Michael Praed is still indecently good-looking, albeit now in a silver fox kind of way. But then that’s why he was such a hit in Robin Hood, Dynasty and Riders, and why he’s the male lead in The Sound Of Music. Katherine MacAlister finds out more.

Michael Praed grins when I ask about working in The Sound Of Music: “Whoever said you shouldn’t work with children and animals was an idiot,” he insists.

He’s obviously thoroughly enjoying himself, although he’s cagey about admitting that singing is another string to his plentiful bow.

“I didn’t consider singing my forte,” Michael answers. “To be honest there are people who can sing and there are singers. It’s like humour, anyone can tell a joke, but to be really funny like Billy Connolly...

“On the other hand we are not coal-mining or fighting the Taliban so I am very good at handling my many limitations,” he smiles. “And I still love being on stage.”

After all, it was in a West End production of Pirates Of Penzance that Michael was first spotted, back in 1982. “One did anything in the prehistoric days, anything to get a job,” he laughs.

“But then that’s the wonderful thing about musicals, they are such a visceral business and when you hear a song you like, it changes you. A song can have a profound effect on you and even make you cry.”

But what of playing such a closed character like Von Trapp. “This is a man who’s emotionally bankrupt and can’t bear to be around his kids because they remind him of his wife who has died.

“Maria holds the key to his heart and he lightens up,” Michael says earnestly, explaining why playing Von Trapp is such an inspiring role.

And yet he only watched the film once before signing up for the part.

“Styles have changed since the movie so it has no value for me at all. You come up with the character, not the actor, that’s the way I work anyway.”

But what Michael does hate is the audition process, something he has a morbid fear of. “Auditioning is a living, breathing nightmare,” he admits. “I loathe them with a passion. It is so nerve-wracking because those three minutes can have such a great effect on your life.”

And yet acting is a professional gamble anyway isn’t it? “Yes, we work in a lifestyle that’s aspirational, and with overwhelming odds against you we still commit to it, that’s the mindset you have to have,” he shrugs. So was he attracted by the possibility of becoming a global star? “I’ve never been that stupid,” the 50 year-old says, “although there is definitely idiocy involved when you look at acting statistics, with 90 per cent out of work at any one time.”

But luckily for Michael the gamble paid off. Having been picked for the role of Robin Hood, he went on to Hollywood to star in Dynasty and Riders. “There were a lot of perks to success – walk on an aeroplane and you turn left, walk into a restaurant and you can have any table you want. I would recommend it,” he laughs.

* The Sound Of Music runs at Oxford’s New Theatre from Dec 7-Jan 2 2011.

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