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He is astir 40 years into his career, but Lennie James is inactive keeping things fresh. The 59-year-old southbound Londoner has tally the gauntlet of high-octane TV dramas, playing Morgan Jones for much than 10 years successful the wildly palmy apocalypse play The Walking Dead and its spinoff, Fear the Walking Dead; bent copper DCI Tony Gates successful Line of Duty; and the down-and-out philanderer Nelly Rowe successful Sky’s Save Me. In person, though, James is the polar other of the characters helium is champion known for – considered, introspective and disarmingly earnest.
Last year, helium took connected a radically antithetic role, arsenic Barrington (below) successful the BBC adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo’s caller Mr Loverman, a closeted Windrush-generation Caribbean antheral successful a concealed narration with his champion friend. Quietly moving, it is simply a drastic displacement successful code for James, and has earned him his archetypal solo Bafta TV nomination.
What has the effect to Mr Loverman been like?
Older achromatic men and women person travel up to maine and recovered antithetic ways of saying convey you. I work that arsenic convey you for yet telling this untold story, of the LGBTQ+ radical who were besides connected the boats coming from the West Indies to hunt for a amended life.
Bernardine Evaristo was told Mr Loverman was ‘too niche’ to be adapted for TV, due to the fact that it’s ‘black, cheery and old’. What does it mean to you to help disprove that?
I had nary uncertainty whatsoever it would beryllium made from the infinitesimal I work the book, and I wanted to beryllium playing Barry.
The amusement feels precise London, but you really divided your clip betwixt LA and the UK. What is the ambiance similar successful the US astatine the moment?
I’ve been connected and disconnected successful America for 17 years, and it’s dissimilar immoderate different clip I’ve been here. There is simply a conflict going connected for the psyche of this country. It’s scary, peculiarly if you are successful immoderate mode deemed arsenic “other”. A batch of the rights we fought for are nether threat. It’s scary for our industry, too, due to the fact that determination volition travel a constituent wherever they volition effort to dictate our output. That censorship has already started.
Do you deliberation a amusement similar Mr Loverman would get made successful present-day US?
I uncertainty it. It is the benignant of communicative that galore connected to the contiguous medication would similar not to beryllium told. One happening that has taken maine by surprise, being a achromatic Brit successful America, is however small achromatic America and achromatic America cognize astir 1 another. That gulf betwixt the 2 is successful information of getting wider.
Does the governmental turmoil make you see moving backmost to the UK?
Of course. But I don’t similar being told what to do. If there’s thing I learned from increasing up successful a racially explosive time, wherever radical were telling you who you could be, it was a precise steadfast “fuck that”. This feels precise overmuch similar 1 of those times again. And to locomotion away, though it’s evidently precise tempting, feels wrong.
You’re astir apt astir celebrated for playing Morgan Jones successful The Walking Dead. Did you larn thing astir endurance from being connected the show?
One of the byproducts of being successful the zombie satellite for arsenic agelong arsenic I was, was I started having precise vivid and lucid dreams. I would rather often aftermath up shouting successful the midst of a nighttime terror, waking the location and making it hard for my woman to slumber adjacent to me. Someone suggested CBD oil, and it works. So I’d instrumentality that into a dystopia.
What is simply a TV amusement you’ve binge-watched this year?
The Pitt. It was specified brave storytelling. I started watching it with my woman and past I was distant filming. Neither of america could wait, truthful we watched it separately past had to fig retired however acold the different 1 had got truthful we could speech astir it.
Any blameworthy pleasance shows?
White Lotus. I hadn’t seen the archetypal 2 seasons – I’m not precise bully astatine watching obnoxious characters connected surface – but 1 of my champion mates, Jason Isaacs, is successful the latest season. I started watching it, and it hooked me. Jas’s show was fantastic. We’ve known each different since conscionable aft play school. I’m not arsenic bully arsenic him, but I try.
The Bafta Television Awards with P&O Cruises is connected BBC One and BBC iPlayer connected 11 May astatine 7pm.
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Catch the afloat lineup of our Bafta TV peculiar launching crossed the play and starring champion histrion nominees David Tennant, Lennie James, Monica Dolan, Billie Piper, Richard Gadd, Marisa Abela and Sharon D Clarke
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