Crime thriller Culprits centres on Family man Joe Petrus is living the American dream with his fiancé and step-kids. However, unbeknownst to them, Joe was involved in a mysterious crime three years ago and now his dangerous past is about to catch up with him. When a killer starts targeting the crew behind the crime, Joe realises it’s only a matter of time before his family is targeted. He returns to London to track down his old gang and find out who is coming after them. The stellar British cast includes Nathan Stewart-Jarret, Niamh Algar, Gemma Arteton, Eddie Izzard, and Kirby.
Who is Joe?
He’s basically a bad guy who wants to be a good guy. He’s a person with morals but one who essentially does many, many bad things. He was a key part of the crime three years ago as ‘Muscle,’ your guy who gets it done, but since then he’s tried to – because he had to – rebuild his life with a new partner and his kids, living a suburban dream in America. And then the past comes back to haunt him. The thing with Joe is he’s always trying to do the right thing, tending towards ultimate goodness — but the make-up of that is often many bad things on the way.
What is Joe’s backstory?
There were a few bits of backstory in the actual text but not loads and loads, which meant there was a lot of filling in to do. Backstory is always a weird one because it’s often very personal — it’s stuff you dream up yourself. But I needed to anchor what had happened to Joe in his youth, which led him to the criminal underworld, essentially. And then what had happened to him so that he wanted to be out of it. I went back and thought about all of those things. I did a timeline and so on of what events occurred to lead him to the beginning of our story. It’s one of those things that most actors do you have these journals almost of a life that isn’t yours. You always go back to his parents and huge incidents that would happen in his childhood that would lead him from one path to another. I find that I can ground my character within that. And maybe you don’t think of it every day, but sometimes something wafts up in your memory that you can use.
Why did Joe want to do this one last job?
It’s almost like a gambling thing — like the psychology of an addict. One last hit, one last ride, one last drink or whatever that would be. I used to smoke and for months I was saying, ‘This is my last one.’ It went on for quite a while. It was about romanticizing that moment, putting weight on that moment; being unable to stop doing it. In this case, Joe is desperate to get out. There is a price on his head, and he must disappear. This is an escape route. So, it is one last job, but it means so much more because if he doesn’t pull it off — if he can’t get out — he probably will die. Kind of
like cigarettes.
What has he found in his new life that he loves?
I think there’s a simplicity to Joe’s life now that actually, to me, makes it really, really sad. To have gone through everything, all of that, to have done this massive crime and then to kind of settle in the suburbs with a small family, which is something that’s so accessible to so many people. It’s tragic that he had to go to that degree to get that. Reading and going through filming, seeing what other characters had in place before the crime often was families in suburbs. It makes it all rather sad that he was unable to build that prior to the crime. It’s really a great setup.
What was your initial take on the script?
It came in and there was a lot going on. My agent said, “You should read this thing,” and I dithered and then she said, “You really have to read this!” I think I opened it up and it said ‘Muscle’ on the first page. I was like, “Oh. No, no, no.” But then it only took five or six pages in for me to be going, ‘This is really amazing.’ And then wonderfully and unusually they had sent three episodes at once. J writes beautifully, rhythmically, and there was so much to grab on to with the character. The language and the text just flowed. And that’s sometimes unusual. And the part? I didn’t think I could do it. Which is always a huge attraction.
What happened next?
I got the part and they literally marched me to the gym! It’s weird, because there are certain things you can do and that are in your wheelhouse. I thought I can do text but this – there’s so much text. We’re talking about 10-page scenes, nine regularly. And then on top of that you’ve got so much action. And then on top of that you’ve got plot stuff. I was like, there’s so much there. I’ve had leads before, but not like this and there are easier leads to play. It’s also not a very showy role. So it’s how to navigate that — even though Joe talks a lot he’s quite a quiet character. How do you show that someone’s quiet when they’ve talked for 11 pages? There are so many contradictions and twists and turns. The sheer enormity of the task – incredible.
How did you approach the fact that Joe himself is playing several different roles in Culprits?
I think we play many parts in our lives and context changes everything. We code switch and that’s something that Joe does. I wouldn’t say that he plays roles, I would say that he just code switches constantly. There was a decision that he had to build a new life and a new persona. The best way to lie is to basically tell the truth: I think he truly believes and wants to be Joe, not David, the man he was. If he could build himself another life, this is who he would build.
How demanding was the role physically?
It was ridiculous! I lived in that gym. I ate whole cows daily. And coops of chickens and eggs. It was really hard. But weirdly it played into the internal transformation as well. Actually going through that process, getting up at 4.45am, getting to the gym, then going to set – my body changing was part of the process. And it really helped. I got stronger, became more tired, achy, whatever it was, but I felt in my body in a different way. And then you’ve got the fight scenes, the carrying — I’ve physically carried so many people in the show. I wouldn’t have been able to do that before. To be able to pick someone up in that way grown men was kind of incredible. I’ve never carried anyone in my theatre work! I’ve never had to transform my body in this way before. And I’ve loved it.
There’s a high stakes robbery involved in Culprits but J Blakeson has described it as not a heist show. How do you think it plays with this genre?
You could say it humanises it… inverts it. Our story follows the aftermath, the fallout of
this robbery. It’s told in reverse order and it’s kind of amazing. I do think it personalises the genre — J’s idea was to focus on a character that is usually overlooked. The ‘muscle’ in this genre is often somebody who stays in the background and if they’re lucky they get a line. To focus on that person and what they want, I think is incredibly interesting. Also, what Joe wants is love. His family, the love of Jules [played by Kevin Vidal] and at the heart of that, these two men of colour, engaged, with these two children. To have that at the centre of this story, in this genre, is very unusual.
How closely did you work with Kevin, who plays Jules?
What was great was there was time to talk to Kevin, find out about each other, which is really important in building a textured relationship. We also, at the beginning of the shoot, filmed in Jules and Joe’s house for two and a half weeks straight, so that embedded that relationship further. We took over this house in the Toronto suburbs and it was our house: I showered in there, had naps in the bedroom, brushed my teeth — we literally moved into that house. Not to get too Blue Valentine but that was really useful to anchor me and us with each other in that story.
How have you found working with J Blakeson as both writer and director?
In theatre and independent film, you have the writer there. In television you have it too sometimes but it’s often in a very distant way. With J, if something isn’t working you can change it in real time or discuss what a moment means and where it’s come from. And that’s been really incredible. Because there was a lot to say, a lot to do. And he’s so detail oriented. So, it’s about colour, the symmetry, the fabric, texture, he’s got a hugely cinematic vision. He’s incredible.
