Mark Strong has said he signed up to lead new TV show Deep State because he wanted to explore a character, at a time when cinemas are full of superhero movies.
The English actor, 54, plays a former spy in the forthcoming eight-part espionage thriller series and said it was “heaven” doing something character driven.
Asked if he made a conscious decision to lead a television series at this point, he told the Press Association: “Yeah. I think I love making movies, movies are great.
“But the movies that seem to be in the cinema at the moment are the big spectacle movies, the superhero movies.
“I’ve just done a couple of Kingsmans, I’m doing a movie at the moment called Shazam.
“They are incredibly technical experiences where you’re not even just making pieces of the jigsaw, you’re making pieces of the pieces of the jigsaw.
“It’s absolutely tiny stuff, there’s no real scenes to be played, not in a kind of movie of that type.
“So, to go back and do character development over eight hours was heaven sung.”
In Deep State, Strong plays ex-agent Max Easton, whose past comes back to haunt him.
The actor has played spy roles before in films such as Syriana and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and said he has picked up a few unusual skills.
“Weirdly, I can strip and build a sniper’s rifle with my eyes closed. Which is a real talent,” he said.
“I can also now ride horses, from learning on the job.
“So, I have a few hidden things I can do that I’ve learnt literally from the work I’ve done.”
Deep State premieres on Fox on Thursday April 5.
