FolkaskwhenLifeonMarswill beback..Isay,Ithasn’tbeenon for10years,love,that’saclue
ASHES TO ASHES ACTOR ON STARDOM AND FAITH Philip Glenister has impressed since leaving DCI Gene Hunt behind but he’s finding his role as an exorcist priest in US drama Outcast the most challenging yet
HE MADE his name as a bad-tempered guardian angel and is busy cracking American telly with his starring role as an exorcist priest.
But Philip Glenister is haunted by a ghost of his own – fans of his hit show Life on Mars.
The 54-year-old actor is still best known as DCI Gene Hunt in the 70s retro series and its 80s follow-up, Ashes to Ashes, where he was revealed to be a protector of lost police in the afterlife.
He is now the lead in the hit US drama Outcast, which returns for a second series on Fox next week.
The show has won plenty of fans but it’s not the role he gets approached about most in the street, despite having had plenty of other high-profile work since it finished its run in 2007.
Philip said: “It’s part and parcel of the journey, I suppose.
“It was quite long ago now but obviously it had such an impact with people as a show.
“It’d be nice if the BBC repeated it every now and again. I’d get some repeat fees.
“I’m sure every time Daniel Craig does a job he’ll get asked about James Bond, Benedict Cumberbatch will get one about Sherlock and David Tennant will get one about Doctor Who. People on the street keep saying, ‘When’s Life On Mars going to be back on?”’
In a line worthy of his straighttalking alter ego Hunt, Philip added: “It’s like, ‘It hasn’t been on for 10 years, love, that’s a clue’.”
He is loving life as Reverend Anderson in Outcast, a supernatural show with its fair share of action, exorcisms and blood, although he draws the line at doing his own stunts.
He prefers to leave the more challenging stuff to his stunt double, Duke.
He said: “There’s one scene where I jump in a lake at night, which wasn’t much fun. They said, ‘So how do you feel about doing it?’ I said, ‘Duke, what’s your swimming like?”’
“Me and Reg E [Cathey, who plays police head Chief Giles] are at an age where we’re like, ‘We’ll just go and have a coffee – give us a shout when you’ve made us look marvellous’.”
He’ll do the odd driving scene. “You’re sitting down for that,” he said.
“But anything involving horses now? Forget it. And anything involving heights or smashing at the ground, somebody else can do that.”
Based on the Outcast comic book series, and created by the Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman, the show follows Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit of Gone Girl) who has been plagued by demonic possession all his life.
Kyle has gone on a journey to find answers, alongside Philip’s whisky-swilling Deep South preacher Rev Anderson.
In series two, the stakes are “very much upped”, said Philip. There may also be more than meets the eye to Sidney, a sinister character played by Brent Spiner – Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
He added: “The threat, this possession thing, is taking over the town and is basically a much bigger threat than we all thought it was in the first place, and Sidney is not necessarily the sum of his parts. It turns out he’s actually not working on his own, either.
“There’s a point in the season when the three of us – me and Kyle and Giles – are forced to come together, and we have to do something to counter this.”
The Reverend, however, is still battling some worsening personal demons.
“He’s in a dark place,” said Philip. “He really reaches rock bottom, to the point where he’s living out of the back of his car.
“Everybody thinks he’s crazy, he’s been booted out of the church, his relations with Kyle are strained. The only person he’s got in his life at this point is his girlfriend Patricia [Melinda McGraw] and Chief Giles.”
When he was preparing for the role, Philip found inspiration while watching an evangelist on US TV, noting his magnetism and the power he commanded over the audience.
“It’s interesting playing somebody who is so hell-bent on preaching the message.
“Ultimately, he’s not a fraud, the Reverend, and I think a lot of these evangelicals and TV set are out and out fraudsters.
“But it’s interesting because we seem to live in an age when there are lots of fraudsters around in various guises. No names mentioned…”
The actor, who has two daughters with his wife, actress Beth Goddard, has a mixed view of religion.
But he said: “I don’t have a problem with people who have faith, it’s each to their own.
“I think it’s important that people have a spirituality. I don’t think you need a badge of religion to do good things or to be a decent person but some people use and have their faith as a crux for whatever reason, and I think non-believers are quite envious of that.”
Despite his performance in the show, the Middlesex-born star confesses he isn’t much of a believer in the supernatural, either. “I’m agnostic about it. I wouldn’t be arrogant enough to say, ‘It’s all hokum’, but I’d find it surprising if there was anything.” ● The second series of Outcast begins on Fox on Monday, April 3.
It’d be nice if the BBC repeated it every now and again. I’d get repeat fees PHILIP ON LIFE ON MARS