By James Mottram
Was playing Lucifer impossible to turn down? “Yeah…a lot of people have asked me whether there was a huge weight on me to play The Devil, but this script was hilarious. It was just so different from everything that I was reading at the time, from a character point of view. Three or four pages in, I felt like, ‘This is the job that I want to do.’ It was so fun, irreverent, and cheeky. If I’m going to do a job that has potential longevity about it, I want to make sure that it’s something that I’ll enjoy doing.”
Did you research other interpretations of The Devil, like Robert De Niro in Angel Heart? “I was more of a Peter Cook fan in Bedazzled! Everyone feels like they know this character, which has been great for us because it means that people have been interested in the show and our spin on it. The pilot script was by Tom Kapinos, the creator of Californication. He writes great characters. People ask, ‘What’s it like playing The Devil?’ But I don’t think I ever approached it as if I was playing The Devil. This is a character going through change, and that’s what I liked about it. It was the humanisation – the slow-burn of the change to this character, and him not even realising it, and not realising what was happening to him. And being thrilled by that. He’s been in control his whole life, in the realm of Hell; the feeling of not being in control is something that he finds thrilling.”
It’s interesting that, as a character, he’s bored… “Yeah, the notion that he was bored in Hell is something that we talked about a lot. As the series goes on, and we start to peel away the layers, you realise that there was more of a simmering resentment under that, about this role that he’d been given by his father. What I love about his interaction with humans is that it took on this kind of Hyperion feel. He couldn’t die, he could say what he wanted to people…and he had this power over them.”
How did your family and friends react when you got the role? Was it tricky? “Well, especially when your father’s a Baptist pastor! It’s weird. I grew up in the Church; my dad is a Baptist minister, and my uncle is also a Baptist minister. My elder sister and her husband are a pastoral team at a progressive church in Sheffield. So I have a lot of consultants! There were many people, certainly in America, where there are a lot of right-wing Christian views, calling for the show to be cancelled, before they’d even seen it – which says more about them than it does about the show, to be honest. It was nice to be able to answer those people and say, ‘I went to my dad and I told him about this job, and he thought that it was hilarious – he got what it was.’ It was the same with the rest of my family; they’re all excited that my career is going well and that I’m living my dream. That takes precedence over all of the other things. The household that I grew up in preached love, forgiveness, and understanding. All of those important aspects of religion and Christianity – so it was not what some people assumed it would be: my family ousting me and never speaking to me again. It was exactly the opposite.”
What about going from the wholesome British TV sitcom, Miranda, to this? “Variety for me is huge. I’ve always tried to do something different with the next thing that I go onto. I trained in the theatre, where you get the opportunity to play parts that you wouldn’t get cast in on TV. It’s just a different world. Miranda became so popular, which was amazing and wonderful, that I almost felt like I needed to go somewhere else for people to see me as something else. It was nice to be able to go to America, feeling confident about what I had to offer, but knowing that I was walking into a room and no-one was expecting Gary from Miranda to walk in. I was another actor, and they believed me, and my version of Lucifer –that was great. To have the opportunity to play a character that’s so different to Gary – someone I was synonymous with for five years – is exciting. Not everyone gets to have that variety.”
Were you aware of the original source comic, The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman, where Lucifer was inspired by David Bowie? “Well, true story…I got the script for this, auditioned for it, and was very excited when they offered it to me. Then when it was announced in the press, it said that it was based on a comic. And I genuinely didn’t know that! Then Neil Gaiman contacted me. He’d seen the pilot episode and wanted to say how much he enjoyed it – and it was nice to have that sort of seal of approval. But I’m also glad that I wasn’t aware of the comic. My choices were purely based on what was in front of me. Apparently, after I got the job, there were discussions about whether I should dye my hair blonde, which thankfully were vetoed before they got to me.”
When did you feel that this would last beyond one season? “There’s never any guarantee about that. I loved doing the [unconventional medical drama], Rush, and I really wanted a second season for it. When it didn’t happen, I was disappointed. And there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to why. It was on the cusp all the time. With Lucifer, the pilot script was unique. I thought that if we could make the pilot good, then we’ve got a good chance of being picked up, and that happened. Then I just kept applying the same mentality: ‘I hope that people will watch it.’ And the lovely thing was that we were still shooting as the show premiered, and we got a real sense that lots of people were watching – and that was great because we felt that there would be another season. The biggest disappointment with Rush was that I didn’t get the chance to revisit that character and iron out the creases; that’s what I’m looking forward to doing on the second season for this. The show has hit its stride, and now we’re going to push on and make some more entertaining TV.”
The Devil is English here. How did that come about? “It wasn’t specified in the script. I tried it in an American accent when I was working on it, and he just sounded like a dick! It didn’t work. I thought, ‘It’s meant to be a character from somewhere else, so if everyone else is meant to be American, why don’t I make him British?’ The way it was written, it felt at times like an Oscar Wilde-Noël Coward-esque character. That was part of my stencil for him – he was the love-child of Noël Coward and Mick Jagger! And it ties in with the notion that in America, you can say anything that you want in a British accent and people think you’re really charming. It opened up a world for the writers too – they’re constantly asking me about little sayings. I try stuff at the end of most scenes.”
What are your career turning points so far? “Miranda which was a game-changer in Britain. I’d been working constantly for ten years, but I’d never been involved with a show from the start that snowballed. That was huge. It became so popular so quickly. All of a sudden, others jobs were happening as a result. I’d made a few journeys over to the states; I’d done a couple of pilots that hadn’t worked out. My experience of America was negative; the whole process of doing a pilot, getting your hopes up, and then it doesn’t happen was set against the success of this show back home. That was a big thing for me. I thought, ‘Maybe my career lies in the UK.’ That’s where I felt I should be at that moment in time. Then the next big game-changer for me was Rush. It was a very different character to Gary in Miranda. I was a drug-addicted doctor. It was fun. For someone to have faith in me, and take a risk on me to lead a show, that was a game-changer of people’s view of me, and for my own sense of confidence and my own sense of worth. I felt like people were taking me seriously. I don’t think Lucifer would’ve happened if it wasn’t for Rush.”
What will happen in Season 2 of Lucifer? “We start shooting in two weeks’ time, and I don’t have a script…I don’t know when I’ll get a script! It’s all been quite quick, the turnaround from being picked up to starting Season 2. I was on the phone the other night to our showrunner, and he’s filled me in on some things. Needless to say, there will be a large storyline about mum, which is how we left Season 1.”
What devilish power would you like? “If I could get everyone to tell the truth, that would be interesting. I would love to do one of those TV debates with politicians and look people in the eye and get them to tell the truth.”
Lucifer: The Complete First Season is available on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital from October 19.
Loved it!! Very insightful!!