Sense and Sensibility: Once more into the breeches, dear friends
Dec 11 2007 by Emma Johnson, Liverpool Daily Post
David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon, with the cast of the BBC's lavish new production of Sense and Sensibility _320
"I think it’s great," he says. "What Andrew does brilliantly is to dramatise what has been reported in the novel. I think that’s really important, and it gives a richness to the adaptation.
"It’s a full adaptation of the novel," he adds. "Even though I am a great fan of the film, I thought that it concentrated on the two girls and that it was a wonderful piece of work, but I think the TV adaptation is able to concentrate on the whole breadth of characters in the book."
While filming in Berkshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Devon, the Sense and Sensibility cast had to take their chances with the British weather. Morrissey – who also starred in Our Mutual Friend In The North, for the BBC – was at least familiar with the trials and tribulations of period costume. But he is not one to complain.
"What’s interesting about it is that, in our modern life, they’re slightly uncomfortable but, as soon as you’re riding a horse, or striding across a field, you realise why they were made," he laughs. "That’s quite comfortable. When you’re dancing, they’re quite restrictive, but that’s quite good for posture – posture was different then, and that’s important. But they give you a feel for the character which is really an advantage to you as an actor."
Having acted with such luminaries as Nicolas Cage and Bill Nighy, RADA-educated Morrissey is full of praise for his Sense and Sensibility co-stars, particularly Hattie Morahan, who plays Elinor Dashwood.
"It’s a great performance – I think she’s a fantastic actress," he says. "When I was working with her, I thought how wonderful she was in the story. Watching her, I think she’s a great actress. I know Janet McTeer, too, and I thought she was brilliant as well.
"I thought her interpretation of the mother was really excellent. She made her a real person with real concerns. She wasn’t a sort of flighty person, she was absolutely a grounded woman and I loved her performance – I thought she was great."
Starting out at the Everyman’s Youth Theatre, Morrissey made his TV debut in the film One Summer, about a pair of Liverpool runaways.
Since then, he has gone on to become one of the UK’s most dependable actors, on our screens both big and small almost constantly. His back catalogue contains many televisual highpoints including the recent Cape Wrath, the award-winning State of Play, Clocking Off and The Deal, not to mention some impressive film credits including among them Derailed and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.
However, he admits Basic Instinct 2, in his own words: "crashed and burned".
He’s even ventured behind the camera to try his hand at directing, with a number of films including Passer By, written by Tony Marchant and starring James Nesbitt, and Sweet Revenge, with fellow Liverpudlian Paul McGann and Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo.
He has also just finished filming his first feature film, The Pool, to be released in spring, 2008, which was filmed in the city at popular locations, including at the Gormley Statues in Crosby. "It was OK, but a bit low budget," he laughs of the project.
But, for now, it’s back to life in the 19th century – not that Morrissey thinks it is a time he would be desperate to live in.
"There is only one word that would dispel anyone’s desire to live in that century," he laughs, "and that’s dentistry! I think that’s what would make me go: ‘Actually, no, I don’t fancy it, really! I’m quite happy where I am, thank you!’"
* SENSE and Sensibility is on BBC1 from New Year’s Eve.
