BRIT STAR ROBSON GREEN TALKS ABOUT 'GRANTCHESTER' (19/05/2015)
With his dark hair, piercing blue eyes and playful wit, Robson Green has emerged as something of a PBS sex symbol. The British star gained fans on these shores through such U.K. imports as "Wire in the Blood," "Reckless" and "Touching Evil." Thanks to his latest effort, the atmospheric mystery series "Grantchester," expect his American followers to remain loyal.
"I do get recognized in the States, but it's usually a look, like, 'Do you owe me money?' " says Green, calling from his home in Northumberland in northeastern England. "The other thing is they ask if they've seen me somewhere. I start to reel off my CV, and they go, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I was thinking of someone else.' "
Admittedly, Green focuses most of his attention on the British Isles. He once tried TV-pilot season in Los Angeles but hated it ("Danger! Actors at work!" he jokes). He says he turned down a role in the 2003 William Friedkin film "The Hunted." Instead, Green has thrived on U.K. television, including a popular series of reality fishing shows he has made for the Discovery Channel.
"Grantchester" has proven to be a hit in his homeland and already has been picked up for a second season. In the States, the show has definite buzz around it. The Wall Street Journal dubbed the show glorious. Perhaps it more importantly: It has a prime spot on the PBS schedule, after "Downton Abbey" on Sunday nights.
The show, set in 1953, focuses on the relationship between a young vicar named Sidney (James Norton) who stumbles onto crimes in the quiet English countryside. Green plays Geordie Keating, a world-weary cop who gradually develops a friendship with Sidney. Green said the magic is all there on the page.
"You probably know all the words to your favorite song, and it's the same with good writing," he says. "It's so easy to learn, and this was incredibly easy to learn. This is the first time in 30 years I never changed a word of the script. That was definitely a first for me."
He says the intelligent give-and-take relationship between the jazz-loving priest and the lovably rumpled family man sold him on the program.
"Initially, they have a massive dislike and distrust for one another," he says. "As the story develops, you realize they start living vicariously through one another. My character loves Sidney's life, his education, his background, and I hang on every word he says. He has all these beautiful women in his life, and Geordie secretly wants that. But Sidney wants the security and love that Geordie has in his family, so it's quite interesting."
The chemistry between the two actors is natural and unforced. Green says the two men clicked immediately.
"He's instantly charismatic," Green says. "In Britain, we call people like him 'a darling,' and he is a darling. After 20 minutes, I knew it was going to work. We're friends, and it's very easy to take risks in front of the lens if you trust who you're working with."
There is a bit of a groundswell surrounding Norton's sexy vicar, who so far has appeared both shirtless and wet in "Grantchester." That brings up the question whether this marks a new character-actor phase in Green's career. Although he has been a household name in England for two decades — there was even a stint as a chart-topping pop star in the '90s — he also turned 50 last December. Green pleasantly scoffs at the notion.
"Give me the boy of 7 and I'll give you the man," he says. "The kind of joy and perpetual inquisitiveness that I had then in me remains.
Though I remember being a boy at 7 and looking at someone who was 50 and thinking, 'How are you still alive ?' " He laughs.
"Maybe my physical ability is now limited in certain aspects of the job. In other aspects, age makes you a better actor. Honestly, I'm just happy when my phone rings and people want to talk about my career. I'm one of the lucky few in this country, and I never lose sight of the honor or the privilege this career has given me."
MY GRANTCHESTER BROMANCE WITH JAMES NORTON (30/05/2015)
Robson Green has revealed he cannot wait to start filming Grantchester – so he can reunite with James Norton.
"I’m looking forward to getting back to Cambridge. I loved working alongside James Norton, he’s an absolute darling !"
The pair have reprised their roles as vicar Sidney Chambers and Detective Inspector Geordie Keating as they have already begun shooting the second series of the ITV drama.
"I’m so happy that Grantchester’s been recommissioned. It’s an absolute joy to be filming in King's College Cambridge. Being there was one thing but also working alongside James Norton was just an utter joy. "
"He sent me a lovely message the other day – he’s just funny, he’s beautiful and he’s talented, and I can’t wait to work with him again.
Robson, who also stars in Sky 1 action drama Strike Back, plays the grumpy detective while James plays his sleuthing companion.
“The bromance is definitely there. It was immediate,” the actor said.
Robson continued: “He’s so kind, because I’d just landed from Strike Back in Thailand. Just landed, got in the car, went for costume and make up, jetlagged to hell.
“Had quite a wordy dialogue with James and he was so good and giving and patient with me and I’m eternally grateful for that. He’s a joy… It was a great relationship.”
The second series of Grantchester is scheduled to air on UK screens later this year. But since they’re filming this summer until September.
JAMES NORTON ON ROBSON GREEN 'BROMANCE' (30/09/2014)
The Happy Valley actor plays vicar Sidney Chambers, who teams up with Robson's straight-talking copper, Inspector Geordie Keating, to investigate crimes in the sleepy village of Grantchester in the 1950s.
James Norton is grateful to share the load of ‘Grantchester’ with a pair of very popular, reliable shoulders, those of housewives’ enduring choice Robson Green.
“He arrived on set, and I was so aware that the chemistry had to be right between us for it all to work on screen. I was really feeling the pressure, so I completely overcompensated and gave him this big hug right out of nowhere. Fortunately, he hugged me back.
“He was just a complete joy, a big, old star who’s worked for years and years, and yet couldn’t be more lovely. He’s a complete example to a young actor.”
James Norton has admitted that he developed a bit of a 'bromance' with his Grantchester co-star Robson Green.
"Robson's had amazing successes throughout his life in music, telly and film and you worry that that kind of person may bring a bit of hubris and ego to the job. But he couldn't be further from that, he's so humble and down to earth.
"I'm loathe to say this, but we sort of had a bit of a bromance. We ended up going off to Wimbledon together and having a lovely time."
When asked if he'd like go fishing with Robson - famous for his popular Channel 5 series Extreme Fishing - James replied : 'I'd love to - can you ask him ?"
INTERVIEW DE ROBSON (27/10/2014)
'Grantchester' Star Robson Green Admits He Was 'Paid Unbelievable Amounts, But Lazy After Soldier Soldier'
Robson Green admits that, although his golden handcuffs deal earlier in his career made him one of the country’s most highly-paid actors, it also signified a far lazier period for him personally.
“I cruised, I was very much in the comfort zone,” he confides of that golden period following ‘Soldier, Soldier’ when you couldn’t turn on the box without Robson's soulful blue eyes staring out at you from a series of contemporary dramas.
“I had a golden handshake with a certain company, and I was being paid very handsomely for it,” he chuckles.
“You wouldn’t believe how much I got paid for ‘Soldier Soldier’ after a TV exec drunkenly told me that they couldn’t make it without me. I’ve always been canny, and I immediately thought ‘kerching’.
“And then when I came out of that lazy period, I had to break the shackles. I got an agent, and I asked him to give me something different. He rang me up the next day, and said, ‘Werewolf.’ Which wasn’t quite what I had in mind.
“But that decision to play McNair in ‘Being Human’ sparked off all this whole chain of other roles, that I would not have got during that very smooth period.”
Robson is palpably far happier now in his latest incarnation as quirky detective Geordie Keating in period crime drama ‘Grantchester’.
The ITV drama sees usual leading man Robson giving, or at least, sharing centre stage with another actor, James Norton, who plays the young, shell-shocked vicar in a village full of people still recovering in the decade following World War II.
Together, the pair solve a series of crimes of passion, often after the vicar has been the recipient of a secret confidence.
Robson Green is fascinated by the time period, reminding me that “these people were still recovering, they were living in the shadow of death, and grabbing the moment in a way that we might not be able to understand.”
He also has nothing but praise for his telegenic co-star.
“I think James Norton is going to be one of the biggest stars in Britain,” he asserts. He’s going to go on to great things. It’s not a case of if, but when he was asking me for advice. I told him, ‘I can’t give you any.’ "
“He’s so comfortable, he’s charismatic, so giving. Within two minutes, I fell in love with the guy. He’s bloody talented, and you’re compelled to watch what he does. He knows how to use the lens, and the lens loves him for it.”
James Norton is grateful to share the load of ‘Grantchester’ with a pair of very popular, reliable shoulders, those of housewives’ enduring choice Robson Green.
“He arrived on set, and I was so aware that the chemistry had to be right between us for it all to work on screen. I was really feeling the pressure, so I completely overcompensated and gave him this big hug right out of nowhere. Fortunately, he hugged me back.
“He was just a complete joy, a big, old star who’s worked for years and years, and yet couldn’t be more lovely. He’s a complete example to a young actor.”
COP & PRIEST MAKE UNLIKELY CRIMEFIGHTING DUO (14/10/2014)
Like many English TV dramas — “Inspector Morse,” “Inspector Lewis” and “Midsomer Murders” — PBS’ latest offering from its “Masterpiece Mystery” stable has plenty of scenes shot in great British watering holes.
As a result, Robson Green, the actor who plays the amusing, curmudgeonly Detective Inspector Geordie Keating on “Grantchester,” had to take frequent “comfort breaks” in-between takes at the specially-constructed pub on the set.
“In one scene, I must have drunk about eight pints of liquid because of all the stopping and starting,” confesses Green, 50, who is quick to point out that it wasn’t the hard stuff he was consuming, but “fired sugar,” an unpalatable mix of water and sticky brown sugar.
“That’s well over my limit,” he says. “But luckily the loo wasn’t too far away !”
But for all his joking, Green says that alcohol abuse is a significant theme of the offbeat murder mystery series set in 1953, a period when the chocolate-box backdrop of tweed suits, bicycles and rolling countryside hid the underlying pain of an embattled population.
“The men were recently back from World War II and there was no outlet for their emotions,” Robson says. “A lot of them turned to drink because it was the only way they could cope with their feelings after the horror they’d seen in Europe.”
Central to “Grantchester’s” plot is the unlikely — and, at times, fiery — friendship between Keating and the charismatic, jaw-droppingly handsome young priest Reverend Sidney Chambers (James Norton).
The duo, both war veterans, team up to investigate a string of murders which take place around the historic university town of Cambridge.
“On the outside, everything is rosy with this brave new era of flamboyance and free will, but there is an undercurrent of something deeply sinister and uncomfortable,” says Green.
“Racism and homophobia were rife and people lived in the shadow of death after World War II. All the murders in ‘Grantchester’ are crimes of passion, and the writing really delves into the reasons why people did them.”
TV veteran Green has long been feted for his leading-man status in the UK. (His best-known roles include a criminal profiler in the detective series “Wire In The Blood” and a seductive surgeon in the miniseries “Reckless.”)
But he is gracious about being sidekick this time around to 29-year-old Norton, one of Britain’s up-and-coming stars. American viewers will recognize Norton as the violent psychopath from the tense Netflix crime drama “Happy Valley” and Masterpiece’s “Death Comes To Pemberley” where he played an underdog defense lawyer.
“He is the kindest, most giving, intelligent and professional actor I’ve ever worked with,” says Green, who laughingly calls his relationship with Norton “a bromance … He is a natural star. He just has ‘it.’ “And he is going to fly.”
After the screening, there was a Q&A. Check out the highlights below:
But I would start by throwing a question to Robson.
Ok Robson, wake up. Tell me about the story you told me last night, you thought, “ok my acting career is over, I’m never going to do anything again. Your agent sent you a script and you said I don’t want to do this…”
Robson: The reason why I thought it has ended because I was doing “Strikeback” and we were filming in Thailand and they had a terrible incident, where the lead actor had a terrible accident. We thought we were in danger to end the shoot there. So I thought, “I’ll just stick to fishing, oh no…” Then my agent, for the first time, got me a job! Cause he takes 90% of my salary, you see. He said “have a read at it, you’ll love it.” And yeah, it was the script, and when people say, “tell me about Grantchester, what is it about.” And in a nutshell, its actually (simple) in the writing and Daisy brought this creation which is so clear and the relationships are so wonderful. And it had been awhile since I’ve come across anything like that. And I don’t know about you James, but when I was doing the six episodes, I never actually changed a word. And I have never done that in 30 years in my career.
Is that true ?
Robson: Not a word.
You said that you wanted to audition for it and your agent said, “don’t you understand, they’re offering you the part” but you said “no, that you still wanted to audition for it.”
Robson: Well I thought it was a bit of a fraud when they go, “it’s yours” and I know they’re interested to see other people. But I wanted it so much because the story was so clear and especially this very unlikely and endearing relationship with the very charismatic member of the clergy. Which was so revealing. But I was doing an interview today and they said, “you know, what was it about that relationship” and the only analogy I can use is that I go to the theatre a lot and you see a couple of characters come on be at cantour or serious playing and you just look forward to those characters coming back on. “Oh Sidney and Geordie’s back on, this is going to be good.” “Oh they’re coming back on! I really like it.”
Like an “Abbott and Costello” kind of thing ?
Robson: Yeah but don’t knock on my boat. It was the writing, it was the relationship and that’s the thing about “Grantchester,” it’s so clear, it knows what it is. It really does know what it is and I think it’s a testament of its writing.
So how did you find your Sidney ?
James Norton: I had to audition.
Diederick: James was the first of a number of actors that we met for the part. In the first meeting in the casting, he was a fantastic actor, James Norton. I had not heard of him, this was just over a year ago. And James came in and we got talking and we knew we needed someone charismatic, sense of humor, sense of dalliance as well. And of course “Happy Valley” hasn’t shot at that point. I think you came in as a Viking, I think you were filming a Viking movie.
James Norton: I had hair down to my shoulders.
Diederick: So I had to squint slightly. But then you told me you have a theology degree from Cambridge University and your read the script beautifully. So although we subsequently met a few other people, I knew from that first meeting, I wanted it to be James.
So talk about that theology degree. Do you believe in God ?
James Norton: Well it was a great thing to drop in the first meeting to say that I have a theology degree cause Sidney … also studied Theology, obviously different college and different era. But I think it was a great thing to drop. And obviously since then, the press have loved that and asked me a lot “have you ever thought of becoming a man of the clergy”?
PBS Hosts Sneak Peak Of ‘Grantchester’ Starring James Norton & Robson Green
The new TV show Grantchester will be airing their pilot on PBS January 18 as a part of their “Masterpiece” time-slot.
An odd duo of Clergyman Sidney played by James Norton and policeman Geordie played by Robson Green work together to solve crimes within a little village near Cambridge called Grantchester.
The TV series takes place in the 1950′s and is intense yet humorous. Grantchester’s screening for PBS showed only 25 minutes of the pilot and left the audience clenching for more. Lead actors James Norton of “Happy Valley” and Robson Greene of “Strikeback,” executive director Dederick Santer and script writer Daisy Coulam happily shared their insights on making the film and working all together.
The TV show is originally adapted from the three-volume book series “The Grantchester Mysteries” by James Runcie. His source of inspiration for this series was from his childhood. His father was a clergyman. The happy clergyman Sidney Chambers in the series studied theology coincidentally just likes James Norton who played his role in the TV series.
Daisy Coulam based the script on the book and did not stray far from the source material. Their fabulous team is now waiting to hear if their second season will air on PBS and continues to drive towards success for their Masterpiece timeslot on Sunday nights.
Before the screening began Rebecca Eaton, award-winning executive producer of MASTERPIECE, gave an introduction.
The executive producer of “Grantchester” Diederick Santer.
He was the executive producer of the show “EastEnders,” the most popular show for years and years in England. But he also was the producer of “Jane Eyre.” We did a lovely “Jane Eyre” with Ruth Wilson.
Just a few years ago, he was the producer of that. Then he went onto his own company, Lovely Day Productions, which I think is one of the best names of any British production company I’ve ever heard.
Diederick Santer was the executive producer and he hired Emma Kingsman-Lloyd to be the producer.
She was the one who actually did all the work. She also produced a show that’s not on Masterpiece but you might’ve seen “DCI Banks.” It’s on some public televisions here.
Daisy was the adapter of the book … She also has worked on “EastEnders” and “Casualty.” Another huge British show. So these people know how to make real television. Weekly television has people coming back and back and back. Then they had to cast it.
From there, a professional relationship as well as a friendship begins to take form.
“I think one of the reasons why this unlikely, unique and endearing relationship evolves is because they both want what each other has,” says Green.
“Geordie lives vicariously through the Sidney character. He’s single, yet flamboyant, and very intelligent. Geordie picks up on everything Sidney says because the words that Sidney uses are so precious, they’re so economic, and my character loves that.
So he envies his life and the flirting Sidney does. I mean, he has women falling at his feet. At one point, Geordie’s wife even finds him incredibly charismatic.
“Sidney, on the other hand, desires what Geordie has, namely stability, security, and the collective love of a family.
He wants that in his life, whereas Geordie secretly wants the kind of wild side of Sidney’s life and envies his education. He lacks the vocabulary that Sidney has, but also realizes through the series that Sidney is a dependable and important ‘tool.’
"Let’s not forget that everyone confesses their sins as well as darkest secrets to members of the clergy, and that is a really handy tool for any detective to have.
So any breeches of confidence on Sidney’s part are most definitely Geordie’s gain when it comes to investigating a case.”
Besides seeing Geordie at work, Grantchester viewers are also given a look at life at home with his wife and their children.
“My character’s family is everything to him,” says Green.
“When I sat down to talk with Daisy Coulam [who wrote season one of Grantchester], she asked me, ‘Are you a religious person, Robson ?’ and I told her, ‘No. I personally don’t believe we can solve anything by confiding in an invisible friend.’
“Geordie lost faith during World War II, but he does believe in the Almighty. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the feature film Inherit the Wind, but my character also believes in the notion that, ‘He who troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, and that fool shall be servant to the wise at heart.’
While Green slipped quite comfortably into Geordie’s shoes, he still found challenges with the role.
“As with any character, I have to suspend disbelief enough for the viewer to believe that, in this case, I am a detective who has this definite sense of justice, but who is also living in the shadow of death,” notes the actor.
“World War II has just finished, and Geordie Keating knows what it’s like to lose a comrade and a loved one. Because he was in that environment, my character knows the reasons why people kill in certain situations.
“The challenge for me was kind of putting myself in the world of World War II, and, luckily, a lot of my relatives, including my grandparents and their brothers and sisters, fought in the war.
In fact, my grandfather fought in both world wars. So, I was able to talk with them at length about the horrors of war and how long it stayed with them. "
"It stayed with Grandfather Matt until he passed away. He surrounded himself with the men and women he fought alongside in both world wars, and spoke so fondly of the comrades he lost. I took that same sense of integrity, decency and honor with me into the character. "
"That gave me a good base to work from with Geordie, but, again, the main [acting] challenge was convincing viewers that I fought in World War II.
If you get that right and get the audience to believe that this man has served in the army, then that helps tremendously with the integrity of the character.”
At first glance, Sidney and Geordie seem to be very much like chalk and cheese, but a pint or two of beer along with a game of backgammon at the local pub soon breaks the proverbial ice between them.
Casualty, The Gambling Man, Soldier Soldier, Reckless, Touching Evil, Grafters, Northern Lights and Wire in the Blood are among Green’s numerous other TV credits.
The actor also reprises his recurring role of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Locke in the fifth and final season of the aforementioned action-packed UK series Strike Back, which will air later this year in the States on Cinemax.
“I know I don’t look a day over 35,” jokes Green, “but I’m 50, and when Strike Back came along I thought, ‘They really want me to hang out the side of a helicopter with a grenade launcher and take out a rogue element of the Islamic State and then rescue two of the greatest action heroes in the world, all while there are explosions going off north, east, south and west. I jumped at the chance, and it was just plain old fun,” he enthuses.
“I got to see special effects, the likes of which I never thought I’d see in my career, and then there was also just the action side of it and being able to do these things that were required in the scripts. "
"That meant getting up every morning and going to a two-hour boot camp workout.
While I was quite fit at the age of 21, at the age of 50 I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in. That’s purely because of Strike Back and a guy named Adam Sheppard, who I worked with and got me in shape for the part. I loved every minute of Strike Back, I truly did.”
After all this time, what does Green feel makes a career in this industry rewarding for him ? “I’ve been very lucky of late to have economic stability, but that’s not what makes this rewarding,” he says.
“What makes it rewarding is that I’ve been able to invest that money into a film company, and for a period of ten years we were the tenth largest independent producing company in Great Britain.
Over the years, I’ve employed hundreds of people and given young people an opportunity to get involved in this industry, where such opportunities weren’t around when I was starting out. Not only did we invest in people, but also the region of Newcastle upon Tyne, which is where the company was, and the dramas and documentaries we were selling were seen around the world.
That investment was and is the greatest reward for me."
"Therefore, if you have an insecure marriage and choose to have affairs rather than commit to a relationship, you will inherit the wind, which means you will inherit nothing.
So the love of one’s wife and family unit will be reciprocated from this as well. That is Geordie’s entire world and everything he holds dear, but what if that sense of love, security and endearment is jeopardized ? "
"I think they’re going to do that in the second series, which was commissioned a month or so ago. Doing so will, of course, create conflict, and we’ll get to see how Geordie handles that.”
Born in Hexham, Northumberland, England, the actor grew up in Dudley, a small mining village a few miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Before he ever decided to pursue an acting career, Green had his sights set on a very different type of profession.
“I wanted to be a pilot for the Royal Air Force, but I soon learned that if the Royal Air Force and I were to survive, we would have to part,” he explains.
“I went for officer training, but opposed the kind of class system as it was in the early 80s. I’m from a mining background and I never believed that I could make a living out of acting, but my dad always said, ‘Work is a word that is not meant to be enjoyed. That’s why you call it work.
Find a job that you love, and you will never have to work again.’
“I’ll always remember being at the cinema with my mum and watching Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke. I thought, ‘That’s what I want to be a part of,’ mainly because every woman in that cinema was drooling over Paul Newman, and I figured that it [acting] was one way to get a girlfriend,” he says with a laugh.
Already stretched to the limit with an overflowing caseload, Keating politely but firmly dismisses the vicar’s theory of murder.
However, as Sidney continues to dig deeper below the surface of the so-called “facts” of the case, Keating cannot ignore the possibility that the clergyman might be correct.
Stepping into his character’s shoes was, at first, slightly jarring for Green, given a prior acting job he had just finished.
“I had been playing a lieutenant colonel [Philip Locke] in the SAS saving the Western world from dissident rogue elements of North Korea, the IRA, the Yakuza and Office 39 who were trying to launch a nuclear attack against Britain as well as America in the TV series Strike Back,” says the actor. "
“Twenty-four hours after finishing that project in Thailand, I arrived home in the UK, put on a 1953 costume and walked straight onto the Grantchester set where I met my co-star James Norton.
“I remember being horrendously jetlagged, the type of which I describe as the wheel is still turning but the hamster is dead,” jokes Green.
“Honestly, I was in real trouble. I thought, ‘What have I done ?’ There I am waxing lyrically about the script and everything, and the script is one thing, but actually taking it and relating the material on the lens is something else.
However, as soon as James Norton appeared, I thought, ‘Wow, he’s got it.’ James has that unquantifiable thing called star quality that is only inherent in a star, and that’s precisely what he is. James is one to watch, and as soon as I met him I knew I was going to be okay and that the project was going to work.
“James is delightful, charismatic, intelligent; for God sake, when he first read for the part, he was asked, ‘So what can you bring to this member of the clergy who preaches the word of the Lord in the little village of Grantchester in Cambridge ?’
James replied, ‘I have a first in theology [equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree in the U.S.] from Cambridge University.’
That came across immediately when I met him behind the lens, and within 20 minutes, the two of us were bonding.
It was very much an immediate bromance. James kind of got what I wanted from our characters’ relationship and I got what he wanted. The two of us have been friends ever since. James and I got along really well behind the lens, and that also showed in front of the lens.”
A MAN OF INTEGRITY
INTERVIEW WITH GRANTCHESTER'S ROBSON GREEN (05/02/2015)
London, Oxford, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow — these and numerous other places in the United Kingdom have for the longest time provided the ideal settings for some of the most well-written as well as atmospheric TV crime stories.
Recently, a certain Cambridgeshire village has experienced an uptick in criminal activity, much to the delight of small screen audiences.
Set in the 1950s, the popular ITV series Grantchester—based on The Grantchester Mysteries series of books by James Runcie—follows the crime-fighting exploits of Sidney Chambers, an Anglican vicar who moonlights as an amateur sleuth, and Detective Inspector Geordie Keating.
For actor Robson Green, the opportunity to play DI Keating proved irresistible, and pretty much for one reason.
“The writing, simple as that,” says Green.
“Without writing, actors are speechless, but it was first and foremost the relationships that were set out in this drama. The premise is a simple one — a very charismatic, inquisitive member of the clergy teams up with this honest, no-nonsense detective who has a very definite sense of right and wrong, and together they solve crimes. "
"Now, as a story pitch, you might initially think, ‘Yeah, right, what have you been smoking ?’ However, as the narrative unfolded in the first script that I read, I was hooked, not because of the plot, but because of the relationships.
The thing is, your characters don’t have to be a member of the clergy or a police detective. They can be firemen, doctors, lawyers or whatever. Ultimately, it’s the way that they relate to one another and live vicariously through one another."
“I’ve been suspending disbelief and pretending to be other people in front of the camera for 30 years now, and over that time, I think this is one of the best things that I’ve been involved in.
It helped, too, that as I read the script, I kind of saw myself playing Geordie. "
"I’ve been miscast many times; believe it or not I tried, without success, to get out of a project where I played Jesus.
One critic wrote, ‘I don’t know what Robson Green was playing at, but it was hard to believe that anyone would follow him across the stage, let alone Israel,’” says the actor with a chuckle. "
“This time, though, the critics have got it right, because I got it right. Again, I saw myself in the part, and I loved the writing and the relationships, the latter of which is everything in all good drama. It’s the relationships that shine through in the end.”
Grantchester made its U.S. debut in mid-January as part of PBS’s 2015 Masterpiece Mystery ! line-up.
In its opening episode, Sidney Chambers (James Norton) is approached by the mistress of a suicide victim who asks for his help in proving that her lover was, in fact, murdered.
Sidney’s curiosity is piqued, and his inquiries eventually lead him to the local authorities, specifically the office of Police Detective Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green).
ROBSON GREEN EXPECTS GRANTCHESTER TO BE AN ‘ABSOLUTE MONSTER’
“I think it’s going to be an absolute monster. It’s one of the best things I’ve done in the 30 years I’ve been on TV.”
Geordie star Robson Green was a man in a hurry when it came to his latest telly venture.
He was so sure it was going to be a hit he signed up in a matter of minutes.
Grantchester is ITV’s big new detective drama and, despite being thousands of miles away, Robson was desperate to be involved.
“The scripts were sent over to me when I was in Thailand doing Strike Back and, within an hour, I had said yes,” says Robson.
“I think it’s going to be an absolute monster. It’s one of the best things I’ve done in the 30 years I’ve been on TV.”
The setting is the fictional town of Grantchester in 1950s Cambridgeshire with Robson playing straight-talking copper Inspector Geordie Keating.
James Norton, who was chillingly convincing as the twisted killer in the BBC’s fantastic drama Happy Valley, couldn’t be playing a role further removed as priest Sydney Chambers.
The duo are partners in crime sleuthing with Keating’s methodical approach complemented by Chambers’ hunches and wily way of getting information from witnesses and suspects.
The series is based on a novel, Sydney Chambers And The Shadow of Death, and it looks like we’ll see much more of the duo.
“It’s a really good adaptation,” insists Robson.
“It’s beautifully written with stories just as relevant today as they were in the 1950s. You’ve got a relationship between a member of the clergy and this no-nonsense detective.
“You think it’s never going to work, a vicar and a detective solving crimes. But when you think about it, who do we confess our sins to most? Members of the clergy. That’s a very good tool for a detective to use.”
While there’s a lovely period look to the series – something TV bosses think will be a real winner when it comes to overseas sales – Robson insists there’s much more to commend it.
“There’s a very tranquil backdrop but there’s an undercurrent of the shadow of death. It’s set just a few years after the Second World War and characters still have the mental and physical scars.
“Everything looks beautiful as if people have never had it so good, but shell shock, or post-traumatic stress disorder was very prevalent. Men didn’t know how to deal with it or get on with their lives.”
And the cases that the sleuthing duo are involved with look like they’ll engage viewers.
“The crimes that are committed are crimes of passion,” adds Robson. “And because of the way it’s done, the audience understand why they’ve committed them and are asked to empathise.”
ROBSON GREEN CHATS WHY COLUMBO IS HIS INSPIRATION
And now, the eagerly anticipated Grantchester is upon us. Adapted from the novel Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death by James Runcie, the six-part series is set in 1953 in the beautiful Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester.
Robson plays Police Inspector Geordie Keating who teams up with the local vicar Sidney Chambers (played by charismatic young actor James Norton) to solve crimes in the area.
“I knew within half an hour of reading the scripts that I wanted to do it,” Robson explains.
“Set against the serene Grantchester backdrop, it’s beautifully shot and very charming. The themes are universal and there’s a real shadow and grit to it – as well as an undertone of living in the shadow of death of the Second World War.
Then there are all the taboos that existed in the Fifties – be it homophobia, racism or how the locals felt about outsiders.
I kind of saw Columbo, the iconic American TV detective of the Seventies, in Geordie Keating – he’s a dishevelled, working class individual set against a backdrop of that pomp and ceremony of a different class. He’s morally very, very clear but I like that.
Design-wise, the attention to detail on Grantchester is spot on. Right from the off, you feel like you really are in 1953. It must have been a real surprise to the people of the area when we were filming to suddenly find themselves in the Fifties.”
With Grantchester complete, Robson is currently filming the second series
of Tales from Northumberland.
Lire l'article en entier :(14/10/2014:
If you could have a cup of tea with anyone dead or alive, who would it be ?
Robson Green: “Billy Connolly. He is a great story-teller and great entertainer. Whenever I’m feeling slightly down I always either put on Toy Story or Billy Connolly.
James Norton: “My great -grandfather. He got a knighthood for setting up lots of youth centres across the country. And served in both wars and lived to 100. I only got to meet him when I was about ten, so it would have been nice to sit down for tea.”
What was it like filming with Dickens the dog ?
Tessa Peake Jones: “He was beautifully trained and we all just fell in love with him. His real name is Dickens so he answered to his name. He was lovely, like the star of the show really.”
Robson, there was a familiar face wasn’t there, when you met your onscreen daughter ?
Robson: “Yes, there was. When we did Wire In The Blood I worked with Simone Lahbib and I held Simone’s baby and now this baby has now grown into this beautiful young girl who now plays my daughter in this series. It was a real surprise !”
It was reported you were all keen to make sure that you used real people from Grantchester as extras. We heard you’d played cricket with them all?
Diederick Santer (director): “We were very conscious from the beginning – we knew that the show would share a name with a real place so we wanted to spend a little time getting to know the people that lived there. There were a load of trucks parked in their village, so I attended the open meeting with a parish council and we got to know them. They really got involved and loved it. May of them were extras in the church scenes there.”
What was it like playing a woman in the 1950’s?
Morvon Christie: “She is quite unusual for someone of her age in that time and someone of her class in that time, she works still and is very independent and to still be single.
“She has to hold on to her independence and at the point we meet her she is about to get married but because of her status, Sydney – in her fathers eye’s – won’t quite match. You get to experience Miranda in her world.
“Women at that time would mould into the person the world expected her to be but what she does want is someone who she can be herself with. I found her life quite heartbreaking because I don’t have that life. I’m not forced into marrying someone or having a certain lifestyle. I get to choose because I live in 2014.”
"THE SHOW CAN BE QUITE DARK AND BROODING"
ROBSON GREEN teams up with Happy Valley star James Norton for a 50s-based detective drama with a religious twist…
Actors Robson Green and James Norton make an unlikely duo but that doesn’t stop them from joining forces and solving some of the most compelling crimes in new detective drama Grantchester.
James, who plays Sidney Chambers, and Robson, who plays over-worked detective Geordie Keating, are a clever team. Sidney’s trusting relationship with his congregation and Geordie’s legal experience make for an entertaining relationship.
Beamly caught up with the shows stars, Robson, James, Tessa Peake Jones and Morvon Christie to find out what it was like filming the first ever TV show in as small village just outside of Cambridge.
“What appears on the surface as quaint has massive undertones of darkness,” adds Robson, who play’s Sidney’s sidekick.
Robson Green: “Geordie and Sidney know what it’s like to live in fear and what it is to kill. They’re not just investigating puzzles that need solving. They understand why the crimes have been committed.”
“The producers haven’t gone all ‘chocolate box’ with it. It’s not afraid to tell the true story of the 1950s – because the 1950s had its troubles like any other period.”
“The Second World War is a big presence and we’re just coming out of rationing. Sidney and Geordie don’t really talk about it much, but you get snapshots and Sidney has flashbacks. The show can be quite dark and brooding.”
The case that first brings Sidney and Geordie together involves a suicide. Local businessman Stephen Staunton has just shot himself dead after getting into debt. But then Staunton’s ex-lover tells Sidney he was murdered.
“Sidney imposes himself into Geordie’s world and Geordie thinks he doesn’t know what he’s talking about at first,” Robson explains. “But eventually Geordie realises he’s making sense. He also realises that Sidney can be useful to him because, as a clergyman, people tell Sidney things that no one would ever tell a policeman.”
So how did the pair take to their respective roles ?
Robson: “I’ve played a few detectives in my time, from Touching Evil to Wire In The Blood.”
But have we heard about James’s background ?
“James goes into the audition and they say, ‘So what can you bring to the character of Sidney ?’ He says, ‘I got a First in theology from Cambridge University !’” Robson cackles. “I mean, talk about qualification for the part !”
Does his old alma mater have what it takes to oust Oxford as the crime capital of TV, then ?
James: “I hope so. It’s got this amazing mix of weird, eccentric, brilliant minds. Ancient, beautiful buildings. A very intense environment. Just like Oxford with Morse, it’s a great backdrop for drama. The perfect place, I think, for a detective series.”
This is a big change in pace from previous stuff. Robson why did you want to work on this production ?
Robson: “It was wonderful to have a script that was clear in its art and clear in its characterisation. It was a real variety. It wasn’t difficult the choice, it was easy. It was like, this is a great script. I want to be part of it and the money is very good.”
James, does your character continue to booze a lot ? Does it become a problem for him ?
James: “I insisted on the best Scotch. I had to drink lots and lots of sugar water with pee breaks. He does drink a lot. He’s been written so rich as a character. And often with a murder mystery it can become very nitty-gritty and heavy, but this one is more character driven.
“The alcoholism is tied in with that. He is a sympathetic detective and I guess the hardest thing to identify with is his fighting past and going into war. His relationship with alcohol all stems from his relationship at war. He does drink and drink and it causes problems for him later on. Everyone has their demons and he is just a normal person.”
“I’ve been in that position before and I didn’t deal with it as well as James did. A lot of it had to do with the fact I was running a company as well. But James was a diamond.
“He’s going to fly. A name that is going to be up there with the best of them. A wonderfully talented, charismatic actor. Compelling to watch. His talent shines through.
“I never missed a second of James in Happy Valley and he makes very good hoices. You just wouldn’t expect a transition from a pathological serial destroyer to this wonderful, inquisitive, charming member of the clergy.
“My relationship with James reminded me of the time when I was with Jerome Flynn and Gary Love in Soldier Soldier. The kind of joy I had then. [James reportedly greeted Robson with a huge bear hug the first time they met].
“If you get on with someone socially and behind the lens it will manifest in front of it. That is very much the case with Grant Chester and James. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him.”
Geordie is married to Cathy, played by former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth. They have three children with a fourth on the way.
“He is devoted to his wife and family. They are the most important things in his life. You see what he has to deal with when the baby has whooping cough. The darkness crept into Inspector Keating's life last night when his baby son fell gravely ill. "
"The advances in medicine we have today didn’t exist in the 50s. So you expected the worst if a child had whooping cough or influenza. It was just something that happened. That’s why families were really large back then.”
There was a surprise in store for Robson when he first met one of his older screen children.
“This eight-year-old girl comes up to me and says, ‘Hello, I’m playing your daughter in this.’ And I’ looking at her thinking, ‘You remind me of omeone.’ I shake her hand. And she says, ‘My mum knows you. This is my mum.’
“I look up and I go, ‘I know you...’ And she went, ‘Robson. It’s Simone.’ It was Simone Lahbib from Wire In The Blood ! Her daughter plays my daughter. I remember Skye being in my arms as a baby when she brought her to Northumberland when she was filming Wire.
“I hadn’t looked at the call sheet for the names of the chaperones. I just look at my call time and make-up. It was bizarre and an absolute coincidence.”
Grantchester is based on the Sidney Chambers series of novels by James Runcie, who was inspired in part by the life of his father, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie.
“I had the privilege of meeting Robert Runcie when I played Jesus in the York Mystery Plays in 1992, " says Robson.
So I’m now cast as a detective, I’m a Lieutenant Colonel in Strike Back, I’ve played a surgeon and a werewolf and I’ve played the Son of the Almighty. How many actors can say that ?” laughs Robson.
“I’m not a person who thinks you can solve problem by confiding in an invisible friend. I never have been. But I completely respect and sometimes envy people who have faith. They seem very content and together. Live and let live.
“I knew about the James Runcie novels and read them when I got the role.
James said to me, ‘The one thing I want you to do is live in the shadow of death. I want you to remember what World War Two did to these characters.’
“We all know what it is to love someone and how it makes you feel when you lose someone you love. How we deal with that. Or how it is when something traumatic has happened in our lives. "
“I think people in the 1950s were still hiding the scars of World War Two. It was only in the 60s when they said they’d never had it so good. It all looks beautiful and it seems joyous. But there’s this underlying insecurity and darkness.”
Robson was delighted to film in the real village of Grantchester.
“The villagers were really welcoming. So lovely, hospitable, kind, caring and understanding. They really warmed to the shoot and we got to play cricket against a local team. I think they will be pleased as both Grantchester and Cambridge look stunning on screen.”
After Grantchester Robson - who turns 50 in December - went on to film a second series of ITV’s Tales From Northumberland and is still travelling the world for both his fishing documentaries and Strike Back.
I’m looking after myself and I feel great. It’s been one of the busiest years I’ve ever had but in a good way.
A great problem to have in what is one of the most insecure industries in the world. Any actor who knows what they’re doing six months ahead, that’s a pretty good place to be in.
“And to be asked to be a part of Grantchester ? I’m still the same as when I first started at the age of 20, which was, ‘You want me in your programme ? Really ? That’s great'. "
"I DIDN’T WANT GRANTCHESTER TO STOP"
“It’s one of the best things I’ve done in the 30 years I’ve been on TV.”
Robson Green loved working on Grantchester so much that he didn’t want filming to end.
Hands up if Inspector Keating is your favourite character in Grantchester ? Here’s what Robson Green had to say about playing the gruff Geordie cop in ITV's new hit drama:
Fire, murder, scandal, love... last night's episode of Grantchester had it all. It also provided a glimpse into the true character of the surly, troubled Inspector Keating, a character who's fast becoming a favourite here at Edition towers.
Currently showing on ITV, Grantchester is proving the hit drama series of the Autumn, following the exploits of clergyman-turned-detective Sidney Chambers (James Norton) and his partner in crime, Inspector Geordie Keating. From the moment he glanced over the script, Robson knew he wanted in.
“You get to that stage in your life and career where you really want to enjoy what you do the majority of the time.
“The scripts for Grantchester were sent over to me when I was in Thailand doing Strike Back and within an hour I said yes. It’s one of the best things I’ve done in the 30 years I’ve been on TV. "
“It’s beautifully written with stories just as relevant today as they were in the 1950s. The themes are universal and the crimes are ones of passion. There’s a real truth to it.
“Not a word of the script was changed during filming. And I mean not a word. That’s a first. I just loved every second and didn’t want Grantchester to stop.”
Robson plays Inspector Geordie Keating, a Cambridge police detective who is sought out by Grantchester vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton).
Robson describes Keating as: "a no- nonsense, plain-speaking man who holds the mental scars of the war, which only manifest themselves later in the series.
“He’s fought in World War Two for King and country but came back to a land not fit for a King. A no-nonsense, plain-speaking man who holds the mental scars of the war, which only manifest themselves later in the series. "
" Geordie is a good man. An honest man with a definite sense of right and wrong. He knows what it is to lose a comrade, to lose someone he cares about. He knows what motivates people to kill. "
“He doesn’t suffer fools gladly. So when Sidney comes to see him and says he suspects a man has been murdered, he dismisses him and says, ‘Why don’t you go back to church and pray for the wicked ?’
“He tells Sidney to steer well clear of murky waters and not to stick his nose into police business. But then Geordie realises people tell the clergy secrets, confess their sins and misdeeds. That’s a handy tool for a detective.
“So it’s an evolving relationship that turns into this very endearing duo. Two friends who depend on each other. You really care about them and want them to stay together.”
Off duty, Geordie and Sidney enjoy regular games of backgammon, along with the odd glass of beer in the pub (The Eagle from the outside, though the interiors are filmed somewhere else).
Off screen James Norton is a fan of the game while Robson doesn’t play. Perhaps one of the reasons why Geordie takes great satisfaction in beating Sidney.
Explains Robson: “I remember playing a runner in Blind Ambition and everybody tried to overtake me in the race. I went, ‘Dude, read the script. I win. Back off,’’’ he smiles.
“And it’s the same with this. I said, ‘So how do I win this game ? Just give me three moves that’ll make me win.’ That was good.
“When we filmed those scenes I’d just arrived back in Britain from working on Strike Back, a Lieutenant Colonel saving the Western world from a nuclear missile attack by the North Koreans, " Robson explains.
“I land at Heathrow, go for a costume check and then am propelled into those pub scenes while in jet lag hell. But for some reason it just brought out the best in the scene.
Again, the writing was perfect so I wasn’t concerned about it. They are lovely scenes in the pub. I really liked them.
“James Norton is a star in the real sense. His kindness, charisma, talent and his joy for doing what he does were the best ingredients for any captain of that ship. It was relentless for him. Non-stop.
