‘I can’t wait to work with Rihanna!’ Actor Freddie Highmore talks about his bright future and staying grounded
Actors fall over themselves to appear in Stephen Poliakoff’s dramas. And, the BBC are so proud to be working with the award-winning writer/director, their trailers make sure we’re aware that their new period drama is, indeed, Stephen Poliakoff’s Close To The Enemy.
Set in the rubble of post-World War II London, the seven-part series boasts his most impressive cast yet.
“It was lovely to work with such a huge cast and I was pretty star-struck at times,” admits actor Freddie Highmore, 24, who shares the screen with the likes of Jim Sturgess, Robert Glenister, Alfie Allen, Angela Bassett and Alfred Molina.
“Angela is incredible, but I didn’t get many scenes with her, sadly, and Alfred was wonderful to work with. I’m a fan of Alfie’s too, though I have never seen an episode of Game Of Thrones. I’m still working my way through The Sopranos!”
Close To The Enemy is mostly set in a bomb-damaged London hotel and revolves around intelligence officer Captain Callum Ferguson (Jim Sturgess), whose final job for the Army is to make sure a captured German scientist starts working for the British side, developing the jet engine for the RAF.
“Jim’s character thinks it’s pointless locking up Nazis if they had skills that could be used for the advantage of Britain,” explains Freddie, who first found fame as a child star in Finding Neverland and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.
“It asks the question: ‘To what extent is a bit of evil going to be accepted, as long as it is for the greater good?’”
Freddie plays Callum’s dysfunctional brother Victor, who struggles with post traumatic stress disorder following the war.
This leads to a drink dependency and fuels two fight scenes in the first episode.
“They are all very well choreographed, but I don’t know anyone who does a fight scene and doesn’t get injured,” smiles Freddie.
“The guy I took down was a stunt person who told me to just go for it and do what I wanted to do – and of course you want to go for it!”
For Freddie, the role of Victor is a million miles from the twisted world of Norman Bates in TV drama Bates Motel.
“The chance to do something different was one of the things that appealed to me with this, and I enjoyed getting my braces on for a period role too,” Freddie explains. “The clothes were actually very comfy.”
By the time Close To The Enemy hits screens this week after shooting earlier in the year in Liverpool, London-born Freddie will be back in Vancouver filming the fifth and final series of Bates Motel.
“It will be bittersweet to say goodbye but we still have a whole season’s worth of work to do,” he admits. “I’m writing and directing an episode as well, so it doesn’t feel like the end yet.”
There’s also the coup of pop star Rihanna joining the cast as Marion Crane, the ill-fated woman (immortalised by Janet Leigh in the classic 1960 movie) who Norman stabbed to death in that infamous shower scene.
“I can’t wait to work with Rihanna,” grins Freddie. “I am friends with [French filmmaker] Luc Besson, who has just directed her in a big sci-fi movie called Valerian, and he was telling me how wonderful she was to work with.”
When Bates Motel wraps early next year, Freddie is keen to sink his teeth into something different yet again – “I’d love to do more comedy” – but one thing is for sure: he will never permanently up sticks to Hollywood.
“One of the reasons I never went off the rails, despite getting into the industry from a young age, is that I have always felt very grounded by my family and I’ve lived in London rather than moving to LA,” he reveals.
“You see through the façade and the illusion of the film industry when you are outside of it.”
NEW! Close To The Enemy, Thursday 9pm, BBC Two
Don't know what to watch tonight? Get your daily guide to What's On TV from The Sun Online
READ MORE:
Could Bruno Tonioli follow Len Goodman out of the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom?