Rory Kinnear's "The Herd" comes to Steppenwolf

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Rory Kinnear is a talented actor who has had roles in everything from Shakespeare to "The Imitation Game" to the James Bond movie he's filming now.

He also wrote "The Herd," the latest production at Steppenwolf.

The drama features ensemble standouts like John Mahoney and has been a hit in London. It has a frequent Steppenwolf theme: a fractured family that will ignite or find redemption.

This is the first play Kinnear's written and proves he can create a script as well as he can perform one.

"I've always loved acting and it's what I will continue to do, it's my first and primary passion, but this has been quite something, the whole experience has been incredibly rewarding," Kinnear said. "I've long admired Steppenwolf's work and felt that if any company in America was going to pull it off to the best of its possibility, then it was Steppenwolf."

The actor was in "Richard the II" as part of "The Hollow Crown" TV series now out on DVD.

"There aren't that many opportunities to do Shakespeare on camera so I felt incredibly privileged to be part of the vanguard that was making these films," Kinnear said.

Kinnear is now back in London finishing his third James Bond film, "Spectre." He's missing co-star Judi Dench this time around.

"Her husband was my godfather so I've known her all my life, so it was incredibly like the Steppenwolf family there's a James Bond family as well that exists," Kinnear said. "And nearly all of my experience of filming on the James Bond film was sat next to Judy off set playing word games with her, particularly what's the next line in Shakespeare, which she is awesome at."

Kinnear's first acting gig happened in Chicago. He was visiting his dad, actor Roy Kinnear, who was doing a play here.

"A casting director came to the theatre and said, 'Have any of you actors got their kids with them? We're trying to cast a commercial with English accents,'" Kinnear said. "And my dad said, 'My son's here, he's 7.' My glorious debut on screen was, I prefer to call it, a loo on a toilet freshener commercial on American television."

"The Herd" is at Steppenwolf through June 7.