Cinderella interview Dec 2007

The Independent On Sunday magazine ran a full page interview and photo of Joseph today. Thanks to Joseph for letting us know. I scanned the article and have added the large version to the galleries. 

Cinderella won't know what's hit her when this dashing prince turns up Being Prince Charming, it turns out, is not overly taxing.

"I am so not exhausted. It's a hoot," laughs Joseph Millson, bounding out of rehearsals for the Old Vic's Cinderella, scripted by Stephen Fry. The 33-year-old is certain to outshine the average panto beau. He has proved not just a handsome face, but also superbly funny in a string of RSC parts. His Benedick in Much Ado..., falling for Tamsin Greig's Beatrice, was hailed as sublime.

Brought up in the country by pub-owning liberal parents, Millson was into skateboarding (he still is) and was suspended from school. He also confesses he sang in a heavy metal band, "only I was sacked because I was into the Smiths". 

Looking for a local job, he ended up at Newbury's Watermill Theatre operating the scenery. "I could look down and see this magic on stage, then the actors would exit and I'd see them snogging...I thought, 'That looks fantastic.'"

Now married to actress-singer Caroline Fitzgerald and with two young children, Millson has been suffering for his art: as 009 in Bond movie Casino Royale he leapt into an empty swimming pool and missed the crash mat. Then, with a cracked collarbone, he jumped for another take.

Since healing, he has been busy filming Abraham's Point, a Welsh Withnail and I, with Mackenzie Crook. As for Prince Charming, Millson's given him a novel slant. "He's terribly pissed off until he meets Cinders," he says. "And there's a shower scene, unfortunately. Still, the first time we ran that, I just checked which pants I was wearing and thought, 'Let's go for it!'"

Seems he's learnt a thing or two from 007.