Ewen Leslie Previews ‘The Gloaming’ [Interview]

A haunting murder case brings two detectives with tragic past back together on the upcoming series, The Gloaming. As Alex O’Connell and Molly McGee work together to find the truth, their fate is coerced by the ghosts of the unsettled dead that linger in the liminal space between life and death.

Ewen Leslie, who plays the role of Alex O’Connell, recently took the time to answer a few questions for us about his work on The Gloaming and what viewers can expect from the series, which premieres this Sunday on STARZ.

Tell-Tale TV: What made you excited to be a part of this project initially?

Ewen Leslie: I’d seen The Kettering Incident that Vicki Madden had previously created. You could make parallels to other shows, but ultimately it was its own beast. I knew that even though The Gloaming was working within a ’Scandic-Noir’ mold that it would also be out of the box.

The initial scripts I read took turns I didn’t expect them to, and the ones I did expect happened at times I didn’t. I was also a massive fan of Emma Booth and had wanted to work with her for a long time.

I could also see that beyond the police mystery Vicki was interested in making a character-driven show with a complicated and broken relationship at the heart of it. Finally, I knew Tasmania would be an amazing place to set a show like this. It’s such a haunted landscape and I thought it would bring a lot to the story.

Tell-Tale TV: What are you most proud of when it comes to this series so far?

Leslie: I’m proud of the relationship at the center of it. I had an amazing time working with Emma. She’s very easy to work with as she’s very reactive and works very much on instinct. She’ll go with whatever you throw at her.

Vicki had charted a very clear journey for these characters and she cared a lot about them. I was really lucky that Emma was my partner on it. She’s extraordinary.

Tell-Tale TV: Alex O’Connell is clearly a complex character. What can you tell us about him, and what do you like about him most?

Leslie: He’s someone who witnessed a horrible murder when he was 17 and left Tasmania for the mainland. He’s never been back and has spent the last twenty years running from his past.

He likes to be in control. He doesn’t like to let his guard down. I think he feels responsible for what happened and wants to spend his life helping people and making sure it never happens again.

He’s sent back to work on a case in Tasmania that has strong ties to the murder he witnessed in his youth. He’s also partnered with Molly, the girl he ran away from 20 years ago. I really liked the journey that he went on confronting his demons.

Tell-Tale TV: What would you say has been the biggest challenge in playing this role?

Leslie: He’s someone that’s very broken and carries a lot of baggage. He’s tricky in that he’s very closed off and insular but also very vulnerable and damaged. It’s a fine line trying to find the moments where he holds his cards close and the places he’s more available and open.

Vicki had done a lot of that work on the page but a lot of the time it was more about what isn’t being said. The moments that exist between the lines. Again I was very lucky to have Emma who also faced similar challenges with Molly.

Tell-Tale TV: What can we expect from the dynamic between Alex and Molly? How complicated is their relationship?

Leslie: They [are] both carrying a huge amount of baggage and there’s a lot of hurt there. He’s dealing with the trauma of what he experienced years ago and she’s dealing with his betrayal in just abandoning her.

I think initially they feel they’ll just solve the case, keep it professional, and move on with their lives. When it’s revealed the case has strong ties to their past they begin to realize it’s inescapable. You may be done with the past but past isn’t done with you.

There’s a huge amount of love there but also a huge amount of pain. They’re both navigating that, and of course not always that well.

Tell-Tale TV: There’s a supernatural element to The Gloaming. How much should viewers brace themselves for this?

Leslie: The second Alex arrives, these spirits start closing in on him. There’s the literal ghosts that are haunting him and the figurative ghost of his past that he needs to confront. Things certainly escalate as the show progresses, and there’s certainly some scary moments.

Tell-Tale TV: What’s been the most fun thing about working on The Gloaming?

Leslie: Beyond working with such great people on great material, working in Tasmania was extraordinary. It’s such a beautiful, haunted place and was a very special experience getting to work and live there.

In many ways, it’s the star of the show. I remember when I first landed I saw this low-hanging fog obscuring these beautiful mountains and I thought ‘that’s the show!’ It’s about what you can’t see on the surface and the blurring between what is real and imagined.

It’s the perfect location for this show and one that hasn’t really been showcased that much before. Especially for an international audience.

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The Gloaming premieres Sunday, March 21st at 9/8c on STARZ.

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