Waterloo Road star switches gears for gangster comedy

Matthew Khan is a well-known face to fans of the hit school drama, Waterloo Road. He plays Jared Jones, and watching this character gradually become more controlling has been incredibly authentic.

This is due in part to the research carried out by the writers and the producers, but also by Matthew.

This busy actor is about to star in Jez Butterworth’s brilliant play Mojo at The King’s Arms. So we had a chat about all of this and more.

⁠What or who inspired you to perform?

I’d say my mum and dad, I used to love pretending to be superheroes and knights, etc, as a kid, then I got a lot more shy as I got older. It was only when my mum took me to a local drama club at the Dukes in Lancaster that I felt like I’d found my tribe. The performing part is great, but it’s the people that you find in these creative circles that I really enjoy hanging out with.

What do you love about Manchester?

I think the best thing about Manchester is that there’s something for everyone. Deansgate and Spinningfields for the boujie expensive bars and restaurants. Ancoats for the hipsters with money. Northern quarter for the indie vibe. And if you want some chaos and to get shouted at, just go to Piccadilly Gardens.

⁠Mojo is a great ensemble piece. But what made you say yes?

I’ve known the play since school, where other people in the class put it on, and I was mad jealous. So when I saw Oliver Hurst was directing it, I knew I wanted to audition because everything about the play is sick. I love my Guy Ritchie films and this is that in a play. It’s hilarious, it’s dark. And Oli is doing some really cool work and you can tell he’s gonna go far. Wanted to get involved in a little part of that journey.

⁠What are the challenges of performing in a piece like this one?

Breaking character 100%. The play is honestly so, so funny. And with the freedom we are putting into it through the direction each line can change how it’s being said, the blocking can be different. So you have to be prepared for the unexpected. My character is hyper serious, the more serious I am, the funnier it is. Which of course just makes it even harder! And when an audience start laughing, we will just have to see how that affects how we play it.

Why would you tell someone to see this production?

If you like gangster films like Sexy Beast, Snatch, The Gentlemen come watch. If you like dark comedy like In Bruges come watch. If you like theatre that starts like it’s been shot through a bullet and doesn’t let up for the rest of the show come watch.

Your storyline in Waterloo Road put a spotlight on coercive relationships. How do you avoid playing a villain?

So with Waterloo it was super important to play it as realistic as we could whilst keeping it safe. So a lot of the conversations we had, the research I did, was on trying to understand this guy, humanise this nasty character. I’ve said it before on my podcast ‘Going for a Take’ but Jared wasn’t born evil, so understanding why he became the way he was helped me not just make him a ‘moustache twirling villain’. In a way, the more human he is, the more monstrous his actions are.

What are the key things that you love about acting that keep you coming back for more?

I don’t get it, like it’s so tricky for me to understand. Like a puzzle that I get close to working out but I never fully do. There’s no right or wrong answers to it. There’s so much technique involved to make it look like there’s no technique. It’s just something I can never stop learning more and improving on and stretching myself on. Which is why I wanted to do Mojo, learning new accents, a new kind of character, a dark comedy. It’s gonna be mad. I can’t wait.

Waterloo Road

Waterloo Road is available to watch on BBC Iplayer

Mojo runs at the Kings Arms from 13th – 24th May and can be booked here.