As Rami Malek prepares to make his British stage debut opposite Indira Varma in The Old Vic’s new retelling of Oedipus, Olivia Marks beholds its stars’ electric connection. Photographs by Scott Trindle. Styling by Edward Bowleg III
“You know people talk about ‘chemistry’? I think it’s bollocks,” says Indira Varma. Next to her, Rami Malek nods in agreement. “I’m the same way,” he drawls, his voice all American base, thick with vocal fry. “People say, ‘We have to have a chemistry read.’ And I’ll say, ‘Listen,” – here the actor leans in intently, as is his habit – “I’ll make chemistry with anyone.’ It doesn’t require you to decipher that, that’s for us to figure out.”
The pair lock eyes. They may well be right. There does seem to be something instinctive between these two relative strangers sitting in a photo studio on a dank, autumn afternoon deep in west London. Earlier, in front of the photographer’s lens, I watched as the two slipped into their respective characters with ease. The roles in question? That of Oedipus and Jocasta, doomed protagonists of Oedipus Rex, Sophocles’s ancient tragedy, which will open as simply Oedipus at The Old Vic next month in a new production codirected by the theatre’s artistic director, Matthew Warchus, and choreographer Hofesh Shechter, adapted by award-winning playwright Ella Hickson….