Theo James (‘The Gentlemen’) wanted ‘to do the opposite’ of his ‘The White Lotus’ character: ‘I like the paradox’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
Fresh off his 2023 Emmy nomination for playing Cameron Sullivan in “The White Lotus,” Theo James is back in the mix for Netflix’s hit comedy series “The Gentlemen.” He plays Eddie Horniman, an aristocrat who inherits the family estate, discovering that it’s home to a huge weed empire, and its proprietors aren’t going anywhere.
“I wanted to do the opposite of Cameron,” he tells Gold Derby in our recent webchat. “Cameron is larger than life, high energy. To me, he represented America, Americana. You can do anything. You can build anything. He’s duplicitous, but charming. Eddie is the opposite. He’s ‘British-isms’ kind of summed up in many ways. He’s tactical, very quiet, deep-seated in old-school British tradition. So I like the paradox between those two characters. Even in body language, Cameron’s… He’s drinking it all in. Eddie is the opposite. He’s very focused. He’s economical with his movement. He pauses before he speaks a lot of the time because he’s assessing and listening.” Watch our full video interview above.
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“The Gentlemen” was created by Guy Ritchie and is a spin-off of the director’s 2019 film of the same name. It stars Daniel Ings as Freddy, Eddie’s older brother who is passed over in their father’s will, leaving Eddie the sole heir of the 15,000-acre estate and title Duke of Halstead. Kaya Scodelario stars as Susie Glass, Eddie’s nemesis and the de facto head of her father, Bobby Glass’ criminal syndicate while he is in prison.
“He created a very specific genre, sub-genre, of British film,” James says of Ritchie. “And there’s a sleekness, a coolness, a dry humor that Guy has, which I’ve always enjoyed. And I also like the idea of him in long form because we’re just so used to seeing Guy’s movies as a bombastic 120 minutes, whereas a story that he can give a bit more breadth and a bit more a piece of him because the story is very much a piece of him.”
James says playing with Eddie’s morality was tricky because he’s supposed to be someone we identify with, a good and moral person, and then his morality gets tested. “How does he come out of that test?” he asks. “I always wanted him at the end of season one, and who knows what the future holds, but for him to have gone deeper down into the deadly darkness of amorality. I wanted him to be tested more, but I think Guy was reticent for him to be too dark too soon.”
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