Russell

welcomes us into his east London loft to talk art, design and his love of Soho Home

As I step into Russell Tovey’s east London lo , see people everywhere.

Two Amoako Boafo portraits adorn a wall by a large E15 dining table he bought 10 years earlier. A Studio.SPF canvas he selected from the new M.A.H Gallery Soho Home art collection depicts a curly-haired man with ears not dissimilar to Tovey’s own (but reminds him more of the actor Josh O’Connor) rests on an easel he brought back from New York. Various abstract pencil and charcoal drawings of figures and ceramic busts add to this domestic community of artistic impression. But I’m most drawn to My Reflection Of You, an Ana Benaroya rendering of two voluptuous women having a cigarette and a glass of wine, which takes centre stage in the kitchen Tovey recently redesigned.

“ e art always has come first, and wanted this kitchen to feel social,” the actor art connoisseur and collector tells me, as we take in his abode. Tovey likes to collect interior inspiration as much as art. If he’s not ripping out pages from design magazines, he’s screensho ing furniture on Instagram. He wanted to create a cohesive discourse between who he is as an art collector as well as “a collector of furniture, objects or ceramics”. Ebay has proven to be a wondrous wellspring

Above le Shirt, £1,320, where he purchased the bench and stalls for the kitchen, a range cooker, a conch he had restored and the taps for the sink. However, Soho House has long been a design influence for the actor, who has been a member since he was 18.

“I always go to the toilets at Soho House and think, ‘I want that toilet roll holder, I want those sinks, where can find them?’” he says. “When the Soho Home stu came online at the beginning, there was a whole vintage section, so I’ve got a towel rack. e soap dispenser [in the kitchen], that’s Lefroy Brooks, which is a Soho House brand. It’s beautiful stu .” In keeping with the earthy tones and mid-century feel, old wood is a prominent feature. For example, his Soho Home bed frame, sideboards and a bookcase he had specially made to house his art book collection, featuring tomes by Tracey Emin, Wolfgang Tillmans and Derek Jarman. “It was a bit of a splurge, but it shows o the books beautifully,” he admits. “For people that can’t afford art but love an artist, they can buy the book and put it on their co ee table.”

Ultimately, Tovey wanted to strike a balance between the art and the interiors to create a living space that also serves as a personal diary. “ e building is the star object and everything else is like the supporting actors bringing an incredible story to life,” he says, looking out at the living room and surveying all the interior touches. “ at’s from when I met that artist, and that’s when I was doing that play which changed my life and career. e place is embedded with all of this history, energy and joy.”

Tovey set about creating a subtle space where the works could shine. He chose a mellow, o -white Lick paint for the walls and pillars, with a brown tone for the front door that complements the wooden floors and brick of the building, which was once a storage facility for the British Museum. “I wanted to warm it up,” he says, referencing the Margate property he and partner Steve Brockman bought and renovated two years ago, as a source of influence. “ e colours for that Victorian house were neutral,” he adds. “Lots of Farrow & Ball Joa’s White across [the walls]. You can hang the art up against it but it isn’t screaming out like if you have stark [white]. We wanted something that was welcoming.”

Tovey’s natural warmth shouldn’t come as a surprise. A er all, he is in the business of people. He’s spent more than two decades becoming one of the most reliable and a able performers our country has to o er. From playing school kid Rudge on stage and screen in e HistoryBoys to lending his lad-next-door charm to the hit comedy series Being Human and Him & Her, the Essex boy has earnt acclaim for his performances. ere was also the stage and screen adaptation of The Pass the National Theatre’s production of Angels In America and series Years And Years, where he could connect with gay characters who share a similar experience of the world. “I didn’t really have an idea of a career,” he says. “I didn’t understand negotiating your trajectory. I was very fortunate that was o ered those things and did it all. Now I’m incredibly thankful that can chill and do things want to do.”

That includes becoming one of the most relatable faces of art, thanks to the Talk Art podcast he started in 2018 with gallerist and friend Robert Diament – a wide-ranging discussion with guest artists, curators, collectors, celebrities and fans, challenging the elitist view of who gets to enjoy and own art. “We want to be a conduit to discovery,” says Tovey. “Many emerging or even mid-career artists have been discovered through the podcast. at has been incredible.”

Talk Art continues to go from strength to strength. e podcast has hit more than six million downloads, and the pair have wri en and released two books.

Tovey has been invited to curate exhibitions around the world, as well as be a judge for the 2021 Turner Prize and a patron for Art UK in 2022. e podcast has also helped fuel his acting. “We’ve done over 250 interviews with people from all walks of life,” he says. “I’m absorbing their stories, so when get characters I can feed in all this stu .” It even landed him a role. American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy DMed him on Instagram to ask for a chat and, soon enough, Tovey was cast in the most recent season as an NYPD cop investigating a serial killer targeting gay men. “We talked about [the role] for three minutes and then we talked about art. If I hadn’t done the art stu he might not have been as interested in me as an actor.”

Tovey has had a voracious eye for art since he was young – the first works he ever hung up in his childhood room were David Hockney posters from exhibitions. For his 21st, his parents bought him the Tracey Emin print Dog Brains And with his pay cheque from e History Boys he bought himself an original monoprint from White Cube. Now his collection boasts more than 300 pieces, located between this apartment, his house in Margate and a storage unit, but he frequently browses the lot via an app on his phone. “I’m like an obsessive curator moving things around. ere should be an Art Anonymous. would have to go!”

Currently, his favourite piece is Pleasures of Italy by Derek Jarman. It’s especially resonant as the actor has just appeared in Blue Now a series of immersive live performances celebrating the artist, writer and filmmaker’s final project (Jarman died in 1994 from an AIDS-related illness). “He inspires me with his activism. He was doing that years ago and here am in 2023, going, ‘I want to do what Derek Jarman did.’ It makes me feel more present in the world.” e ability to marry his two creative passions continues to excite Tovey. He hopes to play his hero Keith Haring in a biopic one day, but his latest art film pursuit is a documentary on the late poet and artist David Robilliard. Both Robilliard and Haring were visionaries who also lost their lives to AIDS-related illnesses. Tovey hopes to further cement their legacies in our cultural consciousness, alongside the myriad artistic figures who paved the way for queer people today.

“Younger generations need to know that they’re standing on the shoulders of giants and be aware of what’s happened,” he says. “ ings can change overnight, especially when it comes to our rights. e older I get, see myself as an activist, and that art is political.” Art will always be a window to life for Russell Tovey, and in his home it truly lives.

RussellToveyisamemberofSohoHouse

40 Greek Street