Jamie Bell has never been one to get typecast, and in new Apple TV+ show Shining Girls he treads into a more villainous role than ever before.
Bell plays serial killer Harper Curtis in the thriller series, which sees Elisabeth Moss’ character Kirby living in a constantly shifting reality following a traumatic assault by Harper. Kirby teams up with veteran reporter Dan Velazquez (played by Narcos star Wagner Moura) to try to uncover the truth.
Speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com about his character, Bell said: “It felt like something I could really sink my teeth into, it’s a very different kind of role than I’d really done before. I’ve had other journalists describe my career as like a pinball machine – Billy Elliot, Tintin, this, Nymphomaniac – these very, very bizarre things.
“But I think as an actor, you’re always kind of like exploring, right? You’re always poking around in dark little areas and seeing how far you can push yourself, and what kind of things people are willing to accept you in. Obviously the character never sees himself as a villain, so even though with a character like this it’s incredibly difficult, you’re always trying to find the thing that is human about him.”
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He added: “If you don’t, the fear is that the character always comes across as one note, as a kind of ominous, almost Michael Myers-y Boogeyman. My thing was always like, don’t play what the scene is saying in the script. So if the scene is like, he’s meant to be ominous and imposing and scary, it’s a romantic scene for you. You do the opposite of that.”
Bell’s castmate Moura, who plays Dan in the series, said that Bell himself “is so funny” but that “when you see him playing Harper, it’s so creepy.”
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Meanwhile Michelle MacLaren (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad), executive producer and director of the first two episodes, called Bell “a brilliant actor” and said “the thing about Harper is, Harper has to have vulnerability. He is insecure. So Jamie had to bring a complex level of vulnerability, anger and force with him, and he does it absolutely brilliantly.”
She continued: “He, like Lizzie [Moss], is an incredible collaborator, and he has so many levels of intricacy to him that as a director makes it really fun to work with him.”
The first three episodes of Shining Girls are available to watch on AppleTV+ now, with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays. Sign up to Apple TV Plus now. Visit our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide.
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