Entertainment

Something of the night about Hugh Laurie in new John le Carre adaptation

He was dubbed TV's most-watched man in House, but can Hugh Laurie score the same glory with BBC One's new adaptation The Night Manager? Gemma Dunn catches up with the lovable bumbling actor

Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager, which begins on BBC One on Sunday
Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager, which begins on BBC One on Sunday Hugh Laurie in The Night Manager, which begins on BBC One on Sunday

BEING described as 'the worst man in the world' may be a hard pill to swallow, but if it meant actor Hugh Laurie was in any capacity involved with BBC One's adaptation of The Night Manager, it was a cross he was willing to bear.

"Interested doesn't really cover it," says the 56-year-old. "I told the producers that I would be happy to take any job on the production, as actor, caterer - anything I could do to make it go."

An adaptation of John le Carre's 1993 thriller novel - and the first television adaptation of a le Carre novel in more than 20 years - the contemporary espionage drama is directed by Oscar-winner Susanne Bier.

It follows former British soldier Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), who is recruited by intelligence operative Angela Burr (Olivia Colman) to infiltrate the inner circle of international businessman Richard Onslow Roper (Laurie), and detonate the unholy alliance he has ministered between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. For fan Laurie, it's a story he's long had in his sights.

"I was a devoted admirer of le Carre from a very young age. I worried, as a lot of admirers of le Carre also worried I'm sure, that at the end of the Cold War, not only would there be a lot of unemployed spies, there would also be a lot of unemployed spy writers.

"But then I read this, and I found it endlessly intriguing - mythic almost," he adds of The Night Manager. "About three chapters in, I actually resolved to try - and I'd never done this before, or since - to option the book in the role of producer, which it turns out I am absolutely pathetic at.

"I always believed this story was irresistibly noble, thrilling and important. There's a righteous anger about le Carre's writing in this particular story."

Two decades on and the Oxford-born star - who has three children with his wife, theatre administrator Jo Green - is excited to play baddie Roper, although he has no qualms admitting he "once rather arrogantly dreamt of the possibility of playing Pine: the errant knight roaming the landscape, looking for a cause, a flag to fight for. Better still, to die for".

"Now I've had to sit back and watch Tom Hiddleston be viral and charming and it's f**king galling to watch," he adds, laughing.

But does Laurie - the bumbling, well-born and educated Brit who's gone from starring alongside lifelong friend Stephen Fry in various comedy sketch shows to a multi-award-winning US actor known for his portrayal of antisocial Dr Gregory House in US drama series House - have the malice to pull off the role of evil arms dealer?

"Villainy is a much represented characteristic; it serves a purpose in all good storytelling and is a very well-trodden path," says the Cambridge-educated actor.

"Richard Roper had always been incredibly vivid in my mind, from the novel to the script. To describe someone as 'the worst man in the world', what does that really mean? Are we talking about intention, because there may be lots of incredibly villainous people out there who mean harm but are incapable of executing it.

"It's an absolutely fascinating exploration, and I think this about so much of le Carre's writing. His stories transcend the notion of genre; he uses the world of the spy and the intelligence business to examine profound questions," Laurie continues. "I hope we do it justice."

As the series moves on, Pine must withstand the suspicious interrogations of Roper's venal chief of staff Major Corcoran (Tom Hollander) and the allure of his beautiful girlfriend Jed (Elizabeth Debicki) to get to the heart of Roper's vast empire - a quest that took the cast to a number of luxurious spots.

"You see, this is why people hate actors - one of the reasons, anyway - because there is no reason why I should get to sit in a beautiful place. None. Undeserved," Laurie retorts.

"Not a day went by without a member of the cast saying, 'I can't believe that I am actually here doing this'. It's our good fortune to be playing characters that live a very luxurious, jet-setter life and that means, in order to do it, we have to live it. It's hard, it's gruelling..."

:: The Night Manager begins on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm