by Anthony Frajman
David Thewlis’ prolific acting career has plenty of highlights.
He’s worked with Mike Leigh twice (including Naked, for which he won Best Actor at Cannes), starred in the Harry Potter movies, voiced characters in animated series (Big Mouth) and acted in the latest Avatar.
Yet his role in the Australian series The Artful Dodger might just be one of his most enjoyable yet.
“It’s one of my favourite things I’ve ever done,” Thewlis says.
A spin-off of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, The Artful Dodger continues the story of adult Jack Dawkins aka The Artful Dodger (played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster), in the Australian colony of Port Victory.
Thewlis reprises his role as Dawkins’ criminal mentor Norbert Fagin, alongside returning star Maia Mitchell, who plays Dawkins’ love interest, Lady Belle Fox. Season 2 sees Luke Bracey join the cast as Inspector Henry Boxer, who is hunting Dawkins, with Jeremy Sims joining as Uncle Dickie and Zac Burgess as Phineas Golden.
While Thewlis has been a lifelong Dickens fan, prior to The Artful Dodger he had never had a chance to act in an adaptation. He relished the opportunity. “What I liked about (The Artful Dodger) is, we’re taking Dickens as a jumping off point and doing something quite radical with it in terms of transferring it to Australia, but there is some truth there,” Thewlis says.
“Dickens was quite obsessed with Australia and wrote about convicts being shipped out there. And indeed, Ikey Solomon, who was the model for Fagan, was shipped out to Tasmania as a convict, under extraordinary circumstances. So, there is some bizarre truth at the basis of this,” he adds.
Another exciting draw for Thewlis was developing the disparate aspects of his character.
“I wanted to make him something that was a lot more fun, a clownish figure, a buffoon, but a very lovable, manipulative character.
“He is a villain, but he is a man trying to survive, as many people were at that time,” Thewlis adds.
The role gave Thewlis an opportunity to dive into Australian history, which he also enjoyed.
“I really loved discovering Australian history. I realised I knew almost nothing, and I was very ignorant about even how young it was. I couldn’t really quite believe it. (And also), the country we know today, versus its ancient Indigenous history.”
One of the biggest challenges for Thewlis was matching the excellence of Season 1.
“(We wanted) to live up to what we thought was so good about season one and not to let that slide. And I notice sometimes in second seasons of any show, when they fall down a little, I think you can tell that the actors have maybe become too proud of what they did the first time round, and they start enjoying it a little bit too much,” he says.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want us to do that’.”
One of Thewlis’ favourite parts about making The Artful Dodger was working with Australian actors and getting the chance to experience Australia’s beaches. “We all became a very beautiful family. I miss them when I’m not there, and I miss Australia when I’m not there,” he says.
“I found Sydney rather beautiful, having that coastline all around you all the time, I found it extremely uplifting to be close to so much ocean,” he adds.
The Artful Dodger Season 2 is now available to stream on Disney+
