00:07I didn't know anything about the story when I read the script for the first time so I thought
00:14it was just a really interesting piece, fictional piece about a serial killer. It was very well
00:19written and very exciting and it kind of dawned on me halfway through because maybe I turned
00:25back and he said it, based on real events, that it was a real thing and so I googled Sir
00:33Alec
00:34Jeffries and realised that he's one of probably the most famous scientists on earth and it's
00:40quite an incredible thing they did. David Baker, played by David Threlfall in this, and Sir Alec
00:46Jeffries, between them they caught this guy and it was the first time that DNA fingerprinting
00:55had been used in a criminal case and now you know it's everywhere. A number of things
01:01attracted me to the project. The script was great, it's written really well and when we were
01:07rehearsing it, it was malleable as well so we were able to change things that we didn't
01:11think were, so we went through it very carefully. I've never worked with James, I'm a fan of
01:15his work, so it was good to work with him and to work with David Threlfall again, who's a
01:21very old friend of mine and we worked together many many years ago, 22 years ago, and so
01:26it was lovely to work with him again. So many many things attracted me to it, I've had quite
01:31a busy year so I didn't really want to be doing anything but this kind of stood out and I
01:34thought
01:34what an incredible story and what a brilliant tale to tell.
01:54Excuse me, I'm looking for Dr. Alec Jeffries, do you know where I can find him?
01:57Yes, it's just down there. Oh, thank you.
02:09I play Sir Alec Jeffries and at the time of the story set in 1983, he was just working at
02:17the
02:17university, you know, giving free reign to experiment, sit at his desk and experiment and see what he came
02:23up with. So he wasn't particularly looking for this DNA fingerprinting that he came up with, he was completely by
02:29accident.
02:31I didn't meet him beforehand because I wanted to get him, I wanted to put, I'm portraying him in the
02:35early 80s and I didn't want to pick up any traits that he might have now as an older guy.
02:40And so I tried to sort of do him justice, you know, tried to get his voice right.
02:48You know, even though many people might not know who he is, I just thought it was important to get
02:54him right.
02:54And he's a real person. So my job as an actor was to try and sort of get him across.
03:01I mean, John's such a nice guy as well and a great actor. So I can't really think of anybody
03:06more suitable for portraying me.
03:08I just, I feel sorry for the poor chap. He's got to get inside my head for the duration of
03:13filming, but I don't think he liked his beard much.
03:15I suspect that's going to be disappearing pretty rapidly after the shoot.
03:19I'm ready. Thank you.
03:20Very different playing somebody real. I did it with Bernard Sumner from New Order in 24 Hour Party People, especially
03:26when they're still alive.
03:28And I played Van Gogh, you know, but obviously he's not around to complain. But it's a different challenge as
03:34an actor.
03:35In a way, strangely enough, I think it's easier because you're not doing an impression, but you've got a blueprint
03:41of a look, of a voice, of a manner, of, you know, you hone in on certain things that you
03:47can sort of highlight.
03:48And so it was quite enjoyable, actually, because he speaks, he's got a different kind of voice to me and
03:54he's got different mannerisms.
03:56And so there's an actor that's interesting and in a way easier, easier to play real people.
04:03So let's say the DNA sequence was, uh, Mary had a little lamb, for example. Your Mary had a little
04:09lamb would read, Mary had a, a, a little lamb.
04:12And that's the stutter that makes you, you.
04:16Because he's such an incredible guy, you know, you want to, you want to do him justice.
04:29The fact that these two men were literally in the vicinity, Alex doing his work, and then David's thinking slightly,
04:38if you like, ahead of his time or forward thinking.
