SAMUEL BARNETT
AGE 23
BIRTHPLACE North Yorkshire, England
WHY
His tender, understated turn as a painfully shy 17-year-old anchors the
screen version of The History Boys, the Tony-winning
coming-of-age drama set in a British secondary school. His melodic
rendition of ''Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered'' — sung whilst gazing
adoringly at a rakishly handsome classmate — doesn't hurt either.
A PLUM PART
In about two hours, Barnett's character gets to sing show tunes, come
out of the closet, struggle with his Jewish heritage, masquerade as a
French madam, and deliver zingers like this: ''I'm a Jew. I'm small. I'm
homosexual. And I live in Sheffield. I'm f---ed.'' The actor takes some
credit for his Tony-nominated performance — ''I have that sort of acerbic
wit,'' he admits — but saves his highest praise for playwright-screenwriter
Alan Bennett. ''I will never be as funny or intelligent as he makes me.''
MALE BONDING
Though they've been together for (off and on) two and a half years — doing
the play in London, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Sydney, and now New York — the
eight History Boys get on famously, says Barnett. ''We just completely
take the piss and wind each other up.'' But he draws the line at bunking
with them. ''God, no! We'd kill each other.''
NEXT
More History: The play will go on at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre
through Oct. 1.
