You may remember Dominic Cooper’s performance as the class stud, Dakin, in the 2006 film, The History Boys. Today, however, MCV has ten minutes of his time thanks to his role in Mamma Mia!.

Some might argue that Meryl Streep is pivotal to the film, or the film’s trio of leading men, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Stellan Skarsgård. But the simple reality is that without Cooper there’s no Sky, without Sky there’s no wedding, and without a wedding, there’s no film.

The eye-catching Englishman confesses that the whole thing has been hell. Filming on a Greek island with four big stars then touring the world on a three-week promo tour.

“Yeah, it’s awful. I can’t wait to get back to the monotony of my real life,” he says, eyes twinkling. “Actually, I’m terrified of it all being over.”

Cooper’s fledgling career got a boost when he landed a stage role in the original production of The History Boys for Nicholas Hytner. The director’s posting to Britain’s National Theatre also opened doors for Cooper, and caught the attention of Phyllida Lloyd, who had turned Mamma Mia! into West-End gold. She called him to discuss playing Sophie’s fiancé Sky for the musical’s big screen adaptation.

“It was a normal casting and the first question was whether I could sing. I can’t, so I went in not taking myself too seriously. I think that did it.”

So how does an actor with no sense of rhythm or voice cope with a musical?

“One of the things about working with Meryl, Colin, Pierce and Stellan was that I could learn. When you meet them on set you learn very quickly that we’re all in the same boat – none of us had any confidence in our singing or dancing abilities. That look of terror on everyone’s face suggested it,” he says.

“Dancing is difficult, there’s a lot going on. Stellan learnt quite early that if the camera was on his face to make it look like his legs were doing the right thing, even if they weren’t.”

Next up, Cooper stars as Keira Knightley’s lover in the corset drama The Duchess, but there’s a bit more promotion-related travelling to be done first. Sigur Rós, Radiohead and Martha Wainwright on his iPod will keep Cooper company, along with Markus Zusak’s 600 page tome about Nazi Germany.

“That’s sounding all a bit morbid, like I’m going into depression” he laughs. “I’ve got The Clash, and some eighties music too!”

No ABBA, though. Funny, that. He’s probably earned a break.

Mamma Mia! is in cinemas now.

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