Words: Zak Maoui
As we sit down during London Fashion Week, actor Charlie Rowe tells me that he has never been to a fashion show before. "I'm super excited," the 28-year old actor says from his publicist's office in central London, moments before he's meant to dive into a car and head to Chinese brand Mithridate's show. You'd never believe it, and like a lot of actor (Paul Mescal, Josh O'Connor et al), he looks like a seasoned show goer: he's dressed in an oversized midnight blue silk shirt from the label, which he has partnered with a pair of his own shorts and chunky loafers. His leg tattoo, which is a thin line drawing of a guy playing a guitar that his friend did, is just visible under the sports shorts' hem.
"Clothes are part of the fun of being an actor," he tells me. "I've really lucked out in that I've got to do a lot of jobs where clothes are actually interesting. So much so, that I get a lot of my innate desire to dress up out of my system when I’m doing those jobs, and so my usual uniform is just jeans and T-shirts, although I want to change up my everyday outfits. I've got more to give."
Credit: Richard Dowker
Rowe has been working since he was 8 years old. He always wanted to be an actor, he tells me, and he knows no life before it. "I grew up surrounded by it," he says. "Mum used to be a drama teacher, and dad used be an actor and did a load of voiceovers. My aunt is a theatre actor, as is my grandma. They’re a bunch of North London thespians."
Credit: Richard Dowker
Rowe has had roles in everything from 2010's dystopian drama Never Let Me Go, in which he played a younger version of Andrew Garfield's character, to Rocketman and Slow Horses. While he's done a lot, for Rowe it's where the clothing gets interesting, that the day job becomes more fun. "I've done four or five period dramas where the clothes are just mad," he says. "My next job, which I've got coming in a few weeks, is Wolf Hall. The costumes are ridiculous. My character wears his wealth. He’s a bit of a stud looking to get married, and the outfits have a flair to them. They’re a little out there." Wolf Hall is a follow up to the first season of the show about Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII, which aired in 2015. In it Rowe stars as Gregory Cromwell, a role which was previously played by Tom Holland. It's a role that sees him go full Tudor: big floppy hat, adorned with feathers (pheasant, likely), frilled necks and big, flamboyantly fabulous sleeves. "With Never Let Me Go, I had to dress as a schoolboy, but the costumes were really cool then." Following that there was the 2018 period drama Vanity Fair, in which he had fun playing dress up as the unappealing character George Osborne.
Credit: Richard Dowker
Big clothes aside, the upcoming Wolf Hall will likely make Rowe a household name. It's being blasted into living rooms in the UK as evenings get darker and fireplaces come on. It's the ideal time for primetime TV fodder. Rowe's also got another project coming that will also send his name into the stratosphere. He's just wrapped a much talked about, as yet untitled, film - he will star in Noah Baumbach's massive feature alongside George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern and just about every other important person in Hollywood. "It was one of the calmest sets I’ve ever been on. Everybody was so warm and welcoming."
Credit: Richard Dowker
Now well into his career, Rowe still says that it can all get quite daunting. "I’m still terrified that I’d need another job in six months," he says. "I know a career is happening, but I don’t know if you’ll ever believe that the career is there, or that it has longevity. I’ve been acting for twenty years, so I guess it’s happening." And how does he tackle that uneasiness that comes with being an actor. "There’s both fear and adrenaline with that," he explains. "But somehow you always make it through. It makes auditions matter. I don’t take it for granted, as jobs are rare as a working actor. You also learn to channel your creativity elsewhere, like music or directing, which I'm doing, or going to fashion shows, where the creativity is real."
Want more? Now read an interview with House Of The Dragon actor Tom Taylor.
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