Talking Shop: Richard Schiff

For the last seven years, actor Richard Schiff has been putting the world to rights in his role as White House communications director Toby Ziegler in US show The West Wing.

Schiff makes his London stage debut in Underneath the Lintel

With the long-running political drama coming to an end last year, though, the time has come for the 51-year-old performer to seek out new challenges.

This February sees Schiff make his London stage debut in Underneath the Lintel, a one-man show about a Dutch librarian who turns amateur detective.

The actor tells BBC News entertainment reporter Neil Smith about his latest project, playing Toby and why he was glad to leave The West Wing behind.

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Were you sad to say goodbye to The West Wing?

Not at all - I'd had my fill. I was actually ready to move on some time before it finished, but they kept giving me more money so it became hard to walk away! I loved it and I loved the people involved in it, but I think it was right that it ended when it did.

Having played Toby for so long, do people expect you to be as irascible and grumpy as he was?

Schiff (far right) acted in The West Wing from 1999 to 2006

It's been a while since that's been an issue but yes: people are surprised to see me smile and have a lighter sense of humour. Toby seemed to carry the burden of the world on his shoulders, which I think was a very realistic portrayal of someone so close to the President who could affect the flow of history. Given that, I always thought he had a great sense of humour; he just didn't necessarily laugh at his own jokes.

No doubt people expect you to be as politically astute as he was too...

That's annoying, I have to say. I was once invited to a dinner by these bigwigs in the Democratic Party. I was around this table with all these people who were pundits on TV, and this woman turned to me and said: "What would Toby think?" I went: "You've got to be kidding me! I don't know that; I'm not the writer."

So how hard is it to go from being part of a large ensemble cast to being on stage on your own?

It's the hardest thing I've done in my life; you really feel the pressure. But it's really quite rewarding as well. Even if it's a failure, it's good to shake things up.

Schiff has described co-star Allison Janney (l) as his "soul mate"

Underneath the Lintel got great reviews when it opened in New Jersey in early 2006. What's it about?

It's about a librarian who lives a very small, fastidious, almost petty life. He comes across this one book that's 113 years old, and it's something that doesn't fit in his brain. So he sets out to find the miscreant so he can send him a fine. As he begins to do that, he comes to leave his country for the first time and venture out into the world.

Why bring it to London?

I was invited to do it all over the States, but for some reason I said I only wanted to do it in London. I'm not even sure why; I just had an inkling the audiences here would react to this play and really get it. I've been to a number of plays here, and while it's not as reactive an audience as you might get in New Jersey, they really listen to every word.

Underneath the Lintel is at London's Duchess Theatre from 17 February.