Actor’s ‘privilege’ to portray Richard Burton on screen

The actor playing a young Richard Burton in a new biographical film has described how much of a privilege it was to take on such an “iconic” role.

Harry Lawtey said he was aware of the pressure of being an Englishman portraying the “Welsh hero” in Mr Burton.

He said: “It was daunting, for sure.

“Trust me, it’s certainly not lost on me, the gumption of some English lad turning up to play the quintessential Welsh hero, which he is.”

The film is about Burton’s early life growing up in the Afan Valley, Neath Port Talbot, and has been released to mark the centenary of his birth.

The 28-year-old star of BBC drama Industry became fascinated with the Welsh Hollywood legend after watching a play about Burton’s relationship with his director, Sir John Gielgud, in 2023.

“It’s probably one of my favourite plays I’ve ever seen. And I became sort of briefly obsessed with Richard Burton for a week or two after that,” he said.

Three weeks later he got the audition to play Burton on the big screen.

Lawtey researched Burton’s life by watching his back catalogue, reading biographies and “all of his diaries, which were just amazing, to get detail, information and kind of nuance about the guy”.