James Norton tells Chris Evans about playing Happy Valley villain
Actor James Norton joined Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio Breakfast Show this morning.
He was there to talk about returning as Tommy Lee Royce in the hotly anticipated third and final series of Happy Valley.
It’s six years since series two ended and the third launches on New Year’s Day on BBC One. James returns to play psychopath and violent criminal Tommy, who has been in prison since series one.
He told Chris: “Basically all the characters have moved on and a lot has happened in seven years, obviously. For Tommy, his life’s been pretty small.
“He’s been obsessing about two parts of his life: the son he loves and the woman he hates, and he’s becoming more and more obsessed about those two different binary aims.”
The new series will see Sarah Lancashire’s Sergeant, Catherine Cawood discover the remains of a murder victim in a reservoir, and a chain of events is sparked that leads her straight back to Tommy.
On getting back into Tommy’s head, the actor said: “It’s always slightly dark and yet there’s something quite enticing about it, because we all get drawn to the subversive, dark fringes of humanity, and Tommy is fascinating.
“So, I love it, but do I love him? I mean, I love the experience of making the show. I love the people, Sally [Wainwright, creator] is the best, I think, at drama, at dialogue, Sarah Lancashire is obviously the queen.”
He added: “Tommy is your distant friend who you despise but you can’t tear yourself away from.”
Describing the “unique” character, James explained: “What Sally often says to me is, even though he’s kind of this horrible, monstrous, terrifying presence, he’s also a child. He’s infantilised by his trauma which he experienced, and he can’t get rid of that, and no-one has ever helped him, so he’s got a lot of problems. And so we try to find these moments where we eke out this little boy, the toddler.”
With the BAFTA-winning drama set to finish for good at the end of this upcoming third series, James said: “As far as the way this big trilogy of Happy Valley, the three series, has come to its conclusion, I don’t think people are going to be disappointed.”
Away from Happy Valley, bookies have given James 10/1 odds of being cast as the next James Bond. However, the acting star was quick to pour cold water on rumours that he is set to slip into 007’s tuxedo. He said: “It’s all noise, and it’s still bemusing, I will never get fully used to it, but it’s nonsense.”
The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with Sky can be heard weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio.