From CAT scans to cat and mouse

Casualty star Simon MacCorkindale tells Alison Jones why he has packed away his stethoscope and returned to the stage.

It is always a challenge following in the footsteps of an actor who has become irrevocably associated with a part.

Particularly if that actor casts as long a shadow as the late Sir Laurence Olivier.

In the recent film remake of the thriller Sleuth, director Kenneth Branagh rather cleverly got round the problem by having Michael Caine swop roles.

In the 1972 Joseph L Mankiewicz version, Caine played Milo Tindle, the upstart young lover of Olivier’s wife who is unwillingly drawn into an elaborate battle of wits.

In 2007 it was Caine’s turn to play the vengeful, cuckolded husband (Andrew Wyke), with Jude Law repeating another Caine role after already starring in Alfie.

For the stage production currently doing the regional rounds, comparisons to Larry are avoided by the fact that Andrew, played by Simon MacCorkindale, has effectively been aged down and Milo, played by Michael Praed, aged up.

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