Interview with Philip Glenister
Your Life on Mars co-star John Simm was in the first series of Prey. Did you speak to him ahead of filming?
I spoke to him about it. We were having lunch and I just wanted to be sure John knew about the second series. He was fine because he said his character from the first series couldn’t really come back. It would have been a bit silly, repeating the same thing. So I said, “They’ve offered it to me.” And he went, “Yeah, go for it.
Prey writer Chris Lunt wrote this second story with you in mind?
Yes. He’s working his way through the Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes casts. He’ll be casting Keeley Hawes in Prey 3 probably. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Who is David Murdoch?
David Murdoch is a prison officer and a widower with a grown up daughter who is pregnant and in a bit of a sticky relationship with her other half. David is just a regular, normal guy doing a job and going about his business. But he’s pushed into a position that is quite extraordinary when his daughter is kidnapped. Through no fault of his own he is taken down a path of having to search for his daughter while proving his innocence after going on the run with a female prisoner called Jules, played by MyAnna Buring. If the first series was a version of The Fugitive, I suppose this one is more a version of something like Frantic. Both with Harrison Ford, obviously.
This series illustrates what any father would do for their child. Would you agree?
When you become a parent you lose a lot of your selfishness. You have something else to worry about other than yourself. So you lose that self-obsess, “Am I this? Am I that?” You protect your kids throughout their livers. My eldest has just become a teenager and it’s true. Hey change. They become these creatures that suddenly don’t get out of bed in the morning and answer back. And people say, “Oh you’ll get her back when she’s about 18.” But it reminds you – and you think, “Well maybe I was like that when I was 13 or 14.” I can’t remember. But yeah, you’d go to the ends of the Earth to protect your children. Of course you would.
David and Jules are handcuffed together for many of the scenes. How did that work?
They were proper handcuffs. The trouble with the prop ones is their plastic and they don’t stay on. Handcuffs can cause problems during filming. For example, it’s quite tricky to drive a car. But it’s quite a good discipline in a funny sort of wat. It changes the dynamics of their relationship.
Was there a lot of action involved?
It was physically demanding. As John said to me, “Make sure you use your stunt double. Put him to good use.” For ma it was a seven week shoot and it went quickly. I worked pretty hard. There was a lot of running, fighting and jumping off roofs. The first time I jumped off a high roof I went to grip the top of the roof to then propel myself down. But there was no grip so I just slid down. Which didn’t look very cool. Or very filmic. Or very bond. So we did it again and I managed to do it right that time.
David keeps fit in the prison gym. Are you a fan of gyms?
Not really, no. I don’t like the smell of gyms. Sweaty men. Every time I’ve been to a gym I just see people staring at themselves in mirrors. So I find them areas of vanity. But each to their own. I do a bit of stuff at home and a bit of cycling, a bit of golf, I just get bored in a gym. I think it can become a bit of an obsession with some people. An OCD-type thing. It’s gentle exercise for me now I’m in my 50s.
David and Jules jump into the Manchester Ship Canal. How was that to film?
The only water involved for MyAnna and I was at the very end where we come out of the water. We had dry suits on underneath our costumes but it was very slippery underfoot and we had a very small error of margin. So it wasn’t pleasant. It was a night shoot as well. You get to a certain age where you think, “What in God’s name am I doing? Why can’t I just be doing a cosy little sitcom?” But I certainly wasn’t going to jump into the Manchester Ship Canal!
Director Lewis Arnold was in charge this time for Prey’s distinctive style of filming. What can you tell us about his approach?
It’s almost like guerrilla film-making in many respects. There’s very little lighting involved and pretty much all of it is hand held filming. So it’s very immediate and very fast. We had a terrific director in Lewis Arnold at the helm, who is fairly new. He was incredibly enthusiastic. He’s still at that stage. We kept saying, “He hasn’t cured yet. A couple more years, he’ll be cured.” But he was great to work with. It’s always nice to works with new directors. Because he’s very an actors’ director as well. He’s very good with actors. He cares about his actors and about the storytelling. It’s not all about making it just glossy and nice. He’s very concerned with getting the script, story and the characterisations right. Lewis and got it all storyboarded. He does his homework, knows the shots he wants and he plans in meticulously. So once we start shooting we’re off and running. We worked well together in terms of making tweaks and changes and making things that don’t work, work. He’s very hand on in that respect and backs the actors up if we feel something isn’t quite right. Which invariably there always is on these sort of things. The most important relationship on a set is between a director and actor. I was very impressed with him. I think he’ll so very well.
You’re a great supporter of young talent aren’t you?
My nephew, my brother Robert’s son, is about to start at drama school. So we’re creating a dynasty. I’m 52 now and they’re all in their 20s. Young and enthusiastic and keen and ready. I’m looking forward to retirement. I’ll make the decision when I can afford to. If ever I can afford to. There ae some people who carry on into their 80s, still acting. I’m not sure I fancy that at all, personally. Treading the boards at that age. I’m very good at doing nothing. I’ve made it almost an art form.
The script has David singing and dancing in the chorus of the local amateur dramatic society. Tell us more about this?
We didn’t film that. I’m not there to do Strictly. I just gave a wry smile instead. My singing and dancing days stopped with Uptown Girl on Ashes to Ashes. That was embarrassing enough. They did try. They said, “Are you going to do a few steps?” And I went, “No. I’d rather walk on glass than do that. It’s not going to happen.”
Did you fully immerse yourself into this part of the role?
I gave it loads on that. I was doing lots of X Factor fist pumping when we sang Hosanna, Heysanna, Sanna, Sanna Ho. And I could see the director, Lewis Arnold, shouting in the background. What I thought he was shouting was “yes, yes.” So I was giving it even more. Giving it real big dramatic fist pumping. Leona Lewis-style and all of that stuff. And actually what he was shouting was “Less,” not yes. But look out Michael Ball. He had better start quaking in his tracks.
Prey was again filmed in around Manchester. Do you enjoy filming there?
Manchester seems to be my spiritual home, almost. I was last there for Pete Bowker’s From There to Here and, of course, filmed Life on Mars there. But this is the first time I’ve worked for the production company RED since Clocking Off. About bloody time! I’ve always thought it’s because I’m an Arsenal fan.
What can you tell us about your time spent filing in Blackpool?
Blackpool is an interesting place with some interesting people. It was very striking filming along The Golden Mile. It should look great on screen with the Tower and that long stretch. It’s almost like stepping back in time. I don’t remember ever going to Blackpool as a kid. We used to go to Wales a lot because my mum is Welsh and we had relatives there. So most summer holidays, if not in France, we’d be in South Wales.
You also filmed scenes at a former prison in Shrewsbury which closed in 2013. Did you get to explore the building?
N between takes I was having a little walk around. They hanged people inside its walls up until 1961. It was built near the site of a medieval prison and at one stage in its history when they were doing some digging for foundations of whatever they found lots of buried skeletons. It was a pretty miserable place; I have to say.
What can you tell us about Rosie Cavaliero, who reprise her role as DS Susan Reinhardt?
Rosie is terrific because she’s very natural, real and great fun. She’s perfect in that role and, effectively, carries the show. She’s the real lead, the running character through the series. It was also good to work again with Lisa Millett, who plays Chrissy. She was in both Clocking Off and an episode of Life on Mars.
You’re now in America filming Outcast. How different is that to Prey?
We shot the pilot before Christmas (2014) and that got picked up to go to series. The thing is with the Americans, they don’t have a stop point for filming. They shoot what’s on the page on the day and just keep going until they finish. Although the hours are long they are meticulous in getting it right which is no bad thing.
You also spent some time at Comic Con in San Diego back in July. Did you enjoy it?
It was mad, quite frankly. Utterly bonkers as only the American’s could muster. You fly in and then do this round of press interviews and photo opportunities. Then you go to these parties in the evening, go to bed, get up and do it all over again until you get on a plane home. It was all so manic but such great fun at the time. I’m still recovering from it.
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I spoke to him about it. We were having lunch and I just wanted to be sure John knew about the second series. He was fine because he said his character from the first series couldn’t really come back. It would have been a bit silly, repeating the same thing. So I said, “They’ve offered it to me.” And he went, “Yeah, go for it.
Prey writer Chris Lunt wrote this second story with you in mind?
Yes. He’s working his way through the Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes casts. He’ll be casting Keeley Hawes in Prey 3 probably. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Who is David Murdoch?
David Murdoch is a prison officer and a widower with a grown up daughter who is pregnant and in a bit of a sticky relationship with her other half. David is just a regular, normal guy doing a job and going about his business. But he’s pushed into a position that is quite extraordinary when his daughter is kidnapped. Through no fault of his own he is taken down a path of having to search for his daughter while proving his innocence after going on the run with a female prisoner called Jules, played by MyAnna Buring. If the first series was a version of The Fugitive, I suppose this one is more a version of something like Frantic. Both with Harrison Ford, obviously.
This series illustrates what any father would do for their child. Would you agree?
When you become a parent you lose a lot of your selfishness. You have something else to worry about other than yourself. So you lose that self-obsess, “Am I this? Am I that?” You protect your kids throughout their livers. My eldest has just become a teenager and it’s true. Hey change. They become these creatures that suddenly don’t get out of bed in the morning and answer back. And people say, “Oh you’ll get her back when she’s about 18.” But it reminds you – and you think, “Well maybe I was like that when I was 13 or 14.” I can’t remember. But yeah, you’d go to the ends of the Earth to protect your children. Of course you would.
David and Jules are handcuffed together for many of the scenes. How did that work?
They were proper handcuffs. The trouble with the prop ones is their plastic and they don’t stay on. Handcuffs can cause problems during filming. For example, it’s quite tricky to drive a car. But it’s quite a good discipline in a funny sort of wat. It changes the dynamics of their relationship.
Was there a lot of action involved?
It was physically demanding. As John said to me, “Make sure you use your stunt double. Put him to good use.” For ma it was a seven week shoot and it went quickly. I worked pretty hard. There was a lot of running, fighting and jumping off roofs. The first time I jumped off a high roof I went to grip the top of the roof to then propel myself down. But there was no grip so I just slid down. Which didn’t look very cool. Or very filmic. Or very bond. So we did it again and I managed to do it right that time.
David keeps fit in the prison gym. Are you a fan of gyms?
Not really, no. I don’t like the smell of gyms. Sweaty men. Every time I’ve been to a gym I just see people staring at themselves in mirrors. So I find them areas of vanity. But each to their own. I do a bit of stuff at home and a bit of cycling, a bit of golf, I just get bored in a gym. I think it can become a bit of an obsession with some people. An OCD-type thing. It’s gentle exercise for me now I’m in my 50s.
David and Jules jump into the Manchester Ship Canal. How was that to film?
The only water involved for MyAnna and I was at the very end where we come out of the water. We had dry suits on underneath our costumes but it was very slippery underfoot and we had a very small error of margin. So it wasn’t pleasant. It was a night shoot as well. You get to a certain age where you think, “What in God’s name am I doing? Why can’t I just be doing a cosy little sitcom?” But I certainly wasn’t going to jump into the Manchester Ship Canal!
Director Lewis Arnold was in charge this time for Prey’s distinctive style of filming. What can you tell us about his approach?
It’s almost like guerrilla film-making in many respects. There’s very little lighting involved and pretty much all of it is hand held filming. So it’s very immediate and very fast. We had a terrific director in Lewis Arnold at the helm, who is fairly new. He was incredibly enthusiastic. He’s still at that stage. We kept saying, “He hasn’t cured yet. A couple more years, he’ll be cured.” But he was great to work with. It’s always nice to works with new directors. Because he’s very an actors’ director as well. He’s very good with actors. He cares about his actors and about the storytelling. It’s not all about making it just glossy and nice. He’s very concerned with getting the script, story and the characterisations right. Lewis and got it all storyboarded. He does his homework, knows the shots he wants and he plans in meticulously. So once we start shooting we’re off and running. We worked well together in terms of making tweaks and changes and making things that don’t work, work. He’s very hand on in that respect and backs the actors up if we feel something isn’t quite right. Which invariably there always is on these sort of things. The most important relationship on a set is between a director and actor. I was very impressed with him. I think he’ll so very well.
You’re a great supporter of young talent aren’t you?
My nephew, my brother Robert’s son, is about to start at drama school. So we’re creating a dynasty. I’m 52 now and they’re all in their 20s. Young and enthusiastic and keen and ready. I’m looking forward to retirement. I’ll make the decision when I can afford to. If ever I can afford to. There ae some people who carry on into their 80s, still acting. I’m not sure I fancy that at all, personally. Treading the boards at that age. I’m very good at doing nothing. I’ve made it almost an art form.
The script has David singing and dancing in the chorus of the local amateur dramatic society. Tell us more about this?
We didn’t film that. I’m not there to do Strictly. I just gave a wry smile instead. My singing and dancing days stopped with Uptown Girl on Ashes to Ashes. That was embarrassing enough. They did try. They said, “Are you going to do a few steps?” And I went, “No. I’d rather walk on glass than do that. It’s not going to happen.”
Did you fully immerse yourself into this part of the role?
I gave it loads on that. I was doing lots of X Factor fist pumping when we sang Hosanna, Heysanna, Sanna, Sanna Ho. And I could see the director, Lewis Arnold, shouting in the background. What I thought he was shouting was “yes, yes.” So I was giving it even more. Giving it real big dramatic fist pumping. Leona Lewis-style and all of that stuff. And actually what he was shouting was “Less,” not yes. But look out Michael Ball. He had better start quaking in his tracks.
Prey was again filmed in around Manchester. Do you enjoy filming there?
Manchester seems to be my spiritual home, almost. I was last there for Pete Bowker’s From There to Here and, of course, filmed Life on Mars there. But this is the first time I’ve worked for the production company RED since Clocking Off. About bloody time! I’ve always thought it’s because I’m an Arsenal fan.
What can you tell us about your time spent filing in Blackpool?
Blackpool is an interesting place with some interesting people. It was very striking filming along The Golden Mile. It should look great on screen with the Tower and that long stretch. It’s almost like stepping back in time. I don’t remember ever going to Blackpool as a kid. We used to go to Wales a lot because my mum is Welsh and we had relatives there. So most summer holidays, if not in France, we’d be in South Wales.
You also filmed scenes at a former prison in Shrewsbury which closed in 2013. Did you get to explore the building?
N between takes I was having a little walk around. They hanged people inside its walls up until 1961. It was built near the site of a medieval prison and at one stage in its history when they were doing some digging for foundations of whatever they found lots of buried skeletons. It was a pretty miserable place; I have to say.
What can you tell us about Rosie Cavaliero, who reprise her role as DS Susan Reinhardt?
Rosie is terrific because she’s very natural, real and great fun. She’s perfect in that role and, effectively, carries the show. She’s the real lead, the running character through the series. It was also good to work again with Lisa Millett, who plays Chrissy. She was in both Clocking Off and an episode of Life on Mars.
You’re now in America filming Outcast. How different is that to Prey?
We shot the pilot before Christmas (2014) and that got picked up to go to series. The thing is with the Americans, they don’t have a stop point for filming. They shoot what’s on the page on the day and just keep going until they finish. Although the hours are long they are meticulous in getting it right which is no bad thing.
You also spent some time at Comic Con in San Diego back in July. Did you enjoy it?
It was mad, quite frankly. Utterly bonkers as only the American’s could muster. You fly in and then do this round of press interviews and photo opportunities. Then you go to these parties in the evening, go to bed, get up and do it all over again until you get on a plane home. It was all so manic but such great fun at the time. I’m still recovering from it.
View the full press pack
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