Exclusive Interview with Shetland Star Douglas Henshall
By Sandro Monetti
As popular for its stunning scenery as its suspenseful mysteries, British crime drama series “Shetland” is back with all new episodes.
Returning to US screens on KCET from July 9, the show stars Douglas Henshall as Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez who solves crimes in the beautiful but remote Shetland Islands in Scotland.
The 52-year-old Scottish actor, known for a string of roles from Primeval to Outlander, talks to our Sandro Monetti about the series becoming so popular on both sides of the pond and why he fancies being the next UK star to crack America.
How much does your show’s unique setting contribute to its success?
I love that people all over the world are getting to see how beautiful the isles are through our stories and may get encouraged to visit and explore for themselves. It’s safer than it looks in our show! I think it’s interesting how people interact with their landscape and our stories are all anchored in where they take place and the benefits and challenges that presents. It may surprise you to know that Shetland isn’t as Scottish as you would think. Both Orkney and Shetland were Danish until the mid-15th century and were mortgaged to Scotland as part of a marriage treaty between James II of Scotland and Princess Margaret of Denmark. A lot of the people there now still think of themselves as more Norse than Scots. They’re Vikings!
Do American audiences respond to the show differently than British fans?
The support that the show has had both online and personally has been quite overwhelming from audiences worldwide. I suppose the main difference is that Americans seem to pay more attention to the scenery than Brits do which I guess is natural.
Where do you stand on the debate of which is better between British and American TV?
There are great merits in both British and American TV. I guess what people tend to like are those things that seem different or exotic to their own experience. Also we only see maybe the top 5% of each other’s tv and judge each other on that, ignoring the enormous amount of stinkers we both make.
You are in an enviable space as an actor to have done so many different roles, and been great every time, without ever being typecast. Has this been a deliberate strategy?
First of all thank you. I wanted to explore myself as much as possible through acting and the only way I saw of doing that was to play as many different types of people as I could. The benefits of that were that to a degree I avoided being typecast but the downside to that was that some people didn’t know where to place me so I maybe missed out on some things that I could’ve done. Having said all that I seem to have played a lot of policeman lately, however given how much crime drama is commissioned these days I suppose it’s unavoidable and I’m lucky in that I really like the one I’m playing.
What are both the challenges and opportunities of playing a nice guy detective?
The challenge is to try and make being a decent guy trying to do the right thing interesting. And I think the opportunity is to show that those qualities are difficult to maintain and come at a cost.
In this era of Me Too and Time’s Up, is DI Perez a good role model for men?
I could say a lot about this. Jimmy Perez is a feminist in the basic sense that he genuinely likes women and I think one of the things that #MeToo has highlighted, is that there are a disturbing number of men who don’t.
What ambitions remain for you in your career and are there any particular roles you long for out here in Hollywood?
To keep working and to remain relevant as an actor is about all I wish for. I would love to work in America. I think Deadwood was probably my favorite ever American tv show so if David Milch is reading this can I please come and work with you?
New episodes of Shetland will be screened on KCET each Monday at 9pm PT from July 9.
