Click here for an interview with Alfie's Equus co-star Simon Callow

There must be easier ways of making your first professional appearance on stage than by playing Alan Strang, the highly complex, deepl disturbed teenage boy at the centre of Peter Shaffer's play Equus.
However Daniel Radcliffe proved that it could be done in the 2007 West End revival and now it falls to Alfie Allen to approach the role with a similarly blank sheet of paper where his theatre credits are concerned.

"When I knew that I had got the part but when I was working on other things, I felt quite distanced from Equus" reveals Alfie. "Whenever I thought about it, there was a mixture of emotions. I felt that cold fear but I also couldn't wait to get on with it."

In some ways, the actor cast as Alan Strang needs to have a raw, unschooled, naive quality about him. Too experienced a stage performer might be too self-conscious, too aware of theatrical technique to capture Strang's innocence.

Twenty-one-year-old Alfie has already clocked up a number of film and television performances, notably in Atonement where his performance in a minor role was favourably noted by Peter Shaffer. Having auditioned for the part, Alfie was later summoned to London's fashionable eaterie The Wolseley for an eight o-clock breakfast meeting with Shaffer and Equus producer David Pugh.

"I think that this was my punctuality test" says Alfie with a smile. "I was actually sitting at the table when they arrived and I'd already ordered. I did wonder if they planned to have breakfast with anybody else but once they started talking about my availability and asking if I had any problems with nudity, I felt more confident. Finally Peter had to leave and David followed him out of the restaurant and into Piccadilly. I watched them through the window talking in the street. Then David came back to the table and told me that they were offering me the part."

At the moment, Alfie is probably best known for his talented family. His father Keith has most recently been glorying in nastiness as the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham in the BBC's Robin Hood while Alfie's mother is the prominent film producer Alison Owen whose respected screen credits include Elizabeth and Shaun of the Dead. Big sister Lily, the singer-songwriter, is one of the hottest acts on the current music scene and has already ensured a place for Alfie in posterity by immortalising him in a far from flattering light on her best-selling album Alright, still. To complete the show business connections, Alfie shares his private life with Jaime Winstone, the eldest daughter of tough guy thesp Ray.

It's only the third day of rehearsals when we meet and Alfie may be daunted but is not overwhelmed by the task ahead of him.

"I am the youngest member of the cast and I know I have a lot to learn but I was really getting into it by yesterday afternoon. I like playing parts where you tiptoe around the line between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. When I'm playing a character I like to put together a back story - what has happened to him before the play or the film begins. But Peter (Shaffer) gives you such a lot of information about Strang that you don't need to invent a history. "

Understandably Alfie gibs at some comments that have characterised him as 'a bit of rough' casting for Alan.

"I think that I'm slightly more modern than Daniel and quite a bit bigger. I haven't got what you'd call an actor's face so I'll never do well in American films."

Alfie correctly points out that there is a great deal of difference, even if it's only four years, between his age (21) and Strang's (17).

"But I can identify with him in that he's reached that point in everyone's life when you realise that your parents are not quite the role models you thought they were. And Equus talks about those issues: the influence of television, mindless violence, that are more relevant today than ever."

The prospect of taking off his clothes on stage in front of hundreds of people does not seem to faze Alfie. Yet he is strangely self-conscious about other aspects of the job.

"I've been to premieres of things I've done and I hate watching myself on screen. You're going to fill yourself with doubt and I can't see the point of sitting there, getting all pernickety about your own performance. And when I do the play, I intend to forget all about the presence of an audience and I don't want to make eye contact with anybody. For me the nude scenes are simply part of the job, as long as I look reasonably fit while remaining in character. And Laura and I are very comfortable with each other. I did the photo-shoot with her down at the stables in Wimbledon and we felt very much at ease."

Alfie is a very engaging character and it's impossible not to be moved by his enthusiasm for acting and by his determination to learn - both what stage acting entails and what Alan Strang demands.

"I'm asked a lot if I feel under any pressure." he says. "The only pressure I'm experiencing at the moment is the pressure to please people. I just want to play interesting parts, large or small. If there was a tiny part going that had one funny speech, I'd take it. Since starting work on Equus, I've become very boring. When I could have gone out at night, I've stayed in and learnt my lines. My only worry about doing the tour is finding something to do during the day. What am I going to do with all that time?"

With luck, Alfie's tour dates might well coincide with a visit to the locale of his beloved Arsenal. He was a frequent visitor to the Gunners' former ground at Highbury where he'd cheer on his heroes.

"At one time I did have a season ticket but I had to give it up when I went to boarding school. I much prefer to stand on the terraces and soak in that incredible atmosphere. It was amazing. I remember one afternoon when we were at home playing Aston Villa while Spurs were playing Manchester United at Old Trafford. If Spurs beat United, we'd win the League title. When we heard that Spurs, usually our deadly local rivals, had scored, the whole of Highbury erupted. The players on the pitch must have wondered what was going on; they must have thought that we were complete nutters."

Alfie has met several of Arsenal's past superstars and on one famous occasion he allowed his natural little boy cheek to overcome his awe in their presence.

"Ian Wright was doing a Q & A with us lads. I'd already asked him quite a boring question and then something else occurred to me. I wasn't being cheeky - I was genuinely interested. My hand was up for ages before Ian pointed me out to the moderator. So I asked him what his wife had said when she found out he was having an affair with another woman. Everybody looked shocked and Ian managed to mutter that she wasn't very happy."

Perhaps acting's gain is diplomacy's loss.

Equus is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Monday, March 17 to Saturday March 22.
Tickets are subject to availability. Proof of age will be required when booking if you wish to take advantage of an Arts Council England (ACE) special offer, which offers tickets to those aged 25 and under for just £10.
Box Office: 0870 060 6652 (booking fee)
Click here to go to Milton Keynes Theatre's website.