Rafe Spall was one of the biggest names at MIPCOM Cannes this week where he gave Deadline his take on playing super sleuth Sherlock Holmes.
The Trying star is leading The Death of Sherlock Holmes, which fills the gap between the detective’s apparent death at the Reichenbach Falls in 1891 and his reappearance in The Adventure of the Empty House three years later.
Set against the Swiss Alps, the story follows an Englishman (Spall) found barely alive in an icy mountain stream by local woman Alma (Deleila Piasko) and her young son, Franz. When the village doctor is found murdered, villagers turn on the boy – leaving the amnesiac stranger, who is experiencing flashbacks to a previous life in England, as his only hope as his powers of deduction return.
“What makes it original is the fact that he’s someone who has no idea who he is,” Spall told us at the Majestic Hotel on the Croisette. “He gets these flashes of brilliant deduction that lead him toward understanding what kind of person he is, and eventually perhaps figuring out that he’s the most famous detective in the world.”
Piasko said the relationship between Holmes and Alma is central to the story. “What’s very special is that this Englishman doesn’t judge her,” she added. “She’s a single mother living in a small village, and she’s treated with contempt, experiencing a kind of exclusion. With him, it’s different.”
Spall said these circumstances of amnesia allowed him to create a fresh take on the character and freed him from comparison to other Sherlocks.
“It’s a clean slate in a way. I didn’t feel like I was following in a long line of great actors who have played him in the past — Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Robert Downey Jr. and all these amazing people.”
The show is a co-production between Sky and SRF in Switzerland, Germany’s ARD Degeto and the Bell Media-owned Sphere Abacus, which brought Spall to Cannes this week. The series will broadcast on Sky in the U.K. and Ireland and also goes out on Sky in Switzerland and Germany. FFF Bayern from Germany and Italy’s IDM Film Commission are supporting the series.
Spall’s face was all over town given he’s also starring in Channel 4 drama Number 10, which ITV Studios has been shopping. He talked about playing a British Prime Minister – revealing he actually met one in the research phase – and addressed his role as Arthur Weasley in the upcoming HBO TV series Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – chuckling as he compared his role with that of his dad, Timothy Spall, in the movie series.
Here’s the full interview with Spall and Piasko.
DEADLINE: Rafe, There are lots of different versions of Sherlock coming through at any one time. This one is slightly unique in that he is suffering from amnesia and doesn’t know who he is. How did that color what you wanted to bring to the character? What did you think was the core of this version of Sherlock?
RAFE SPALL: What makes it original is the fact that he’s someone who has no idea who he is. He gets these flashes of brilliant deduction that lead him toward understanding what kind of person he is, and eventually perhaps figuring out that he’s the most famous detective in the world.
It’s a clean slate in a way. I didn’t feel like I was following in a long line of great actors who have played him in the past — Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Brett, Basil Rathbone, Robert Downey Jr. and all these amazing people. The comparison is somewhat taken away by the fact that I can say, if people think I’m rubbish in it, that it’s a different Sherlock Holmes. It was completely different.
I would have been much more frightened if it had been one of the Conan Doyle novels, which is what Steven Moffat adapted. But the great characters in the modern Western canon are always ripe for interpretation. Hamlet gets done every year, and so does Sherlock Holmes, because they’re great pieces of work and great characters that can sustain different shapes and approaches.
DEADLINE: Deleila, when Sherlock — or whoever he is at the start of the show — comes into Alma’s life, what does she make of this man who seems to have come from nowhere? He could be helpful, or he could be a disaster for her.
DELEILA PIASKO: They are strangers, and they become partners in crime. We tell the story of them getting to know each other. They are both lost in the world, so their relationship is really at the core of the show. It’s about the relationship between the Englishman and Alma. It’s a journey with them. Alma realizes that she needs him. She’s a lone wolf, but at one point she needs a partner — somebody to help her.
What’s very special is that this Englishman doesn’t judge her. She’s a single mother living in a small village, and she’s treated with contempt. She’s experiencing a kind of exclusion. With him, it’s different. It’s the beginning of a friendship — or whatever it becomes.
DEADLINE: Most Sherlock Holmes stories are mysteries – intricate, complex and brilliantly written. Would you describe this series as a mystery, or does it fit somewhere else tonally?
SPALL: Fans of the genre will be satisfied by the whodunit – the question of how something happened and the mysterious nature of it. They’ll also get a thrill from seeing flashes of this famous character’s powers of deduction.
What’s interesting is that Conan Doyle got sick of writing Sherlock Holmes. He killed him off, with Holmes and Moriarty falling off the Reichenbach Falls. Then, I think, he missed the money, so three years later he brought him back. This is the first attempt I can think of to fill in the gap of what happened, so it isn’t based on a Conan Doyle novel. It’s a new story that, hopefully, fulfils people’s expectations of a Sherlock Holmes story. There’s a lot of mystery and a classic Holmes whodunit at its heart.
DEADLINE: When did you first hear about the project, and what drew you to it?
SPALL: My agent called and said they were doing a new version of Sherlock Holmes and asked if I’d like to speak to the people making it. I found it very charming and nice, and I thought it was really original. I was asked, I said yes, and here we are. It was probably about a year ago that it came to me, although I think the project had been around for a while and was then pulled together quite rapidly.
DEADLINE: Deleila, was it a similar process for you?
PIASKO: Yes, pretty much the same time. I read the script and thought it was fantastic. I was very lucky.
SPALL: We had a fun time because we were filming in some pretty rough-and-ready places — the Swiss Alps, the Italian Alps and a great town called Regensburg in Bavaria. We were in fairly remote locations, so it was very important to be surrounded by nice people. We really got on with each other and had a good time making it.
DEADLINE: With European co-productions, different parties can sometimes pull in different directions to serve their respective audiences. Did this feel more holistic and complete?
PIASKO: There were many different approaches. Our show is about cultural clashes, and of course there are different experiences. It’s also a multilingual show, so behind the scenes you have to communicate somehow, but I think that’s the beauty of it. It makes the world bigger and fleshes it out, especially when you have different languages. It was very free creatively. We were very welcome to bring our nerves and our ideas into it.
SPALL: From a trade point of view, it’s an interesting example of a new way of putting together big television in Europe. The bottom has fallen out of the American co-production market and a new way needed to be found.
I can only speak from an English point of view, or as someone who predominantly makes British film and television, but I think there have been some very successful examples of this new model. This series is an example of the way the industry has changed and evolved. When it came to me, I knew Sky Switzerland and Sky Germany were putting up the initial money, and it was then acquired by Sky UK, which I had previously worked with. I was the only English person involved, which felt appropriate because Sherlock Holmes is in the Swiss Alps.
DEADLINE: Rafe, you’re doing a lot of work at the moment. What does the next year or two look like for you?
SPALL: I’m doing Harry Potter at the moment. If people like it, I’ll be doing that for a long time. Then I’m going to do Under Salt Marsh Season 2 next year. I’ve got Number 10, which I think is coming soon, and ITV Studios is selling that. Maybe there’ll be another season of Trying — we’ll see. Who knows? I’m very lucky to be paid to do a job I love. It’s the only skill I could possibly exchange for cash. No one else would accept money for anything else I could offer.
DEADLINE: And what does the next couple of years look like for you, Deleila?
PIASKO: There are some things in the pipeline, but I can’t share them yet. Maybe there will be in a second season of The Death of Sherlock Holmes — we’ll see. There are also some other projects, including the German TV show Zweifel, which won Best Series at the Cannes Series festival in 2024. The second season will air next January.
DEADLINE: Are you nervous about Harry Potter, Rafe? We’re hearing the sets are looking amazing, like nothing else.
SPALL: I’ve never seen production values like it. I’ve been lucky enough to do things such as Prometheus and Jurassic World, big franchise projects, but I’ve never seen sets like these. Kate Hall, who does the hair and make up and worked on The Crown, is extraordinary. Holly Waddington, who won an Oscar for Poor Things, is doing the costumes. I’ve never come out of costume fittings feeling so excited. I was around true genius — a costume designer who just blows my mind.
So I’m not nervous about it. I’m just really enjoying it. It’s funny that my dad played Ron’s rat and now I’m playing Arthur Weasley. The other day I was on set and Ron’s rat was there. I took a photograph next to it. If I had social media, I would post it.
DEADLINE: Talking of which, do you worry about the social media reaction, given the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling?
SPALL: I’m mercifully not on any form of social media, and I don’t feel I have anything further to contribute to that debate. I’m just feeling really lucky to be part of something full of amazingly creative, brilliant people, all working at the top of their game. There are fabulous actors involved. Katherine Parkinson and I play the Weasley parents, and to my mind, she’s one of the best actors in the world. She’s phenomenal. The other day it was me, her, Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn. It was just fun.
DEADLINE: You’ve said you’re hoping for a second season of The Death of Sherlock Holmes…
SPALL: If people like it, we’ll do more of it. There are more stories to tell.
WHITTOCK: I also wanted to ask you about Number 10. The British prime minister is obviously never just one person and can be whoever you want him to be. But there is a picture in people’s minds of what the prime minister is. What was your take on playing that character?
SPALL: It was pretty thrilling. It was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done because Steven Moffat writes 10-page scenes, which is rare in modern television. And for a writer of Stephen’s quality, every comma needs to be observed. If it isn’t, you soon get reminded where it needs to be.
It was technically pretty full-on, but wonderful. We built the entirety of the downstairs of Number 10, and it became one of my favourite things I’ve ever done. I’m playing a fictional prime minister. I was lucky enough to meet a real former prime minister to talk about who he could be. In a way, it could be anyone — practically anyone you meet on the street these days. They were very charming and generous.
I loved doing it, and I hope people enjoy it. Stephen and Sue — his producing partner and wife — are powerhouses. Sue is one of the best producers the country has ever produced, and Stephen is one of the best writers.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.