Actor Steven Mackintosh. Photo copyright of the BBC.
This is the fourth of five BBC America press interviews with the cast and crew of Luther, the new BBC America six-part psychological crime drama airing Sundays @ 10:00 p.m. EST/PST. In this interview, actor Steven Mackintosh, who plays Detective Chief Inspector Ian Reed, talks about his character's friendship with Detective John Luther (Idris Elba).
Steven Mackintosh plays Detective Chief Inspector Ian Reed, a colleague and loyal friend of Luther's. "Really, they are old mates, close friends", says Steven. "I think Reed is an essential support to Luther. He understands that Luther is brilliant at what he does but also that he has this unorthodox way of working – and that he has this instinctive, wild side to the way he works which can get quite unruly.”
“Reed is very good at watching that closely and making sure that he's alright, as he knows that it's got him into some problems before, in his past. He [Luther] has this incredible quick brain and his instincts have got him into quite deep water. He gets very emotive about the cases that he's working on and Reed's aware that he can get carried away.”
"What is interesting about his character is the very emotional side coupled with an extreme intelligence. He's incredibly bright and instinctive and everybody who is working around him is aware that he has this kind of genius. At the heart of Reed is his longstanding friendship with Luther. He's a good man. He's a decent man who's on exactly the same side as Luther in terms of catching the people doing these awful things. Some of his methods, again, may be sometimes unorthodox and he will have his own set of rules in his head as to what he finds reasonable and unreasonable."
"The relationship between the two consists of 'a mutual respect'. They're professionally on a level and I think that Luther realizes that Reed is good at what he does as well." They also share a similar idea of justice. "Crimes where women and children are being hurt he feels very strongly about. He feels very passionately, as does Luther. It's important finding the people who commit these heinous crimes."
Stephen didn't find himself as drawn to the police world as his character. "I could just feel the bleakness of the work. Thank God there are people who do this work. It's incredibly important, but I think the emotional impact of it must be immense. I think there are certain character traits which suit the job and I think people find defence mechanisms for dealing with it. Obviously, there's a certain dark humor that develops as a response."
The cases themselves are fascinating. "The audience know very early on who the perpetrator is and it's about how the police fit the pieces together and find that person, pin them down. They're really interesting, different cases as well. It's very dark. They are very varied and interesting murders which take place with lots of different, strange and dark motives. Neil's got quite an imagination. It's quite something."
On the writing itself, Steven says: "It's dark but, at the same time, there is a pace to it. It's very gripping and fast-moving. There is a great touch of humor as well, which he is very good at – a slight throwaway line, maybe that dark police humor which we were talking about. The characters are really clearly defined. He has a very unique writing voice. I just remember quite quickly wanting to know what happened. The pages were turning quickly. That's a great sign."
As noted above, photo copyright of the BBC, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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