{"id":323821,"date":"2025-12-01T09:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/323821\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T09:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:12:11","slug":"arty-froushan-lands-american-psycho-stage-musical-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/323821\/","title":{"rendered":"Arty Froushan Lands ‘American Psycho’ Stage Musical Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tEXCLUSIVE: Arty Froushan<\/a>, who plays Wilson Fisk\u2019s sinister henchman Buck Cashman in Marvel\u2019s Daredevil: Born Again<\/a>, will star as serial killer Patrick Bateman in a revamped revival of the musical adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis\u2019s darkly satirical novel\u00a0American Psycho<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe show will begin performances at London\u2019s Almeida Theatre<\/a> from Jan. 22 through March 14, 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\tBack in 2014, the musical \u2014 with a book by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and directed by Rupert Goold<\/a> \u2014 originated at the same Almeida address with Matt Smith (The Crown, House of the Dragan, Doctor Who) playing the impeccably attired investment banker who hides a secret lust for bloodthirsty acts of depravity. (Benjamin Walker also starred in a short-lived production on Broadway in 2016.)<\/p>\n

\n\tAside from Froushan\u2019s portrayal of playwright and celebrated raconteur N\u00f6el Coward in\u00a0Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale<\/a>, the actor feels like he\u2019s made a career out of playing \u201cpsychopaths, basically,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSympathetic, twisted characters, so in some senses, this role feels, it\u2019s scary to say, a natural fit,\u201d he adds with a twinkle in his eye. \u201cIn\u00a0Daredevil: Born Again, I\u2019ve been playing essentially an assassin who\u2019s mildly sociopathic. In\u00a0Carnival Row,\u00a0I played a sort of entitled, very vengeful, young aristocrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t(L-R) Buck Cashman (Arty Froushan) and Daniel Blake (Michael Gandolfini) in Marvel\u2019s Daredevil: Born Again on Disney+. (Courtesy of Marvel)<\/p>\n

\n\tFroushan notes that in the stage version of Alan Hollinghurst\u2019s 2004 prize-winning book\u00a0The Line of Beauty, set in Margaret Thatcher\u2019s 1980s Britain and which ended a limited run at the Almeida this past Saturday, he played a character who, while not a psychopath, is \u201ca very intense and tortured man\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe performer looks the antithesis of \u201ctortured\u201d when we meet; he\u2019s charming, outgoing and has a sunny disposition.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe feels slightly bewildered to find himself preparing for a musical although, as he says, \u201cit\u2019s not my first rodeo,\u201d having sung in college productions of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s\u00a0Assassins\u00a0and\u00a0West Side Story\u00a0whilst studying at the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI can hold a tune,\u201d he assures.\u00a0\u201cClearly, I think Rupert [Goold]\u00a0obviously wanted to make sure I could do that. I\u2019m definitely an actor who can sing rather than a singer.\u201d <\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tArty Froushan in the Almeida Theatre\u2019s auditorium. (Photo by Marc Brenner)<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen he first taped an audition for the Bateman role in June, he sang\u00a0a snippet from Duran Duran\u2019s\u00a0\u201cOrdinary World.\u201d He was finishing Season 2 of\u00a0Daredevil: Born Again\u00a0on the East Coast and then whizzed up to Montreal to shoot Amazon MGM\u2019s romantic comedy\u00a0The Love Hypothesis\u00a0for director Claire Scanlon opposite Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman.<\/p>\n

\n\tBy the time Froushan met up with Goold (who\u2019s in his final season as artistic director of the Almeida before he goes off to run the London\u2019s famous Old Vic<\/a> Theatre) again, he was preparing for\u00a0The Line of Beauty directed by Michael Grandage.<\/p>\n

\n\tFroushan says Goold joked that the actor will \u201cnever escape the \u201980s,\u201d because both plays are firmly ensconced in that decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tI remember Froushan from Tom Stoppard\u2019s heartbreaking masterpiece\u00a0Leopoldstadt, in which he performed in both the West End and Broadway productions. That was a really special show for him, one that he spent close to two years involved with. \u201cIt was quite an invigorating and enriching experience,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tFroushan feels like he\u2019s \u201cnative to the stage; I grew up doing plays. Films and TV [have] always been a bit of a riddle to me, and it\u2019s something I\u2019m chasing. There\u2019s an elusiveness about screen acting, which I\u2019m trying to investigate and, I guess, master, but I know where I stand on stage \u2026 And if I spend too long away from the stage, I feel like I lose a sense of what I am about as an actor.\u201d Froushan has been taking singing and dancing classes ahead of rehearsals for\u00a0American Psycho.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe was born in Connecticut, where his Iranian father, an engineer, had a job designing cooling systems for a nuclear power plant. His parents moved to London when he was a 2-year old nipper. He grew up in\u00a0Southfields, next door to Wimbledon, where he sang in choirs and, in his mid teens, played in a local band.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut, until recently, at any rate, singing was not on his \u201ccalling card\u201d until he had to \u201cdust off the pipes\u201d for his portrait of Coward in\u00a0Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tArty Froushan as N\u00f6el Coward in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale. (Courtesy of Focus Features)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBut that was singing as a very particular character,\u201d he argues. \u201cWith Patrick Bateman there\u2019s a sort of pop sensibility to it, but also it\u2019s telling story through song, song as monologue, which is an interesting challenge for me,\u201d he adds, chuckling nervously.<\/p>\n

\n\tGoold and his collaborators are using the template of the original 2014 production of\u00a0American Psycho,\u00a0but they\u2019ve made some necessary tweaks, such as the addition of a new original number; choreographer Lynne Page is also remapping her\u00a0choreography due to a decision to perform the revival on a thrust stage, and there are other additions and revisions. \u201cI feel like I\u2019m stepping into something that has its own identity,\u201d Froushan says.<\/p>\n

\n\tLiving in NYC\u00a0for\u00a0Leopoldstadt and amid shooting the two seasons of\u00a0Daredevil: Born Again over at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City has given him a sense of life in Manhattan because, as he observes, \u201cNew York is like a protagonist in the story of American Psycho.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe reasons that Manhattan \u201cis this very vivid environment and sort of social context. And having lived in Midtown, seen all these Wall Street boys riding the yellow cabs downtown and in all the bars \u2014 it has helped a lot, I have to say, in slipping into the skin of Patrick [Bateman]. And I have an American partner and she\u2019s a good\u00a0accent coach and cultural guru for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFroushan reveals that\u00a0his character has \u201ca proper arc\u201d in Season 2 of\u00a0Daredevil: Born Again. \u201cIn the first season I\u2019m sort of a lurking figure with a suit and a mysterious look in my eye \u2026 It\u2019ll be nice to get some action in the new series,\u201d due out on Disney+ next year.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt Oxford University, he studied French and German, but also took advantage of the extensive theater facilities. He debuted\u00a0in a production of Laura Wade\u2019s play\u00a0Posh, which is set in an Oxford University dining club modeled after the infamous Bullingdon Club of which former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was once a member.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt was, he recalls, \u201ca fitting and quite a fiery baptism\u201d due to a bunch of real-life Bullingdon boys attending a performance and then departing somewhat abruptly at the interval.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThey left\u00a0just when the play turns because it then reveals the ugly side of these despicable characters. But they left before they saw themselves reflected,\u201d he says, shaking his head.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe producer Thelma Holt sent him off with an ensemble to perform The\u00a0Comedy of Errors\u00a0in Japan. His twin in that production was the great actor David Shields (whom I saluted in a recent column on his performance<\/a> in James Graham\u2018s play\u00a0Punch).<\/p>\n

\n\tFroushan later returned to Japan in an international and U.K. touring production of\u00a0Romeo & Juliet\u00a0with a company that included Emma D\u2019Arcy (House of the Dragon).<\/p>\n

\n\tNext, Froushan heads straight into rehearsals for\u00a0American Psycho. He\u2019s also involved in the Blumhouse movie\u00a0Soulm8te, set in the\u00a0M3GAN\u00a0universe \u201cin which I\u2019m playing a character which I won\u2019t describe in any detail \u2026 but he\u2019s a tricky character,\u201d is all he would disclose.<\/p>\n

\n\tHis part in\u00a0The Love Hypothehis, based on Ali Hazelwood\u2019s BookTok-viral novel, is that of Dr. Tom Benton, an associate professor at Harvard \u201cand again there is a common theme with my characters,\u201d he says with a grin that suggests this doctor is not at all the kind of a decent chap a young woman would take home to meet her mother.<\/p>\n

\n\tCasting directors, he jokes, just look at him and decide he\u2019s the bloke to play these characters.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m really just a guy,\u201d he protests. \u201cIt is interesting how the industry decides how to cast you,\u201d he muses.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Froushan has the chops to play any role, including those outside the usual psychopathic territory he\u2019s placed in.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tArty Froushan rehearsing The Line of Beauty. (Photo by Johan Persson)<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, Bateman is a literary character that fits the bill for our times, especially, sad to say, in the United States, and even here in Blighty.<\/p>\n

\n\tNodding in agreement, Froushan remarks that\u00a0American Psycho\u00a0\u201cmakes a brilliant, very biting commentary, obviously on materialism and capitalism, which it always did. It\u2019s always been relevant, but this notion \u2026 of truth and objective truth and the kind of inability to agree on what that is now in this post-truth society and with all the sort of skepticism of experts \u2014 these seeds have been sown by Trump. And I think Patrick [Bateman] is really wrestling with the question of: What is reality and what is real and what matters? That\u2019s maybe where it\u2019s become a bit more relevant in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a great role to land. Appearing hopeful, Froushan states: \u201cIt\u2019s such a blend of comedy and satire and drama and horror and erotica and Greek tragedy and a bit of philosophy thrown in. It\u2019s such an amazing cocktail of a show. I can\u2019t wait to peel away the layers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition to Froushan, the cast includes Emily Barber, Daniel Bravo, Jack Butterworth, Hannah Yun Chamberlain, Oli Higginson, Kim Ismay, Alex James-Hatton, Liz Kamille, Anastasia Martin, Millie Mayhew, Posi Morakinyo, Joseph Mydell, Asha Parker-Wallace, Tanisha Spring, Samuel J. Weir and Zheng Xi Yong.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe creative heads are: Es Devlin as set designer; Katrina Lindsay as costume designer; Jon Clark as lighting designer; Dan Moses Schreier as sound designer; Finn Ross as video designer; David Shrubsole as music supervisor; Ellen Campbell as musical director; and Natalie Gallacher\u00a0as casting director for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Arty Froushan, who plays Wilson Fisk\u2019s sinister henchman Buck Cashman in Marvel\u2019s Daredevil: Born Again, will star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[165405,139133,165406,74265,4,450,9613,91234,451,3,165407,165408,452,453],"class_list":["post-323821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-almeida-theatre","tag-american-psycho","tag-arty-froushan","tag-breaking-baz","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-daredevil-born-again","tag-downton-abbey-the-grand-finale","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-old-vic","tag-rupert-goold","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}