'I was in a cell when I decided I wanted to act'

An epiphany in prison led Michael Balogun to apply to drama school now he's a West End star. He talks to Nick Clark

- Nick Clark

FOR anyone questioning the power of art to change lives, look no further than Michael Balogun. He was at his lowest ebb, sitting in a prison cell, when he had an "epiphany" - he should try to become an actor. Fast forward a decade or so, and next week he steps onto the stage of the Gillian Lynne Theatre to make his West End debut.

"When I got into acting, I didn't look too far ahead, but I remember walking through the West End thinking, 'I wonder if I'll ever be on one of those stages?' And now it's happening. It's a dream come true," he says when we meet in a Canning Town rehearsal space.

Balogun is one of three actors alongside Hadley Fraser and Nigel Lindsay in the new cast of The Lehman Trilogy, the National's acclaimed adaptation of Stefano Massini's play.

Directed by Sam Mende ,this vast tale journeys from the three original Lehman brothers' arrival from Bavaria to the US in the mid-19th century, through several generations of a dynasty that culminates in the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank in 2008.

Balogun had never seen it; "I heard it was about banking and I thought, 'I don't know about that."" But reading it before his audition, he realised it was an immigrant story, about family, the American dream, a tale of rags-toriches. "I have thought about that whole rags-to-riches story, about having a dream and wanting to accomplish it. When I decided I wanted to be an actor I was in a cell and I didn't know how it was going to manifest and happen."