POLITICAL ANIMAL
MAX BENNETT TELLS US WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE THE NEW THORN IN ROSS POLDARK’S SIDE…
Ross Poldark’s election to Parliament last week was good news for almost everyone – well, the main exception obviously being the previous MP for Truro, George Warleggan. Of course, you can’t keep an extremely rich and bitter man down for long, and this week George attempts to buy his way back into Parliament with the help of his new well-connected friend Monk Adderley. With a name like that, he’s clearly a wrong’un – and Inside TV chatted to actor Max Bennett, who plays him, to find out more.
What can you tell us about your character?
Monk is very fun – he’s a great provocateur, he likes finding out what people’s buttons are and pushing them as soon as he can. He’s from a similar background to Poldark – he’s a military man, and there’s
a sense in which I think you could see them as two sides of the same coin. He’s maybe the dark reflection of Poldark, and I think they both recognise that in each other.
What’s his relationship with George like?
They’re both characters who use people for their own purposes. So Monk, when he encounters George, sees that he has a lot of money, and Monk is constantly leeching off other people to fund his lavish lifestyle. And in the same way that George needs Monk’s influence, Monk’s got a lot of powerful friends. It grows into a friendship.
Is he rotten to the core? Or will we see a nicer side to him in time?
It depends what you find the sympathy in! Like I say, he’s fun to spend time with, but he’s definitely dark.
Will he and Ross clash in the political sphere?
Monk’s very rarely in Parliament – he’s one of
those politicians! But when he is, they rub each other up the wrong way. But Monk enjoys it! It’s a dance, really, wherever they are, over a number of episodes…