Ahead of starring as poet Laurie Lee in a biographical production at Malvern Theatres later this week, actor Anton Lesser has looked back on some of the iconic roles he's played in his career.

Taking the stage at Malvern Theatres on Saturday, February 10, Mr Lesser will depict the title character in Red Sky at Sunrise: Laurie Lee in Words and Music.

The actor is best known for playing Qyburn in Game of Thrones, Prime Ministers Harold Macmillan and Clement Attlee in The Crown and A United Kingdom, respectively, and Thomas More in Wolf Hall.

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On his upcoming role, Mr Lesser said: "I enjoy a sweet resonance I feel with Laurie Lee’s writing, a kind of recognition of something apparently difficult to access, but which mysteriously becomes available through great storytelling.

"The audience can expect to be taken on a journey, which reflects Laurie’s actual travels from rural Gloucestershire to Spain, but also his inner journey, from boyhood to maturity, all in the company of great musicians playing sublime music."

Performing over the combination of words and music, Mr Lesser expressed his joy at performing literature with a backdrop of exceptional melodies.

He said: "To be asked to read great writing, and to read it aloud is a privilege.

"To read it aloud supported by magnificent music is something more - I would call it a blessing."

Mr Lesser mindfully added: "I’m often so carried away by the musicians that I’m a bit of a liability - sometimes needing a bit of a nod or nudge to come in on cue."

Speaking on playing the role of the villainous, yet complex, Qyburn in Game of Thrones, he expressed a joy in playing characters that sit on the fence between 'bad' and 'good'.

He said: "It’s not so much that I enjoy playing ‘villains', I like to think that I approach every role without limiting their identity to a single label like good or bad.

"I think it’s more that those characters tend to be more complex and interesting."