Tom Francis Is Having A Bloody Good Time In 'Sunset Boulevard' On Broadway

Despite rumors to the contrary, Tom Francis insists he’s not in danger when he steps out onto a bustling New York sidewalk for his chilling rendition of the title song from the musical “Sunset Boulevard,” accompanied by a camera crew beaming the performance onto a LED screen inside the St. James Theatre.

“When you say yes to something, but you don’t know what you’re saying yes to … that’s kind of what happened,” the British actor said with a laugh. “[Director Jamie Lloyd] said to me, ‘I’m here to make you and the piece look good,’ and I trusted him and the team implicitly. There are literal points I have to hit on certain lines, so it’s about trying to hit those points and hoping my in-ear monitors don’t cut out so that I can hear what’s going on.”

Watch the music video for “Sunset Boulevard” below.

Lloyd’s revival, which debuted in London last year prior to transferring to Broadway last month, takes imaginative swings with the material. In addition to having Francis perform his big solo outdoors, the two-time Tony Award-nominated director eschews the original’s glittery excess for a minimalist staging.

He also made the unexpected choice of casting former Pussycat Doll member Nicole Scherzinger as Norma Desmond, the faded 1950s actor who coerces screenwriter Joe Gillis (Francis) into working on a film script that she believes will cement her Hollywood comeback. Joe and Norma soon begin an affair, but as the footage of Francis and Scherzinger drenched in stage blood at curtain call suggests, things don’t turn out well for their characters.

Those gambles have paid off. The new “Sunset Boulevard” is one of the hottest tickets in New York, having earned rapturous praise from critics. Both Scherzinger and Francis are likely to be front-runners at the Tony Awards next spring, having already won Oliviers — the Tonys’ British equivalent — for their performances.

"It’s a timeless story, and it’s going to continue happening for some time," Francis said of the musical, which opened last month to rapturous reviews.

Marc Brenner

Francis is, of course, grateful for the raves. Still, he acknowledges he was skeptical about appearing in another musical after wrapping a run in the London production of “& Juliet.” The 25-year-old — who grew up in the town of Thorpe Morieux in Suffolk, England — was expecting to focus on film and TV projects, as well as focus on his original music.

That is, until his agent pointed out that “Sunset Boulevard” would give him a chance to work with Lloyd, who has reinterpreted classics like “A Doll’s House” and “Cyrano de Bergerac” to great acclaim. Nine grueling auditions later, he was cast as Joe Gillis.

“It’s a timeless story, and it’s going to continue happening for some time,” Francis said of the musical. “People come in and out of fashion, and it’s very hard to reinvent yourself. I look at David Beckham, who is one of my idols. He was a world-class [soccer] player before reinventing himself as an entrepreneur and fashion icon. But that’s really difficult, and that’s why I think this story resonates with people.”

As Francis settles into the run, he’s grateful to have “an absolute diamond” of a costar in Scherzinger, who has become a friend. “I’ll turn up tired one day, just because eight shows a week and all,” he said, “and when she gets to [her Act I solo] ‘With One Look,’ I’m like, ‘OK, I’ve got to match you now.’ She pulls you up to her level every time, so I just try to match her as much as I can.”

In April, Francis won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

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Those who have thus far been unable to snag a ticket to “Sunset Boulevard” can still enjoy Francis and Scherzinger’s performances on the musical’s cast album, recorded live during the show’s London run. “That energy is something you need to feel,” Francis said. “The sound design Adam Fisher has done with that orchestra and the way Adam Williams conducts it … the energy is insane. So they had to bottle up that feeling with a live album.”

Though Francis is committed to “Sunset Boulevard” for the time being, he’s about to experience a breakout Hollywood moment, too. He’s also joined the cast of Netflix’s “You,” starring Penn Badgley, for its fifth and final season. Though he’s not at liberty to disclose specifics, he says his character — listed on IMDb simply as Clayton — is, much like Joe Gillis, a “jaded writer.”

Regarding his post-“Sunset Boulevard” plans, Francis is eager to hit the studio to record an album as a solo pop musician, naming Coldplay, Keane and Harry Styles as inspirations. “I’ve been writing and figuring out how I want to be perceived in that world,” he said.

As for acting projects, Francis would like to try his hand at Shakespeare, and names the musical “Dogfight,” written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, as a dream project.

“I just want to turn up, work with good people and have an enjoyable time doing it,” he said. “So that’s the goal.”

"She pulls you up to her level every time, so I just try to match her as much as I can," Francis said of working with Scherzinger.

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