Sharon D Clarke: ‘When I first started being seen for TV roles it was just endless nurses’
Born in Enfield, north London, in 1966, Sharon D Clarke is an acclaimed stage and screen actor. She has won three Olivier awards – for Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Caroline, Or Change at the Playhouse and Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic. After prominent TV roles in Holby City and Doctor Who, she’s currently on screen opposite Lennie James in an eight-part BBC adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo’s novel Mr Loverman and will star in forthcoming Channel 5 detective drama Ellis. Now, Clarke is preparing to play the redoubtable Lady Bracknell in the National Theatre’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest, which director Max Webster is staging with his signature visual boldness, and with Black actors in its central roles.
Oscar Wilde’s play has a bit of a fuddy-duddy reputation. Did you have preconceptions about it?
Oh absolutely. I always saw it as part of the white canon of theatre; I never looked at it with me in mind at all. Then when I got the call from Max Webster asking if I’d be interested, I was like, “Hell yeah!”, because if someone is thinking outside the box in that way, I’m all over it. A lot of people are used to the play being a certain way; this will be totally different, so get on board! And casting [Doctor Who’s] Ncuti [Gatwa as Algernon] is genius. I think it will bring in a new generation who might have thought the play wasn’t for them. Especially all the Whovians – they’re gonna be coming in their droves.
Is it exciting, seeing roles like these open up to Black actors?
This shift has been a long while coming, and it’s a wonderful thing to see – especially when it comes to period pieces. Bridgerton has done so much to show that they can reflect our multicultural society – and it took an American to do it, because they don’t have the same reverence towards these stories. But I have to see it continue. I don’t want to be in a situation where I get all excited about a couple of years where we had all this new Black work come in and then it all disappeared.
When the Windrush scandal happened, part of me was glad that my parents had already passed, so they didn’t have to witness that madness
It’s 40 years since you got your first professional acting gig. How has the theatre landscape changed?
People like me are now more visible. When I was coming through, it was a very small pool. I went to my first Olivier awards in 1996, and myself and Adrian Lester were the only two Black people in the room, with our families. It’s completely different now. And when I first started being seen for TV roles it was just endless nurses, because as far as society was concerned, that was what Black women did.
That must make it especially exciting to have been cast in the title role in Ellis as a detective…
I didn’t grow up seeing Black women playing roles like that on television. To have a generation see that as a normal thing is so powerful for me. When I was in Holby City, I had five young Black women at different times come up to me saying: “I’m training to be a doctor because of Lola.” And so I’m hoping that Ellis will have the same effect.
Mr Loverman is also breaking new ground with its exploration of hidden gay lives. Were you already a fan of Bernardine Evaristo’s writing?
I read the book when it was published [in 2013], and I was just in awe of Bernardine for putting it out there, because in the Caribbean community homosexuality isn’t something that has been accepted as much. For the young generation it’s not a big deal, but for an older generation it’s the biggest deal in the world. It wasn’t just frowned upon – you could die for loving who you loved. It’s powerful for youngsters to know the fight that was fought so that they could stand up and own it. As a gay woman myself, being able to be a part of telling this story means so much, and I’m very, very proud.
The series feels like a real love letter to Hackney, showing places such as Hackney Empire and Ridley Road market…
That whole area means so much to me. My mum went shopping in Ridley Road market, so I’d be down there with one of those wheelbarrow shopping trolley t’ings, old women wheeling over my foot while my mum stood and chatted to God knows who. Then I met my wife through working at Hackney Empire, and we got married on its stage. When it’s shown on television, Hackney’s usually a bit scuzzy, so I’m in awe of the work our director Hong [Khaou] has done because it’s tender and truly beautiful.
Your parents were part of the Windrush generation. Do you think the new Labour government will do more to make amends?
All I can do is hope, because I would have never imagined that my elders would have gone through such a betrayal. When the Windrush scandal happened, part of me was glad that my parents had already passed, so they didn’t have to witness that madness. I just hope this new government makes things right for people who are still having to worry. Free them! Wipe that slate! Say: “What happened before was utter nonsense and foolishness!” That’s what I’d like to see.
What do you hope Labour will do in terms of the arts?
Support them, wholeheartedly. The last government told our whole industry to retrain during Covid. When you think and feel so little about artists that you’d say that – that shit cannot continue. Keir Starmer has talked about the arts and how they’ve affected him so let’s see if this government put their money where their mouth is. The arts are so key in education, and it’s not just about making artists – it’s about making rounded people. I’ve seen theatre workshops where kids arrive with heads hanging low, hoods up – theatre can give them the confidence to walk into any room because they’ve been taught how to be in their body.
What will you do next?
I’ve never really known what’s coming around the corner. I started at dance school when I was six, so I knew that I wanted to be a part of this industry, but I never asked for fame. Now, my 15-year-old self would go “Wow, this is madness, you’ve gone to Broadway and been on Doctor Who” – something I used to watch behind the sofa. I never would have thought I’d be in plays like Death of a Salesman or The Importance of Being Earnest because they were in the white canon. I feel very lucky. The universe has been wonderful to me in my chosen career, so I will continue to leave things in the universe’s hands.
• The Importance of Being Earnest is at the National Theatre from 21 November to 25 January 2025. Mr Loverman is on BBC iPlayer/ airs on Mondays at 9pm on BBC One. Ellis is on Channel 5 from 31 October
