Save
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
AAA
Amountain many actor-dancer-singer-songwriters summit only in their dreams was conquered by Keiynan Lonsdale before he hit 25: Hollywood.
The boy who grew up in government housing in North St Marys barely had time to breathe between graduating from the Harvard of Australian dance schools – Sydney’s Brent Street Studios – and embarking on a year-long nationwide tour as part of Fame – The Musical’s company.
It was one of the hardest things he’d done, Lonsdale reflects, until he found himself beckoned to the screen. A role in feted ABC television drama Dance Academy propelled the star to Tinseltown, where back-to-back roles in shows and films with huge cult followings – The Divergent Series, DC Comics/The CW’s “Arrowverse” and Love, Simon – awaited.
Being “the next big Aussie export”, as this masthead crowned Lonsdale in 2016, meant he could achieve his childhood dream of buying his single mother a house.
But for all the possessions and adoration Lonsdale secured spending his 20s shuffling between lots in Atlanta, Los Angeles and Vancouver, something was missing.
“I’d been doing a lot of my film and television work. I noticed that my peers who had done a fair bit of theatre, even if they had less experience on screen, their muscle was sharper, quicker, stronger,” says Lonsdale. “And I was like, ‘I need that’.”
Sixteen years after his first foray into theatre, Lonsdale is back on stage. But this time, he’s not leaping into the air or twirling around. To deliver the emotional punches The Normal Heart never pulls, Lonsdale’s feet must be braced firmly on the ground.
Related Article
Larry Kramer’s semi-autobiographical play about the early days of the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City, first staged off-Broadway in 1985 and by Sydney Theatre Company 37 years before its current run at the Opera House Drama Theatre, is a sobering look at the human cost of silence and inaction from those in power.
There is no smoke, nor mirrors, to hide behind. Lonsdale – who as a singer has his electrifying blend of ’90s R&B, pop and soul up his sleeve to dazzle audiences on-stage – can rely on nothing but his raw acting skills to convincingly portray Tommy Boatwright, based on late activist Rodger McFarlane.
Unlike the 10 minutes of rehearsal Lonsdale would sometimes get before stepping in front of an American green screen, the actor’s muscles have been built up over weeks of workshopping, constant notes breaking down the minutiae of his dramatic choices.
It’s been life-changing.
Sixteen years after Lonsdale made his theatre debut, the actor is starring in his first play.Steven Siewert
Lonsdale is taking on the role of Tommy Boatwright in Sydney Theatre Company’s new production of The Normal Heart.Steven Siewert
“The performer that I was those few years ago on very large-scale projects… I wouldn’t have been able to handle a production like this.”Steven Siewert
“You get to dive into the whole meal almost every day, rather than a spoonful of a huge pot over the course of sometimes six months,” says Lonsdale.
“The actor and performer that I was those few years ago on very large-scale projects … I wouldn’t have been able to handle a production like this.”
Adding to the creative fulfilment, and stakes, is the emotion laced in each word of the script. When Ryan Murphy adapted the play into a film starring Mark Ruffalo in 2014, he did so out of fear that those born after the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis would not remember its lessons.
But Lonsdale, who had the privilege of growing up in the age of PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), is learning.
The grief, despair and strength is a heavy weight to shoulder. It’s made Lonsdale, who had a “big cry” the day before we sat down, a better person.
Related Article
His appreciation of the “magic” and wit of his community, and its perseverance, has been heightened by the love and laughter that somehow manage to ooze through the script’s intensity.
Lonsdale’s Boatwright, a sharp-tongued yet soft Southern belle, serves as the emotional counterweight to Mitchell Butel’s Ned Weeks, whose palpable rage is aimed at the dismissive mainstream as much as the polite pawing his friends insist will eventually earn them more than scraps. (As the internal dissentions faced by the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras organisation demonstrate, marginalised communities are not monoliths).
Lonsdale’s Boatwright is the emotional counterweight to Mitchell Butel’s belligerent Ned Weeks.Neil Bennett
Boatwright is based on real-life American activist Rodger McFarlane.Neil Bennett
Both are threatened themselves by the physical danger of the pandemic, which is ongoing, with a death toll about seven times higher than COVID-19.
The infighting only compounds the urgency and forces the audience to ask themselves this: What are you willing to do to fight injustice?
Related Article
That’s a question Lonsdale used to primarily answer with social media posts and unvarnished interviews, though “outspoken” is a label he disputes. He was merely “honest about some shit that happens” – and headlines take things out of context.
“I like that sometimes kicking up a stink can cause change,” says Lonsdale. His admiration has not wavered for people, like Weeks, who are uncompromising in their pursuit of necessary change.
But the discomfort can make people look away, and he sees Boatwright’s gentle nature as a strength, not a weakness.
It has re-emphasised to Lonsdale – who didn’t deal well with talking or eye contact as a child, preferring to express himself through dance – the power of communicating via art.
“I think sometimes people can feel attacked for not involving themselves, or they understandably can feel afraid of diving into a situation because we’re all very, very sensitive, you know?”
“That’s why stories and plays and theatre and film is so cool,” he says. “It’s something a bit more tangible for people to get in so close and intimately with, the stories of real life people.”