Sarah Snook on her multifaceted performance in "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
Sarah Snook set the record straight for us: Her last name is pronounced "Snuke" (like nuke), not "Snook" (as in book or took).On Broadway this spring, she's neither Snuke nor Snook, but 26 completely different people.The 37-year-old Australian is chameleonic in Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray," changing accents, wigs, and gender to tell the story of a man who makes a spiritual bargain to appear eternally young, while his portrait reflects the hideousness of his actions.
The show has suspense, horror, humor, and also a lot of heart."People don't often credit Oscar Wilde with something heartfelt," I said.
"Yeah, he has a lot of pathos," Snook said."I think there's a lot of empathy for the human condition – I think, you know, seeing the soul as a real thing and as a part of your body, personality, spiritual makeup that one might need to protect and look after."It's a performance for which Snook won an Olivier (the British theater award) during the show's run in London's West End.
Oscar Wilde published the story (his only novel) in 1890.Victorian critics called it "poisonous" and "morally depraved." Now, almost a century-and-a-half later, the tale feels resonant.
Snook said today is an interesting time to come to this story, "where we have such an image-based culture and ability to construct a visual image to sell to anyone online, on Instagram.And part of the reason of playing multiple different characters is about choosing which mask is the right mask, which is the public/private mask that we show of ourselves."After making her name known abroad, Snook is now beloved by American audiences as Siobhan "Shiv" Roy, the cutthroat billionaire she played as the scion of a family empire on the TV series "Succession." The saltiness of her Shiv garnered Snook legions of fans, and several awards.But Snook initially didn't want to audition for Shiv because, she says, she couldn't relate to her being beautiful and wealthy.
"Yeah, there was nothing in...