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When Metro meets Matt Willis at London’s iconic Kit Kat Club, it’s clear he’s stepped into his most ambitious role yet. But he’s done it seamlessly.
The musician and actor has taken over the West End, starring as the hypnotising Emcee in John Kander’s Cabaret. And he’s in good company alongside the likes of Alan Cumming, Eddie Redmayne, and Billy Porter, who have all taken on the seductive character. No pressure at all, surely.
‘It was intimidating. It was scary,’ Matt, 42, tells us, admitting his legs are ‘jelly’ during his eight performances per week.
While he’s become a household name thanks to more than two decades with chart-toppers Busted, Matt is no stranger to theatre, having attended the acclaimed Sylvia Young Theatre School and later going on to appear in Flashdance, Footloose, and Waitress.
‘I trained to be in theatre, that’s what I always wanted to do,’ he says. ‘But I love being in a band, so I’m very lucky to be able to do both.
‘A lot of people say “isn’t it quite similar? They’re both on stage”, but I think it’s kind of like swimming and rowing. They’re both in the water, but they’re very different disciplines.’
Metro spoke to Matt Willis as he takes to the stage in Cabaret (Picture: Metro/Natasha Pszenicki)
Matt ‘wanted no one to recognise him’ in his West End role (Picture: Metro/Natasha Pszenicki)
Matt was clearly keen to prove himself in the role, after watching Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne’s spellbinding performance in the Olivier award-winning show in 2021 and being ‘blown away’.
‘I audition for everything. I’m not in a position in my acting career where I don’t have to. I constantly have to prove myself and I think that’s important. You get very few chances to act.
‘You’re constantly unemployed looking for jobs, so treat an audition as a chance to play and a chance to act, and that’s what I try to do.’
For this role in particular, Matt wanted to morph into writhing, gender-fluid Emcee without any inkling of his real life pop-punk persona.
‘I wanted no one to recognise me,’ he says. ‘I wanted it to be a complete transformation and that’s what I hold onto. I have a whole routine that gets me into a different world, and I try and stay in that world for the entire performance, and then forget it on my way home.’
And unrecognisable he is, with several head-turning outfit changes and a full face of makeup every night, which he admits is ‘making his skin fall off’, Matt says his brilliantly twisted and flamboyant interpretation of Emcee couldn’t be more important in 2026.
The musician and actor has perfectly morphed into the role of Emcee (Picture: Marc Brenner)
Matt shared the importance of his son coming to see his performance (Picture: Metro/Natasha Pszenicki)
Eddie Redmayne previously starred as Emcee in the production (Picture: REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid)
‘I think this show puts a middle finger up to toxic masculinity,’ he says.
‘Cabaret’s been around for a long time and it still resonates today. It’s not lost on me. My son has come to watch this, and I think that’s really important. There’s a whole world of people embracing differences and all different parts of culture and humanity. That’s what the Kit Kat Club does.’
And while Matt admits that he doesn’t want his theatre run to end out of sheer dedication to his role, he is longing for evenings with his wife of 18 years, Emma Willis, and their three children, daughters Isabelle and Trixie, and son Ace.
‘I’m constantly blown away that my kids want to hang out with me. They just wanna be with me, and that’s the most amazing thing. It’s what I miss the most when I’m in theatre. We sit down every night, watch telly, drink tea, and chat. That’s a big part of our lives,’ he says.
It’s a humble routine which has been instilled in his family life since the early days of his relationship with Emma.
‘I vividly remember when we first started dating, we would stay over at her parents’ house and when we woke up the next day, all they wanted to do was sit around and hang out. Just sit on the sofa and talk. I’d never really experienced that. It was quite uncomfortable for me,’ he laughs.
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Matt admits he’s ‘crazy’ about his wife Emma (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
The production has already passed its 1,500th performance, making it the longest-running version of Cabaret in West End history (Picture: Marc Brenner)
As well as separately, the pair are a force together. After meeting when she interviewed him and his Busted bandmates back in 2004, they now regularly work alongside one another on shows like Netflix’s Love Is Blind: UK.
‘She’s the person I wanna do life with all the time. The first person I wanted to tell I got the Cabaret job was Emma. She’s first person I’ll call when something cool happens or something bad happens,’ he tells us.
‘We’re crazy about each other. Work can get crazy, family life can be really full on at times, but at the at the end of it we are very adamant on being present as a couple. I talk to her 10 times a day.
‘She doesn’t leave me alone, which is good because I wouldn’t wanna be left alone. We’re very much in this life together.’
Matt Willis stars as Emcee at the Kit Kat Club at London’s Playhouse until 23 May 2026.
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