M12| Friday, September 20, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.
asm. In play-reading club, I’d con-
stantly raise my hand only to be
batted back by the teacher.
But I was determined to act.
My first play was a Greek tragedy
called “The Bacchae.” The second
was a bit part in Shakespeare’s
“Julius Caesar.”
When I was 16, I joined the Na-
tional Youth Theatre, which
changed my life. School produc-
tions sometimes include students
who don’t want to be there. At the
NYT, kids from all over the country
converged, eager to be involved.
My big break came when I was
22 and got my Equity card from
the British actors union. Until then,
I had done plays for fun. Holding
that card, I knew I was clutching a
passport to a whole new world.
Today, my wife, Lulu, and I live
with our son, Felix, in West Sus-
sex. Built in the 1800s, our home
was originally a coach house, sta-
bles and hay barn that serviced
the big house up the hill. As a re-
sult, our kitchen has a high ceil-
ing. It’s where the coaches were
kept. The adjoining barn, once the
hayloft, is now my study.
What I love most at night is lis-
tening to the sound of the stream
that runs past the garden. I am
lucky I live in a peaceful place.
—As told to Marc MyersHugh Bonneville, 55, is an English
actor who was in PBS’s “Downton
Abbey” and has appeared in “Not-
ting Hill,” “Paddington” and more
than 35 other films. He stars in
the “Downton Abbey” film, re-
leased today.MANSION
HOUSE CALL| HUGH BONNEVILLE
America’s
Favorite British
Nobleman
Stage-struck at an early age, the ‘Downton Abbey’
star grew up in a big Edwardian house in London
our version of your CIA. When I
asked Mum if she had been a spy,
she said, “No dear, I did filing.”
After she passed away, I met
someone who had worked with
her. He told me their section was
involved in collating overnight in-
tercepts and prioritizing them, so
the right people saw them. A bit
more than filing.
Mum was firm but fair. She had
this ability to talk people into do-ing things without them noticing.
Before you knew it, you were on
the schedule for the church flow-
ers. She was an incredibly selfless
person, like my father. Both were
community-minded and big on
service, duty and charity. They
were strict-ish with us, but I had
enormous respect for them.
Many actors name someone in
school who encouraged their tal-
ents. Mine squashed my enthusi-Hugh Bonneville in London in 2018, above; at his home in London in 1969;
and with Michelle Dockery on the set of the ‘Downton Abbey’ film.FROM LEFT: HUGH BONNEVILLE; JAAP BUITENDIJK/FOCUS FEATURES; JONATHAN BIRCHHUGH’S VIEWS
Favorite childhood movie: “Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang” (1968)
Has your housekeeper seen
“Downton Abbey?” Yes—and be-
fore you say anything more, she
doesn’t call me “My Lord.”
Favorite English dish: Colchester
oysters
Childhood trick: Wobbling my chin;
it seemed to have an extra muscle.
Favorite aftershave: Jack Piccadilly
’69, by Richard E. Grant
Prized possession: My grandfa-
ther’s ceremonial World War I
sword. I will pass it on to my son.W
henIwas8,a
friend of my
parents who
was an actor
came to lodge
with us while performing at our
local theater. One night, Dad sug-
gested we go pick him up after
the show. We arrived a little early
and stood in the
back of the 300-
seat auditorium.
There, on stage,
was our lodger,
with the audience
in the palm of his
hand. Then came
the applause. I
was transfixed.
The next morn-
ing at breakfast, I
just stared at him.
I couldn’t believe
that he had such a
hold over people just by being in
a story. I rather liked this pre-
tending lark.
Soon after, I wrote a 10-minute
play. I was the King of Egypt or
something. I made the tickets and
arranged the seating. My friends
from up the road played minor
roles. Very minor. My family
watched dutifully, bored to death.
I grew up in the Blackheath
section of London. Our two-story
Edwardian house felt to me like a
vast mansion. It had a semicircu-
lar gravel driveway and three
stone steps up to the front door,
which had a knocker in the shape
of a lion’s head. Inside, we had a
wood-panel hall and the stairs
creaked, but it wasn’t scary.
I’m the youn-
gest of three. My
brother, Nigel, is
eight years older
than me, and my
sister, Clare, is six
years older. Given
the ages of my
siblings, I grew up
much like an only
child.
We each had
our own room.
Mine was the
smallest and must have been a
dressing room. It was next to my
parents’ bedroom, which meant I
could pop in and nick my father’s
hairbrush before school each day.
My father, John Pritchard, was
known as “JP.” He was a urologist
who worked at nearby Greenwich
Hospital. He met my mother, Pat,
at medical school where she was
training as a nurse.
When I was 10, Mum started
working three days a week at an
office in South London called Cen-
tury House, a 22-story building. We
dropped her off there sometimes.
About 20 years ago, long after
she had retired, I opened a newspa-
per to discover that Century House
had been the headquarters of MI6,ADVERTISEMENT
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