Rose Byrne chases dreams with Broadway comedic revival

Rose Byrne says her return to stage comedy—anchored in a revival of Noël Coward’s 1925 “Fallen Angels”—is something she’s long wanted, even as she prepares to fill the theatre without mics and to play a character who grows progressively louder and drunker. The

Rose Byrne pictured herself on a Broadway stage doing comedy “like it’s one of my dreams.” Now the actor is preparing to do exactly that in the revival of Noël Coward’s 1925 play “Fallen Angels. ” a story set in motion by wealthy women who learn that a man they were each previously involved with is coming to town.

For Byrne. the draw isn’t just the script—it’s the physical reality of performing comedy in a theatre. reaching the people in the back row without the safety net of microphones. “We are trying to reach the back row. so physically. … I felt like I was screaming when I first got up [there]. because we’re not wearing mics either. ” she said.

In the play, Byrne’s character keeps changing as the night goes on, getting progressively drunk and increasingly loud. She says Coward’s writing—and his stage directions—are what steady her through that climb. “The language he used. the sort of linguistic gymnastics and the extraordinary vocabulary of Noël Coward is a delight. ” Byrne said. “I never tire of sitting backstage and I’m constantly rediscovering the words that he peppers throughout.”.

This is Byrne returning to comedy after a career that has already shown a wide range: she previously starred in blockbuster comedies like “Neighbors” and “Bridesmaids.” But “Fallen Angels” is also a return to a particular kind of onstage play—one she wanted to do for a long time.

Her comments also circle back to another role that brought her both an Oscar and a Tony nomination in the same year. Byrne received the former for the film “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. ” and the latter for “Fallen Angels” on Broadway. In that film. Byrne played a mother falling apart as she struggles to keep up with ever-increasing caregiving demands for her ill daughter. She says the script and tone mattered because of how personal and difficult the material is. “Mary Bronstein wrote this incendiary screenplay and I just did not want to mess it up,” Byrne said.

Byrne described working with the filmmaker-director Mary Bronstein as creatively significant. “It was such a creative opportunity,” she said. “We hit it off and had a real experience, one of those experiences in life that, creatively, has kind of changed me.”

She also spoke about how “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” resists easy summaries. “The [film] defies generalization or description, because it’s sort of like a fever dream, in a way,” Byrne said. “It has gallows humor in there. There’s horror tropes in the film. too.” She tied that tonal mix to Bronstein’s direction. saying that Bronstein “really broke the mold with the tone of the film” and “tapped into the monster within and the fear of being a parent and the horror of being a parent. and some of the joy too.”.

What Byrne said about caregiving extends even to the sound design—especially the beeping of medical equipment in the background. She explained that the noises weren’t treated as background texture; they were magnified for the character’s point of view. “These noises get magnified and actually Mary Bronstein made those louder. just a bit. like the clock on the wall. the beeping of the machine. all those things were louder because they are in [the main character’s] point of view. ” Byrne said. “And it is as a parent, those things become overstimulating. It’s relentless and, [Bronstein] wanted to capture that claustrophobia.”.

That claustrophobia runs through the film’s most difficult choice as well: viewers don’t get to see the daughter. or learn what her illness is. Byrne said the decision works on two levels. “The conceit of not seeing the daughter. and Mary has spoken to this many times. but [it] sort of a two-prong thing in that I don’t think Linda. my character. can see her daughter at this point. She’s so drowning and beginning this

real descent into her mental health crisis,” Byrne said. She added another layer aimed directly at the audience’s attention. “Also for the audience to have that choice taken away to not see the daughter. you’re forced to reckon with the mother. Because as soon as you put a child on screen, your empathy, as it should, goes to the child. They’re so vulnerable. and immediately your concern will go to them. and so she takes

that choice away from the viewer. So you are forced to be in the perspective of the mother.”.

The throughline between these roles—onstage comedy without mics. and a screen performance built around claustrophobia and mental crisis—shows how much Byrne’s craft depends on perspective. She described that shift in everyday terms after spending a day on set as well, saying that children reset you. “Kids are so in-the-moment and grounding and — in the best way — they’re not particularly interested if you’ve had a hard day. ” she said. “But it’s so wonderful because you immediately snap into your role as mom. the greatest role. the most challenging. the most fun. And so for me, it’s church and state … leave it at work. I mean. obviously there were days when I was more exhausted or tired or [it’s] harder to let things go. But children are the great equalizer, as a parent.”.

Byrne’s Broadway return also reflects on earlier comedic work that became part of her public identity. She talked about filming “Bridesmaids” and described the experience with the kind of astonishment that comes from hindsight. “We had such a fun time. It was a great group of actresses. I couldn’t believe I was there,” Byrne said. “It’s already extraordinary to have that many scenes with just women. I’ve had that once since then when I did Mrs. America, [a] show for FX about the second wave of feminism. … But this was really, really special.”.

She said the cast didn’t know at the time how widely the movie would land. “And we had no idea that it would go on to become such a beloved movie and all of that. ” Byrne said. “But the shooting of it was wonderful. It was an education in the brilliance of these comedic actresses and the performances. … It changed my life in so many ways. It really did.”.

Byrne also credited improv as part of the lasting skill she gained from “Bridesmaids.” “The improv stuff, it’s just like a skillset that is still I marvel … they make it look effortless,” she said.

The interview notes that Therese Madden and Thea Chaloner produced and edited it for broadcast, while Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.

Rose Byrne Fallen Angels Noël Coward Broadway If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Mary Bronstein Oscar Tony nomination comedy