Roles in Early Doors, Northern Lights, Waterloo Road and Catterick have ensured that Mark Benton is a familiar face on television. Having donned a dress and heels to play Edna Turnblad in the 2012 tour of Hairspray, Mark is this month returning to the stage in the touring production of West End hit Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. What’s On recently caught up with him to find out more...

Explain the role of Inspector Andre, Mark - the character you play in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - and give us an idea of what the show is about...
It’s about a couple of conmen who have a bet to get some money out of this lady. My character is the sidekick of Lawrence, one of the two conmen, and he falls for one of the ladies who he’s trying to con. It’s kind of a comedy love story but that’s all I’m giving away. You’ll have to come and see the show.

The film was a 1988 remake of 1964’s Bedtime Story with David Niven and Marlon Brando. Now the 1988 remake’s been adapted for the stage. Which elements of the story have ensured its popularity with different generations of audience?
It’s such a big, fun piece. There are great songs in it and big numbers, but also the structure’s really funny. I think it really appealed to me because it’s almost like a comedy with songs.

If you weren’t playing Andre, which role would appeal to you the most - Lawrence Jameson or Freddy Benson?
I think Freddy because he’s a slob. He’s a mess, and that would be right up my street. But I’m happy playing Andre. He’s got so many fun lines. He’s dry and French...

So how’s the French accent going?
It’s kind of a work in progress. I’m trying to get a cross between Inspector Clouseau and Arsene Wenger.

Moving away from Dirty Rotten Scoundrels to focus on you; you grew up in Teeside in the mid-1960s - a long way away, I’d imagine, from any showbiz glamour. So what made you decide to become an actor?                                                              
My uncle’s an actor, and I wanted to be like him. That inspired me to do as many local plays and as much am-dram as I could get into. I went to technical college to do a drama course, and I guess I always wanted to be either an actor or in a band. I went to drama school when I was eighteen, then applied to RADA when I was twenty and moved to London.

What were your initial expectations of RADA?
It was much better than I’d expected. I was worried because I thought there were going to be all these posh kids and I’d be the odd one out, and that I wasn’t going to understand what was going on because I was this lad from the sticks. Actually it was nothing like I expected. It was lovely, and our year was a real mix of people from all walks of life. It was a real eye-opener and it changed my life forever. Some of the people who I met then remain my best friends today.
I’ve done quite a lot of weird things throughout my career that I never imagined I’d do, but I’ve ended up doing them nonetheless. I’ve really enjoyed the variety.

You recently faired pretty well on Strictly Come Dancing. Were you game from the word go, or did you have to be persuaded that you’d enjoy the experience?
I wasn’t game. I’d always said I wouldn’t do a reality show. I talked to the guys from Strictly and was adamant that I wasn’t going to do it, but I still decided to meet them. I thought about it again, and the one thing that’s different about Strictly is that you’ve got to learn a skill. It’s not about sitting in a room chatting. And I do enjoy dancing, so I thought ‘what the hell?’ As an actor, you worry about your credibility, but it’s one of the few Reality TV shows that doesn’t harm that, because people see it for what it is. The people who I thought would be the most critical about me doing it turned out to be the least critical.

You made it through to the eleventh show. Were you surprised by how well you did?
Very surprised. I damaged my knees on week two of the rehearsals and had to see a surgeon, who pumped some steroids into me and said, “You might make a week or two but remain philosophical”. I guess I relied on my acting ability because I couldn’t to certain things due to the knee. I hate to use the ‘journey’ word, but it was a journey for both me and my dance partner, Evetta. She had to choreograph around my limitations. I was in a lot of pain a lot of the time, but I look back on it as a really lovely experience.

You also starred as Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. How did you enjoy the experience of performing in drag - was it a more difficult challenge than you’d imagined it would be?
I was doing Waterloo Road at the time and the offer just came out of the blue. I just jumped in because I thought I was getting a little bit stale. I’d been doing Waterloo Road for two years and fancied doing something different - and you can’t get anything more diverse than Hairspray and Waterloo Road! I really enjoyed the experience. It was great dragging up and a really iconic part. It was brilliant fun and I could’ve carried on doing it.

Your big break came playing Ricky in Career Girls, a 1997 film by Mike Leigh, who’s famously known for using lengthy improvisations - developed over a period of weeks - to build characters and storylines for his films. How did you find the experience of working with him?
Amazing. He’s a genius, and I would jump at the chance to work with him again. The thing I found with Mike is not necessarily that he taught me how to act but more that if you start with the truth of a character, you can go anywhere. I knew my character inside out because of all the months of hard work we’d put in, so I was able to say ‘Ricky wouldn’t do that’ and actually be qualified to say so, because I knew him so well.

And did he give you a lot of freedom to develop Ricky?
He develops it with you. He’ll maybe steer you in a certain direction but it’s very collaborative. I never saw a script but I knew my lines better than when I’ve learned with a script.

Talking of freedom, how much were you given when developing the role of Eddie in Early Doors?
That was great fun. When I initially met Craig and everybody for Early Doors, I was going for the role of the policeman, but it didn’t work out. I knew the director because he’d directed me in The Second Coming. I told him Eddie was my favourite, and he said to come back in and audition for him. So I read for Eddie and this character came out of nowhere. Obviously all of the lines are Craig and Phil’s, but all of Eddie’s moves, the way he uses his hands and everything, just came out of nowhere and continued to develop throughout the series. We all had such a laugh making Early Doors. There’s an episode, the last of Series One, where we all go on the Big Boys Beano. We’re having breakfast and James McAvoy starts choking on his cigar smoke. We’re proper laughing, and so they kept it in. I just love that scene.

What’s your criteria for accepting roles and has it changed over the years?
I think it’s very hard to say what it is. I’ve done jobs in the past where I’ve maybe only done one or two scenes, but there’s been something in the character that’s really made me want to do it. I think sometimes it’s not about playing the biggest part but more about wanting to play a part because it’s different from me. It has to be something that will challenge me - and there has to be something in it that I’ve never done before, like with Strictly. I didn’t know whether I could do it but I gave it a go. It was the same when I first took on Hairspray. I was excited because it was a challenge and I didn’t know whether I could do it.

If we were to ask either of your teenage children which of your roles they thought was the ‘coolest’, what do you think they’d say?
They’re just proud of me whatever I do - but if I was to ask my youngest, she’d probably say Hairspray or Hobson’s Choice. My oldest would probably say Catterick, which I did with Vic and Bob. There’s kind of a whole spectrum there, really.

You’ve displayed great versatility throughout your career, playing both dramatic and comedic roles. Which of the two do you find the most challenging and why?
I don’t necessarily think it’s about whether serious drama or comedy is harder. It’s down to the individual part. Sometimes I’ve done a comedy - like Early Doors, Catterick or Northern Lights - where it’s easy because it’s all there in the writing and it just flows. Other times you have to do comedy where it’s not quite right and you really have to work on it. It’s the same with drama, so I don’t think it’s down to the genre.

If you could choose any one character to revive in the future, who would it be?
I’d love to do Eddie Bell again from Early Doors and Mark from Catterick. I’d also love to do Northern Lights, so that me and Robson could get together again. There’s so many, I couldn’t possibly name them all.

It’s been ten years now since Early Doors, is there a possibility that we might see Eddie again?
I don’t know. We’d love to. I know that James McAvoy and everybody would be up for doing it again. It was one of those programmes where you can’t wait to go to work every day. We were in the pub together all of the time, laughing and joking and learning our script. It was just a very special job. All I can say is that I hope we get to do it again. As the years go by, it kind of gets less likely - but never say never...

What’s on the cards post-Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?
I’m also doing a film at the moment called The Eagle. It’s about Eddie The Eagle and we’re filming that alongside rehearsals for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I rehearse for a couple of days and then go off and film for a couple of days, so it’s a bit busy at the moment.

Who do you play in the film?
I’m the sidekick to the head of the British Olympic Association. We’re a couple of baddies who try and stop Eddie from competing because we sort of see him as an embarrassment. It’s a great film and real fun to do.

Finally, have you ever questioned your career choice?
I do feel really blessed to have had the career that I’ve had. I’ve worked really hard at trying not to get bitter about the whole business. Acting is tough, and you’re constantly dealing with rejection, so I feel very blessed that I’ve been able to do so many diverse things. I wouldn’t change any of it.