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spectacular return to the stage as Tom Kettle in the critically-acclaimed, multi-award-winning stage play 'The Ferryman' by Jez Butterworth after almost twenty years in film and TV. Although Ivan had been the first choice for the part in the first run, he wasn't available at the time due to other work and joined the 2nd run at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End from October 2017 to January 2018. British film and TV actors frequently return to the stage and Ivan's acting career had started with roles in dramatic and musical theatre in notable productions (like 'The Rocky Horror Show'). It is therefore surprising it took him so long to get back on stage. In this video interview, he told us why. He also talked about the challenges of joining a play while it is already running, about the ways actors try to convince directors of their own interpretation of their parts in general - not only in theatre - and shared his opinion about 'The Ferryman'. --- This is the first part of our video interview with Ivan. We are currently unable to publish the rest due to some issues but we will try to get back to it as we would love to bring you all Ivan said about his character Tom Kettle, about working with director Sam Mendes (also known for Bond movies like 'Skyfall' and 'Spectre'), about the special challenges of handling a live goose on stage and about all the things that could've gone wrong. We also talked about the special appeal of theatre for actors, about Ivan's favourite memory from backstage, about his future theatre plans and about his work on the much anticipated new Netflix period film 'The King' that is expected to gain Oscar nominations. --- 'The Ferryman' revolves around a Northen Irish family during the Troubles. While the mother is ill in bed most of the time, the father and the wife of his missing brother who lives with the family have developed romantic feelings for each other. The only Englishman around is Tom Kettle who isn't exactly bright and has been left there as a child and taken in by the family. Although he has grown up with the family and is regarded as useful help on the farm due to his strength and technical abilities as well as his connection with the animals, he is not really one of them. When it becomes clear that the missing brother is dead, Tom Kettle finally unveils his own romantic feelings for the widow which leads to dramatic developments. Aside from these characters, the play features a lot of children and adolescents, two old aunts and an uncle, a priest and some dangerous political troublemakers from the city. After three award-winning West End runs, the play transferred to Broadway in autumn 2018 and is still running there with 9 Tony Award nominations.