The playwright reveals how his clashes with the sexual predator haunt the most disturbing scenes of The Hills of California, his latest Olivier-nominated play about teenage singing sisters trying to make it big. Warning: contains spoilers
Uncle Tony went to America to seek his fortune and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. “He was like this big CEO, the president of Coca-Cola America,” recalls Jez Butterworth of his relation, who even acquired an American accent as he made his way from Rochdale to master of the universe.
When Uncle Tony returned to visit the little house in St Albans that Butterworth grew up in, it was as if someone unspeakably glamorous had materialised in the living room. “He was magical,” says the playwright. “There was a glow to all things American in the late 70s for English people, certainly for my family.” But this return was also painful to little Jez because of how his father reacted. “I watched my dad change into someone who fawned over his brother. Like a complete personality change. I found it excruciating.”
