Interview: 'I Feel Stupidly Lucky to Be Back Here': Eleanor Worthington-Cox on Playing Hero in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Director Michael Longhurst is bringing a new production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, this time placing the work in the world of football. The production stars Freema Agyeman as Beatrice and Nick Blood as Benedick, two old rivals whose teammates are determined to get them together. 

Recently, we had the chance to speak with Eleanor Worthington Cox, who is playing Hero in this production of Much Ado About Nothing. We discussed how Shakespeare has been part of her life since she was little, what it’s like returning to the RSC nearly a decade after starring in Matilda and how the world of Shakespeare is not so different from our own.

So how did you first get started in the world of theatre? 

So I've been thinking about this story a lot recently because I got into theatre because of Shakespeare! When I was a little kid, my older brother and I would go halves on our Christmas present. We'd be like, “We want to go and see something at the RSC!” So we would forego normal presents and, if we were lucky, then that year we would be able to go and see something at the RSC around Christmas time, usually. I was obsessed!

I'd always been a very active kid. I'd done dance and drama and singing after school, and I'd always loved it. And then I saw Matilda in Stratford and I had no idea that kids could do that - or that they were allowed to do that! [Laughs] I thought you had to be part of some kind of special club or something! I literally fell off the edge of my seat watching it. I fell in love with that show and then went on to do that as my first job, which was insanely lucky. But it was the RSC that genuinely made me want to do theatre. I still think back to the first production I ever saw, and it's how I've ended up here. So it's been a goose-bumpy moment being back in the same building that I rehearsed Matilda in!

What is it like to be back at the RSC over a decade since Matilda?

Crazy! I came in the front door and you know when you smell something and it takes you back to a childhood memory? That is what happens to me every single day! [Laughs] Déjà vu to the max - the most welcome form of déjà vu. But it's been really interesting to come back as an adult. To be doing actual Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Company has been my dream since I was doing Matilda and before that, so I feel stupidly lucky to be back here.

What is it about Shakespeare that has kept you obsessed for so long?

When my mum was a little girl, she won a writing competition at school. She wrote a story and got given a book as a prize - the Charles and Mary Lamb Tales From Shakespeare, their retellings for children of all Shakespeare's classics. And I just loved that book! It's become this dog-eared relic in our house that we have on proud display. I also think it's a great book for adults!

It's A VERY OLD book [published in 1807], but it's not written in children's terms. It's just written so that you can easily understand it. That's what I loved about it because it didn't feel like somebody was patronising you. It was just like, “This is what the story is.” And it made sense to me, which then made me want to read Shakespeare, and then I just ended up reading all of these incredible things, which I was very lucky to do at such a young age. I got the bug early, so somehow ended up here! [Laughs]

Can you tell us a bit about this particular production of Much Ado About Nothing and the role that you play, Hero? 

Well, it's certainly unlike anything that I've seen, and rightly so! It's the most incredibly smart iteration. I sat down with Mike [Longhurst] and he was like, “Here's the plot. Here's what we're going for. Here is everything that we want to do with this.” I was just invested from the very second that he told me what it was going to be. Hero is originally a very quiet and subdued character. She's very sweet, she doesn't get to say much and then she is shamed in the most awful way. Every time I've ever read that scene, it shocks me more than the last time I read it. It was written such a long time ago, and yet women are still - excuse my French - slut-shamed. Especially with the rise of social media, with reality television, women really are put on this pedestal - it's awful. And we see that in the show. We literally watch someone be shamed.

And I spoke to Mike, and he had these incredible ideas for how to give Hero agency and a voice and modernise this character to fit into this amazing world that we've incorporated the story into of footballers and WAGs and this Love Island-esque villa that everybody seems to find themselves in. It's so much fun, which the play should be. But also, there is this awful knife's edge to it of all the seedy goings-on that can happen within this world, and how women fit into this world - what roles they have to play to survive, to fit in. And so this character became somebody that went from being a bit of a wallflower to somebody that I really hope is going to be able to have her own agency and defining arc.

And how do you deal with confronting those difficult moments and ensure you don’t take them away from the stage? 

It's very easy as an actor to take on the emotional burden of the trauma or the hardship that you're having to portray as a character, especially if you can relate to them in any way, shape or form. I've learned over the years that it's incredibly important to not just have a solid understanding in yourself, of work, home, making sure that you as a person aren't taking on this baggage yourself, but also having an amazing company around you, because they're the best support in the world. When really tough subjects are brought up, it's incredible to have such smart and talented people to discuss these things with, talk it through, and then also just be able to have a laugh and get through it.

I know from previous shows that I've been on, like when I was doing Next to Normal with Mike, it was very close to my heart, and obviously a very taxing show. I've been able to do it on many jobs, but that was the one where you really had to go, “Right, I have to give as much as myself as I can on stage, and try my hardest to just separate when I get off.” Because this is really, really awful stuff. There are so many women who have been publicly shamed, publicly tormented, who've often just been existing, just being themselves, and have been punished for that. 

What has the rehearsal process for Much Ado About Nothing been like so far?

It's been so much fun! The best fun. It's the most amazing cast, the most amazing crew - every single member of our team is just unbelievable. And the play itself is just so joyously witty and funny, the fact that we've been able to balance out the heavy stuff with the total lightness . . . And also being in a cast full of incredible people, I just get to look around and be like, “Oh my god, this is incredible. They are genuinely sensational.” We've been having so much fun! It's an amazing thing, everybody moving as a company and being in this same space, living so close by the theatre - it's a really special experience. I can't wait!

You mentioned before that you're working again with Michael Longhurst. What is it like to be reuniting after Next to Normal?

Mike will forever be one of my favourite directors, and the moment that he said to me, “Hey, I'm doing Much Ado” I immediately was so excited! And it was the absolute dream team as well, because it wasn't just Mike, it was Anna Cooper, who also cast Next to Normal, who is just an absolute legend. The moment that I knew that that was the team - I didn't know anything else - I was just like, “I'm in. Please - I'll be a tree in the background!” [Laughs]

I got so excited because I've wanted to do Shakespeare since I was a tiny little girl, and to be able to do this play, with this director, with this world surrounding it, it's the most unique and exciting experience I could have wished for. Especially coming off the back of Next to Normal, which was one of the most amazing experiences. To get to work with him [Longhurst] again so soon afterwards is just an absolute dream. 

What's it like going from Next to Normal, a modern musical, straight to Shakespeare? 

I have to say, it’s quite the shift! [Laughs] But the most amazing thing about musical theatre, for me, is being able to tell a story with notes rather than with just words. And the lyricism of Shakespeare has always spoken to me because it's the most beautiful, poetic and infuriating to learn! I won't reveal too much, but it may be a slightly musical show - you never know! Might not be a straight play. Who knows? But to go from a rock musical full of deep trauma and such awful difficult subjects to being covered in fake tan and having seven-inch heels, it is definitely quite the shift! But I am enjoying it so much.

Do you have any favourite Shakespeare characters, either from Much Ado About Nothing or any other shows?

Beatrice has always been my hero. How can you not love Beatrice?  But I always was drawn to the heroines who went against the grain and challenged stereotypes, the patriarchal standards around them... And with this new iteration, I have to say Hero’s my hero! We've really tried to give her voice, agency and a redemption arc. She goes through unimaginable trauma and then comes out the other side. Shakespeare never gave her the language to fully reinstate herself as a strong woman who's come through this. I think we're doing a good job of giving her the right level of story to get her through that and come out on the other side, and it still feel relevant in this world.

What do you hope audiences take away from this production of Much Ado About Nothing? 

That they want to come and see more Shakespeare! I truly think that Shakespeare is for everyone. You just have to see the right production that gets you into that world. And I think this is a particularly accessible, fun and exciting way of staging Shakespeare. I would love it if audiences could walk away with more understanding of how it feels to be a woman on that kind of pedestal in that kind of world - it's very much a part of our world. Social media is a dangerous but prevalent thing in our everyday lives. 

And finally, how would you describe Much Ado About Nothing in one word?

Raucous! We are going to be causing an absolute riot on that stage - all the energy. It's the best, and not just from the cast. Anna Cooper is a genius. Mike Longhurst is a genius. They always bring together the most incredible people, let alone performers. When that energy is radiating and everybody's just such a positive and wonderful influence on each other, that creates an atmosphere - not just in the workplace - but on stage that's incomparable. We're going to be bringing the good energy!