Meet James Millar, the man bringing Matilda the Musical’s Miss Trunchbull to life

MISS Trunchbull gets one of the loudest rounds of applause in Matilda the Musical, so what’s it like for the man standing in the costume?

Matilda performer James Millar is Miss Trunchbull.

MISS Trunchbull gets one of the loudest rounds of applause in Matilda the Musical, so what’s it like for the man standing in the costume? Sophie Perri caught up with James Millar to find out how he’s made such a recognisable character his own.

How long does it take to get dressed up?

It’s hard to say really because we do it in little bits, so we’ll do

some of my face and then wait a little while. because I don’t come on

until 25 minutes into the show, we do it gradually so it takes about

40 minutes. It comes off in five.

By the end are you soaked in sweat?

Oh yes. Straight into the shower. I wear two ice vests and it gets

changed during the interval because it starts to heat up.

What are you doing in the 25 minutes before you go on stage?

I put on any moles and do my dirty gross teeth and by the time Matilda

has finished singing Naughty I’m all ready.

Does it ever get monotonous, doing this show so many times?

No. Genuinely not. I’ve done over 700 shows and there’s so much risk and danger and responsibility in it that I still get very nervous before I go on.

When you won your Helpmann Award you said when you saw Matilda for the

first time, you thought there’d be nothing in it for you ...

I saw it in London and went to see it four times out of sheer joy and

normally as a performer when you go to see a show you look at it and

go, ‘oh, what can I do in this?’ And I didn’t actually think there was

anything for me.

Why not?

I don’t think any actor sort of looks at Trunchbull and assumes

immediately that could be them ... I loved it for the joy I got from it

but didn’t look at it as a potential job at all and it wasn’t until

the auditions that I went, ‘oh, actually ...’

It took seven months of auditioning, is that right?

Over the course of six months, yeah. In between each of those stages

we would have training learning the vault jump, the acrobatic stuff,

the ribbon dance, so all of it was about getting yourself to a show

fitness point over a period of time to make sure you were able to do

it.

How many auditions before you got it?

I think four or five. But over a long period of time where they really

trained us, because it’s deceptively physical.

What was the scariest audition then, who intimidated you the most –

did Tim Minchin go to these?

Tim was definitely privy to it but wasn’t physically there ... every

time I had to do the ribbon dance that was really intimidating.

Was there a moment where you knew you’d got it?

No. I knew I was doing well ... I was in Perth directing at WAAPA when I

got the call and I was thrilled.

Do you remember that phone call quite vividly?

Yes, but all I could think of was, I just sort of projected into the

future and having seen the show I was like, ‘that’s gonna be me?” It

felt so foreign and unusual.

The evil Miss Trunchbull (James Millar). Picture: Matt Turner.

I read that you want to be booed – has that happened yet?

I was told by Fabian, the resident choreographer from England,

to expect to be booed because she’s a bad lady. But, no, I haven’t –

there was one but that was when I actually put a call-out and asked to

be booed. I think the audience can still tell there’s a man inside

that costume who’s being a good sport.

Did you watch the movie and get things from that too?

Yeah ... I actually went back to the text of the book rather than the

movie, because the movie was just another interpretation where this

is an adaptation of the book.

What did you pick up that you think the movie didn’t pick up?

I do feel in the movie she’s quite a monster and doesn’t speak very

much, she grunts a lot, whereas Trunchball in the book is very verbose

and loves to use the English language, particularly in a negative way.

Are there bits on stage where you’re having so much fun, like the

chocolate cake scene?

That is actually my favourite scene, because I’m simply witnessing a

terrible punishment that I’ve inflicted on that poor kid, without

having to do much at all.

Do you debrief after with each other and go, ‘oh did you see this

person in the audience?’

Oh, always, and particularly when we hear a kid cackling with laughter

at random moments. That’s the Roald Dahl experience, there’s always

something that’s going to tickle someone.

With things like the Chokey and that very dark Dahl humour, anyone who

has grown up with those books would understand that but do you think

if this was a new text you could get away with it?

Well, you look at new texts for children that adults also love like

Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket and they’re filled with adult

characters who are looking to undermine or bully or frighten children

so I think that does still happen, but it’s the greater message which

is triumph over adversity that matters, it’s not delighting in abuse

but going ‘this is what bullying is and you can survive it’. I think

great children’s literature does strengthen and empower kids ... and

give courage to you when you’re a little person fighting against a big

person and I think that’s why adults like it too, because we all still

feel like we’re children.

Did they ever consider not having a guy play Trunchball?

I’m not quite sure, I do know they’ve never put it off limits but

given that it’s such a long-running successful international show, to

find a character with that level of height and testosterone and the

nasty aggressive masculinity that is inside that creature, which is

not a gender, the playing of it as a man is far more appropriate

because you’ll struggle to find multiple actors who have that. I

actually think the qualities inside the monster are the worst

qualities of masculinity so I think it’s very interesting and correct

that she’s played by a man.

What’s the best thing you’ve done in Adelaide so far?

It rained, and I haven’t seen rain in such a long time. I’m a winter

person. But I’m looking forward to visiting some wineries on our

Mondays and Tuesdays off. I went to a great place I loved for Mrs

Wormwood, Marika’s birthday. Press. I had this amazing roast

cauliflower which sounds boring but was amazing.

Matilda the Musical is at Festival Theatre until July 16. Book at adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au

Originally published as Meet James Millar, the man bringing Matilda the Musical’s Miss Trunchbull to life