Actor Cole Escola stars on TATLER’s July issue cover, following in the footsteps of Stella Tennant and Lady Louisa Howitt (née Stuart) by posing as the iconic Bystander Man.
As Tatler marks 125 years since its 1901 relaunch, Escola, who will make their West End debut reprising their Tony Award-winning role as Mary Todd Lincoln in OH, MARY!, speaks to the title about their upcoming projects, including the forthcoming MISS PIGGY film.
Escola comments on the continued success of Oh, Mary! which hit Broadway in 2024: “I just can’t believe it’s still growing. It seems dangerous. It’s going to kill somebody. It’s like Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. The plant is going to take over the world in a horrible, awful, bad way, but we just keep feeding it.”
Escola decided to write Oh, Mary!, based on the life of Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, without doing any historical research: “I guess it was never really a question or a decision, to be honest. It came pretty easy to me. I wish I could say I was dying to do research and had to stop myself out of artistic principle, but that’s just not true.”
The idea for Oh, Mary! was initially conceived in 2009. Fifteen years later, it hit the stage: “I had a lot of projects that didn’t go anywhere. I was sort of disheartened, but more taking stock of myself and trying to figure out if I should maybe pivot into something else… I don’t mean another career entirely. I can’t do anything else and it’s too late for me to learn. But I thought, OK, am I embarrassing myself now by continuing to try to get my own show? But because I always had that Oh, Mary! idea, I thought, well, at least get this out and then after you’ve emptied the tank in terms of ideas, we can reassess where we’re at in life and career-wise.”
Oh, Mary! won the Olivier for Best New Entertainment or Comedy Play in April. That night, Escola donned a ruff collar and ended up at the glitzy afterparty at the Natural History Museum: “I didn’t look up once. Why didn’t I take in the beauty of the actual museum? I was more interested in what [Olivier-winning actress] Tracie Bennett was doing, which was looking stunning and having a ball.”
Escola played the whisky-loving, cabaret-obsessed Mary Todd Lincoln on Broadway for a year before passing the role on to stars including Jane Krakowski, Tituss Burgess, Jinkx Monsoon, Maya Rudolph and Mason Alexander Park: “It’s so corny, but when I was a kid, I was begging my friends to make movies with me and stuff. And to see actors I admire, excited about something that I created and wanting to be a part of it and bringing new things to the role, it’s a nice feeling.”
Now, British comedy legend Catherine Tate is embodying the role: “It never occurred to me that she would ever want to, but I have been a fan of hers for a long time. I spend Christmas in New York, and for many years, my friends and I would watch the “Nan” Christmas sketch.”
Also on the horizon for the star is the upcoming Miss Piggy movie, produced by Jennifer Lawrence and Emma Stone, with a script written by Escola. When asked what makes Miss Piggy such an icon they respond: “That she’s so awful. She behaves in a way we all wish we could behave. And we all do sometimes behave. I think her needs and desires come from a place of pain. And I think that is something that strikes a chord in people. But I don’t think any of that is visible, or it shouldn’t be. It should just be funny and fun. Her incredibly high opinion of herself and her self-esteem and self-assuredness – all of it is delicious.”
Read the full feature in the July Issue of Tatler available via digital download and on newsstands from Thursday 4th June.
[Photo Credit: Oli Kearon for Tatler Magazine]
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