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The Missing: “Something that we fear the most”

To play the father of a missing son, James Nesbitt surrounded himself with photos, police reports and newspaper articles.

TheMissing_02 (1)You always know from watching James Nesbitt on screen that he takes things very seriously.

From Cold Feet, Murphy’s Law, Jekyll, Bloody Sunday and The Hobbit, he is always committed and -if the role calls for it- sometimes intense.

In playing The Missing‘s Tony Hughes, a father obsessed with finding his missing son, Oliver, the role required him to go the extra mile.

“I lived in an apartment instead of the usual hotel with the rest of the cast and crew. I got the Art Department to give me everything Tony had at his disposal: newspaper articles, police reports, photos of Oliver, items of his clothing. I turned my apartment into a Tony den,” he said.

Australian actress Frances O’Connor plays wife and mother, Emily. Filming in Brussels over 5 months, the BBC drama is set in both 2014, scenes filmed first, and 2006 when Oliver disappears.

“The climate matched where Tony was psychologically: very bleak, grey and dark, isolated and cold. And because we had ‘separated’ by that stage we were able to play those scenes with antagonism and anger more easily. We didn’t really know each other so we were able to ‘go’ at each other,” Nesbitt recalled.

“When we filmed 2006 we were able to present as a united family. We knew each other having spent 3 months of tricky filming and we had time to get to know the little boy.

“We were afforded the luxury of a rehearsal period so it became apparent that I had to do my job and immerse myself in the role. To locate Tony’s anguish and to be able to plot that arc and journey it really meant being getting to know him well. So I lived his life, in a way.”

Currently screening in the UK, the series is written by brothers Harry and Jack Williams and has attracted rave reviews. Nesbitt admits it was a role he fought for with his agent.

“By the end of the second page I rang her and said ‘We’ve got to fight for this.’ It was just so truthful, compelling and arresting,” he continued.

“It has intelligent writing, we were lucky enough to have the same director for all 8 episodes, and writers and a strong cast. Frances O’Connor is wonderful.

“It taps into something that is in both the conscious and the subconscious. As parents it’s something that we fear most, but somewhere that we have to express (it). So this gives us the opportunity to project that fear happening.”

But references to the famed Madeleine McCann case are kept at arms length for the actor. Nesbitt says the themes of loss, fear and guilt are universal.

“I felt it was something we’re aware of. We either repress it in our subconscious or we’re aware of high profile cases –one in particular,” he explained.

“Playing the role I thought I would use my own parenting experience and that would be how I would locate it. But truthfully if you try to imagine that happening to your own children you can’t. There’s a self-defense mechanism that blows the shockers off.”

Set across two time periods, The Missing sees Tony and Emily deeply affected by the loss of their son.

The intensity of the role also affected Nesbitt, a father of two himself.

“Because it is written so truthfully you cannot help but be affected by it. When I still think about it and talk about it I find it quite difficult because I was so involved in the character,” he admitted.

“But that’s the privilege of my job and the discipline of the craft.

“The very thing that has destroyed (Tony) is the only thing that keeps him going and gets him up in the morning for 8 years. (Emily) has had to react in a different way.

“It’s so unfair that the worst thing that has happened to them they can’t even share.”

Also starring Tchéky Karyo as French police detective Julien Baptiste, the 8 part series is directed by Tom Shankland (Ripper Street, Dirk Gently, The Fades) and debuts on BBC First with a double episode.

“I hope Australia is as gripped by it as the UK.”

The Missing premieres 8:30pm Sunday on BBC First.

3 Responses

  1. Nesbitt’s acting in this is brilliant. It is actually very harrowing to watch, especially the scene where the boy goes missing. Yet another addictive BBC First program – I almost need to give up full-time work to fit them all in!

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