A FORMER American president will be treading the boards at the RSC in Stratford.
Bill Pullman, who played the US president in Hollywood blockbuster Independence Day alongside Will Smith, will take on the role of Gaev in The Cherry Orchard, a new version of Anton Chekhov’s final play, by Olivier Award-winning playwright Laura Wade, and directed by RSC co-artistic director Tamara Harvey.
He joins Kenneth Branagh and Helen Hunt in the production that will run in the Swan Theatre in Stratford from July 10 to August 29.
Bill said: “Thrilled is too inadequate – I’m thankful to be part of this company alongside Ken and Helen, and to be working with the talented Tamara Harvey and Laura Wade. When I think of this production, set in the Swan Theatre, I have a feeling that we all are anticipating an experience of exceptional power. Hurry, first rehearsal.”
His other film rolls include Spaceballs, While You Were Sleeping, Sleepless in Seattle, The Battle of the Sexes and The Accidental Tourist as well as television including The Sinner, Halston and The Murdaugh Murders: The Movie.
He began his career in New York theatre in 1983 and has remained active on stage, most recently appearing in the National Theatre’s 2019 revival of All My Sons and Mad House in the West End, while on Broadway, his credits include the Tony-Award winning The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and The Subject was Roses.
He was nominated for Drama Desk Awards for Sticks and Bones and Peter and Jerry. Upcoming projects include The Boroughs on Netflix, The Basics of Philosophy directed by Paul Schrader), Spaceballs: The New One, as well as Everybody Digs Bill Evans which had its premiere at the recent Berlin Film Festival.
