Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Words by JANE CROWTHER
White Lotus and One Day actor Leo Woodall tells Hollywood Authentic about trusting his gut and getting romantic on Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
or someone who admits to initially being resistant to acting, Leo Woodall is doing pretty well. Having made a splash as Jack in season two of The White Lotus and followed that up with One Day, he’s now playing a key figure in Bridget Jones’ life in the latest chapter of the beloved singleton’s adventures – which is where Greg Williams caught up with him on set in July. The London-born actor comes from a family of performers; his dad, Andrew, and step-dad, Alexander Morton, are actors, his mum went to drama school and he’s related to Maxine Elliott, a theatre and silent film star. ‘Having acting in my family was, I think, the catalyst in me going, “I don’t want to do that”,’ he says of his teenage reluctance to join the family business. ‘But they call it “catching the bug”. And at 19, I caught it.’
Woodall didn’t catch it from family, though – he credits the performances of other British actors essaying the sort of flawed, nuanced young men he now excels in playing himself. ‘Peaky Blinders definitely played a part. It was around the time that I would find myself pretending to be Tommy Shelby [played by Cillian Murphy] in the mirror. And earlier on it was Jack O’Connell in Skins. I was fascinated and really excited by it. For the first time, I did a little deep dive into an actor’s history, and where they started, and I looked at where he first began.’
Woodall began at ArtsEd drama school at 19 and it was there that he felt a sense of kinship, that he might be able to master acting. ‘I think the first time I felt like I was stepping into my own was at school, and we were doing A Streetcar Named Desire. I got the first three scenes. The bit up to the big “Stella!” moment. I loved it. I thought, “OK, I could have a lot of fun doing this”.’ After graduation, that fun began with the standard rite of passage for any British actor: a role in an episode of medical drama, Holby City. ‘It was a big deal because it was my first-ever professional acting gig,’ he recalls. ‘I was terrified. I had to bring quite a lot of the acting chops to that show because I had to bring all the “panic” acting!’ That formative gig led to roles on two feature films, Nomad and the Russo Brothers’ Cherry, with Tom Holland. ‘It was very low-pressure. It was just a bunch of young lads being soldiers. It was just a lot of fun, and it was great to see how those big-budget movies work.’
When I got offered the role [in White Lotus], I didn’t know what the scripts looked like. I’d only seen the scenes I’d auditioned with. I had a meeting with Mike, and he gave me a brief on what happens, but not really. And I finally got the scripts, and I read them, and was like, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be so fun’
But it wasn’t film that catapulted him into audience consciousness – it was streaming. ‘I knew The White Lotus was a big show, and based on the reaction to some of the people around me, it kind of informed that even more,’ he says of going into the audition process of the zeitgeist show with creator Mike White in 2021. Woodall was vying to play an Essex boy whose sunny disposition and romantic potential at a hotel in Sicily covered much darker depths. ‘When I got offered the role, I didn’t know what the scripts looked like. I’d only seen the scenes I’d auditioned with. I had a meeting with Mike, and he gave me a brief on what happens, but not really. And I finally got the scripts, and I read them, and was like, “Oh my God, this is going to be so fun”.’ Like Sidney Sweeney before him, on season one, Woodall was the breakout in a cast of big names, and suddenly famous.
‘It was a bit of an adjustment,’ he says of the attention. ‘You get used to people recognising you in the street, and that’s a challenge on its own. But like anything, with a bit of time, you get a bit more used to it, and learn how to navigate it. It just becomes part of the gig.’ The recognition also opened up casting doors and another novelty: choice. ‘It does take a lot of thought and a lot of conversations with the people that help guide your career, and people who are just in your life and want the best for you. You have to be good at listening to people’s opinion, and also just trusting your gut at the same time. I feel like I’m quite good at trusting my gut, and knowing what feels right and what I want to do, and what the benefits are. I know when something feels right, when I’m thinking about it a lot and it stays in my mind. You kind of already start mentally preparing for it, even if you haven’t been given an official offer. I think that’s the thing that draws me towards projects, if I’m ignited by it.’
One Day (which he auditioned for while filming White Lotus) ignited him, playing the feckless Dexter Mayhew in Netflix’s adaptation of David Nichols’ bestseller. So did playing Roxster, a young man who rescues Renée Zellweger’s widowed Bridget from a tree and presents a romantic possibility. ‘When I read the script for Bridget, I saw a lot of myself in Roxster, a kind of happy chap. So it’s not a huge stretch. The real challenge was not to buckle under the pressure of working with someone like Renée, who’s a legend, and also the pressure with a big studio, and how widely marketed it will be, and how many people are going to see it. But it felt like if I was given the opportunity, there’s no way I wouldn’t want to do it. It’s just joyous as well. I like to have a balance of things that are deeply challenging and require real blood, sweat and tears, and then also the projects that are sunny, fun, lovely and make your heart feel warm.’ So will Woodall be the new Colin Firth? After all, he does exit a pond in a white shirt in the film… ‘It was definitely never about who can replace Mark Darcy. No one can really do that.’
I feel like I’m quite good at trusting my gut, and knowing what feels right and what I want to do, and what the benefits are. I know when something feels right, when I’m thinking about it a lot, and it stays in my mind. You kind of already start mentally preparing for it, even if you haven’t been given an official offer
Woodall will next be seen in something that is certainly less cheery – in Nuremberg, he’s one of a list of accomplished actors telling the real life story of psychiatrist Douglas Kelly, who interviewed leading Nazis to determine their fitness for standing trial in 1945. Rami Malek plays Kelly with Woodall portraying the German-Jewish translator who worked alongside him. Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Richard E Grant and John Slattery round out the cast. The experience, filmed before Bridget shot last summer in London, was ‘a heaven job’. ‘Working with Russell and Rami was like, “Oh, OK. I have to bring it. I have to be the best version of myself as an actor, and as a bloke.” But, what I’m learning is, you go to work, and these highly decorated actors are also just people. Most of the time, they’re just good people, and they want to do well, and they want you to do well, and you collaborate together and try to make something great.’
When we talk in November, Woodall has just finished filming Tuner, a heist story of a young piano tuner who works with his mentor uncle, played by Dustin Hoffman. He’s now looking for his next project to ignite him. As a young British man, is he thinking about playing 007? He laughs. ‘I think I’m well out of the question for Bond. I’d love to be Bond. But I probably need to earn a few more stripes before that conversation. I love moving through this industry and seeing what comes at me.’ He pauses and considers what he now wants from the business. ‘If I can be lucky enough to stay in this position, and maybe have some choice, that’s really part of the fun. It’s basically just about what feels right, and going back to my gut.’ His gut has served him well so far.
Photographs by GREG WILLIAMS
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is in UK cinemas from 14 February
Nuremberg is in cinemas in 2025
