Interview with John Thomson (Sergeant Cuff)
Interview with John Thomson (Sergeant Cuff)
Published: 6 October 2016
It’s fair to say that the novel’s a classic, and probably one of the greatest detective stories ever told.
How would you describe The Moonstone?
In one word? Fantastic. The story itself is a brilliant, compelling tale. It’s fair to say that the novel’s a classic, and probably one of the greatest detective stories ever told. This version is completely true to that original - it’s a British classic realised beautifully for television, and I’m excited for people to see it.
What made you want to play Sergeant Cuff?
Lots of reasons, really. For a start, I couldn’t say no to being a part of such an fantastic sounding series. I haven’t done a lot of period drama either - I haven’t played a detective and I don’t get much chance to play outside my ‘type’, as it were. Often I’m offered roles that are similar to previous roles I’ve played and people want the ‘John Thomson package’, but Cuff is completely different to me. He’s a proper character part. He’s got a London accent, it’s a period drama so he’s from centuries ago, and he’s a detective. You couldn’t get much further from John Thomson really, and it’s always a joy to be able to lose yourself in a role like that.
What was it like filming in Yorkshire?
It was great! The weather was lovely - we had the most wonderful sunshine. We did a lot of filming in Northallerton which is stunning and somewhere I’d definitely go again. Although if you want to eat out after 9 o’clock round there, you’ll struggle!
How does filming a costume drama compare to filming a project set in the modern day?
It does feel very different overall. For a start, I had a wig and these huge side burns, which were all my own. Ahead of filming I thought “right, I’ll go for it” so I grew some big lamb chops, which I’ve not done before. The dialogue is much more of a challenge too, because it’s written of a period so you can’t paraphrase or abbreviate any of what he’s saying – even though it’s your natural instinct as someone in this century. You’ve got to be true to it and you can’t colloquialise the dialogue, which is quite tough.
I was given some brilliant, big chunks of dialogue too – full of tongue twisters and revelations. As Cuff has a different accent to mine, when I first got the scripts I had to annotate all the vowel sounds to make sure it was right for me. If I’m being honest it was one of the more challenging jobs of my career… but I’m hopeful that this will make it one of the more rewarding jobs of my career, too!
And of course, one key difference is the costumes, which are just so detailed. On a contemporary drama you get left to your own devices between takes, but on The Moonstone the moment the director shouted cut our wonderful costume team would come up and start fiddling with everything I was wearing to make sure it stayed looking ‘proper’. There are a lot of layers too, with the shirt, the big neck tie, the waistcoat, the jacket, and the most wonderful accessories. There are hats, gloves, parasols for the ladies, and I was just so happy to get given a magnifying glass. That was the icing on the cake. I thought “oh cheers, I get a magnifying glass – I feel like a proper detective now!”
Did you have any favourite moments on set?
There was the time when we tried to film on a beach, but it was sunny so there were a few people sunbathing. We tried to ask if they could move for a while and they were having none of it! They said “no, we’re not shifting! Get out of it”. I think they wanted paying. That was funny. There was a whole area of the beach where we wanted to film but they were having none of it. But I wouldn’t have done either! It was quite late in the year so I think having such lovely sunshine then was a bit of a novelty. And the crew were a talented bunch, so managed to shoot round them!
The Moonstone is part of the BBC’s #LoveToRead season. Are you a keen reader yourself?
I am whenever I get the chance. I’ve built up an incredible library of books of all varieties and in the past I have been a very keen reader, but since I had children of course there’s less time to read. I might have to rediscover it when I retire - but the thing is I never want to retire!
I do read whenever I get the chance though. I’ll always try and read the new James Bond book when that comes out, and I like a bit of Martina Cole. If I ever hear a buzz about a book - if someone says ‘ooh you must read that’ I’ll always try and read it.
When I was a kid my favourite book was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s not often that you read a book and then start it again, literally straight after. Even before the film came out - before I saw Gene Wilder as Wonka - that book just enchanted me.
