Creating a New Holmes
Curious about casting the leads for the show, I asked Doherty about his process. Explaining to me that unlike many writers, he really doesn’t write with any specific casting in his mind’s eye. “The two absolute requirements for me,” he said, “were that Sherlock be British and that Watson be a woman. Otherwise, everything else was fair game.” Doherty got his wish, with the English Miller and the accomplished Lucy Liu (The Man with the Iron Fists) in the pivotal role of Joan Watson.
Once the network decided to go for the pilot, Doherty was sent a list of actors’ names for consideration. “Right up at the top was Jonny. Part of me was embarrassed that it hadn’t occurred to me [before], because I’d always been a huge fan, have watched him in movies. Really loved him in [the television series] Eli Stone a few years ago; it can be trickier to be a star of television in that you’re being invited into somebody’s living room every week.”
Doherty had been “blown away” by Miller’s movie performances, “but I’d never seen him in sort of a steady gig like Eli Stone. And I thought he was incredible,” he said. “As soon as I saw his name, for me it was just a no-brainer slam dunk choice. And very thankfully for all of us, it worked out. We were able to get him.” Physically, Miller fits Conan Doyle's description of Holmes perfectly: a "thin wiry, dark" man, "with a high-nosed acute face, penetrating gray eyes, angular shoulders."
Miller shades his interior portrayal of Holmes in many hues. He is distant and arrogant, but can surprise us with a quick second or two of unexpected emotion. In the last episode, for instance, there is a moment in which Holmes comforts an captive Chechen woman after freeing her from a locked room.
She speaks no English, and Holmes, proficient in her native language, reassures her before embracing her protectively. It’s not the type of moment we might expect from Holmes, but it’s very informative of what both Doherty—and Miller—perceive of Holmes emotional life. “I must credit Jonny in that he can make those switches,” offered Doherty. “Holmes can be alien and other and off-putting and strange. And moments later hold a victim and give her comfort, and you never question that it’s the same guy. Jonny just has this knack for—he’s just found so many different shades for Sherlock. Like I said, it’s been fun for me to watch him build the man.”
Article comments
1 - Lucy H.
Great interview, thanks. I was hoping that "M" episode title that we saw in a photo the staff tweeted meant Moriarty was coming up. Looking forward to that.
2 - barbara barnett
Thanks Lucy! I'm guessing that's the "M" episode :)
3 - Lucy H.
By the way, I heard you say the other day that you're watching Eli Stone but it's a little too sweet for your taste. ... I can relate, although I do think it was quite an admirable show and a nice attempt to do some innovative things.
For anybody who's curious about the range of JLM's acting skills and the depth of his emotional reserves (and if you can stand BBC costume dramas), I recommend the distinctly non-sweet BBC two-part mini-series Byron. Not the best written thing in the world, but available on Netflix and extremely well acted, by Miller especially, but also by the rest of an amazing cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Little and Philip Glenister.
4 - barbara barnett
I'm enjoying Eli Stone very much (sweet as it is). JLM is quite good. I really enjoyed him Plunkett and Macleane as well (a bit bizarre of a movie, but with the benefit of putting him together with one of very favorite actors, Robert Carlyle) ;)
5 - Lucy H.
I really like RC as well. It was nice to see him get such a cool show as Once Upon a Time -- and I think he's great in it.
I find myself recommending Plunkett and Macleane when somebody asks me if I can think of anything that's just silly, escapist fun. Liv Tyler aside, the cast there can't be beat, and I think the Hogarth-meets-MTV approach actually works great for the story. Never could figure out why it got such terrible reviews. RC and JLM may have had some fun making it, at least, I'm guessing, though, doing a lot of improvising and such. I seem to remember an interview in which RC said that he wondered where his and JLM's writing credits were for P&M. They're both pretty funny guys.
6 - Resa Haile
Just a note to say that it hasn't actually been a hundred years since Doyle stopped writing the Holmes story; the last one was published in the *Strand* magazine in 1927. Very interesting interview, though.
7 - Resa Haile
I meant "the Holmes stories," although "the Holmes story" makes Watson's tales sound like one long biography, which, in a sense, they were.
8 - barbara barnett
Point taken Resa. I'll make that correction.
Lucy--just posted my review of Carlyle's new movie--and an interview with the director (he talks alot about RC's improvising ;))
The more I see of JLM, the more I like him. Plunkett & Macleane is just a great lot of fun!
9 - Josh Porter
Thanks Resa for the correction. I am working on my school project about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Your comment definitely saved me from a lot of embarrassment.
You are the best!