Sean Jones wanted the part of Mickey in Blood Brothers so much, not only did he write to producer Bill Kenwright asking for an audition, he even considered becoming an Everton fan! Katy Lewis spoke to him and his fellow 'brother' Drew as the show visited Milton Keynes.

Luckily for Sean, he didn't have resort to supporting the Toffees to get his dream part. He ended up just being in the right place at the right time. And luckily for us too. You only have to scout round the Internet for a bit to find many references to Sean Jones being the best Mickey in Blood Brothers ever.

So why did he have to consider going to these lengths? In the show, Sean carries an Everton scarf, a touch that reminds you that Bill Kenwright, theatrical impressario and Everton FC Chairman, produced and directed the show. Sean explains why he almost decided to support them for real.

Sean Jones

"There was a point when I was the understudy and I really wanted the part and I'd do anything to get it" he says.

"I knew nothing about football so I started reading about it and said 'right, I'm going to pretend to be an Everton supporter'. I was even going to get myself an Everton shirt, so if I ever had an audition I'd be wearing it. Luckily it didn't come to that but it showed the extent of what we get up to, to get a part!"

But what drove Sean to consider taking such extraordinary measures to get a part in a musical?

"Mickey was a part I really, really wanted to play as many actors do" he explains. "And that was from the first moment I saw it, about 12 years ago when I'd just left drama college."

"It's a dream part, because of the emotions needed and the technique in terms of the physicality of first playing a seven-year old and then going through the teenage years."

This is certainly true, but in Blood Brothers you not only witness Mickey growing up, you are also party to his reduction to a shell of what he once was.

The audience follows this young man from the age of 7 to the age of 22 in the space of only three hours or so and in that time he manages to leave a huge impression. As such, this not only provides a challenge to the actor, but also to the audience, as their expectations are dismantled.

Mickey was a part I really, really wanted to play as many actors do.... and that was from the first moment I saw it

Sean Jones

"In a way you see the story through Mickey's eyes" explains Sean. "I certainly did when I first saw it. It's certainly the part that most people relate to and tend to remember afterwards."

"In fact one of my favourite things about the play is that it's got this one character that you can always root for."

"Sometimes I can feel the audience go 'Ah it's Mickey again, we can have a bit of fun now'" he continues.

"And then of course he [Willy Russell] sends him on a certain path and it's devastating to the audience because it's the one character they've been able to follow all the way through. He's been the one that the audience can connect with and suddenly Willy Russell takes him away from you."

"You've got this husk of a man and you can feel the audience yearning to get the old Mickey back."

One of the most extraordinary things about Sean's performance is this transformation. He brilliantly plays the young seven-year-old scally before taking us through teenage angst and onto his young adult years where circumstances and desperation contribute to a breakdown, his portrayal of which is heartbreaking.

And he reveals that he modelled the older Mickey from real life experience growing up in North Wales. "There was an old mental hospital where my dad used to work" he says. "And I worked there as well, as a care worker looking after people on all kinds of medication."

"Any of my father's friends who worked at the hospital and who've been to see me in the show can see the accuracy of what I'm portraying on stage."

And for Sean, it's vital that he gets it right.

Mental illness touches every family in one way or another, from mild depression to chronic depression and it's really important to get my facts right.

Sean Jones

"It's too important to fudge" he explains. "Because mental illness touches every family in one way or another, from mild depression to chronic depression and it's really important to get my facts right. And I still care about it when I'm doing it."

Sean first wrote to Bill Kenwright saying that he wanted to play the part when he was about 23 - although he says he looked about 12! "They must have thought a school boy sent them a letter" he laughs. Now, ten years on he feels that he is at the right age to be playing it.

Starting out as understudy, he was in the right place at the right time when the opportunity to play Mickey came up and he has been in the show on and off for about three and a half years. After wanting to play the part for so long and then almost living his life as Mickey, it must seem like fate that he is actually doing what he dreamed of?

"I wouldn't say I was destined to play the part" he says, "but suddenly luck came my way. It's not fate but I probably knew it was right for me from the start."

"And I've not once got bored of playing him. It would be a tragedy if I did. Blood Brothers has given me so much."

If the audience feels exhausted at the end of the emotional rollercoaster that is Blood Brothers, it can't be anything to what Sean must go through every night.

"There's an enormous release at the end" he says. "I can't give anything away but I think it's safe to say that I do have a good five minutes at the end where I'm not doing anything, where I can wind down a bit."

"But sometimes it's really hard. Sometimes I go to my dressing room and just have to sit there for a little bit and let everyone else go. I tend not to feel very sociable at the end of the show, I just go back home and watch a film."

It's like a Greek tragedy but you've also got that great Scouse wit and its gritty realism. It's so unusual to find something like that in a musical.

Sean Jones

Blood Brothers has been running for over 15 years now and along with the National tour, it is also still in the West End. They have people who are devoted to the show and there is a dedicated fans' site on the Web. Sean reveals that there's one woman who's seen the show about 1300 times, maybe more! "We all know when she's in" he says, "she sits in the front row. She loves it."

People keep coming back. So what does he think it is that makes the show so popular?

"I ask myself this all the time" he laughs.

It's certainly an epic! With two generations and three decades in one musical, a backdrop that is almost like Greek tragedy and some brilliantly funny scenes, it's really got it all!

"It's like a Greek tragedy but you've also got that great Scouse wit and its gritty realism" explains Sean. "It's so unusual to find something like that in a musical."

I had to agree. It's very funny, but there is always that sense of inevitable destruction lurking in the background. Sean agrees.

"You can enjoy the play, you can have all the laughter but every now and again you can look upstage and see the narrator and remember."

There's also the music of course, which I would defy anyone not to still be humming the next day!

"Yes" says Sean. "It's still powerful for me listening to the music as it was when I first saw the show about 12 years ago now."

The truth is, everybody finds something different but there is also one underlying point of reference, as Sean explains:

My daughter thinks I'm playing Mickey Mouse so she's half way there!

Sean Jones

"I had a letter from somebody who'd lost a child, therefore the show meant something special to her. If you're a twin, it'll mean something special again."

"But ultimately it's about family really, and everybody can relate to that in one way or another."

Its popularity must also be due in part to the characters that Willy Russell creates. With that famous dry wit and bare humanity there is obviously a real Scouse stamp on the piece, but the emotions that the characters experience are universal - everyone can relate to them.

At the same time, Blood Brothers is a product of the time in which it was written. The main plot of the play has twins brought up in different surroundings, one rich and one poor and how they are affected by this. Obviously this addresses issues of class but as Sean explains, class is not the THEME of the play, it's more like a setting.

"I don't think it's about class" he says, "Because of when it was written, I just think they were themes that would have been a natural part of the writing of Willy Russell or anybody who was a working class writer at the time."

"I can't imagine anybody being able to write about anything other than class when you are writing about early 1980s Liverpool."

Meanwhile, Sean aims to continue in the role that has been so much a part of his life. He says that he always refers to Mickey in the third person and that he has become like a friend.

"It would be so impossible to get bored of playing him and it's also impossible to leave him behind completely because he's given me so much" he says.

But the opportunity to play a dream part does not come without sacrifice. Sean has a five-year-old daughter who he sees as much as possible but being on the road does make it hard sometimes.

I've not once got bored of playing him. It would be a tragedy if I did. Blood Brothers has given me so much.

Sean Jones

"My daughter thinks I'm playing Mickey Mouse so she's half way there!" he laughs. "It's hard not seeing her but that's the life of being an actor."

"I've got a letter from Peter Cushing on my wall at home which basically says that the world of showbusiness is a great one to live in and is worth a great deal of sacrifice - and that's the nature of the business. You need to sacrifice a lot really. But if I'm happy she's happy."

But be thankful for small mercies! At least he didn't have to get that Everton shirt!

At this point we were joined by Drew Ashton who plays Mickey's 'blood brother' Eddie.

Read our interview with Sean Jones and Drew Ashton >>

danielle, rochdale	Tuesday, 17-May-2005 22:12:36 BST
fantastic storyline great characters to care about especially micky [sean jones]great music funny and sad brill from begining to end

charlotte , manchester	Saturday, 07-May-2005 09:31:47 BST
sean you make the whole show seem like real life the way you act and the way you switch from emotion to emotion. i'm only 14 and most people at my age dont like the theatre but i do you made the experience of watching blood brothers magical. a man who can produce that much emotion and get the crowd following him step by step deserves a medal. I hope to watch the play again when it next comes to manchester. Sean you deserve to be called the BEST EVER ACTOR IN THE WORLD.

fiona,	Sunday, 06-Feb-2005 12:39:07 GMT
I’m doing Blood Brothers in gcse English, I got the chance to see it performed in Sheffield… after seeing the show with school, I hope to be going again later on in the year…. seeing the show was nothing like reading the play, the energy and emotions you got from the show were incredible… all the cast were outstanding, I loved Sean as Mickey, the talent that man has is an inspiration... and that gun shot that went off early, the cast handled it great…..

marc akinfolarin, newcastle upon tyne	Tuesday, 20-Jul-2004 21:46:24 BST
hi, ive been to c sean in blood brothers 2 times in the last 2 yrs...and i saw it agen with a different mickey...i dont get to go to london too often! i remeber my first experiance of blood brothers when sean gave a performance that turned me into a quivering wreck.....himself, linda nolan, louise calyton and mark hutchinson were in the cast. and i will always treasure my signed programme as long as i live! the play is simply immense and it had a HUGE affect on me and the rest of the drama group i went with! (big shout to every1 at dramanorth!) we have done work with sean in workshops and really enjoyed it. we all look forward to seeing u again sean! :) luv marc.

Nichola, Manchester	Monday, 17-May-2004 19:30:35 BST
I have recently seen Blood Brothers at the Liverpool Empire. I have seen it quite a few times now, not quite 1300, and each time seems to be more amazing! I have seen Sean play the part of Mickey twice and he is without a doubt the best I have seen by far. Drew also excels as Edddie! Both have excellent comic timing and provide emotional and deep performances. I will definatly watch the two together again!

anona, watford	Thursday, 26-Feb-2004 19:44:08 GMT
i really enjoyed reading this article as i saw blood brothers on the 14th of febuary with sean and drew in and i thought they were both amazing!!!and sean is so cute too!!thanks for showing me they are both as funny as their characters!!your doing an excellent job boys!keep it going as i hope to see them on the 18th march at the phoneix!!

Amy, Milton Keynes	Tuesday, 17-Feb-2004 20:33:38 GMT
Really enjoyed the interview. Thought Sean and Drew were very funny and their obvious ease with eachother is fantastic and this comes across with their interaction on stage aswell. Really glad that the 'brothers' get on off stage like you would hope. They both obviously enjoy their work and this makes the whole experience of the play even better!

Grantham gets hooked!