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My Writing Life: Joseph Millson

Actor and writer Joseph Millson is currently appearing as Monsieur André in the 40th anniversary production of Phantom of the Opera, alongside his Love Never Dies co-star Sierra Boggess (Carlotta). The 40th anniversary gala performance takes place tonight, Friday 9 October. Joseph is also a screenwriter and author. His first fiction novella, Miller Rose Roberts, is out now.

1. What book should every writer read?

True and False. By David Mamet. It looks like a book for actors. But trust me – it’s for every kind of storyteller.

2. What is your typical writing day like?

I write best in the mornings, as soon after waking as possible. So if I can get a couple of hours in early, that’s great. There is almost always other work to do with my odd day job of acting and family life, so these hours are golden. I hop back in later in the day to read what the morning writing delivered.

3. Who has been an influential figure in your writing career?

Stephen King. The fluency and the bravery. I sometimes feel Mr King has been given the reputation of being purely a genre writer, almost cursed by his popularity. But there are books of his which stand up against any great literature. He is fearless.

4. What is the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started your career as a professional writer?

Don’t wait! I always wrote; I had short stories and poems published when young, but it was quite late in life that I began sharing my work with the world in long form.

5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received about your writing?

The material you wrote which makes you worried because it doesn’t seem at all how books ‘ought’ to be written – that is the good stuff; that is your unique voice. Don’t play safe. I was told this by my friend and mentor, Irvine Welsh.

6. What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?

Truly, the publication of Miller Rose Roberts.

7. What are you reading right now?

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.

8. Bookmarker or page-folder?

Bookmark.

This article originally appeared on our Substack. 

A busy and well-known actor for over thirty years, Joseph Millson has also been an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and won many awards for his work on stage and screen. As an actor, his film and TV work includes Casino Royale, The Last Kingdom, Holby City, Banished, The Sarah Jane Adventures, Peak Practice and many, many more.

He has a master’s degree in screenwriting and has written many films, as well as writing for television. His first feature film as writer/director, Signs of Life, won Best Feature Film at the Berlin Indie Film Festival and the London Independent Film Festival. Joseph’s memoir, WORK – And Other Four-Letter Words, was a number-one bestseller on Amazon; it was shortlisted for the 2021 Theatre Book Prize and received five-star reviews in the national press and from renowned writers such as Irvine Welsh and Russell T Davies.

Miller Rose Roberts, his first fiction novella, is out now. It recently won the IndieNovella LBBC prize.

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