King Lear Cast Bio | Jac

With the company now in rehearsals, we interview the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School actors cast to play alongside theatre professionals, Timothy West, Stephanie Cole and David Hargreaves in King Lear.

Here we get to know Jac, one of the Theatre School’s talented rising stars.

Jac Baylis
Oswald / Morgan

 BOVTS: Trinculo in The Tempest (Redgrave Theatre); Chamberlain in Madame MacAdam’s Travelling Theatre (Bristol Old Vic Studio); Lady Bountiful in The Beaux’ Stratagem (West Country Tour); Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar (Assembly Edinburgh Fringe Festival and TIE); Kulygin in Three Sisters, Flare Path, Richard III, A School for Scandal, The Promise, The Events. Pre BOVTS: Hamlet in Hamlet, James I in Anne Boleyn, Andrew Crocker-Harris in The Browning Version (all West Glamorgan Theatre Company).

Where are you from and how did you get into acting?
I grew up just outside Swansea on the Gower Peninsula.  It’s a beautiful coastal area, and my go-to destination when I want to escape and unwind.  My interest in acting kicked off at the age of 14 when I was cast in a school production of The Winter’s Tale as Leontes, the troubled king who is convinced of his wife’s infidelity.  Looking back, it was an absurdly difficult role to give to a teenager, but I didn’t think that at the time - I was just ecstatic about being on stage!

Who are you playing in King Lear and what challenges have you faced in that role?
I’m playing Oswald, an ambitious servant who keeps picking the wrong fights.  He is outrageously fun to play, basically because he’s an unimportant man who believes that he’s important.  It’s very easy when playing someone so conceited to find comic moments, and this presents both a joy and a challenge; it’s tempting to lose the reality of the scene for the sake of a laugh.

What’s your favourite thing about training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School?
Being surrounded by talented, driven, passionate people.  All of the students and staff here bring something to the table, and nothing inspires me to aim higher like working with other creative people.

How does it feel to be taking the Bristol Old Vic stage in your graduating show?
Awesome.  It is such an epic stage, and it has so much history behind it.  In fact, Timothy West as King Lear on the main stage of the Bristol Old Vic, directed by Tom Morris - this might just be the biggest graduating show of all time!

King Lear continues our 250th Anniversary Season in our Theatre 18 Jun-10 Jul. To find out more about the show and to book your tickets, click here.