Sir Mark Rylance

Actor Mark Rylance shares his castaway choices with Kirsty Young.

Born in Kent and brought up in America where his father was a teacher, Mark played Hamlet for the first time while he was still at school.

Since then he’s become particularly well known for his acclaimed and award-winning Shakespearean stage roles. He won an Olivier and a Tony award for his portrayal of Johnny 'Rooster' Byron in Jez Butterworth's 'Jerusalem' onstage in both Britain and the USA.

He’s also appeared in a number of film roles, was the first artistic director of London’s Globe Theatre - a post he held for a decade - and his portrayal of Thomas Cromwell in BBC TV’s adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall brought him to a wider audience.

Sir David Mark Rylance Waters was created a Knight Bachelor in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to theatre.

DISC ONE: Body and Soul - Coleman Hawkins
DISC TWO: Henry Purcell’s “Tis I that have warmed ye” - Les Arts Florissants
DISC THREE: Charles Ives’s “They are There” – The Kronos Quartet
DISC FOUR: Just like Tom Thumb's Blues - Nina Simone
DISC FIVE: Once a Man Twice a Child - Justin Hinds & the Dominoes
DISC SIX: Music from the soundtrack of Days and Nights - Claire van Kampen
DISC SEVEN: Arthur McBride And The Sergeant - Andy Irvine and Paul Brady
DISC EIGHT: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quartet Number 16 in F sharp (2nd movement) – The Busch Quartet

BOOK CHOICE: Rumi - The Big Red Book
LUXURY CHOICE: A stand up bass
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ludwig van Beethoven’s Quartet Number 16 in F sharp (2nd movement) – The Busch Quartet

Producer: Isabel Sargent

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2015.