James Dreyfus: James Stewart in Harvey is a hard act to follow

 
Famous face: James Dreyfus in the TV comedy Gimme Gimme Gimme with Kathy Burke

Actor James Dreyfus has admitted he is “feeling the pressure” of taking a role played so memorably on screen by Hollywood star James Stewart.

Dreyfus — best known for the television shows Gimme Gimme Gimme and The Thin Blue Line — will star in a production of Mary Chase’s 1944 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Harvey.

He will take the part of Elwood P Dowd, played by Stewart in the Fifties film version, who has a friendship with a giant invisible rabbit.

The Olivier Award-winner admitted he was “very different” to the Hollywood star.

Rabbiting on: James Dreyfus stars with Maureen Lipman in a new production of Harvey

“I am feeling the pressure of playing a role made so famous by Jimmy Stewart. It is daunting. He was so handsome, suave, sophisticated and he brought that to his version of Elwood. I am the opposite. So it’s been a bit of a struggle. I am trying to work out ... how to play the role in my own way.”

However, Dreyfus, 46, said rehearsals for the production, which will be staged at a number of venues, before a six-week stint at the Theatre Royal Haymarket were “going well”.

Other top-billed stars include Maureen Lipman and Desmond Barrit.

He said: “Rehearsals are a lot of fun. Harvey doesn’t appear as such, but manifestations of him do. I am using a tennis ball on a stick to stand in as Harvey. I do keep catching myself and think, ‘Well, this is all very silly, isn’t it?”

Iconic: James Stewart in the 1959 film of Harvey

The actor added: “I love being in London and of course the West End, although I am excited as the show is touring and going to Birmingham where I have spent a lot of time working before.”

Dreyfus confessed that London audiences were often hard to please. “West End audiences are more discerning. Let’s say that. A whoop and a cheer in Birmingham would be a polite smile in London.”

Harvey starts on February 6 at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre before moving to Malvern Theatres in Worcestershire, and then Richmond Theatre. It will be at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from March 17 to May 2.

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