Sophie McShera, known to many for her role in Downton Abbey, tells The Irish World about returning to musical theatre in Shucked.
Sophie McShera, 40, is recognisable for playing assistant cook Daisy in Downton Abbey.
She is now playing Maizy in Shucked at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.
Set in the small town of Cob County, Shucked follows McShera’s young woman ‘Maizy’ leaves her small community when the beloved corn crop starts to fail.
Scripted by Tony Award winner Robert Horn with music by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, Shucked was a Broadway sensation earning nine Tony award nominations in 2023.
This run is its London premiere and a return to musicals for McShera who, as a child, played the title role in Annie alongside the late, great Paul O’Grady.
Q: You’ve already started preview – how have you been enjoying it so far?
“We had our second preview last night and they’re already so different because we’re still finding the show and we’re in this outside space.
“In terms of the nerves, being around all the nature really helps, just looking up at the trees trying to ground yourself is quite good.”
Q: You had a big thunderstorm last night, but it was dry by the time you got on stage…
“It adds to the magic.
“Honestly, everyone I knew who had worked there kept telling me how magical and lovely the space was and when I got there I was like, ‘Oh yeah, it really is.’
“The weather’s part of that so you’ve got to accept it.”
Q: What about Shucked appealed to you?
“I read the script absolutely loved it, it was so funny – it’s got so much heart. I thought, ‘I’d love to do that’.
“I’ve wanted to do a musical again for a long time, and nothing’s been quite right and this part just suited me down to the ground, and I wanted to do it.
“I did a bit of research on the show and saw that it had been this big hit on Broadway, and had a lot of buzz around it so I was really excited to get the opportunity to be a part of it.
“It is the kind of a thing people want to see right now because it’s really joyful and it’s just a bit of escapism.”
Q: There’s serious peril in the story with the community’s struggles that forces Maizy and Beau to leave to seek help.
“Maizy’s brave and goes on this adventure to try get help and it splits everything open but, in the end, it’s a lesson in how to let people in.
“There’s some lovely stuff in there about family and community and love – but it’s really funny.”
Q: The catchy songs are such a big part of the show’s original success, do you find it hard to describe?
“Yeah, when people go, ‘Shucked, what is it about?’ And you go ‘corn’ they’re like, ‘Why would I want to see a musical about corn?’
“You do. It’s really beautiful and funny and it’s got these magic Nashville songs.
“It’s like you’re at a concert with some of the songs. There’s this show-stopper song, Independently Owned which the audience almost can’t recover from.
“Georgina (Onuorah) is so amazing singing it.
“It’s not a traditional musical but the songs are gorgeous.
“There’re lovely love songs and funny songs. I’m happy getting to sing them every night.”
Q: You say it’s good getting to do a musical again. What was the last musical you did on stage?
“It was a long time ago. When I was a kid, I played Annie in the West End.
“I can barely even refer to it because it was about 100 years ago. (It was 1998).
“I’ve always been like, ‘Oh, I wonder if I can still sing a bit?’ and, ‘I wonder if I could do this’.
“I’m finding my way and I’m working with all these musical theatre pros.
“They’re all younger than me but they’re all teaching me and they’re all just heaven.
“They’re so kind and generous so I’ve been really lucky I’ve got such a nice cast looking after me because it’s quite challenging for me but yeah, it’s great.”
Q: You were so young, weren’t you?
“I was like 12, 13.
“I did The Goodbye Girl, a Neil Simon musical, and then I did Annie.
“I had that innocence of youth, there’re no stakes. It wasn’t my career it was just this hobby that accidentally turned into a job.
“I just got plucked and sent for this audition in my first week at this drama club.
“A girl had dropped out and they needed someone to go to this audition. That’s how it all started for me.
“I’d never really done singing lessons or anything, but everyone in my family, well the Irish side, sings and performs so that seemed quite normal.
“I’m trying to find a bit of that innocence now and not get so nervous.
“When you’re a kid, you just do it because you liked doing it and didn’t care what that person on row three thought about you.
“I’m trying to find a bit of that all these years later.”
Q: What was it like to be on the West End stage at that age?
“It was cool, I loved performing. It was just fun working with all the adults, I learned loads from everyone.
“We did the tour, and I had Paul O’Grady, as ‘Lily Savage’ as ‘Miss Hannigan’, and he was amazing.
“I learned a lot from all the adults and how to behave. Everyone was really nice, it was more of a jolly when you were a kid, it was just fun.”
Q: When did you know you wanted to act?
“It was a weird one because I never thought about acting or performing.
“I remember my dad said, ‘You need something to do on a weekend’, because my grandma and granddad were sending my brother to tennis and my cousin was doing art.
“Everyone had this talent, and I was the one that didn’t have anything to do.
“My dad felt a bit sorry for me. He said, ‘Why don’t we think of something you could do on a weekend?’
“I opened the Yellow Pages and found this acting class, that’s how I ended up going.
“There must have been something in my brain that thought, ‘I’ll do that’.
“I fell in love with it as I was working professionally. I ended up getting The Goodbye Girl, the first thing I auditioned for, I got the job, that’s how I fell in love with it.
“That probably came too easy – it’s not actually like that in the industry at all.”
Q: Was singing and dancing common in your Irish family?
“Yeah, my dad’s side are all from Limerick.
“There’re loads of them, they all moved over in the ‘60s. We were always backwards and forwards to Limerick.
“In Limerick with my Irish family, I’m very much the untalented one.
“They’re whacking out spoons and singing and Irish dancing and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, I don’t have a turn’.
“That culture was just there, I could see that. It didn’t feel like performing, it was more like expression in that side of my family.
“My Nan, who’s my favourite person in the world, was a big influence in my childhood and my life.
“We used to go back with my Nan a lot because she had never wanted to leave but had to come over, so her heart was always still there.
“At my nan’s she always had RTÉ, so she was in her little Irish world in the middle of Bradford.
“I’m really grateful, that cultural impact was so magical.”
Q: Have you always felt at home in Ireland?
“Yeah, I love Ireland and the people, and the humour, and all of that, hopefully, is in me because it’s one of my favourite places.
“I was thinking, after I finished this, that I’d like to go back and do a little road trip.
“I’d like to have a job there.
“All my friends keep filming in Ireland, and I’ve never got out there.”
Q: You mentioned Paul O’Grady whose dad came here from Roscommon and whose mum’s parents were from County Louth. What was it like working with him?
“He was gorgeous and so kind and I feel so lucky I got to work with him because then I met him again as an adult.
“It was so many years later and I went on his chat show and he was so kind to me and really looked after me when I saw him.
“He was a lovely, lovely guy and just really generous and kind and a good person to be around.
“To see people at the top of their game behaving really well and being really nice to everyone is always a good lesson.”
Q: We can’t speak to you and not mention Downton Abbey. What was it like being part of such a cultural phenomenon and what did it do for you?
“It was a mad one because I don’t think anyone knew what it was going to be at all. It was such a surprise. It grew when it came out.
“The first episode did really well and everyone was like, ‘Yeah, but that can happen. It can be a bit of a fluke’.
“Then the second episode did even better and they were like, ‘Oh, that doesn’t usually happen’.
“Then I think someone had been in America and they’d been recognised.
“By the time me and Lesley (Nicol), who plays ‘Mrs. Patmore’, went to America to do some press, we were getting recognised in the street.
“It was just madness.
“We started 14 years ago so it’s just been a wild ride.
“I don’t know what it’s done for me because I can’t imagine having not done it now, but it’s obviously afforded me so many amazing things, travelling and maybe getting in rooms for auditions that I wouldn’t have got in.
“The main thing it’s done for me is my relationships with people.
“I’ve got this support network of amazing people who are like a second family and they’ve been so helpful.
“Even when I’ve been doing this and I’ve been going, ‘Oh God, I can’t do it’, I’ll ring Lesley and she’ll give me a good talking to and help me through it.
“They’re all so supportive.
“Jim (Carter, who plays ‘Mr Carson’) rang me on Sunday desperate to know how the first preview went.
“They’re so supportive and I’m so lucky that I’ve ended up with all these amazing friends.”
Q: The TV series wrapped up some years ago but you have returned for special movies including the final chapter out later this year, is it always good to return to Downton and ‘Daisy’?
“Yeah, when we did the last film, it was more bittersweet because we knew it was the last film and putting my little ‘Daisy’ dress on I was like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to, don’t quite want to let her go’ but we have to.
“A lot of people who watch it say it’s quite comforting, and it’s probably quite comforting for us going back to shoot it because you’re going back to a place where you know everyone and what you’re doing.
“It still feels alive because we’re publicising it, the publicity is starting in a week so then we’re all together again.
“So, after it’s finished, we’ll be like, ‘Oh gosh, what now?’”
Q: We also cannot speak about Downton without mentioning Maggie Smith who died last year…
“Yeah, it was hard, because it still feels like she’s there.
“She was such a massive part of Downton, you can’t think about it without thinking about Maggie and even though she wasn’t filming with us, she was just there, present.
“I still pinch myself that I got to work with her all those years and just watch her.
“Obviously, she was ‘upstairs’ and I was ‘downstairs’ but I did have a scene with her and I did get to sit with her in the Green Room and just be around her. She was just such a one-off and such an inspiration to see a woman like her, what she achieved over her career.
“She was just magic, and she’s so missed, but she’s also so with us in in that production, always.”
Q: You say this is your first musical since Annie but what was your last play…
“I did The Entertainer, with Kenneth Branagh, which Maggie came to see with Joan Plowright which couldn’t have been more nerve racking because I was playing the part Joan played in the film with Lawrence Olivier.”
Q: Kenneth Branagh has also directed you in Cinderella…
“That was the best job ever, going from Downton to Cinderella. Even though we were playing the stepsisters I thought we had the best costumes.
“What an amazing job.
“I’ve worked with him twice which was amazing, learned loads.
“I feel like I’ve been really lucky with who I’ve got to work with.”
Q: (Jez Butterworth’s) Jerusalem must have been quite an experience as well…
“It’s just one of those magic times in my life that I’ll just remember forever.
“Working with Mark (Rylance) was once in a lifetime, amazing.
“He’s so free and playful on stage and that was amazing to be around.
“I just loved going on stage every night.
“I was excited to have this small, tiny part in it.”
Q: Back to Shucked, it’s a massive ensemble piece and that’s part of the fun of it, isn’t it?
“Yeah, and the thing with this ensemble is they’re all actors, everyone is giving something individual, and you want to watch everyone, everyone’s telling the story.
“They’re all so talented which is annoying because they’re amazing dancers, amazing singers, amazing actors – and I can barely learn the choreography.
“They’re just so brilliant and that makes the show so special, you really see all the characters in the community, not just a couple of people at the front, it’s a real ensemble piece. It wouldn’t work any other way.”
Q: You’re directed by Jack O’Brien who directed the phenomenally successful Broadway run…
“We’re obsessed with him.
“He’s a proper Broadway legend and is so sharp, everything he gives you is gold.
“Doing a musical with him – I don’t want to say I can’t go wrong because obviously I can -but I feel happy and safe.”
- Shucked is at Regents Park Open Air Theatre until 14 June. Click here.
