Russell Tovey stars in a dark new TV drama series featuring murder - and possibly ghosts
Being Human star Tovey plays a man with secrets in ITV’S new thriller The Sister. He talks to Georgia Humphreys about his experience on set
Russell Tovey doesn’t gloss over how challenging his latest TV role was.
In fact, the Essex-born actor declares The Sister “is the hardest job I’ve ever done”.
He plays Nathan, who is completely riddled with anxiety and fear and unable to escape his past, in the four-part I TV series.
“It’s about the unravelling of a good person who made a mistake, or got involved in a situation he shouldn’t have been involved in,” Tovey, 38, elaborates of the story line.
“And to commit to that as an actor, when ever y single scene is a panic attack or anxiety or screaming or crying, and you’ re in every single scene, it’s really tough.
“I feel like, as actors instinctively, you trick your body into feeling these emo - tions. You’re tricking your body into fight or flight and you’re doing it over and over and over again.”
The Sister was written by Luther creator Neil Cross, inspired by his novel Burial.
Nathan has never been able to forget the worst night of his life: a party that led to the sudden, shocking death of a young woman.
Only he and Bob, an eccentric old acquaintance, know what really happened… and they’ve resolved to keep it that way.
But, years later, Bob– played by Doctor Foster star B er tie Car vel – appears at Nathan’s door with terrifying news that threatens to tear Nathan’ s world apart.
“Nathan’ s got everything compartmentalised by this point,” says Tovey. “He’s able to live. He wants to live and he’s full of life and he loves his wife and all he wants is to start a family and be normal. It’s all he ever wanted.
“He doesn’t have big dreams. He just wants to be happy. And Bob turns up and he unravels.”
Tovey – who’s also starred in dramas such as BBC’ s Being Human and Years And Years, and IT V’s Flesh And Blood – reflects on how different The Sister was from previous projects.
“I am someone that, on set, I like to have a laugh, I like a bit of banter, talk to the crew. This one, I was just in a little coffin, in my head, trying to hold it all in. Because it’s a genre piece, it’s beautifully shot by B en Wheeler, the DOP (director of photography) is a genius.
“It’s visually stunning. But to set that up is a long time and then you’ve set it up and then you’re straight in doing these scenes where you’re just falling apart .”
So, what did he do to help himself through the intense shooting process?
“You’ve just got to look after yourself. I had loads of vitamins, like fads. I was doing Berocca with CBD shots ever y morning and then I found this new thing where you put fresh lemon and orange in this bit in the middle and you put water in it and drink that all day. Just things to make sure that you’re being good to yourself.”
He adds: “All you can do on any job, for me personally, is you’ve just to give it your all. Because if you walk away from that being like, ‘I could have done that better’ then that’s something that you’ll never be able to change.”
Tovey has been open in inter views in the past about how he’s a “worrier”, and how he has various anxie-ties about himself and being a performer.
Asked if there was anything from his past that he could draw on for Nathan and his struggles, he muses: “You make mistakes in your past. I mean, I’ve not been involved in the death of a young lady. But as humans, we’re all flawed. As humans, we’ve all said something that’s upset someone.
“When you’ re at a party you say something and you go home and you’re like, ‘Oh God, I think I really upset that person, because I said that.’ And then you live with it for a while and you feel really guilt y. And then you see them again and you apologise and they’re like, ‘I don’t remember.’ And you’re like, OK, it’s all in your head.
“You fixate on things. So I guess I’m drawing on a feeling – but a lot of it’s on the page.”
The star describes Nathan as “a really decent, kind, normal man. He’s the everyman .”
When it comes to how viewers will react to him, he says: “I think people are really gonna… their hearts are gonna break for him. That’s what I want. I want their hearts to break for him and I want them to be conflicted. That they’re gonna watch him and be like, ‘I can’t believe what I’m witnessing that you’ve done. I really care about you.’
“Ever y time I do a job, I want my mum to like the character. And I want my mum to want to give them a cuddle. And I think with this character she’s gonna be like, ‘I really don’t like what’s happened, but I’m gonna give you a cuddle anyway.’ I think it’s got that sort of energy .”
On the topic of his family, he says his parents read the book The Sister is based on.
“My parents read eve - rything,” follows Tovey. “When I did The Good Liar [2019 film with Helen Mirren and Ian Mckellen] they read The Good Liar.
“I normally like to have had the script and then I go by the script. And then I have to build my own emo - tional back story.
“Will I read the book after this? Maybe. I feel like, with this character, when I finished this job, I had to push Nathan away for a while, because it really got under my skin.”
Speaking during a press Q&A, Tovey agreed that the role was the most challenging he’d done: “I think [this is the most challenging role] because, I don’t really take work home that much.
He teased that the role of Nathan provided him with an opportunity to “create something that peo - ple haven’t seen [him] do” before.
“The thing about this role is you exist in this contained tension, where you – eve - rything you’re saying is not what’s being said, and there is anxiety and absolute fear and panic… And I really wanted to serve Nathan, I wanted to create something that people haven’t seen me do that was really small, and minimal.
He continued: “Nathan’s trying to just disappear, he wants to be invisible, so it’s about suppressing everything, but living in that energy for this time was a lot, and I definitely took it home with me, but I felt like you had to commit to this role, I had to do that to access this character, so I had to put myself in that position so when I
finished this, I was abso - lutely exhausted and I was just like, wow, but that to ser ve Neil [Cross]’s writing with the dialogue to play this character. You have to put yourself emotionally and investing in these situations.”
He added that at the end of the day, Nathan “just wants to have a nice life, and he falls in love, and this is fundamentally a love stor y”.
Writer Neil Cross adds, “It’s one of my favourite sto - ries. A tale of psychological suspense, of guilt and ghosts and murder. Oh, and love. Always love. Our job is to make viewers want to sleep with the lights on. We’re looking for ward to it.”
Tovey has been in Years and Years, Him & Her,
B eing Human, The Histor y B oy, and Flesh and Blood. Car vel’s credits include The Pale Horse and Baghdad Central. The cast includes Amrita Acharia, Nina Toussaint White, Paul Bazely, Simone Ashley and Amanda Root.
● The Sister starts on STV on Monday October 26