One of the secrets of the worldwide popularity of British crime drama “Luther,” whose fifth season is airing on consecutive days this week in the U.K., lies in the audience’s fascination with its psychopaths, but the show’s creator and writer Neil Cross is not primarily interested in their back story or motivation.
“The characterization of the bad guys comes second,” he tells Variety. “There’s a quote that I borrowed from The Stone Roses and put in Luther’s mouth in Season 1, which is ‘I don’t care where they’re from; I care where they are at.’ And the genesis of the bad guys is located in my own anxiety.”
He explains: “People often express surprise that I am psychologically normal and well-adjusted, but that’s because I never write about what I want to do to other people; I always write about what I am...
“The characterization of the bad guys comes second,” he tells Variety. “There’s a quote that I borrowed from The Stone Roses and put in Luther’s mouth in Season 1, which is ‘I don’t care where they’re from; I care where they are at.’ And the genesis of the bad guys is located in my own anxiety.”
He explains: “People often express surprise that I am psychologically normal and well-adjusted, but that’s because I never write about what I want to do to other people; I always write about what I am...
- 1/3/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
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