Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
JAMES RAMPTON
the idea that you can never be too happy. I recognise that, for sure. You can’t be too happy or something is wrong!”
The evangelical fervour with which Luther hunts down villains makes for an unrelenting viewing experience. The 35year-old Brown, who has also starred in Good Cop and Occupation, recollects a moment during the shoot which underlines the unremitting nature of the show.
“We were filming this dark scene in a graveyard in east London. I said to Idris, ‘This is really depressing. I’d love to do some comedy!’ “
“I adore getting my teeth into a role like this and baring everything – that’s why you do this job. But you can’t do it on every production or you’d go mad. Sometimes you think, ‘God, I’ve been looking at a dead woman in a freezer all day!’” Welcome to the world of Luther.
But do the cast ever worry that, in its uncompromising depiction of brutality, the show risks overstepping the mark? Elba, who is also a producer on the programme, believes it is vital not to soft-pedal the horror Luther has to confront daily.
He reflects that “TV has to be responsible for what it puts out there. For instance, Good Cop was taken off air because it mirrored a real-life crime. You wouldn’t want to go too far because it goes into people’s homes. That’s me with my producer’s hat on”.
“The violence on Luther has been something where we all say, ‘Ooo, can we go further?’ But of course we can go further, because we know Luther will make the villains pay for their crimes. Neil will show you something really horrific, but, boy, will you then want Luther to catch the bad guy. That’s the pay-off. We stretch the depths of how dark we can go just so we can show you how heroic and just Luther can be. I think we have managed to do it in a way which allows viewers to celebrate Luther’s win at the end.”
Brown chips in: “People ask, ‘Is this too much?’ I don’t think it is. It’s great that people talk about it. But we’re never shocking for shocking’s sake. The drama is heightened, everything is pushed to the limit. It’s certainly not a comedy!”
Another reason for the show’s popularity may be that it is morally ambiguous. Luther is a cop who has to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. For him, the law is often as much a hindrance as a help.
Brown observes: “In the past, detective shows were quite clear-cut – ‘Right, this is someone who needs to be taken down.’ But Luther is more morally complex. It treads a fine line and asks, ‘What would you do in that situation?’”
Guillory, 38, adds that this moral complexity helps distinguish Luther from more run-of-the-mill TV detectives. “It’s simply not like anything else. It’s The Dark Knight crashing into every police procedural you’ve ever seen. It rips the conventional cop show apart and turns it into a revenge thriller. Nasty things happen along the way, but that’s one of the reasons why it’s so good.”
Elba, who has a 10-year-old daughter, Isan, by his ex-wife, the Liberian actress Dormowa Sherma, is now in the happy position of being able to pick and choose his roles. The only problem is fitting everything in, a difficulty he overcomes with enviable reserves of
‘He can express more with one movement of an eyebrow than lesser actors manage in an entire movie’
creative energy.
The actor, who began his career training at the National Youth Music Theatre, courtesy of a grant from the Prince’s Trust, is quick to credit The Wire for kick-starting his success.
“I would not be here without The Wire. My career would not be what it is without that show. Even though it ended five years ago, people still approach me in the street to give me compliments about it. It has really stuck in their minds. It had such depth of characterisation. Audiences want that – they are smarter now. Gone are the days where we wanted to be spoonfed. The Wire forced viewers to think, and that’s why it was such a success.”
Does Elba, whose father worked at the Ford factory and whose mother was a clerk, see himself as a role model?
“I’d like to think so – not necessarily by giving talks, but by my actions. I’d also like to think that people from outside my community could take inspiration from what I’ve done. I’m very satisfied with how things have gone. Ten years ago, I’d never have imagined doing all this.
“Yesterday I was called a ‘cultural icon’. How did I react to that? I laughed loudly and said, ‘What?’”– The Independent