David Tennant as Detective Emmett Walker in Gracepoint. Photo copyright of FOX.
In the past few years, David Tennant has become a familiar face to television audiences around the world. From his energized interpretation of the iconic Time Lord character known only as "The Doctor" in the BBC series Doctor Who to his moving portrayal of a husband and father in mourning but still determined to bring his wife’s killer to justice in The Escape Artist, the Scottish-born actor has grabbed the attention of viewers and kept them glued to the small screen.
Tennant recently added another memorable performance to his growing list when playing DI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch. Hardy puts his career along with his own health on the line when he comes to a small seaside town in England to investigate the death of a young boy. Paired up with DS Ellie Miller, he must navigate a sea of half-truths and outright lies in order to expose the guilty party.
The actor is currently filming a second series of Broadchurch, but prior to starting that, he journeyed across the pond to shoot an American version of the series, the 10-part Gracepoint (premiering Thursday, October 2nd @ 9:00 p.m. EST on FOX). The always ebullient Tennant took some time out of his busy shooting schedule to talk with me as well as other journalists about what audiences can look forward to in Gracepoint and with his character of police detective Emmett Carver. The following is an edited version of that Q & A. Enjoy!
For those who watched Broadchurch, what will we see with Carver that we didn't see with Hardy?
David Tennant: That's probably not for me to say, but for someone who can be more objective to really know. I didn't set out to reinvent something particularly. I think there's a sense, with the whole show, that if it's not broken, you're not out to fix it. We're really out to tell this story to an audience who, broadly speaking, haven't seen it yet. Broadchurch was obviously a bit of the sensation back here in the UK, and I think that's what brought it to the attention of FOX. Although it got a very loyal and enthusiastic following on BBC America, there's a huge populist audience who haven't seen it yet, and that I think is what we're principally aiming at.
So, again, I didn't set out to change anything specific, I just tried to tell the story as it came up and through the script, and be as truthful and loyal to that as possible. I think Hardy and Carver are very different, actually. Obviously, they look quite similar and they’re following the trail of an investigation which has many similarities, but they feel very different in my bones. It's probably for others, though, to make a list of quite how obvious those differences might be.
I know you have worked in film as well as TV and onstage. Do you have a favorite genre that you prefer to work in?
DT: I don't, really. I'm quite greedy for the variety, I suppose. I like the fact that I get to flip between them all. That's something I would work quite hard at in order to preserve my ability to carry on doing so. There are advantages and frustrations with each, though, I suppose.
In theater, you get to tell a story many times over a number of months, and you get to investigate every possible corner of what that story might be. I guess if you're filming something, whether it’s film or television, it's all about chasing that one moment and getting it in the can to make it live just that one time. They're both related but very different techniques, and I enjoy trying to master both of them. I find them to be quite different jobs, but I believe the experience of working in theater informs working on film and television and vice versa. I feel very fortunate that I get to dabble in all these different genres, and, hopefully, that's something I'll be able to continue to do.
How did you perfect your American accent for Gracepoint?
DT: I think doing different accents is part of the job of acting, really. It's something else I quite enjoy the challenge of, to be honest. As far as preparing for an American accent, I think just about in every corner of the globe, we're brought up watching American movies, so it's something we all have some kind of ear for, I suppose. Obviously as an actor, it's something that you take seriously, and you work with dialect coaches and experts to help you. Then you just practice until it's kind of in your bones, really, so that it's not something you're thinking about when you're on set every day. You do your homework and then you wind it up and let it go.
I always like seeing people transforming themselves in whatever way that might be, and a different accent is part of that. An accent, obviously, has to do with the way your mouth works and the sounds that come out of it, but somehow it informs everything about you, I think. If you speak in a different accent, you begin to move and think in a slightly different way. It's all part of trying to discover what makes a character, and because I played a character very similar to this in the British show that preceded Gracepoint, I guess you could say that this accent is one of the things that helps define what's different about this incarnation compared to the previous one.
Is there a feeling that if Gracepoint does really well on FOX, that they'll be a second season?
DT: Yes, there's always an eye for that, isn't there, with almost everything on television. We have to wait and see how the audience responds to it. Broadchurch is going to a second season, so there's no reason why Gracepoint shouldn't. There’s a template there; although, a second season of Gracepoint might go off in a very different way. Who knows? All these things are to be decided. We’re all very excited about the premiere of Gracepoint. I just want America to take to it in a way that the UK did, because it was an extraordinary thing to be a part of. Even as objective as I can be, I think it's a fantastic story that people will be thrilled by.
Could you talk a bit about working with Anna Gunn (Detective Ellie Miller) and the relationship your two characters have, as compared to the relationship that Hardy and Miller (as played by Olivia Colman) had in Broadchurch. They, of course, had a very combative, prickly relationship. Does it get off on the same foot in Gracepoint?
DT: The central relationship between Carver and Ellie defines the show, really, and the way the story is told. Essentially, the bones of it are the same as in Broadchurch. I play the big city cop who gets dropped into this one horse town, as he sees it, and is given, as his deputy, this local cop. Ellie Miller is perfectly good at her job, but from Carver's point of view she’s something of a hick, who doesn't really understand how modern policing works. She becomes far too emotionally involved with everyone and really needs to develop a healthy streak of cynicism.
As it was in Broadchurch, that relationship is very much one of the central structures to Gracepoint. A lot of that is defined by the relationship you can build up as actors. Having previously done Broadchurch and having that onscreen relationship work very well with the wonderful Olivia Colman, I was nervous, of course, turning up on day one to meet Anna, Because we had so much to do together, it was so important to get our onscreen relationship right.
Luckily, she turned out to be a proper actress and someone who is committed to getting it right, and who is also open, easy to work with, who you can have a laugh with, and who you can throw anything at (in a scene) and she will respond. That's just the kind of professional relationship that you always hope for. So it was a huge relief and then a great joy to work with Anna throughout the ten episodes. Everyone who knows her work knows how talented she is. I was very chuffed to get to play alongside her and get to know her offset as well. She is a lovely lady and someone that I feel greatly enriched to know.
Do you feel your theater background helped you with the show, since you're used to doing different interpretations of the same basic story?
DT: Well, maybe. It's hard for me to really know, isn't it? I keep being asked, “Was it odd to tell the same story again?” Of course, from a theater background it's not at all; it's what you do eight times a week. In fact, I was doing it in a whole new set of circumstances, surrounded by completely different actors, at times telling completely different parts of the story.
There are bits of the plot and some characters in Gracepoint that no equivalent existed for in Broadchurch, so it didn't really feel like a repetition. It just felt like we were telling a story that was familiar, but there were enough differences. Yes, as you say, acting is always about repeating things, to a greater or lesser extent. It's very rare you do one take of something, even on a TV show, so you're used to repeating things more than once. It just was an extension of that principle, I suppose, to go back and tell a similar story again from the start.
Perhaps a theater background does help with that; it's difficult for me to entirely know, as that's the training that I've had. Because I started in the theater, it still sort of feels like the day job to me, and with any kind of filming, it still fills like a bit of a sabbatical, even though I probably do a lot more of that now as opposed to stage work. I guess the fact it’s in my bones and how I sort of approach things, that maybe it did help.
For people who are completely new to Gracepoint, how would you describe it and what can you tease about what's coming up?
DT: It's hard to describe it comprehensively, because it's many things. On one level, it's a very strong whodunit, and the sort of spine of that is something that is familiar to us from many TV shows and movies of the past. There's the procedural element of cops trying to solve a case, too.
I think what gives it an extra texture and really makes it something rather special is the way that the characters are drawn so beautifully. There's so much texture going on, that we get to understand the lives of all the different characters that are drawn into this and how they are each impacted by this event. The death of Danny Solano (Nikolas Filipovic) starts the whole ball rolling, but it's not just another TV cop show death. We really understand the impact of that, and what that would mean to a small community such as Gracepoint.
The repercussions of that are followed through. I think it's very hard to watch the first episode without your heart breaking for the family, actually. That’s helped by the fact that they're played by Michael Pena and Virginia Kull, who both really take you on this harrowing, awful journey of two parents who lose a child. That, in itself, is about one of the worst things that human beings can imagine. It doesn't shy away from really showing you what the true repercussions of that will be, and that really follows through the whole series. It's very honest as well as very candid, and yet at the same time, it's a thriller as well. It just kind of grabs you and takes you on this journey, which is a bewildering, thrilling, grueling and gruesome, and yet, at the same time, I think impossible to turn off. It's a compelling story that I think has been brilliantly told, and I'm just very pleased to be a part of it.
Between series one and two of Broadchurch and now Gracepoint, you've lived with this character for a while now. From your point of view what makes Carver/Hardy so compelling?
DT: It’s because he’s a character that’s so intriguingly drawn, I think. He’s got lots of secrets. That’s always compelling from an audience's point of view and from an acting point of view. Certainly at the start of Gracepoint, we've got an awful lot to learn about who this man is, and why he is motivated in a way that he is motivated. In fact, I think it's fair to say that throughout Gracepoint we don't entirely learn the answers to all Carver's particular questions. Maybe we will if we ever get a season two.
We're certainly learning a few of Hardy’s secrets in series two of Broadchurch, which I'm filming at the moment. Who knows, though, what we’ll ultimately learn about Carver. Clearly, he's troubled. He's got some personal stuff going on, but he's also hugely motivated to get justice and to find out the truth, and that's something that I think we’re all motivated by, especially when something as grotesque as a child murder has taken place. We may not identify with Hardy, but we can understand why he does what he does. Even though he can be quite unpleasant and quite difficult at times, I think ultimately we’re all rooting for him, because he's got the interest of right on his side.
As noted above, photo copyright of FOX, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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