Alex Jennings plays familiar public figures with vocal precision and sympathy. We like the care he takes to avoid caricature, though the writing does not always give him a fully convincing person to play.
Fi1m perspective
Listen to Alex Jennings as Prince Charles in The Queen (2006): the recognisable voice is only part of the performance. He keeps the familiar mannerisms without making them a running joke, giving Charles room to seem complicated and sympathetic. We warmed to his Charles because the likeness never became an invitation to laugh the man out of the scene. It is a good place to begin with Jennings, and Stephen Frears’s funny, humane film rewards the attention.
The reservation concerns the writing. Peter Morgan’s script sometimes makes its disagreement too tidy, and Charles can be a contradictory, weakly drawn figure. Jennings gives him sympathy, but cannot make every uncertainty in the character seem deliberate. With Helen Mirren’s tightly controlled performance at its centre, this is a film in which Jennings can contribute without having to supply every reason to keep watching.
His film breakthrough came with that role, after extensive work with the RSC and National Theatre from the 1980s. His movement between stage leads and screen supporting parts makes the screen career only a partial account of what he does. The Lady in the Van (2015) casts him as Alan Bennett opposite Maggie Smith; The Crown (2016) gives him David, Duke of Windsor. Royals and writers offer him the same practical challenge: getting the voice right while leaving something worth watching once we have recognised it.
Bennett’s advice on The Lady in the Van is revealing: he wanted Jennings to be tougher, less plaintive and less cosy. That is a useful demand to make of an actor whose sympathy is one of his strengths. We would welcome more parts that ask him to keep the difficult qualities of a person in view, even when the voice is pleasingly familiar.
Blitz (2024) adds Victor Smythe to his supporting roles. We admired Steve McQueen’s craft there, but the film never settles on whether it wants to be a fable, an argument or an adventure. Jennings’s presence is not sufficient reason to recommend it. Start with The Queen, where there is a rewarding evening around him as well.
Biography
Alex Jennings is an English actor of stage and screen. He has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre.
Jennings has received three Olivier Awards, for Too Clever by Half (1988), Peer Gynt (1996) and My Fair Lady (2003). He is the only performer to have won Olivier awards in the drama, musical and comedy categories. His film and television roles include Prince Charles in The Queen (2006), the Duke of Windsor in The Crown (2016), and Victor Smythe in Blitz (2024). Other credits include Babel (2006), The Lady in the Van (2015) and Operation Mincemeat (2022).
