5 MINUTES WITH...
Awesome actor John Simm, 51, back tackling four new cases as troubled detective Roy Grace – following the huge success of series one…
Last year’s first series was a huge hit with viewers… JOHN: I was thrilled! It was exactly as we hoped and prayed it would be. Of course, I was nervous because we’re adapting a really popular series of books and, as a huge reader, sometimes I just want a certain image to stay in my head. But hopefully fans are ready for more and will continue to be happy with what we’ve done. There’s a romance on the cards. It’s a weird one for Grace because he’s still haunted by the disappearance of his wife. Many years have gone by and he’s not even considered romance with anybody, so it’s quite sweet to see him slowly falling for Cleo [played by Zoë Tapper]. It takes him by surprise.
Craig Parkinson joins the cast. He plays Norman Potting and he’s brilliant, though we’ve had to change him a little bit from the novels because the world has changed quite a lot – the Norman of the books wouldn’t go down too well in this day and age. We couldn’t have anyone better than Craig, he brings something unique.
Is it challenging playing a detective?
Well, I’ve had quite a few roles as coppers, weirdly – looking back on it I’ve played more than I thought I had. I’ve done quite a bit of research and training over the years, and my father-in-law was in the Met, so I’ve heard plenty of stories.
How was filming in Brighton? Brighton is great. We live here now, and it’s just a brilliant place to be. We’d decided to move house [from London] before I got offered this job, so it’s the very meaning of the word serendipity really. It all just fell into place and was obviously meant to be.