“There was this lack of cynicism.”
As Colin Farrell returns to the small screen, he’s taking on the role of a slick private investigator in new series Sugar.
The Apple TV+ noir mystery series follows John Sugar (Farrell), who’s investigating the disappearance of a Hollywood producer’s granddaughter.
There are some big reveals along the way that we have to keep very quiet about, but for Farrell, who’s also just wrapped The Penguin, it was a relief to play such a “tender” character.
He exclusively told RadioTimes.com: “I love film noir. I love older films, full stop, regardless of the genre, and so to have the noir tropes be honoured and be fleshed out as they were in this show, but have them seen through the lens of a private detective that felt so much less hardboiled than the Philip Marlowes and the Sam Spades, he felt so gentle.
“And he’s such a tender character, and he obviously inhabits a world of darkness and criminality and he lives alone, he’s quite a lonely character, and all those other tropes are honoured.
“But there was this kind of lack of cynicism, and this belief in human beings that I thought was really just an interesting counterpoint to the life that he lives and what he sees and what he observes human beings doing to each other.”
Sugar takes inspiration from film noir, even peppering iconic scenes into the show.
However, the series has received very divisive reviews.
In addition to Farrell and Cromwell, the show also stars Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Sandman), Amy Ryan (The Wire), Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul), Nate Corddry (Mindhunter), Sydney Chandler (Don’t Worry Darling) and Alex Hernandez (Invasion).
The series was created by Mark Protosevich, and is directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God) and Adam Arkin (The Offer).