Get your first look at Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen in Broadway's Hangmen

Alfie Allen is ready to make his Broadway debut.

The former Game of Thrones star is taking the stage in Martin McDonagh's Hangmen, a play originally slated to open in spring 2020 with Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens in the role Allen now holds. EW has your first look at Allen treading the boards, as he travels back to a more recent past — Britain in 1965.

Allen plays the mysterious Mooney, an interloper in the life of Harry Wade (David Threfall) and his family. Harry is England's second-best hangman, and he's faced with a crisis as Britain abolishes hanging as a form of execution. When Mooney appears and starts flirting with Harry's daughter, things go awry.

McDonagh is notorious for his pitch black comedies, plays that tread the line between violent camp and dramatic meditation. With questions of violence, power, and execution at play, is it fair to draw parallels between Hangmen and Allen's star-making property, HBO series Game of Thrones? To him, it's in the eye of the beholder.

"I can't draw a comparison really," he reflects. "They're just two totally different animals. If people who've watched Thrones want to draw parallels with it, then come and see the play and make your mind up. I have to leave it up to the viewer to decide."

Before Hangmen opens on Broadway April 21, we caught up with Allen on what it's like making his Broadway debut, why he loves McDonagh's writing, and what spare details he can share about his mysterious character.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This play has had a very roundabout journey to Broadway thanks to the pandemic. How did you end up coming on board and and what appealed to you about it?

ALFIE ALLEN: I saw this play about six or seven years ago, maybe even longer, at the Wyndham Theatre in London in the West End. I remember being blown away by it, coming out of the theater being completely flabbergasted by it and almost feeling like I had an out of body experience. I've never felt like that when I came out of a theater. So I put my name in the hat at that point to the people concerned, i.e. my agents and stuff and said, "If it becomes a realistic possibility, I'd love for my name to be in the mix," and then hey, presto, it happened six years later. Martin's work in theater and in film is something I'm a huge fan of, and I feel honored to be able to be a part of something that I genuinely love. Broadway is something that I've always wanted to be a part of, as well as Martin's work. It's great to be able to be a part of this community.

Have you spoken to Johnny Flynn who originated Mooney in the West End or Dan Stevens who was slated to play it on Broadway in 2020 about the role?

No, I didn't before. Dan actually came to see the play the other night, and we didn't really speak that much about it. We had a little chat about it afterwards, but not huge, really we were just catching up. I hadn't seen him in a long time. It's something that I wanted to come at from my own perspective rather than somebody else's.

What through-lines would you say Hangmen shares with McDonagh's other work? Or what makes it different?

There's so many. He allows the issues to just bubble to the surface. There is so much in there that that you could agree with or disagree with. And you can feel completely different to the person sitting next to you about the play. That's how I felt anyway when I came to see it, and that's rare. It's one of the amazing things about theater in general. But with Martin's work specifically, he allows that and has the ability to do that. And he does.

Where does this rate on the violence scale of his plays from the near camp flying limbs of The Lieutenant of Inishmore to the gentler Cripple of Inishmaan?

[Laughs] It's definitely a dark comedy, but it's in a familial setting. I don't want to give anything away, but there's really warm, touching moments to it as well, especially towards the end. There's a real lovely moment that happens. And it just manages to balance everything out versus the morbid dark comedy. You can also be lifted up with this play as well. It has a thing for everyone. That's what makes it such a gorgeous thing to perform and to be part of and to watch.

Would you say there's one thing you learned in your eight years on Game of Thrones you're finding very useful in this?

No, not really. I did a three month stage tour of Equus before I'd done Game of Thrones, and it was different doing that before I did Thrones to doing a play called The Spoils with Jesse Eisenberg at Trafalgar Studios after Thrones. In terms of something that I learned in the eight years that I was doing Game of Thrones to transition that into how it can better my ability of being on stage, TV, film and theater are so different, in terms of the chronological storytelling that's going on. Theater is the purest form of storytelling, really. So I would say that it's hard to draw comparisons.

Does it being your Broadway debut add a weight to it? Is it intimidating at all?

At first. It's just being somewhere different. I've only ever done theater in London, and this is in New York. Although I spoke to a lot of people who've done it here and they just said, "You're going to love it." And it's been true so far. The rehearsal process was different than anything I've experienced before, but I can't really put my finger on why? Because I've been in those rooms and done rehearsals in those ways before but it was just a bit different over here. But in a good way.

Is there a different energy to doing theater in New York versus London?

I would say that when you're on stage, those feelings are non-existent because you're just doing a performance. My journey to the theater in London would be on the tube and the metro subway is something I'm still yet to figure out. I'm still trying to get to grips with that. I haven't been doing that when I've been in New York. But I'm sure once I get my bearings a little bit, I will. I would say the experience of being on stage is quite similar. But then obviously, the content of this play is quite, it's a British play, and so, to perform it to American audiences is kind of incredible. I haven't done it to an English audience. I've only been a part of the audience. When you hear that one gasp or one laugh out in the audience versus the whole collective laugh or collective gasp, it's a great feeling. I love that. And that's what's amazing about theater is you get that immediate feedback.

What can you tell us about your character, Mooney?

He's a product of a disciplinarian generation that went before him. And that's all I'll say.

How would you describe the play in three words?

Nothing is certain.

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