The Lion King’s Stephenson Ardern-Sodje on the ‘gift’ of playing Simba on the West End (EXCLUSIVE)

What does it feel like to be Simba?!

“Watching it, you think: ‘that looks like it’s amazing.’ Then when you get it – I got it the first time, and now this time – there’s maybe a worry of, have I put this on a pedestal? Will it live up to that? But then you’re actually walking up Pride Rock, having saved the Pride Lands and driven the hyenas out, you’re like: ‘Oh. This is better than I could have hoped for!'”

What’s the biggest difference between doing it as a tour and now in one place?

“I suppose this is a bigger venue than almost every venue you play on tour. And doing it in London, in the West End, feels like a homecoming. This is the heart and soul of British musical theatre. Even though the shows are very similar, near-identical in scale and scope – the tour is one of the biggest that goes out! – the vastness of the show here is just next level. Even down to the rock coming out the ground. The fact the show’s been here for 25 years, it’s worked into the fabric of the building. There are so many things we do here they don’t do anywhere else in the world. The scale was a big shift for me. Looking out at 2,100 seats… That’s a lot!”

Does it feel like a privilege, having two insights into the show: you took it on tour, and now you’re in its home?

“The roles are so specific that we do have a family with a revolving door policy, let’s say! A lot of people will leave and return. The Rafikis, for example – almost all of our Rafikis are traditionally from South Africa, born and raised. They’re based on South African spiritual leader named a sangoma, which is always a woman. They commune with spirits and help people in emotional and physical and legal ways in South Africa. Almost all of the Rafikis are South African, so they’ve done a lot of moving around. When you find someone who can do that… it’s a specific talent.

“For me to be asked to come back must mean they like me, which is very nice! What’s interesting is, I did it two years ago, and you do feel it’s something that grows with you. I put the role to bed, came back to it, and suddenly I’m two years older, more experience. The version of Simba coming out of me is two years more experienced. And it’s a show that’s surprisingly so much about grief and loss and trauma. As we get older, we experience more of those things. Different things resonate with you. But it’s also a show about hope, joy, community, reunion and reconnecting. Being able to do that every night? It’s a real gift.”

Can you remember the first time you saw the film?

“I don’t! It’s baked into the DNA of every millennial! You think: ‘Did I see it, or was I born with that information?!’ I must have been so young – it came out in 1994 and I would have been three! I don’t think I saw it in cinemas; I must have seen it on VHS first. I had the VHS and remember running it and running. But it does feel like innate knowledge!”

Are you excited for Hercules to come to the West End?

“That, I think, is the first movie I saw in cinemas! It’s a really underrated Disney film. The only thing I want, which fortunately a musical fixes, is more songs in the second act. You get a load of bops, the Muses really doing stuff at the beginning, and then in the film, as it goes on, it turns into a movie-movie. Whereas now, it’s going to be packed with songs!”

“What Disney do so well is finding ways, because obviously everything’s animated, to translate that to the stage. Julie Taymor, who was the director of this show in 1997 – her puppetry, her language just didn’t really exist on stage in the way it does now. That’s in large part to The Lion King, and to her. ‘How literal does it need to be? How can you make something feel like the spirit and the essence of something?’ It’s such a skill.”

Do you have a favourite song?

“Yes, ‘Shadowland’. Sadly not a song I sing! It is everything about the show. It has the South African tribal element to it, it has the beautiful, soulful ’90s pop of Elton John. And then it also tells a story. Nala going on a journey. The beautiful element of the lionesses. You watch that in isolation as it is on stage, that, for me… you can sell the show on that. Everything you get in this is beautiful. The choreography is so perfectly poised. I wish I sang that song!”

Do you have a favourite hidden detail that audiences might miss?

“It’s a weird thing to say, but the textures. Everything in the show is handmade. For me, it’s the beads. All the corsets are hand-beaded. Simba has a corset with 1,500 beads hand-sewn onto it! I obviously put it on every night, and I can feel it, literally; I can feel the craftsmanship and artistry of it. I know you can’t see that from however far away it is, but it’s there. The quality at every single level bleeds through in ways you can’t even necessarily see. The other thing I’d say is the baby elephant! It sometimes gets missed. But it’s the same actress who plays the young Nala. She’s waving her ears and I find it so cute!”

What are your ambitions for the future?

“I was very lucky, my first job was covering Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton. I would like to go back and do that full-time!”

For more information, visit the official website for The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre here.