麻豆传媒映画

LONDON (AP) 鈥� Being a leading man? Matthew Goode quite likes it.

He鈥檚 the star of 鈥淒ept. Q,鈥� based on the books by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen and set in the cold case division of an Edinburgh police station. From showrunner Scott Frank, the nine-part miniseries launches Thursday and sees Goode playing a one-man combination of good cop/bad cop. While Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck is a brilliant investigator, he is equally successful at annoying people 鈥� even begrudging respect for his talent quickly turns into intense dislike.

It鈥檚 not that Goode hasn鈥檛 been No. 1 on the call sheet before, it鈥檚 just that he didn鈥檛 enjoy it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 something I shied away from after the beginning of my career where I was there for a bit and then I had some sort of bad things 鈥� things weren鈥檛 necessarily positive at that point, after that. And I just went, I just want to be, you know, not the lead anymore,鈥� he says.

Goode also acknowledges that actors don鈥檛 get to choose if a main part is 鈥渂estowed鈥� on them and notes that Frank fought to cast him in 鈥淒ept. Q.鈥� The pair first worked together on 鈥淭he Lookout鈥� (2007) with the English actor portraying an American thief, a long way from the period dramas Goode has been recently known for, playing suave Brits in 鈥淭he Crown,鈥� and 鈥淔reud鈥檚 Last Session.鈥�

Goode and Frank talked and teased each other in an interview with The Associated Press about working together, cast bonding and breaking Goode out of his period drama groove. The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.

AP: To start with, can I get you to describe your relationship?

GOODE: Father and son.

FRANK: Taxing, toxic, troubling.

GOODE: Well, he鈥檚 the genius and I just do what he says, basically.

FRANK: I wish. We go way back. We made a film together, the first film I ever directed, in fact. And I was lucky that I had Matthew because he was outstanding and made it easier for me at that point. And I think we both just really know one another and I love this man 鈥� I would work with him in everything I ever did, but he鈥檚 a pain in the ass.

GOODE: Well, you know. There has to be some cost!

FRANK: He is Carl Morck, in many ways. To know him is to want to strangle him. Does that sum it up?

GOODE: OK, so now you see what I鈥檓 working with. This is the second time he鈥檚 given me a character that I genuinely don鈥檛 think that many other people would have taken that chance, because I don鈥檛 really scream Kansas City bank robber (in 鈥淭he Lookout鈥�). And I think this is a part that some people would have kind of gone, it鈥檚 a bit more sort of Tom Hardy-ish, perhaps. But that鈥檚 what we are, we鈥檙e actors, but you don鈥檛 necessarily get to be versatile a lot of the time, so I feel very indebted to you.

AP: And did you write this with Matthew in mind?

FRANK: I had always thought he would be terrific for this, and I didn鈥檛 know if we would end up doing it together, but from the minute I started thinking about it, doing it here, I really thought, oh, and I knew he would love it.

I think a lot of times people only see actors in one way or a particular way, is because they don鈥檛 really see them, they just see the roles they鈥檝e already played, they鈥檙e not really paying attention to what else is happening.

AP: It鈥檚 not a period drama.

GOODE: There you go, that鈥檚 a prime example, yeah.

AP: So is that part of the appeal?

GOODE: I mean a career is, for want of a better way of explaining it, is a bit like a river where essentially you can go, there鈥檚 the main channel in it, but there鈥檚 eddies and you get caught in certain things and you get cast in certain ways. So you鈥檙e not really ever particularly in control of it. Certainly unless you have your own production company or you become a massive star where you actually sort of have the keys to Hollywood and then you have a bit more of a sphere of influence and you can dip your toes in different waters. And he had to fight for me a little bit for this one. He had to go bat for me to actually do the part.

AP: Have you played a detective before?

GOODE: No, this is my first time, I think. I鈥檝e got a memory like a sieve now; I鈥檝e got three kids, that鈥檚 the only thing I really think about. But no, I think this is my first time.

FRANK: I don鈥檛 think you have.

GOODE: Only with my wife with some dress up, but that鈥檚 about it.

AP: Carl seems to wind everybody up.

FRANK: A lot of people he winds up are people you want him to wind up and then a lot of times he鈥檚 shooting down. But then, the people he鈥檚 shooting down at surprise you by coming straight back at him. They don鈥檛 necessarily let him get away with Carl being Carl.

AP: And he鈥檚 not a posh character.

GOODE: No because (Frank) transposed it from the original Danish setting, Copenhagen, and it works brilliantly, obviously, in Edinburgh, and it becomes this amazing character. But he made the character English. But we haven鈥檛 given too much detail yet as to as to his past, which I love the fact, because we鈥檙e aiming to be able to keep doing this because there鈥檚 10 books.

AP: I spoke to Leah Byrne and Alexej Manvelov, who both had first day nerves and are so good in this. Did it surprise you that they needed reassurance?

FRANK: We all need reassurance. Including me.

GOODE: Every actor I鈥檝e ever met.

FRANK: Your first day is really scary. There are all these people ... and acting, as I like to say, is the most difficult job in all of this because you鈥檙e making yourself so vulnerable in front of a hundred strangers. So Day 1 is even worse.

AP: And Matthew went out with Alexej for a long lunch?

GOODE: I know it sounds a bit unprofessional, but actually, it鈥檚 really, for me, that鈥檚 the way that I like to work is to give myself to the other people that I鈥檝e got major relationships in the show with, because I鈥檓 not competitive as an actor. I really want to share the screen. I find it weird when it doesn鈥檛 happen the other way toward me. And so that鈥檚 a really important relationship ... and I wanted us to have a great friendship.

FRANK: The one thing you can鈥檛 fix in post-production is casting if you鈥檝e not cast well. And there were a lot of different relationships happening here, so they all had to work together. And they were all terrific. I would be surprised every day by something one of these actors would do. And, what was really fun for me too, is how much Matthew appreciated the skill on the other side. He was never like threatened or felt he was being shown up, it was like this delight.

GOODE: Probably was being shown up.

FRANK: Oh, you were, trust me, they all steal it from you.

Hilary Fox, The Associated Press