The only reference that I can find to the actor associated with the OP are the following sentences in the BBC link.
Does playing a character in a play based on a real individual make an actor sympathetic to the views of that individual?
No, clearly it doesn’t. I’ve heard actors say they’ve discovered that they sympathise with a person usually regarded as unsympathetic, but many speak of playing monsters who remain monstrous.
I think though that if McDiarmid doesn’t regard the speech as racist then there’s a degree of sympathy there, but I don’t know where NS got his info.
