Joseph Fiennes on playing Gareth Southgate: 'Don't be misled by his decency - he has steel'

"Dear England, It has been an highly hard year…"

His 1,700 heartfelt words marked the culmination of an bonzer transformation, some of the England men's shot squad and the unassuming antheral who runs it.

In conscionable a mates of years, they went from a dysfunctional and dejected instauration to a root of nationalist pride. At the bosom of it, 1 man.

"He's got a benignant of motivation integrity and compass," says histrion Joseph Fiennes, who is present playing Southgate astatine the National Theatre.

"He's been brought up arsenic a young subordinate successful a precise toxic antheral situation and you tin ideate that helium wants to unshackle himself, giving players their voice."

It's a alteration of individuality for the histrion arsenic well, who erstwhile we conscionable is sporting the aforesaid trimmed beard arsenic the England boss.

Fiennes is champion known to immoderate for his play roles, notably successful 1998's Shakespeare successful Love, and to others arsenic the evil Fred Waterford successful The Handmaid's Tale. Is it a alleviation to beryllium playing idiosyncratic the assemblage volition sympathise with?

"A immense relief," the histrion laughs. "A large portion of the gravitational propulsion was the thought that I could play idiosyncratic that's decent for once."

But that decency shouldn't beryllium mistaken for weakness, helium insists.

"You can't perchance tally the England squad without having immoderate benignant of backbone. He's idiosyncratic who has a temperate mode of dealing with emotions, dissimilar astir apt what helium saw successful the changing country [as a young player]. But don't beryllium misled by that. He has a alloy spine."

In his aboriginal days arsenic manager, it is wide that Southgate is "up against an infrastructure that has the ghosts of each the toxic environments that helium grew up successful arsenic a young player", Fiennes adds.

The erstwhile England defender seemed destined to beryllium everlastingly dogged by his infamous punishment miss successful the Euro 96 semi-final. But since being appointed manager successful 2016, helium has transformed the temper astir the nationalist team.

So singular has the Southgate gyration been that 1 of Britain's astir celebrated playwrights decided it was a play worthy of 1 of London's biggest stages.

"I deliberation it is Shakespearean due to the fact that it's epic," James Graham tells me.

Best known arsenic the writer of award-winning play This House and TV deed Sherwood, Graham has intelligibly relished the situation of taking connected a nationalist institution.

"You person these precise idiosyncratic stories, these characters successful the foreground, against the backdrop of these immense nation-changing events," helium says. "And that is what it is to beryllium the England manager."

Dear England, which starts a 2 period tally astatine the National Theatre connected Saturday, begins arsenic Southgate becomes caretaker manager pursuing the humiliating Euro 2016 exit and Sam Allardyce's short-lived tenure.

"It was beauteous overmuch the lowest ebb of England nationalist beingness successful presumption of football," says Graham. "We conscionable mislaid to Iceland. We were doing truthful severely successful tournaments - and past this translation happened.

"People's feelings astir the athletics were wholly changed from choler to joy. And I conjecture our play asks however Gareth did that."

The answer, of course, is not conscionable astir sport. Dear England besides explores issues astir intelligence health, racism and the bonzer unit enactment connected the young men who instrumentality to the pitch.

"You person the doctrine that Gareth wants to instil successful the squad that would mean that you tin get escaped of the fear," Graham says. "[It's] a antithetic benignant of masculinity that meant players were allowed to beryllium much vulnerable.

"They were allowed to explicit doubts and anxieties. I deliberation that dispersed crossed the full squad from chefs to psychologists."

The play besides tackles an contented that became totemic for the struggles of the England squad - 1 that sends shivers down the spines of its fans.

"There was thing astir walking towards the punishment spot that feels antithetic for an England subordinate and no-one understood why," says Graham. "That's wherefore Gareth got successful psychologists.

"We person Pippa Grange, played by Gina McKee, to recognize the science of some athletics [and] Englishness arsenic well. And that's wherefore I hope, arsenic a playwright, we get to speech astir much than conscionable football."

But it is the absorption to the abuse, alternatively than the maltreatment itself, that the play gives dependable to, arsenic good arsenic discussions astir the relation of footballers successful the 21st Century.

"They person a societal conscience, which is beautiful, which we haven't seen before," Fiennes says.

Graham adds: "In the play, we bash correspond the constituent of presumption of radical who accidental they should 'stick to football'. But I personally don't judge that and I don't deliberation Gareth believes that."

And successful a way, that sums up what the writer and his squad are trying to achieve. Dear England is simply a play not conscionable astir football, but what the acquisition of the nationalist squad tells america astir ourselves.

"We're talking astir nationalist individuality and the load of past during a peculiar clip successful our nationalist history," helium says.

"We privation to effort and marque consciousness of that done the England shot squad alternatively than politicians oregon anyone else.

"I anticipation it gives the play existent value and helps an assemblage marque consciousness of the past fewer years connected the transportation and disconnected the pitch."

Dear England runs astatine the National Theatre successful London from 10 June to 11 August.