Daniel Sharman talks about his new series “A Town Called Malice“, which premieres March 16 on Sky TV. In the series Daniel plays Kelly Lord, the son of a South London gangster. Check out the full interview:

E: What was it like working with Nick?

D: I’ve always loved Nick’s work. It was such a joy working with him. I love his honesty. I love his directness. I love his humour. I love his taste. I mean, there’s so much I really, really appreciate. I’ve been working in America for a long time, and I would say Nick is the absolute antithesis of anything American. That’s been really refreshing because he’ll tell you if he thinks it’s rubbish, and he’ll tell you if he thinks it’s great. This story is told so much in Nick’s voice. He knows this world so well that I’d often run things past him before I did them because I just wanted to make sure that I was in the right ballpark or the right world for each of the scenes.

E: Can you expand on that?

D: When someone’s got that clear a focus, it defines the world in their mind. That takes all the pressure off you as an actor because as soon as you plug into it, you can play with it. You can feel safe in that world because you know that you’ve inhabited it and that someone’s there to tell you if you’ve gone off-piste a little bit. He was there so much of the way. It was great just using Nick’s knowledge as a kind of guide. He has this very unique voice. It was wonderful working with him.

E: At the beginning of the series, where do we find Kelly?

D: He is the archetypal middle child. He has this desperate need for attention, this desperate need to be loved, and this desperate need to stand out in any way to win his father’s love. He’ll wear whatever it is just to get a reaction from his father. There’s something so insanely tragic about that. But it’s also understandable and sweet, even if the ways that he’s now settled upon are pretty tough to watch. He’s quite a hard character to portray because he’s just so desperate, and that keeps playing out throughout the season.

E: What more can you tell us?

D: When you first meet Kelly, you’re dealing with someone whose bravado and whose outer life is so much about show – “I’ve got it together, I’ve got it together, I’ve got it together.” But obviously, as the season goes on, you see how paper-thin that facade is and how desperate he is. Underneath, there’s a small boy in there who’s been emotionally abused. At first all I had was the bravado, and then really beautifully Nick weaves in this idea that it comes from something, that there’s this long, troubled history in this family. That’s always fun to play with.

E: What was it like working with Jason and Martha?

D: They’re so great. If you’re going to spend six months on an island, Jason and Martha are two people you’d want to be there with. As I get older, the more I appreciate just really good people. That actually matters when you’re working. If you’re going to be building a family and developing the trust and the level of intimacy that requires, you need people who are going to go with you all the way. Jason and Martha are brilliant actors, but they’re also brilliant people. They are so funny together as well. Watching those two in the makeup trailer was one of the highlights of the whole experience for me.

“He has this desperate need for attention, this desperate need to be loved, and this desperate need to stand out in any way to win his father’s love.”

E: What did you think of the 80s music?

D: I’m a big fan. I love 80s music. 80s music was blasting in the makeup trailer, in the costume trailer, everywhere that you went. What I loved was that Nick introduced these montages with music that are ethereal. These montages of synth pop tones really lend themselves to an operatic tone. That’s really smart. When I think 80s, I think big soaring synth sounds, and that really fits with this drama.

E: The costumes are spectacular, too, aren’t they?

D: Absolutely. I’ve been working on something else and was back to dreary costumes over here. I’d forgotten how amazing the costumes are in A Town Called Malice. Then I saw some press promo photos, and I remembered wearing this gold shirt with gold necklace jewellery. I thought, “The costumes are doing most of the acting for me, to be honest. I should have just shut up and let them do the work for me!”

E: What conclusions do you hope viewers will draw at the end of this series?

D: It’s very hard to find stories that are really heartfelt, enjoyable, fast, aesthetically pleasing, and also deeply moving with really incredible character development. Once you give in to this world, it’s infectious and enormously fun to be a part of. After a bleak English winter, I hope audiences just surrender to it. Once it gets you, it just keeps hold of you, and I love that about it. So I hope viewers sit back, enjoy it and let it take you on an incredible journey.

“These montages of synth pop tones really lend themselves to an operatic tone…When I think 80s, I think big soaring synth sounds, and that really fits with this drama.”

 

The series premieres on March 16th on Sky TV and Now TV. And in Sky Q and Sky Atlantic from April 12th in Germany.