Chris Mason interview

Rising Liverpool-born actor Chris Mason on his role in the highly anticipated HBO series Dune: Prophecy, making a life-changing decision to move to Los Angeles, and the time he served Lady Gaga in a Studio City bar…

Words | Lawrence Saunders

What made you want to become an actor? Was there a particular film or actor which inspired you?

It’s all down to my older brother, Shaun, who is also an actor. I grew up watching him, first in school plays and eventually in professional productions. I remember him being in the final series of Brookside when he was about 17. Watching him was the inspiration for me to become an actor. He gave me the confidence to believe I could get up and do it. My brother and I are very different in our approaches to things but he taught me a lot. He’s a fantastic actor and I’m very proud of him.

He was a shy kid but always funny and good at doing voices. He joined the Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) and that’s where he found his real love [for acting], and I’d say it was the same for me. I followed in his footsteps and was at YEP from about 13 to 18 years old. We’re never competing for roles though, which is nice. I don’t know where we get [our acting ability] from because our dad’s a plumber and our mum’s a receptionist!

How did you first get into the profession then? Did you attend acting school?

I tried to learn on the job, as it were. My first professional sort of ‘gig’ was a touring job with Off the Ground Theatre company, which is based on the Wirral. It was a summer tour of Ireland, doing an outdoor performance of Cyrano de Bergerac. I was about 17 years old and it was more fun than serious work. After that, my first kind of big job in Liverpool was at the Royal Court in Our Day Out. I was very lucky to be involved with that and to work with Willy Russell. I loved doing it and it was my big start, at least locally.

What was your first screen acting credit?

It was a daytime TV show which was shot in Liverpool called Justice. It only ran for one or two weeks but it was a good little show, all set around a courtroom. A brilliant Welsh actor called Bob Pugh played the lead in it. It was my first TV role so I was very excited. I got to work with some great Liverpool actors like Jake Abraham (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), who sadly passed away last year, and Gary Mavers (Peak Practice). Jodie Comer was in my episode as well! She’s obviously doing phenomenal things in the business now. I’m the same as everyone – you watch her and you’re just in awe of her talent. We’re all so proud to see a scouse girl doing well, aren’t we?

How did you go from theatre and TV roles in the UK to film roles in the United States?

I was doing a lot of theatre in the North West. I even visited prisons to do workshop theatre with inmates. The company I did that with, No Place Productions, is still operating. It’s such a great outreach theatre programme. It was a cool experience. After that it was a few jobs here and there, including my first TV role (Justice). I then got lucky and bumped into an agent at a press night for a production of A Clockwork Orange my brother was doing in Glasgow. I got her card and she was with a big agency in London. She took a chance on me. It was small TV roles to begin with and eventually I moved down to London to be closer to [the industry].

I did a movie called Legend (Kray twins’ biopic). I was very lucky to be involved and it was such a learning curve for me. At the time, a US management firm showed interest in me and started getting me some auditions. They were encouraging me to come out to the States for a couple of months. Me and another actor who I’d done a vampire movie with were like: “Okay! We’ll go!”. We had next to nothing; booked the cheapest Airbnb we could find, and bundled our way through a month or two in LA.

It really opened my eyes to how different the business is over here. I had a couple of good months job-wise when I got home, but I was gasping to get back to LA. I was able to solidify a visa after booking an independent movie called Mad Genius, so I came over and started shooting. It was on the set of the film where I met my wife-to-be, Spencer Locke. At the time, I thought I’d go out there and be this young British actor out on the town but I met Spencer within two days of being back in LA. It became really apparent that I wanted to spend more time in the States. Then it was about establishing myself [as an actor] here, which was as tough as doing the same thing in the UK. I’ve been in LA for almost 10 years now. I’ve got my wife and kids here so right now it feels like home.

 

What have you found the main differences are between the film industry in the United States and the UK?

When I would turn up to an audition in the UK, I’d see a maximum of maybe 10 guys in the room – most of whom I knew from television or the last audition. For someone in my casting type there’s a really good pool of talent in the UK. You would see the same guys going for the same things. It was hard work to book a job. But in the audition itself you would get 10-15 minutes to really work through the scene. The directors would give you notes, the casting directors would give you notes. I remember going to [an audition in] LA for the first time and walking into a room where there were 50-60 of the most beautiful looking people you’ve ever seen! I let that get to me initially. It made me feel nervous and think maybe I wasn’t adequate enough. Once it got to the audition itself, you had one chance to do the scene and then it was: “Okay, thank you!”. You were treated a little bit like cattle.

But the opportunity in LA is much greater [than the UK] because of the amount of productions. At the time, if I got one or two auditions in a month in the UK, I’d call that a good month. But in LA, I’d sometimes have five meetings a day. I still had a part-time job in a bar during my early time in LA. I ended up serving a few producers who I’d worked for. Those moments do humble you a little. I also managed to serve Lady Gaga once without realising until someone told me!

How did your Liverpool accent go down with casting directors at auditions in LA?

When I lived in London, I was always fighting against certain stereotypes when it came to roles. A lot of casting directors hear the Liverpool accent and want to put you in the bad guy, thief or drug dealer role. It really annoys me and I know it annoys everyone in the city when we get tarred with that brush. In America, when I tell people I’m from Liverpool, the first thing they say is [adopts an excited American accent]: “Oh great! The Beatles!”. They have no preconceptions, they don’t put anything on you. I’ve always worked on my accents – even for jobs in the UK. When I did Broadchurch, that was more of a sort of southern, estuary accent. I’ve really worked hard on my American accent as well. I take a lot of pride in doing that part of the job.

How did you land the role in Dune: Prophecy?

I was lucky enough, through my UK agent, to pick up an audition for the show. The casting director for Dune: Prophecy is Julie Harkin, who cast me in a show called The Fades maybe 10 or 11 years ago. It starred Daniel Kaluuya and won a BAFTA for best drama series. I had a small part in it and was very lucky that Julie thought of me for Prophecy. I sent off a couple of tapes and it was a little unusual because you don’t really know what’s going on but I was very thankful to eventually get the phone call to say I’d booked the role. It’s a role that a lot of actors are looking for, in a show that a lot of actors are looking to be in. I feel very blessed to be in this position, and to be involved with some phenomenally talented people.

Did you have to familiarise yourself with the books and the lore of Dune before shooting began?

There are 23 novels in the Dune franchise and our show is set 30 years after the Great Schools of Dune prequel trilogy. What’s great is that we have all of the backstory there, a lot of things are already set in motion, but we are able to create a new story for a new audience. It’s not sticking to a particular book so we have a bit of poetic licence in that sense. It’s obviously still part of the Dune world though, so any new lore it creates has to fit in with what happens in the future. What’s good is that people don’t need to be familiar with Dune to enjoy the show though. We’re starting fresh in a sense. The movies, which were obviously super successful, are set in the same universe but Prophecy is 10,000 years previous. If you haven’t seen the movies, don’t let that put you off seeing the show.

How does it feel to be involved with a franchise that has such a large and devoted fanbase? Is there a certain pressure that comes with it?

If I was a little younger, maybe I’d feel the pressure a bit more. I feel like I’ve been around long enough now to know not to let myself worry about that stuff. Having seen what we’ve produced, I have no worries. Fans of the books and the movies are going to see things they haven’t seen before. New things to think about. Prophecy does a good job of playing to a new audience whilst also keeping the current fans happy.

What can you tell us about the character you play in the show, Keiran Atreides?

I can’t say much about Keiran. Obviously the first few episodes will shape your opinion of him. He’s an Atreides, which is the connection with the character (Paul Atreides) played by Timothée Chalamet in the movies. In the films it’s House Atreides, they are very regal and in a position of power. Kieran and the Atreides family are not in that position when Prophecy begins. Right now he’s the swordmaster for the emperor and I think that’s all I can tell you at the moment!

What was the filming experience like? I understand shooting took place in Budapest, which is where much of the two most recent films were made

Budapest is a beautiful city. We were shooting there for five months and I loved every second of it. The studios are crazy and the crews are really talented. It was a really fun, collaborative process. There’s some amazing British actors involved including fellow scouser Cathy Tyson. She was really wonderful. Getting to hang out with her was really cool. And then we have the American side. Our showrunner Alison Schapker is just phenomenal at telling the story. Everyone was being very collaborative and enjoying such a beautiful city. It was a great thing to see.

The first episode of Dune: Prophecy will be released in the UK on 18 November. The series will be available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NOW. You can watch new episodes live on Sky Atlantic, or stream them later on Sky TV or NOW