PHILIP McGinley has gone from performing with Anne-Marie Duff in an adaptation of DH Lawrence’s Husbands And Sons at the National Theatre to leading a community company of 200 in the 2016 York Minster Mystery Plays.

From tonight, on the Plays' traditional performance day of Corpus Christi Day, Philip will play Jesus in York Minster, whose Nave has been transformed over the past three weeks into a 1,000-seater auditorium for 41 performances of the Plays that dramatise the greatest story ever told, from the creation of Heaven and Earth to the Last Judgement.

"I haven't seen the Mystery Plays before but I was aware of them, though I never knew why they were called Mystery Plays," says the 34-year-old Lancastrian actor, who is best known for his roles as archer Anguy in the HBO series Game of Thrones and as Tom Kerrigan in Coronation Street. "Now I know that the York Guilds, who first put on the Plays, were known as Mysteries."

Philip began working with the community cast while still performing in Husbands And Sons, attending the cast read-through in January and coming up to Yorkshire on Saturday nights for five or six Sunday sessions, to "get to grips with the text" with fellow principal players before rehearsals went full tilt from late March.

"To be in a company of community players was hugely appealing to me," he says. "Having played the Sheffield Crucible stage, I know it's incredible to see 50 people on stage doing a play; whether they're gifted actors or not, there is a power in so many people being together in a play, and the idea of now multiplying that by four in the Mystery Plays, in the Minster, is an amazing prospect."

A further attraction for Philip to take on the role of Jesus was to stretch himself as an actor. "You're always looking to learn with each role, and I've learnt so much from working with Anne-Marie Duff , who is exhilarating in everything she does, and now I'm learning from working with Phillip [Mystery Plays director Phillip Breen], working with people where he's coaxing new things out of them," he says.

"If you're obsessed with your craft, like I am, you can't turn down an opportunity like this. There are so many aspects about it that are extraordinary: the building; the role; the scale of the challenge; the people you work with; the size of the cast."

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Philip McGinley: "I'm aware of the responsibility but there's also a huge excitement". Picture: Duncan Lomax

Fifty pages of script will pass by before Philip makes his entry as Jesus, plenty of thinking time each performance, as he follows in the footsteps of the likes of Simon Ward, Christopher Timothy, Victor Banerjee, Robson Green, Ray Stevenson and Ferdinand Kingsley.

"I'm not feeling too daunted by it; I'm aware of the responsibility, but there's also a huge excitement," he says, ahead of the plays being staged in York Minster for the first time since Gregory Doran's Millennium Mystery Plays in 2000 and for only the second time in the Plays' near 700-year history.

Is Philip a man of faith? "I prefer that to remain private, but I'm not going to ignore the question because I do feel the responsibility of the role," he says. "Whether you're a follower of Jesus, or you're coming to the Plays for a different reason, they have meaning for everyone."

His research for playing Jesus has ranged from reading the book Who's Who In The Bible to attending Neil McGregor's guided tour of 20 key works depicting Jesus at the National Gallery, all adding to his understanding of Christ.

"The actor playing Hamlet doesn't have to believe in ghosts but the character does," says Philip, returning to the subject of faith. "So I don't have to deny or confirm anything...but I have been following the Pope on Twitter."

Performing on a Minster stage that took three weeks to assemble is challenge of an epic scale. "It will be challenging vocally to play a big space, so you have to be bold," says Philip. "It doesn't give you a chance for subtlety but that doesn't really matter in such a bold setting."

Philip last appeared in Game Of Thrones two years ago, since when he focused on other roles, but he looks back fondly on his days of being "good with a bow and arrow" as archer Anguy. "It was exciting to be in such an epic series: it was like being at cool school with everyone at the top of their game," he says. "But it's just another job, going off and having fun with it, and then you become totally involved in whatever is the next job you're doing."

What might he do after playing Jesus for a month? "I don't know yet," says Philip. "I might have some time off as I haven't stopped since April last year, though I am actively auditioning for things that start in August."

The York Minster Mystery Plays runs from tonight until June 30. Tickets are available at yorkminster.org/mysteryplays2016, on 01904 623568 or in person from York Theatre Royal’s box office at the De Grey Rooms or at York Minster’s visitor admission desks.