Video: John Lithgow Talks Roald Dahl and Bringing GIANT to Broadway
Lithgow won an Olivier Award for his performance as Dahl.
Two-time Tony Award winner John Lithgow is back on Broadway in Giant, a new play exploring the darker side of celebrated children's author Roald Dahl. Lithgow reprises his Olivier Award-winning performance as Dahl and visited The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to talk all about it.
"Lots of people know Roald Dahl's writing. You know he has his dark side as a writer. Well, he had his dark side as a human being," Lithgow explained. "A man of great charm, wit, and intelligence, but a streak of witting and unwitting cruelty."
The play itself is set in 1983, and dramatizes a tense period after the publication of an anti-semitic article Dahl wrote during the Lebanon-Israeli War. "It's an examination of that day, and as you can imagine in this day and age, it's extraordinarily timely," said Lithgow.
For his performance as Dahl in the West End, Lithgow won an Olivier Award. Though he never met its namesake, Lithgow did see the legendary performer when he was a student in a production of August Strindberg's The Dance of Death. "I was completely stunned by this performance... It stays with me so vividly. I have been stealing from it my entire career." Check out the interview now, including another segment where Lithgow reads a self-written poem in honor of Stephen Colbert.
Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Nicholas Hytner and written by Olivier Award winner Mark Rosenblatt, Giant will begin Broadway performances on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at the Music Box Theatre (239 West 45th Street) for a strictly limited 16-week engagement. The official opening night will be Monday, March 23, 2026.
A world-famous children’s author under threat. A battle of wills in the wake of scandal. And one chance to make amends. Following an acclaimed West End run and three Olivier Awards, Giant tells the story of author Roald Dahl and the true scandal that shook his legacy.
Giant stars two-time Tony Award and Olivier Award winner John Lithgow, Aya Cash, two-time Olivier Award winner Elliot Levey, two-time Olivier Award nominee Rachael Stirling, Stella Everett, David Manis. The company also includes understudies Geoffrey Cantor, Annie Hägg, Eleanor Handley, and Paul O'Brien.
Photo Credit: Scott Kowalchyk/CBS
