How Toby Kebbell found his ideal role
Ambitious, big-budget and profound: M. Night Shyamalan’s horror show SERVANT has reinvigorated the British actor
TOBY KEBBELL HAS gone from junkie to monkey during his 20-year career: after hurtling onto radars in Shane Meadows’ Dead Man’s Shoes, and later as a drug addict in Guy Ritchie’s Rocknrolla, he later moved into motion capture as Koba in War For The Planet Of The Apes and King Kong in Kong: Skull Island. No role feels more fitting of Kebbell’s talents, however, than Sean, the conflicted co-lead of M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological horror series, Servant.
It was a role the Yorkshire-born actor fought tooth and nail for. “I auditioned for the part for over three months while doing other jobs,” Kebbell says. “I was shooting Bloodshot in South Africa. And then I was shooting Daniel, the Danish film. It was about four or five auditions. You need to do what you have to do.”
Thankfully for Kebbell, who has loved Shyamalan since first watching The Sixth Sense (“He’s truly a master,” he says), his hard work paid off. What followed was a whirlwind first season that involves a creepy model baby, Michelin-star food and — in typical Shyamalan fashion — more questions than answers. A flagship show for Apple’s new streaming service, the first season earned rave reviews for its soaring ambition and puzzlebox storytelling, with Kebbell’s performance a standout.
“Sean is such an excellent character,” Kebbell says of the role, a surgically precise chef navigating through a tragic loss with his wife Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose). “There is something fantastic about a character who came from less privilege to be introduced to someone like Dorothy, who is from a generational wealth.”
After years in film, often playing villains or supporting roles, Kebbell relished the chance to get his teeth into a longform TV character — with all the creative freedom that a punchy new streaming service affords. “The thing about Apple was that they just wanted our shows to have that high quality,” he says. “Of course, we have M. Night, who’s a big star in his own right. But it was just way beyond my expectations of what was going to happen.”
Kebbell subsequently threw himself into the role — a committment that extended to cooking. “I have this wonderful chef who I still work with called Drew Ditomo,” says Kebbell. “His excitement for food really feeds into what I’ve always been trying to portray with Sean. It was that link that I desperately wanted Sean to have.”
Season 2 of the show required a different kind of commitment. Filming wrapped during the pandemic, with the 100-strong cast and crew quarantined in a Philadelphia apartment block. Kebbell felt a strong camaraderie with his creative team. “To do the finale in the pandemic was great, because of how tight we are as a group,” he says. “That includes the crew.”
It also afforded the cast more space to focus on their storylines. “It’s much more about Sean’s relationship with Dorothy,” says Kebbell of the new season. “I’ve been prematurely hinting at this question: how does Sean go on if he loses everything? It was exciting to play, but, boy, was it exhausting.” With Seasons 3 and 4 both confirmed by Shyamalan, there’ll be more exhaustion yet. Lucky us.
SERVANT SEASON 2 IS ON APPLE TV+ FROM 15 JANUARY