, um, which I'd had, which I'd read a few parts in, and I just always loved them.

Like, I loved working with them, I loved hanging out with them, I loved talking to them.

Um, they're just brilliant, funny, clever, kind people.

And, um, so i- I've kind of always had one eye open for i- if there was something more substantial, you know, I would love to be a part of that.

Um, and so yeah, when I got the, the pilot for Reggie, I was just, you know, I was in, uh, I was in seventh heaven, you know? I w- I was immediately like, "Oh, I, I..." You know, it was one of those where the script comes in and you're like, "I, I will read the whole script because I should do my due diligence on this."

[laughs]

And they have to make some real editorial decisions.

Yeah.

I mean, what's...

The first scene with Mrs. Patterson is g- quite structured and follows, you know, the, uh, uh, I generally, we- we hit pretty much all the same beats in it every night.

The last scene is truly, the, one of the joys of the show is that a lot of different things can happen, so the f- there is a final scene with Mrs. Patterson where having grown up, I then call on her again to, like, essentially comfort me in a moment of real despair.

And the, we had a woman the other day, and, uh, she was incredible.

And I, you know, when I said to her, um, I s- I asked Mrs. Patterson, "Do you remember what I was like as when I was a kid?"

The kind of religiosity of everyday joy.

Um, with a little distance now, I mean, you were loving it and knew how special it was in the moment, but has the experience, just looking back at it, changed a couple years out or...?

Yeah, I mean, just, it's just been confirmed in term-- by how all of our relationships have sort of carried on after the show.

Like, I'm still really, really close with Jonathan and Lindsay.

Um, I'm still really close with people like Brian Cehrs and Liana Rey Concepcion, like other members of the cast who I, I grew...

And also, like, the stage management team from Merrily, they're all working on Every Brilliant Thing as well.

I took all of them with me.

You know, I, um, some...

But I mean, I guess I'm curious, like, does making a show about depression, about suicide, about the subjects that we don't necessarily feel comfortable talking about, I don't know, does it make it easier to talk about these things for you? And have you reconciled more of, like, your own feelings about these subjects, having, living through it every night, night after night?

Even as of now a Broadway vet, are you also surprised when you walk in and see what they've done with the same space?

Well, particularly for this show, we have really changed the, the space entirely.

We've kind of...

The stage has steps now that go into the audience, because there's a lot of, as we will talk about, there's a lot of audience interaction in this show, and the audience is also on stage with me, so there's sort of three sides.

So it's kind of in the round.

So we've done a lot to it.

But the Hudson is also, for anyone who, who's been, it's a, it's a beautiful theater.

[laughs]

This is a one-man show.

In a, in a manner of speaking, yes.

So it is, um... it's a show, uh, about, uh, uh, it's about a young boy who was making a list to cheer up his mum, who was dealing with, uh, depression, and it's about how the making of this list of brilliant, wonderful things follows him into adulthood.

Um, and how it sort of beco- it's, it's the story of, you know, you tell the story of his life sort of through this list.

But the reason I say it- it's sort of a one-man show is that there is a huge amount of audience participation, which is very, very fun for those who like it.

[laughing] Um, and it's, it is, um...

So really, it, it-

Does he come to the theater?

Yes, it is.

Like, it is, it is such a specific childhood place that, that these films set for people and without meaning to sound too worthy, and I will sound a bit worthy when I say this, you ...

I think there is a responsibility that comes with that.

And, you know, I ...

And I completely ...

Like, I have actor friends who will be out and if someone comes up to them for an autograph, um, they say no, and I think that is completely within their rights to do that.

People would argue and have argued that it is within my rights to do that too.

(laughs)

And Jonathan is a terrible texter, I hear.

Jonathan's actually like an incredibly methodical texter, but you just, can I talk about your texting process? Go on.

Jonathan.

All of his texts once a week.

Yeah.

So you will not get a response.

I like this, actually.

You're shooting it now, is that right? I've just