The next interview in our stagey chat series is with Inez Budd, who's currently playing Katherine Howard in West End's SIX the Musical. 

Hi Inez, I'm Emily and thank you for you chatting to Stage to Page! You are currently playing Katherine Howard in Six the Musical. How are you enjoying playing this role?

Hi Emily, thank you so much for having me! Yes absolutely, it’s already going by so quickly so savouring every moment. 

Before taking on the role, did you do any research on Katherine Howard? If so, how much?

We, the cast, were given research homework on our respective queens whilst we were in rehearsals. Unfortunately, most evidence of Katherine Howard’s existence was quickly destroyed following her execution so making this a bit more of a challenge. I gained so much knowledge from whatever was left of hers and words said about her from counts of other people.

Many people have played Katherine Howard before you. Have you taken any tips from them, and what have you done to make her your own?

The Queens from West End and Broadway were super helpful on how to take on the beast that is Katherine Howard, which was very kind of them - it definitely helped soothe my nerves.

You recently played Heather Duke, how does preparing for a show like Six differ from Heathers?

Preparing for SIX felt like marathon training! To be able to have the stamina to belt out those notes and give concert level performance was truly testing. Don’t get me wrong there were definitely some tricky moments when rehearsing for Heathers, but it was challenging in a different way. When there’s just the 6 of you on stage, it can be very exposing and daunting.

Did you always know that acting was something you wanted to do?

Acting came later, I sang before I spoke, and so music has always been an important part of my life. I didn’t learn about Musical Theatre until I was 11 and now the rest is history.

If you could play any character in any West End show, what would it be and why?

Les Misérables is a dream show of mine, being a native French speaker myself, I hold this show/story very close to me. I don’t mind what character honestly, Fantine, Cosette or Epinine, it’d be thrilled either way!

You have a lot of younger fans who look up to you and aspire to be like you, what is one piece of advice you would give them? 

You need to be your own biggest fan. Take care of what your needs are first, what is it that you want? Go for it and don’t let anyone stop you.

You can book tickets to see Inez in SIX: the Musical, here.

Interview by Emily

**photo credit: Pamela Raith**