| I
think the fact that Sam sees him like that is very important within
their relationship, so I felt he needed to remain an enigma. But, of
course, the writing is so good and when Gene talks about the details of
what happened to his brother, he's quite dismissive and aloof. Gene
doesn't do psychology.
Do
you think he's proud of his team? He does occasionally dish out the odd
compliment...
This
is why I always based him on a football manager because it's a very
similar thing. Brian Clough, for example, would never over-praise his
players, but when they won the European Cup everyone knew he was the
proudest man in the country and those were some of the proudest players
on the pitch.
It's
still apparent in current football managers, Sir Alex Ferguson, for
example, is training footballers who are paid £100,000 per week. Since
they're been paid a hell of a lot of money, you know he thinks: 'you get
out there and win the football match!
Gene's
the same as Ferguson and Clough but, obviously, with him it's about
catching criminals. Instead, Gene would say to his team: 'You bloody
well get out there and catch criminals. And I don't care how you get
them. There are some nasty bastards out there and I want them off the
streets.'
"In
that respect I agree with Gene, because if there are nasty bastards out
there, I don't care how he gets them off the streets. As you get older
you get less tolerant of these things.
Gene
is very protective of his patch, isn't he?
He's
Wyatt Earp; he's the Sheriff who wears the badge. When I've been asked
what genre you would put Life On Mars in, I say it's a Western. It's got
everything that a great Western has: the frontier, the town, the
characters and the Sheriff – and that Sheriff is Gene.
"Yes,
he does cut corners and he does see things in black and white, but I
still maintain that he keeps it in-house. You never see Gene really
picking on someone who is the wrong person. The only time I think he
goes over the top is with the suspected IRA bomber, in episode three.
Gene's
insensitive humour definitely makes people laugh, even when they
shouldn't...
I
love his subtlety! As an actor that stuff is great fun to play. However,
we all do laugh at his lines.That's a metaphor for life, in some
respects, the whole political correctness thing.
"I
was talking to a friend the other day and we said I haven't heard a
single person saying: 'isn't it marvellous that whole political
correctness thing?' It's just red tape and bureaucracy that gets in the
way.
How
do you feel about Life On Mars coming to an end?
Mixed
feelings, in a way. It was a great, great show to do, and Gene was a
wonderful character to play – probably the most fun I've ever had.
"It
was a great team, and part of the thing I love about a job is the
camaraderie of the crew and cast. When you're away from home they become
your family. We were very fortunate we had a phenomenal crew who worked
their backsides off.
|
