- Sir David Suchet, known for playing Poirot, has not watched Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal and doesn’t plan to anytime soon
- The actor reflects on his unexpected success as the detective, sharing anecdotes from his career and his connection with the character
- He’s now narrating a podcast series of Charles Dickens’ ghost stories, showcasing his passion for timeless storytelling
There’s no denying that Hercule Poirot is one of television’s greatest fictional detectives, and it’s likely a single actor springs to mind when you read his name.
Sir David Suchet embodied the Belgian crime solver in ITV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot from 1989 to June 2013, when he announced he was bowing out.
But he was far from the first Poirot, taking over from Peter Ustinov, who played him six times, and before Sir Kenneth Branagh stepped up to the plate eight years ago.
Sir David, 79, has since made no secret of his refusal to watch Sir Kenneth don the detective’s bowler hat and quirky moustache, repeatedly declaring he wants to have ‘no opinion’ on the more recent takes.
Now, in an exclusive interview with Metro, the legendary actor responds to the question: has he changed his mind?
He shakes his head, replying emphatically: ‘Haven’t watched it since.’
‘And I don’t think I ever will,’ he muses. ‘Until, if God gives me life, many, many years.
‘Until the press don’t want to know what I think. And then I’ll watch.’
Oscar winner Sir Kenneth, 64, portrayed Poirot across three films in a series that grossed over $600million (£455m) worldwide. It consisted of Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Death on the Nile (2022), and A Haunting in Venice (2023).
As for Sir David, he lived and breathed the eccentric investigator to complete the entire catalogue of whodunits, featuring 33 novels and dozens of short stories.
Despite this, when he first took over the iconic role, the theatre veteran never foresaw how memorable his Poirot would become.
‘Didn’t have a clue,’ he says when asked if he expected to have such a legacy.
‘I was asked in 1988 to do 10 short stories, and at the end of the shoot, I got up and made a speech and thanked everyone. I said, “Who knows whether there’ll be any more,” and I went home that night jobless.’
The initial run of tales was to be released a few months later, before which he told reporters he had doubts about whether his performance would be ‘acceptable’.
‘I was worried about it, because I said I don’t think it will be as entertaining as Peter Ustinov or anybody. And that was what I felt, so [imagine] my surprise when literally within days of the first showing of the first episode, the ratings just zoomed, and every week it got more and more and more.’
Sir David’s final case as Poirot was watched by 5.2m people and received high praise. Throughout his run, it’s estimated that an astronomical 700m viewers tuned in across more than 100 countries.
‘I still, to this day, look back and say, “Never expected it at all”.’
While Sir David, thankfully, hasn’t had to rely on Poirot’s crime-cracking skills in his own life, he has learned a great deal from embodying him.
‘I was always one of these people who, when you were talking to me, would be thinking of my reply. We’re all like that.
‘Poirot isn’t. Poirot taught me to be a better listener. He gave me that.’
While Sir David’s Poirot launched him to mainstream success, he is, first and foremost, a stage performer, having kick-started his showbiz career at the Gateway Theatre, Chester, in 1969 before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
But it’s safe to say things got off on a rocky foot.
‘I was offered to play Scrooge at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1971; it was only two years after I came out of drama school.
‘When I arrived at the theatre, it was a Sunday, and my train was delayed, so the stage doorman went home at 7pm. That’s where I was supposed to be staying, and the door was locked up!
‘I didn’t have any money. I couldn’t stay in a hotel, I couldn’t stay in a bed and breakfast; there was nowhere, so my first night as a star, 24, 25 years of age, my first big starring role, I ended up sleeping in a police cell.
‘That was the only place that I could find that would look after me. So I slept in a prison cell and then went to rehearse Scrooge the next day.’
Sir David’s days of kipping in cells are long behind him, but one thing he’s maintained a connection with is his love of Charles Dickens; hence, his latest project involves narrating some of the pioneering novelist’s chilling tales.
Taking on the haunting new role, Sir David lends his unmistakable voice to a nine-part Noiser podcast series, which launches with A Christmas Carol and is followed by weekly releases of Dickens’ most atmospheric tales, including The Signal-Man, The Trial for Murder, A Madman’s Manuscript, and The Ghost in the Bride’s Chamber.
Continuing his passion for timeless storytelling, Sir David says of the series: ‘I don’t profess to be a Dickens aficionado, but I couldn’t resist this.
‘There’s a huge emotional depth to [these stories], and that’s what makes great writers like Dickens so enduring. They all deal with wonderful characters who enter the world of our human condition of love, hate, jealousy, greed, poverty, hardship… our human existence.’
‘They all have morals within them,’ he adds. ‘You wouldn’t think that Agatha Christie, whose genre is crime, was outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. But it’s not just crime. It’s other things as well.’
Indeed, Sir David credits the esteemed Miss Marple creator for shaping Poirot in a way that kept readers enthralled, insisting that he only wanted to do right by her when playing him.
‘There will be hundreds of Poirots in the generations to come, as there have been in the generations before, and I may be voted pretty high up at the moment, but, in 10 years’ time, there’ll be another, and so life goes on.
‘No actor should ever say or feel they own a role. Never. It’s a great privilege to play them, and then we’ve gotta learn, however hard it may be, to let them go.’
Sir David Suchet lends his iconic voice as narrator of the new audio series, Charles Dickens’ Ghost Stories, by UK podcast network Noiser. Released on December 1.
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