It’s a moment most actors would dream of – getting the seal of approval from James Bond himself to be 007.
Tom Ellis certainly has the swagger to pull off the international man of mystery. He played the love of Miranda Hart’s life in her heartwarming sitcom. Became the silver-tongued Lord of Hell in Lucifer, a role that made him a global star. And now, he’s entered the world of espionage in new police drama CIA, bringing British charm to his rebellious spy Colin Glass.
‘When I got the script, the character of Colin was this enigmatic tinderbox of many things that he has to sit on. The more research I did about the CIA, the more interested I was in playing him,’ the Welsh actor tells Metro.
‘We had a couple of ex-operatives in the writers’ room that were used for advising and for storylines as well. My overwhelming takeaway was I can’t believe that they actually do the things they do and they put themselves in the situations that they do. You have to be kind of like a sociopath to work in this department.
‘The big thing that really resonated with me was the lonely existence that it is. You can’t tell your family about it, your inner circle of trust is maybe one or two people, so you don’t have any relief from it. How that makes people behave… I find it fascinating.’
In CIA, Colin is a loose cannon. His rebellious streak is a far cry from the straight-laced approach of FBI agent Bill Goodman (Nick Gehlfuss), which makes their unlikely partnership that much more thrilling.
While Colin was originally supposed to be American, shortly after meeting Tom, creator Dick Wolf decided that the actor should keep his British accent. ‘I wasn’t sure if that was the right call, to be honest. My question was, do they have British people in the CIA? And Dick actually said it doesn’t matter because it’s the perfect cover,’ he recalls.
This also added to the ‘conflict’ between Colin and Bill, due to the way Brits like to ‘take everyone down a peg’. British banter at its finest.
Tom drew comparisons to Bond, acknowledging that when we think of 007, we picture him ‘doing all these incredible missions and all these beautiful women, and that is the TV and film version of spying’. On CIA, they wanted to take a more ‘realistic’ approach.
‘We do have a bit of that in the show, but we’re trying to ground it as much as possible in what the reality of working in the CIA is,’ he explains.
Nonetheless, he did have a recent brush with Bond, playing Pierce Brosnan’s son in Richard Osman’s Netflix film The Thursday Murder Club, which came out last year. Did Pierce give him any advice about playing a spy, I wonder?
‘No, he didn’t. But he did tell me he thought I’d make a good Bond, and I was like, “Pierce, I think I’m probably too old now. But I’ll take it from you, mate. I’ll take it from you,”’ the 47-year-old responds lightheartedly.
While Tom hasn’t been named among the contenders to take over the mantle, I can see it.
It’s been five years since his biggest role as Lucifer Morningstar came to an end, but the legacy of the show still lives on. About a year ago, he admitted that he would ‘never say never’ to reprising the character, but that now wasn’t the right time.
How does he resist the temptation, when he knows the diehard fans would lap it up?
‘It’s such a double-edged sword playing a character for a long time. When I first got into acting, I really enjoyed the variety of playing a different character. And then you get the privilege of playing someone for a long time, and it’s so much fun to do that. You’re just so relaxed in the process, and it becomes second nature to you,’ he says.
‘But I want to be acting for the rest of my life, and I want to be doing the variety side of it still. I did Lucifer for six years. We did 93 episodes, and I was ready to finish.’
However, that desire for longevity in a role has since come back.
‘Five years later, I find myself going, “I miss working with the same people all the time, and I really miss the continuity of that aspect of life, leading a set and having a positive input.” So when CIA came up, I thought maybe it’s time to do something for a long time again. I won’t want to play Colin Glass forever either. I feel very privileged to be doing it right now.’
Another role that I’m sure fans would go wild over him returning to is Gary Preston in Miranda. The sitcom ended 11 years ago, with Gary and Miranda tying the knot in the final episode.
The Tell Me Lies actor admits that he and Miranda have discussed reviving the characters, adding: ‘The thing that I really admire about Miranda is that she won’t do something for the sake of doing it.’
More than a decade later, he imagines that Gary and Miranda ‘probably have a few children’, and are dealing with the ‘insanity’ of being parents while ‘living their best life together’.
‘It’s iconic, and people still revisit it. It’s timeless, and it’s so funny. You can’t help but laugh and love those characters, and I feel it was a big point in my life when doing that show, and I have so much affection for it and for her. That will never go away,’ he shares.
CIA is available to watch on Sky Witness and NOW.