Eros Vlahos (Niccolò Machiavelli)

Eros Vlahos is an English actor and comedian born in London. He is probably best known for his roles of Cyril Gray in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang, Jake Farley in Summer in Transylvania and, last but not least, Lommy Greenhands in The Game of Thrones. In the summer of 2008, Eros wrote and performed his own material at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Meet Eros Vlahos, the comedian turned actor who stars in one of this spring’s must watch series, Da Vinci’s Demons.

YOU WERE TWELVE WHEN YOU WROTE AND PERFORMED A COMEDY SKETCH AT THE EDINBURGH FRINGE FESTIVAL – HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT?

The idea of the show was kids making fun of their parents. There was a comedy club for kids in London that I was a part of, it was mainly a way to keep me out of trouble in school. They did a stand up for kids show so I started doing slots of five minute sketches and by the time I was 12 I had 50 minutes worth of material, so I took the show to Edinburgh. I think I had that childish enthusiasm, and fearlessness. I remember doing a show in London and I was backstage before I went on eating a mozzarella sandwich and another comic – a grown up one – couldn’t believe how calm I was, as he was panicking. Now would be different though, I understand nervousness but I still don’t really have any shame!

WHO DID YOU PRACTISE YOUR ROUTINE ON?

My mum and dad. I used to walk around the house shouting jokes at them and testing material, which is something I would never ever do now. They’d say whether they were good or bad, but were always diplomatic with it.

WHAT’S THE HARDEST PART OF WRITING COMEDY?

At 12 what makes you laugh is a hell of a lot different to what makes you laugh as you get older. What I’ve noticed is that comedy ages backwards – it’s hard for a younger person to make an older person laugh. The hardest part of writing it was reigning in myself. When I thought of what was funny I thought of poo, and that was my 12 year old routine, but I’ve changed it a bit now!

WHAT’S YOUR COMEDY STYLE?

I’m big with it. I can’t do the small, awkward comedy in the way that someone like Michael Cera does. I think people laugh half at and half with me, but as long as they’re laughing it’s okay.

SO HOW DID YOU BREAK INTO ACTING?

CBeebies rang my Mum up and wanted me to do bits on a few shows and they kept calling which got a bit much for my Mum so an agent took me on. My first audition was Casualty; I think I acted horribly but I got the job. I went from being a comedian to playing a really sad, sick child. It progressed from there but the turning point was my role in Nanny McPhee. At the audition I had to improvise a scene about my life and I did a crazy rambling speech that made the casting director cry with laughter. Acting has never really felt like acting until very recently though, before it was me just having fun and someone pointing a camera at me.

WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM EMMA THOMPSON DURING THE FILMING OF NANNY MCPHEE?

I dropped out of my last year at school so I’ve always felt that since then my education has been through watching fellow actors. Emma was incredible. She has an amazing ability to switch into character in a second which is something I wish I could do. She had a great way with all the kids on set, she got us into the zone and got what she needed out of our performances, she held the set together.

IF WATCHING ACTORS IS HOW YOU LEARN, WHAT’S THE BEST TIP YOU’VE PICKED UP SO FAR?

It’s quite hard because everyone has their own way of doing things. I’ve learnt to have no shame, you have to just go for it and really believe that it’s not you but a character so you never get embarrassed by anything.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NEXT ROLE IN DA VINCI’S DEMONS?

It’s about the young Da Vinci’s life. He kept a diary throughout his whole life and it stopped in his 20s so there’s a huge gap in the knowledge about him, which is where the series takes place. The great thing about it is that, even though there are elements of fantasy, it’s grounded in history which is what drew me to it. I played a lot of Assassin’s Creed on the Playstation when I was younger which is set in Florence and I remember reading the script and being like ‘oh my god I know that guy, I ran past him in one of the missions’. I play Nico who’s Da Vinci’s sidekick, and my character goes from being very juvenile to very grown up throughout the series – he goes on to become the very famous Nico Machiavelli.

HAVE YOU GOT A CAREER PLAN IN MIND – OR A DREAM ROLE?

No, not really. I was always big on the whole plan thing because I felt like I had to have a plan in order to be successful but I’ve realised that I don’t need one, it’s more interesting to see what life throws at you. The dream role is a funny thing – I always find that the more I want a role the more likely it is that I won’t get it so I try to give my all to every role I get. But I’d love to work with the likes of Judd Apatow and Will Ferrell.

ANY PLANS TO CRACK LA?

I went over about a month ago actually and it’s bonkers. The whole British film industry seems to be centred in Soho but in LA it’s huge, there’s a city about the size of London within LA for the film industry alone. It’s a bit daunting – every waiter I had in a restaurant was also an actor. But everyone loves the British accent which always helps, their eyes widen when you start speaking,