Fast Chat: Hugh Dancy is from 'Venus'

If hearing the name Hugh Dancy conjures up chick flicks ("Ella Enchanted," "The Jane Austen Book Club," "Confessions of a Shopaholic") -- well, think again.

The British actor and Oxford grad recently earned a Drama Desk nomination for his work in the quirky, kinky Broadway comedy "Venus in Fur" (which runs at the Lyceum Theatre through June 17). Dancy plays Thomas, who's written a play -- an adaptation of a 19th century erotic novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the guy who gave masochism its name -- and Nina Arianda is Vanda, a ditsy yet devastatingly manipulative actress auditioning for the lead.

Then there's "Hysteria," his latest film, out this month, in which he plays Mortimer Granville, a charming, Victorian-era physician torn between two sisters (sweet Felicity Jones, feisty Maggie Gyllenhaal) who's also busy inventing . . . the vibrator.

Dancy, 36, who's married to actress Claire Danes, met with Newsday contributor Joseph V. Amodio at a lounge in the SoHo Grand Hotel.

Performing in "Venus" looks exhausting.

It is, but we drive right through. We're both onstage all the time, locked into each other. The play is in real time -- it's one real hour-and-a-half scene. So there's no, "Oh, those two are speaking now, so I'll have a nap." Which I've done -- I've actually fallen asleep onstage before.

No, really?

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Yeah, it was terrifying. It was a show called "To the Green Fields Beyond," years ago in London -- I was meant to be asleep . . . so I had some excuse.

So you were just really in character.

Deep into character, yeah.

What's the biggest misconception about this play?

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That it's raunchy. I don't think it is. It's erotic. I think even the people who've seen it almost misremember it. Like we've both been leaping on top of each other for an hour and a half.

I've read articles where reporters ask you "So, are you really into S&M?" I gather people ask you anything now. As if you'd admit it even if you were!

Right! There's the inevitable . . . "Is this you?" question. I remember saying, "I'm just so done with being asked, "Do you take your work home?" And Walter Bobbie, our director, said, "The play provokes these discomfiting questions." I said, "Well, you're more politic than I am, because I tend to tell people to get lost."

Then again, you're kinda asking for it, doing a play about S&M, and now a film about vibrators. Dude . . . people are gonna talk.

It's true. The film, though, has a good cast: Jonathan Pryce, Rupert Everett, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Felicity Jones.

Then you've got "Dorothy of Oz" out later this year.

Yes, an animated movie. I've never done one before. I play Marshall Mallow, a policeman . . . made of marshmallow. It was great fun.

What intrigued you about this vibrator movie?

The script -- some parts are almost farcical comedy and others quite serious. I'm in the whole movie and have to straddle those parts -- that was the appeal. Also . . . the invention of the vibrator -- it's a good line, right?

How do you and Claire handle separation time -- when she's off shooting "Homeland" and you're here?

Not being on a completely predictable schedule can have its advantages. It can be disruptive, but if you go off to do this thing that really enriches you, that can be quite healthy. We just negotiate it as it happens.

I heard your dad is a philosopher. That must've made for interesting breakfast conversations.

It's funny -- people always imagine these things impose themselves at the dinner table. I went on Conan O'Brien's show, and we were chatting about this off camera. His father's an academic. He's been asked about it, and he said, "Look, at the end of the day, he's just a guy eating corn." And that's what it is -- he's your dad. With his annoying habit of slurping soup, or whatever. My dad is a teacher -- and a good teacher. And philosophy is about encouraging people to ask questions. Which is really a definition of good parenting, I think, so I certainly benefited from that.

Have your parents seen the play?

They loved it. My dad was in town for a conference, so he came with three other moral philosophers, which has got to be the highest number of moral philosophers ever in one Broadway house at one time. The conversation after was quite interesting.