Getting To Know… James Norton
Basking in TV success, could the McMafia star soon be given a licence to kill on the big screen?
◆ My role in McMafia is Alex Godman, who is the son of Russian parents who were exiled from Moscow. He’s a young hedge fund manager and he’s spent most of his life turning his back on his mafia past. Over the course of the show, for various reasons, he’s forced to confront his past as he delves deeper and deeper into that criminal underworld.
◆ As part of the preparation I did Systema, which is a Russian martial art used by the country's military. I learned an enormous amount; it’s about breathing, balance, movement and having a centred core, but also it’s about dealing with everyday life, fear and adrenalin.
◆ It was a surprise when they mentioned I’d need to speak Russian! Alex speaks it badly as his parents are both Russian but he moved to the UK when he was nine, so he has a grasp but doesn’t speak it well. I had a few Russian lines and I learnt them phonetically with translators. I’d also learn Dimitri’s lines in English and listen for the sounds. It’s a beautiful language, even though I had no idea what I was saying!
◆ It would be hard to choose a highlight on this job. It was an adventure we went on for months. We were able to film at these great London locations, like the Victoria & Albert Museum. In order to show the size and scope of the mafia, the second unit filmed in places like Mumbai and Tel Aviv, but the main unit mostly focused on London and Croatia.