Alison Thornton Talks ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’ [Exclusive Interview]

BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency is unlike anything you’ve ever seen on television.

The new series is based on the science-fiction detective novels by Douglas Adams. I recently had the chance to speak with Alison Thornton, who plays the role of Lydia Spring, about her experience working on the show.

We also chatted about her hopes for future projects and how her role on another show, Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce, sparked her love of science.

Thornton’s journey as an actor began with dancing.

“I actually started as a dancer, and I had been doing that since I was five,” Thornton said.

“That just led to musical theater, which led to theater. Then I had a friend who was acting, and I thought that I would just try it out, and after my first job I completely fell in love with it. And as soon as I figured out that it was actually a possibility and people could actually do it as a career, I feel like I didn’t even need to think twice about it. It just — it clicked. And it became my passion.”

Acting was a natural fit for Thornton, who was ready to be an entertainer at a young age.

“I’ve been such a goof ever since I was tiny. I was always making videos for my parents and editing little movies together, and I was always dressing up. I remember whenever I went to camp during the summers, I would always put on an accent and pretend I was from another place just to see if i could get away with it. So I feel like I’ve always kind of been an actor, and I just love pretending to be someone else. I find it more fun than anything else in the world.”

For Thornton, becoming a part of Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency was a no brainer.

“I am a big fan of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” Thornton said, which made her excited to work on a Douglas Adams project.

“As soon as I read the breakdown and I realized it was Douglas Adams, I immediately wanted to be a part of it.” Thornton was even more excited after reading the script. “This is a job I really wanted.”

Thornton also shared a bit about her character’s story.

“My character is Lydia Spring, and she is the missing daughter of the billionaire Patrick Spring. She is at the center of a police investigation that Dirk and Todd pretty much hijack,” Thornton explained, though she didn’t want to give much else away.

She also talked a bit about what it’s like on set, from everyone gathering to sing songs in between takes to rooms that are filled with kittens!

“Whenever they would call cut, I would just run to the room with the kittens and play with them for as long as they would let me. I mean, it was just such a blast to work on. We all had such a great time.”

As for the kinds of things Thornton hopes to work on in the future, she has a lot of ideas.

“I would love to write scripts,” she said. “I would love to direct and produce. I think that would be a blast to have that kind a project.”

There are also several people Thornton dreams of being able to work with one day.

“I would love to work with so many people. Jennifer Lawrence, of course. Someone I really admire is Seth MacFarlane because he produces Cosmos, and I would love to produce a science show like that. I just think it’s such a great thing that he’s done with the power that he has,” she said.

Thornton also said she would love to work with Leonardo DiCaprio. “I really look up to those people, and I would love to work with them.”

In fact, Thornton’s interest in Cosmos comes from a general love of science. And that love of science came from working on Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce.

“I was on the set of Girlfriend’s Guide, and because I’m still in high school I had to — I was doing homework on set. I was complaining about atoms and stuff, and then Lisa Edelstein, the lead, she heard me complaining, and she actually went out and bought me a book called A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. She said, ‘Read this book. You’ll love science.’ And I did, and I just completely fell in love with it. So now I’m kind of a science geek.”

When Thornton isn’t busy working, she also takes the time to watch a few of her favorite shows. Current favorites include Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, though she said her all time favorite show was How I Met Your Mother.

Naturally, that led me to one final question. I had to ask how Thornton felt about that controversial series finale.

“I know that a lot people didn’t like it, but I feel like the entire show we knew that Ted and Robin had to be together,” she admitted. “Even in the seasons when they weren’t together, there was still some chemistry there.”

Be sure to catch Alison Thornton on Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, airing Saturdays at 9/8c on BBC America.

Featured image credit: Liz Rosa