RORY Kinnear has taken almost all the acting plaudits going, most recently winning rave reviews as Iago in the National Theatre’s hit production of Othello.
But it was his role as Bill Tanner, right hand man to Judi Dench’s M in the last Bond movie Skyfall, which really brought him to the attention of a wider audience.
The box office record-breaking film may also herald the birth of Rory Kinnear the writer.
He used the breaks between shooting, a rare luxury for an actor more used to the demanding stage schedule, to add the final polish to his debut play script on which he has spent years working.
Somewhat appropriately for one of MI6’s top brass, he’s keeping tight-lipped about the result.
What we do know is that it’s called The Herd and is set at a 21st birthday party, where family relations are stretched to breaking point.
“I like the idea of coming to a new play where you don’t know anything about it, as long as people do come,” he says, perhaps expressing a hint of nerves about his first foray into writing.
The bulk of the play was written some time ago but, as Kinnear puts it, everything went into stall, the busy schedule of a man in demand making it tough to put in the hours at the writing desk.
“I had a bit more time on my hands, particularly when I was filming, so I used that to work on the script,” he adds. “It’s an element of family life I’ve wanted to write about for a long time but the difficult bit was creating the structure for telling that story. Once I’d cracked that I wrote it in a couple of weeks, but I knew it needed another draft and it wasn’t easy finding the time to work on that, which is why it’s taken so long.”
He had a little help from his mentor Howard Davies, the Olivier Award-winning director with whom he has twice teamed up at the National.
Davies was so impressed with the finished product he agreed to take the helm, a huge honour for a first-time writer.
“Howard read the first draft and was very helpful with advice and support,” says Kinnear. “When I finally finished it and sent it out I gave him a call just on the off-chance. He’s a very busy man, but when he texted back to say he’d do it I was delighted. Every time I’ve worked with him as an actor I’ve seen this beatific smile come across the writer’s face during rehearsals because not only does he understand their intentions, he makes it better. It’s nice to get to see that as a writer myself.”
Kinnear – the son of character actors Roy Kinnear and Carmel Cryan – recently became a father for the first time between drafts of The Herd, but has the experience given him a new perspective on the family drama?
"I don’t know if I’ve changed much of the text as a result but certain moments do resonate more strongly," he says. "Anyone who writes a family drama tends to have a bit of an autobiographical element to it, but I tried to steer clear of that as much as possible."
He has told how Carmel Cryan, best known for playing Brenda Boyle in EastEnders, would come to all his performances and take notes, so is he as worried about her critical response to his first play as those of the assembled press?
“She doesn’t really take notes any more with the acting,” he says. “I think she trusts me to get on with it but she’s read the play and my sister’s read it too.”
Kinnear has had the writing bug since the age of 11, when he wrote a slew of plays produced at his primary school, and it was fostered during his time reading English at Oxford.
Despite the thrill of seeing his first play performed on the big stage, he insists acting will always be his first love.
“I don’t foresee a time when I would prioritise writing over the acting,” he adds. “I see myself getting more and more involved in writing but it’s something I want to work in tandem with the acting.”
The Herd is at the Bush Theatre, in Shepherd’s Bush, from Friday, September 13 to Saturday, October 26. Tickets, priced £15 to £19.50 (£12 for under-26s and Bush Local members) are available at www.bushtheatre.co.uk or from the box office on 020 8743 5050.
