Feeling Wicked with Sam Kelly

Sam Kelly's found success as an actor in almost any kind of setting you can name. He's as well known for his long-running television series (Porridge, 'Allo 'Allo, On The Up, Barbara) as he is for regular appearances at the National Theatre (The Homecoming, War and Peace, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum). His films include Grown Ups, All or Nothing and Topsy-Turvy directed by Mike Leigh, Dave Stewart's Honest and Blue Ice with Michael Caine. His endless radio credits include the title role in the acclaimed The Good Soldier Svejk, and he also has the distinction of being one of the last presenters of Listen with Mother.

It's a lot to pack in, but to be fair he got a head start, having decided on his career path aged eight. "I saw a particular show in the theatre, The Wind in the Willows. I thought 'that's what I'm going to do.' And it never left me really." The following year the young Sam embarked on a bit of vocational training. "I was a choirboy in Liverpool at the cathedral there. It was all about showing off and wearing nice robes," he laughs. "It sort of developed from there I think!"

Of late, he's donned some finery to do some singing again, but this time the role requires him to be more devilish than angelic. He's playing the Wizard in the smash hit Wicked, a musical interpretation of Gregory Maguire's bestselling novel that re-imagines the characters created by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The story explains the origins of the Witches of Oz and how one came to be good and the other wicked.

Sam relishes the character's dark side. "When I first auditioned for it, I just played him as a nice guy. Within the context of the show I'm enjoying playing the nasty side of it - that's fun." The formula seems to work; Wicked has had over 1,000 performances, sold nearly two million tickets and taken £70 million at the box office. "It's huge!" Sam affirms. "Standing ovations every night and 2,500 people a show."

No doubt it helped that Sam settled on his life's work at an early age, but it also helps that he's a tireless worker. When I catch up with him the week's agenda includes nine performances plus the recording of a radio drama, and his four-week annual holiday from Wicked will see him filming the new Nanny McPhee movie with Maggie Smith.

He unwinds with cricket (a radio in his dressing room lets him follow Middlesex when not on stage), and he's lived in Kingston, Twickenham and St Margarets since 1972 because of the "village-type atmosphere". For all his high-flying career success, it seems it takes relatively little to make him happy. If his childhood dream hadn't worked out he's clear about alternative careers he'd choose. "I would like to run a village post office," he says. "Or I could work at Waterstone's in Richmond. That would be nice."

Wicked is performed at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, 0844 826 8000, www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

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