Interview Associated Press
RELATIONSHIP INTEGRAL PART OF 'GRANTCHESTER'
In PBS' "Masterpiece" series "Grantchester," James Norton and Robson Green play unconventional crime-fighting buddies, a vicar and a police detective
PASADENA, Calif. – The young vicar is eye candy. His crime-fighting partner, a police detective, is middle-age sexy.
Played by James Norton and Robson Green, the characters make PBS’ “Masterpiece” series “Grantchester” a far cry from “Father Brown,” another British TV show about a man of the cloth with a taste for sleuthing.
Norton’s Sidney Chambers is handsome, moody and passionate about God, jazz, whiskey and women – especially his ex, now well if not happily married – and cracking cases in his English village of Grantchester.
Green’s Detective Geordie Keating, a tough lawman and dedicated family man, is adjusting to his unorthodox partnership with Chambers but not his bachelorhood. Keating recommends marriage, although the vicar’s life is well-tended by brisk housekeeper Mrs. Maguire (Tessa Peake-Jones), and the detective’s own fidelity is tested in Season two.
Norton is popping up regularly on TV these days, in projects including “War & Peace” and Netflix’s new “Happy Valley.” Green is a veteran leading man whose extensive credits include the series “Touching Evil” and “Wire in the Blood.”
The pair click on-screen as the hard-charging cop and sensitive vicar. In an interview, Norton and Green bantered and traded compliments as they discussed male bonding and rough waters ahead for their characters.
Q. This is your first project together and you’re both leads. Was there an adjustment period ?
Norton: I remember the first scene we shot. I knew he was a good guy. You work in the industry and hear things.
Q. You heard rumors about him ?
Norton (smiling): Oh, awful. No, he comes with a great reputation. But it was very apparent early on. You turned to me after a couple takes and said, “Oh, you’re good.” And similarly it was immediately apparent he’s a master. This guy’s got more TV hours than anyone in the U.K.
Q. Chemistry is key in an on-screen romance. Also true with a buddy pairing ?
Green: Yes. In series two, it’s all about fracturing the relationship, jeopardizing it. But the conflict all has to come out of, “I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” It comes out of a genuine affection and caring for one another.
Norton: But they never talk about it: “I love you, man.” It’s so fun to play with, two men who have such affection for one another, in the 1950s, but aren’t able to tell one another. … It’s done through backgammon or beer or little gestures.
Q. How does “Grantchester” compare with others in the long line of British mystery series ?
Green: Even though it rings of formulaic stuff that’s been on before, we haven’t seen this kind of relationship on British TV, where you really care about the two guys who are pursuing the criminals.
Norton: What sets us apart is there’s less of an emphasis on the plot and the whodunit side of it and much more emphasis upon the storylines and arcs. That’s the feedback we got after Season 1, sometimes negative, that the plots could have been more intricate, but we had to set everybody up. Now, in the second series, we’ve done the setting up, done the introductions, and the plots are much stronger as a result. But they’re still secondary to the characters. … It’s a why-dunnit
Q. Does Sidney find love or does his former girlfriend still have his attention ?
Norton: She will always have his attention. It's a Ross and Rachel thing (he grimaces). Awful reference, but we just saw the 'Friends' cast reunited (on a TV special). Everyone around them knows they (Sidney and Amanda) should be together, they know they should, but they can't.
TCA ?
La Television Critics Association (TCA) est une association d'environ 220 journalistes et critiques américains et canadiens qui couvrent la programmation télévisuelle des États-Unis.
Ils se réunissent deux fois par an à Los Angeles, au cours de deux conférences connues sous les noms de Winter Press Tour et Summer Press Tour.
Les TCA Press Tours permettent aux réseaux de chaînes télévisées majeurs, publics et câblés, de présenter leurs nouvelles grilles de programmes à un large groupe de journalistes issus des de la presse écrite et en ligne.
Pendant deux à trois semaines, les membres de la TCA assistent aux colloques présentés par les différents réseaux, chacun se voyant alloué quelques jours consacrés à la diffusion de leurs programmes.
Les cérémonies des Television Critics Association Awards ont lieu chaque été depuis 1985. Les TCA Awards récompensent les meilleures séries télévisées de la saison précédente, ainsi que leurs acteurs et actrices, les meilleurs programmes d'information et de jeunesse.
Les deux acteurs Robson Green et James Norton ainsi que la productrice Suzanne Simpson présentent la deuxième saison de Grantchester.
Robson sous le feu des photographes lors de ses interventions sur scène au TCA le 18 Janvier 2016.
TCA Winter Press Tour - Day 14
Conférence de la chaîne PBS entièrement consacrée à la présentation de la deuxième saison de Grantchester, le lundi 18 Janvier 2016, quatorzième jour du Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.
Les séances se sont déroulées au luxueux Hôtel Langham Huntington à Pasadena au nord-est de Los Angeles en Californie.
Première de la série annoncée le Dimanche 27 Mars 2016 sur PBS dans le cadre de Masterpiece: Mystery ! (série télévisée d’anthologie américano-britannique diffusée sur le réseau PBS présentant les meilleures productions britanniques, principalement de la BBC mais également ITV et Channel 4).
Le charmant et complice duo de Grantchester, Robson et James, posent pour un portrait dans le studio Getty à l'Hôtel Langham Huntington à Pasadena, le 18 Janvier, 2016.
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