In Memory of Rhett Huntley

Name: Rhett Huntley Age: 28 Occupation: Co-theatre owner, director Place of Birth: Edinburgh, Scotland Date of Birth: 10th August, 1977 Hair: Dark brown Eyes: Dark brown Height: 6’1’’ Weight: 157 ibs Distinguishing Features: Scarring across his face Hobbies: Reading (classics, theatre), watching films, cooking, writing, plays the guitar Languages: English, Latin, French, Italian Family: Father, Cameron Huntley. Mother, Sara Huntley Seat: 3H

History: Born in Scotland to an actor father and a considerably wealthier English mother, Rhett spent most of his early childhood in his father’s home town of Edinburgh. Rhett fell in love with films and theatre from a young age, allowed to tour the theatres his father was working in at the time. He decided quickly that he wanted to act like his father very early on and so it was very much via his mother’s chasing and insistence that he bothered to concentrate on his schoolwork at all. As his father’s work started to slow in Scotland due to unreliability at his starting to drink regularly, the family made the move down to England, Oxford. His mother refused to move to the crowded city of London, yet Oxford was close enough for his father to commute as needed to the Capital, where he was convinced he could find work to pick up his career. It was in an amateur dramatics group for youngsters that Rhett first met Byron Lovelace. They quickly and easily became best friends despite their different backgrounds, and Rhett found comfort in him as his father’s behaviour grew more and more aggressive as his drinking and failing career worsened.

When he found out that Byron would be going to Eton, he begged his mother to send him there too. She was more than just surprised as he never usually took an interest in his studies, always interested in drama instead, but she gave him his desire and paid out the large fees to send him there. He studied hard to repay his mother’s favour and with Byron’s help achieved decent grades. In his spare time, all of his attention was taken with acting, even taking some small professional roles in local theatres. He and Byron talked of the future and decided that once Byron had finished his education with university, and so giving Rhett a chance to save some money of his own, they would go 50/50 in buying a theatre together where Rhett could act and occasionally direct and Byron would get his fix for his love of the theatre. At the age of 18, Byron joined university at Oxford, and Rhett started to look for work. His mother had reached her limit with his father and finally moved to divorce him, sick and tired of the arguments and aggression from his drinking and career failure. She left to live in Italy, but transferred the deeds to one of the houses that she owned in Oxford into Rhett’s name, essentially giving it to him to own. Rhett lived there on his own without the worry of having to rent or pay mortgage on a flat now that he owned a home. He commuted to London every day to work, building up a CV and name for himself in the theatres as an actor. Over the next two years, his career started to take off, making a success of it, unlike his father had. His father grew more and more resentful and bitter of his son’s success and it was on a drunken night when a fight between them turned physical that Rhett told him not to contact him again unless he could be happy for him. He never heard from him again.

It was at the age of twenty that after a night out in Oxford with friends, walking home late at night, that Rhett was attacked. He has never spoken about what happened or who did it, but he was taken into hospital in critical condition. When he woke, Byron was with him, and the news was broken that when his attacker had tried to slit his throat, Rhett throwing his head back to escape meant that he’d saved his own life, but instead was cut severely across the face and that it would scar for life. Rhett was devastated, knowing that his career as a theatre actor was over. It took a long while to recover, and after he did, he tried to audition, but as he had feared, no one was interested in a scarred actor for a prominent role. He was further broken when Byron told him that he couldn’t afford to buy 50% of a theatre, telling Rhett that his family had signed papers to make sure he couldn’t get to the bulk of his money until he was 31, and Rhett had no idea of the truth that his family had in fact cut him off.

Rhett knew that he was at a crossroads in his life, and he had two options. To play it safe and abandon his dreams, or keep his passion and risk everything for it. He decided on the second. Byron could afford to buy 30% of the theatre, so Rhett sold the house his mother had given him and used the money to make up the 70% they needed. They had to make a success of the theatre, or he’d have nothing left. He had to content himself with remaining behind the scenes instead of being on the stage as he had hoped. He invested more time into directing and writing instead, Byron dealing with the accounts and practicalities of the partnership. He was also there on the dark and bad days when Rhett remembered all that had happened to him...the days when he couldn’t bare to look at the scars on his face without feeling sick at the monster he now believed himself to be with the twisted skin and dark scars on his face. He made attempts to kill himself more than once, but each time Byron was there to stop him and help him out of the depressions. He quite literally owed everything to his friend.

More recently, Rhett fell in love with an actress he regularly employed, Julia. He adored her talent and her beauty, feeling like a school boy around her. Byron urged him to tell his true feelings for her, and he finally found the courage to admit them to her. She reacted by laughing at him, maliciously telling him that the only reason she flirted with him was to get the leading roles, and that he must be mad to think a woman like her could ever love or find a scarred, repellent looking man like him attractive. He was devastated at the verbal attack and quickly sunk into another depression. After sacking the woman, Byron suggested they got away for a bit and they offered their help in a workshop on western theatre, opera and dance in Tokyo. They decided to extend their break away by going across to America for a holiday, but the plane went missing on the trip.

Personality: Rhett has changed since the attack that scarred him both physically and emotionally. He is now prone to bouts of depression, hating himself, and especially after the malicious rejection from Julia, not able to imagine how anyone else could like him either. However, when he is relaxed and comfortable, he is a warm and easy man. He is a passionate person, and a lot of that intensity tends to go into his work at the theatre. His temper is often easy to bring to the surface, and as he’s a passionate man, when it does come out, it tends to flare heatedly...on the other hand he can be fiercely loyal of those he cares about, especially his best friend, Byron. He is extremely generous and kind hearted, yet his experiences have made him wary and suspicious of people’s motives. He worries easily and too much about things he often has no control over, but it’s only because he cares.

Player's contact: K