Interview: Neil Fitzmaurice

4:19pm Friday 25th April 2008

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NEIL Fitzmaurice has taken a lunch break from rehearsals from Alan Bleasdale's On the Ledge which opens at the Liverpool Empire tonight.

And he's full of enthusiasm for his first stage role in 12 years.

"How could I not take the role?" he said. "I've worked with Andrew Schofield (one of his co-stars in the play) on TV before and he's such a great actor. And then it's written by Alan Bleasdale. When I left school it was the time of Boys from the Blackstuff and I've always loved his writing, I love the dark edges.

On the Ledge is set on the upper floors of a skyscraper and features a series of characters who have been driven to their limits.

"The set's amazing." said Neil. "They've actually built a mini skyscraper inside the theatre. At times you have cast members hanging off it, threatening to jump off it - there have been quite a lot of health and safety issues. Thankfully I've got no problem with heights."

Neil will be forever associated with Phoenix Nights which he co-wrote and for his character in the show, the hapless DJ Ray Von.

But he has also appeared in Peep Show and The Office, written several screenplays and appeared in a number of films.

"When Phoenix Nights took off I had been doing stand-up for six years but it wasn't something I really wanted to do," he said. "I suppose I could have done a national tour at that point and maybe that would have led to me being more recognised but I wanted to go back to acting.

"I'm really happy that I've still got relative anonymity."

Neil's first love has always been acting.

"I turned to writing because I was frustrated with the scripts I was getting," he joked.

"I like the variety of my life. To be honest I did not really have the passion for stand up and you really need that if you are to make that your career."

Neil has been working on an independent film Charlie Noades RIP which he also wrote.

"I worked with a lot of mates on that like John McArdle," he said. I like doing different things."

For the moment, however, his focus is on On the Ledge which is seen as a key part of Liverpool's year as the Capital of Culture.

"I'm really excited about this," he said. "There has got to be some trepidation as I haven't been on stage for so long, but I'm looking forward to working in the threatre again."

l On the Ledge opens at Liverpool's Royal Court Theatre tonight and runs until May 24. Details from the box office on 0870 787 1866