Clive Rowe: The pantomime dame on his dislike of Cinderella, falling over furniture and a turkey dinner for one

Clive Rowe (Rob Greig)

Pantomime is not just running about on stage for 90 minutes

t looks easy, but it’s a difficult skill to master: there’s singing, dancing and acting, and you’re trying to get truth and narrative through on a very basic storyline, while appealing to different age groups. Yes, some characters are drawn with very thick outlines, and some find that difficult. But I don’t understand why pantomime has this kind of poor-cousin image. Some feel like it’s secondary theatre, but it’s no different to musical theatre.

Dames are not supposed to be evil

Which is why I’m not a fan of Cinderella as a pantomime. I’m going to upset a lot of Cinderella ugly-sister dames across the country here, but for me the dame is not a malicious character; maybe misunderstood, impolite or rude, but not evil. And those girls are evil. As a dame, I also don’t like there being two men dressed as women on stage. I like to be on the stage on my own!

We should look for the best in children and adults rather than the worst

It’s a philosophy I share with [Hackney Empire creative director] Susie [Mckenna] – and one that is behind all the pantomimes that she makes. I can’t speak for anyone else’s pantomime, but ours is all about positivity and looking at issues such as bullying, and making it clear that just because a child is not very proficient in one thing, it does not mean that they can’t be very proficient in another.

I’ve never been hungry for success

I never wanted to play Othello by the time I was 35, or be Lear by the time I’m 65 – and I don’t want to do 12 Chekhov plays. The only thing I have in me is to perform and be on stage. Having said that, it was amazing to win an Olivier Award [in 1997, for his role as Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the National Theatre’s revival of Guys and Dolls].

As Ray Charles said, You better live every day like your last, because one day you’re going to be right

It’s not like I have to go and climb mountains, or force myself to live a fireworks life. For me, it means doing what I want to do. If that means sitting in front of the TV or going salsa dancing, great. The other philosophy I have: don’t fall over the furniture – in life, mainly in theatre.

I used to get morose over spending Christmas on my own

That passed two to three years ago; now I am so tired [performing in pantomimes] that by Christmas Day, the last thing I need to do is make a fuss. Christmas Day for me now is about staying in on my own, all wrapped up and watching TV. I get up in the morning and I will have smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and a Buck’s Fizz. Then I’ll open some cards, have a traditional Christmas lunch, have a few glasses of prosecco and some cheese, watch some more TV, then go to sleep.

I spend a lot of time fretting about things I said years ago

A conversation from 15 years ago can come back to me with horrible emotional pangs and I’ll think, “Oh god, that might have sounded mean.” I just don’t want people to think I’ve been cruel.

I’m not healthy, but I’m trying to be

My weakness is chips, peas and curry –and I love rice pudding, apple crumble and custard. When I was a kid we had chocolate-custard pudding with peppermint essence in it. It’s amazing – but not good for the waistline!

He has appeared on TV (‘Doctor Who’, ‘The Kennedys’) and in musicals (‘Carousel’, ‘Guys and Dolls’), but Clive Rowe, 51, is best known as a pantomime dame. This year he is starring as Dame Daisy Trott in ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ at the Hackney Empire, London E8 (hackneyempire.co.uk), until 3 January