A Day With Ben Whishaw, From Diner Coffee to Onstage Scars
Since January, British actor Ben Whishaw has spent most days on West 48th Street, railing against a group of seemingly possessed young girls: He’s playing John Proctor in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. The rest of the time, Whishaw (who also stars in this month’s The Lobster) leads a relatively quotidian New York existence: trips to CVS and the local bookshop with his partner, composer Mark Bradshaw. “It’s only fractionally quieter than Hackney, where we live in London,” Whishaw says of the construction that plagues his West Village neighborhood. “They seem to have been digging up the road outside the apartment since we arrived.”
*This article appears in the May 16, 2016 issue of New York Magazine.
11:15 am I wake up between 10 and 11 and then venture out for food. Mark is writing music for a TV series, and he’s trying to synchronize his work ti...
11:15 am I wake up between 10 and 11 and then venture out for food. Mark is writing music for a TV series, and he’s trying to synchronize his work times with mine. We’re both semi-nocturnal at the moment.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
11:40 am This diner is called Hector’s. My dad visited a few weeks ago, and we took him here. I first came to America with him when I was 11. Then, a...
11:40 am This diner is called Hector’s. My dad visited a few weeks ago, and we took him here. I first came to America with him when I was 11. Then, as now, I’m amazed by the vast scale of everything. Like the enormous cups of coffee.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
Noon Mark and I don’t talk a lot in the mornings — we’re neither of us very good in the morning. Sometimes we’ll read our books. Or sometimes we’ll ju...
Noon Mark and I don’t talk a lot in the mornings — we’re neither of us very good in the morning. Sometimes we’ll read our books. Or sometimes we’ll just gaze out the window, each in our own world.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
12:30 pm Mark loves CVS. I don’t know why. And the book is Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem. Doing The Crucible has made me reflect on how quite ...
12:30 pm Mark loves CVS. I don’t know why. And the book is Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem. Doing The Crucible has made me reflect on how quite moral human beings can end up doing despicable things.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
1:19 pm I love churches, especially urban churches like this one, that are somewhere on the cusp of being ugly and beautiful. It makes sense to me th...
1:19 pm I love churches, especially urban churches like this one, that are somewhere on the cusp of being ugly and beautiful. It makes sense to me that a religious building should have both those qualities.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
1:47 pm I may in fact be addicted to buying books; on bad days, I think of quitting it all and working in a bookshop. I was very taken with this tabl...
1:47 pm I may in fact be addicted to buying books; on bad days, I think of quitting it all and working in a bookshop. I was very taken with this table of translations; I bought one by Yukio Mishima and one by Peter Handke.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
6:10 pm I love the journey to the theater on the subway, seeing everyone go about their lives. Ninety-nine percent of the time I go unrecognized. My ...
6:10 pm I love the journey to the theater on the subway, seeing everyone go about their lives. Ninety-nine percent of the time I go unrecognized. My voice is suffering at the moment, so I’m drinking gallons of water!
Photo: Kristina Loggia
6:32 pm This is the auspicious entrance to the backstage of the theater. Basically a gutter. I think people have this notion being an actor is glamoro...
6:32 pm This is the auspicious entrance to the backstage of the theater. Basically a gutter. I think people have this notion being an actor is glamorous, but I don’t find it to be. It’s an odd life.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
7:03 pm An hour or so before curtain, we all do this vocal warm-up. It’s led by our youngest cast member, Elizabeth Teeter, who is 14 and quite brill...
7:03 pm An hour or so before curtain, we all do this vocal warm-up. It’s led by our youngest cast member, Elizabeth Teeter, who is 14 and quite brilliant. It involves some squatting and stretching and trilling and tongue-twisting.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
9:27 pm My Act Four scars. It’s a chance to sip a bit of warming tea, made by my wonderful dresser Tim, and to gossip a bit with our hair and makeup ...
9:27 pm My Act Four scars. It’s a chance to sip a bit of warming tea, made by my wonderful dresser Tim, and to gossip a bit with our hair and makeup artists. We’re arranging a games night to celebrate the midpoint of the run.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
10:47 pm It is quite tiring playing this role, but I am energized by the play. I feel all sorts of things when I step offstage, but initially, Survive...
10:47 pm It is quite tiring playing this role, but I am energized by the play. I feel all sorts of things when I step offstage, but initially, Survived another one! Then, in the shower, I start listing all the things I could have done better.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
10:50 pm I wear a lot of makeup in the final act, which, despite my best efforts at scrubbing it off each night, has turned the bedsheets an unpleasan...
10:50 pm I wear a lot of makeup in the final act, which, despite my best efforts at scrubbing it off each night, has turned the bedsheets an unpleasant brown. Mark insists I find a more effective body wash.
Photo: Kristina Loggia
11:28 pm I’m not great company after the show; I usually want to sit and be quiet for a bit. I try to exit unnoticed through the back door, but a few...
11:28 pm I’m not great company after the show; I usually want to sit and be quiet for a bit. I try to exit unnoticed through the back door, but a few people have gotten wind of that and wait for me. Mark waits up for me.
Photo: Kristina Loggia