It’s a question of making sure that justice is done... but it’s also about the desperation of a grieving father
SUSPECT HAS A CAST TO DIE FOR. MARION MCMULLEN FINDS OUT HOW JAMES NESBITT COPED WITH PLAYING A COPPER HUNTING HIS DAUGHTER’S KILLER IN THE THRILLER
JAMES NESBITT plays world weary veteran detective Danny Frater in tense new crime thriller Suspect.
It boast a cast that includes Joely Richardson, Richard E. Grant, Ben Miller, Anne-marie Duff, Outlander’s Sam Heughan and Bafta-nominee Niamh Algar with each episode focusing on a different suspect in the murder investigation of Frater’s estranged daughter.
The eight-parter is adapted from the Danish thriller Forhoret.
After being called to a hospital morgue for what appears to be a routine ID check, Danny’s world is turned upside down when the young woman lying on the slab turns out to be his daughter Christina. Despite the fact they hadn’t been in touch for some time, Danny is still devastated by her death.
Joely co-stars as Jackie, the pathologist who carries out a postmortem that suggests Christina took her own life. Danny refuses to believe it, and sets about meeting up with her friends and associates in an attempt to piece together the final moments of her life.
Each episode sees him locked in intense, difficult conversations with those who may have been involved in Christina’s death.
Here James, 57, reveals the challenges of playing a haunted father desperate to uncover the truth.
Was it gruelling shooting eight episodes in eight weeks?
It was thrilling, demanding and an affirmation of why I still love the job – an opportunity to show myself what I could do.
At the end of it, I was exhausted! But to work with so many great actors and getting each piece of the jigsaw to fit felt pretty special.
I’m not a method actor, but the real challenge for me was sustaining Danny, staying in the moment the whole time and being alert to what the other characters were saying to me because we’re all getting so many different pieces of information and each character has their own agenda. You’re never sure what’s true because so much is hidden.
There wasn’t a lot of rehearsal. The week before the first episode we’d do a read through and rehearse for a day, then shoot for four days.
Then I’d have a couple of days off to learn the next episode, come in and spend a day talking about the script, and then shoot.
What was it like working opposite a different actor in each episode?
Imagine having the opportunity to work with actors like Anne-marie Duff or Niamh Algar.
Richard E Grant was going through a difficult stage in his life as it wasn’t long since he’d lost his wife, but he had one extraordinary speech towards the end of our episode and just nailed it in one take.
To work with young Sam Heughan was fantastic and Joely Richardson was a brilliant playing partner.
Everyone bought such authenticity and preparation and threw themselves at it, which I love.
I enjoy a kick up the a*** because I’m very competitive, and this was healthy competition.
Was the tight shooting schedule helpful in a way?
It was useful. The calibre of the actors was amazing and they came so prepared. They were also incredibly supportive and protective of me, I think instinctively, because they knew I was taking on a fairly big responsibility. It was a beautifully collaborative experience. And director Dries Vos at the helm was just a dream, honest about what he wanted and very
trusting in what I would bring.
He was very interested in the notion of sound, so we’d often use ambient sound, wind and music.
He also liked me to watch the monitor after I’d done a scene, which I tend not to do but he was quite insistent.
I’d watch a take, then he would play music on headphones to give me an idea of the mood that he wanted to create.
How would you describe your character, Danny Frater?
He’s sort of beaten by life, but also beaten by the decisions he’s made. He’s certainly not a maverick!
I’ve played a few of those in my time, but this show doesn’t have that agenda. I didn’t see him as a policeman, but as a person who has made some terrible decisions.
Does he still have a sense of purpose?
I think he’s waiting to finish work. I don’t know if he’s waiting to die, but there’s just such an unhappiness in him.
One of the tragedies is that his daughter’s death almost gives him a shot at redemption – it lights the fire in him again as he starts to question how and why she died.
They were obviously very close at one time, and we get to see that relationship in his hallucinations.
Somehow it takes wading through the worst hell to get to some kind of selfrespect or redemption.
Why does he think his daughter has been murdered?
Well, the cop in him has switched back on and he’s piecing things together.
Even if he’s still a rather unappealing, unattractive, untrustworthy, dangerous, violent character, he still has a brain. For him it’s a question of making sure justice is done, but it’s also about the desperation of a grieving father.
When children die, parents will often do anything they can to maintain the presence of lost one.
A lot of it is him saying sorry to her and assuaging his notions of self-loathing and guilt, but also to say, ‘I will not let this go away. If I wasn’t there for you in life, I’ll be there for you in death’.
What made Danny a particular challenge to play?
Apart from learning all the lines, it was about trusting myself and the other actors. I’m not an actor who can plan out their emotions and think ‘right, I’m going to cry here and shout there’.
And it was trying not to make Danny too sympathetic. I loved him by the end of it, but I also had that loathing for him that he had himself.
Despite his flaws, is he obviously a good copper?
Yeah, although he’s treading water at this point. There was someone professional and good and loving in there, but the job f ***** him up and he was corrupted.
For someone who prides themselves on doing the right thing, that would have set him off on a downward spiral.
To work with so many great actors and getting each piece of the jigsaw to fit felt pretty special James Nesbitt
What are you working on now?
I’m in the middle of filming season two of [crime drama] Bloodlands for the BBC. Not exactly light relief…
Suspect starts tomorrow on Channel 4 at 9pm