En bref, le thriller de gangsters Mobland de Guy Ritchie est l’une des séries télévisées les plus marquantes de l’année écoulée. Ritchie use de tout son talent pour livrer une œuvre captivante, intelligente et sacrément divertissante (comme dans The Gentleman, Lock, Stock…). Mobland réunit une pléiade de grands noms britanniques — Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Joanne Froggatt, Jasmine Jobson et Paddy Considine — autour d’une intrigue pleine de rebondissements qui suit la famille Harrigan. La série offre tout ce que l’on peut attendre d’elle, et même davantage, si bien que nous réclamons désormais une deuxième saison : le final laisse en réalité plus de questions en suspens que prévu, et l’on peut donc certainement s’attendre à revoir Brosnan très bientôt.

Le personnage d’Eddie Harrigan, incarné par Anson Boon, 25 ans, est à l’origine de l’essentiel de l’intrigue de la première saison (attention, spoiler !), en raison de son implication dans la mort de Tommy Stevenson, membre d’un gang rival. Véritable petite frappe de l’empire Harrigan, il fait sortir de ses gonds Harry, le protagoniste imperturbable joué par Hardy, et va même jusqu’à tenter d’étrangler sa propre mère dans le dernier épisode de la saison. C’est à cause de ce jeune arrogant que les Harrigan et les Stevenson se lancent dans un affrontement spectaculaire de dix épisodes, dont la famille d’Eddie sort victorieuse (mais avec une lourde dette à payer).

Nous avons rencontré Boon, originaire de Cambridge, pour savoir ce qu’il pense vraiment de son personnage, mais aussi ce que cela lui a fait de travailler avec des pointures comme Brosnan, Hardy et Mirren…

Gentleman's Journal : Tout d’abord, Anson, aimez-vous Eddie ?

Anson Boon: Yes absolutely! Believe it or not, I think I've played worse characters than Eddie in terms of morality. I’ve never disliked one of my characters - it would be very difficult to go to work every day for a six-month shoot like Mobland if I did because you have to find some sort of common ground or sympathise with your character in some way. Eddie is a product of his environment. People talk a lot about nature versus nurture. If you open the kitchen drawer in most households you see cutlery, whereas if you open the kitchen drawer in Eddie's house, you see a load of guns. The conversation around the dinner table in most houses is the weather. In their house it would have been about who's making the most on heroin, where can they get six million quid in cash in the next week, that kind of thing. So he is a product of his environment and being the only grandson, having his grandma in his ear as much as she is, as you've seen, he's got a lot of pressure on him. It's like the age-old story of the young prince that just wants to succeed and please everyone.

Eddie entretient une relation complexe avec le personnage de Tom Hardy : comment s’est passé le tournage de leurs scènes ?

Tom [Hardy] is someone who delves so deep into every scene and that would be really helpful. Tom is like a theatre actor, and he delves so deep into every last word to work out what it means. It was really cool to play out that dynamic with him. Eddie is very much just a young kid trying to prove himself and interestingly, Harry is one of the only people that talks about that in the show despite their animosity. I always think back to the line where Harry says to Bella in episode two or three: 'Is he such a fuck-up because of me? Is it my fault?' And Harry says, 'No, I think he's just a fuck-up because he's a kid.' And that's the way I see it.

Tom's character is instrumental in showing us that. If I think back to some of the most memorable scenes, for example, the scene in the bathroom at the funeral where he confronts me, it's one of the first times you really see a crack in Eddie's facade - the facade that he's trying to give that he's ready to run this family. All of a sudden you remember he's a kid and he's trying to play a character.

What was it like, in terms of working with actors of that highest caliber?

I had such a good training when I was 18. My first lead role in a film that I ever had was this film called Blackbird, directed by the late Roger Michell, who directed Notting Hill. And I did that with Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet and Sam Neill. And Ray Wilson. All these fantastic actors. Being 18 and so green to it all was crazy. We were playing as a family and we were all in pretty much every scene. we were living in a house together for seven weeks. It was a real education in the best way. The list of cast members for Mobland just goes on and on. I was definitely nervous going into it as you would be.

Avez-vous appris quelque chose en travaillant avec Kate Winslet ?

I still think I go to work every day, without a doubt, using the same little tools that I picked up from Kate Winslet. She taught me so much that had a lasting impression on me. Her work ethic is so impressive. But we were filming quite close to her house and she was like such a great host and because it's her area, she really looked after us all. We would all go around for coffee and dinner. I remember sitting with her in her office where she was and she reminded me that we're making films and we're not splitting the atom. It should be really fun and it should be loose and light. But also I think it's important to take your job seriously and to work hard if you want to be good at it. I definitely learned that from her.

Eddie entretient une relation très étroite et parfois intrigante avec Maeve, le personnage incarné par Helen Mirren. Avez-vous aimé tourner ces scènes ?

Helen est une icône. Elle est exactement comme on pourrait l’espérer. Avec Maeve, on ne savait jamais vraiment ce qui allait sortir de sa bouche, mais toujours dans le bon sens. Il y a eu tellement de moments comme ça. Par exemple, lors du dîner où Pierce et Helen finissent par se faire arrêter, elle improvisait des répliques face à Eddie alors que j’étais censé rester totalement impassible. Elle est vraiment très drôle. Je me souviens m’être tourné vers Joanne Froggatt et Mandy Moore, qui jouait Seraphina : autour de cette table, aucun de nous ne savait ce qui se passait. Ce serait formidable de jouer au théâtre avec Pierce et Helen, car aucune scène ne serait jamais identique à la précédente.

Le premier jour, Helen est venue dans ma loge et nous nous sommes assis pour boire quelques tasses de thé ensemble. Elle voulait savoir comment ça se passait. Elle voulait tout savoir sur moi et mon parcours. Nous avons sorti un scénario, nous nous sommes assis et elle m’a demandé si cela me dérangerait que nous répétions tout ce que nous avions pour l’ensemble des épisodes écrits jusque-là. Bien sûr, j’ai accepté. J’ai vraiment adoré ça. Tous les acteurs ne font pas cela. À ce niveau-là, tout le monde ne ressent pas le besoin de le faire.

En attendant de savoir si Mobland sera renouvelée pour une deuxième saison, quels sont vos prochains projets ?

I mean, I hope it is! I've got a film that will hopefully be coming out later this year called Good Boy. It's with Stephen Graham and Andrea Riseborough. So again, two very actors. It's directed by the legendary British producer, who is just like the king of independent films. And directed by this young guy called Jan Komasa. This will be his first English language film. He was nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar a few years ago for a Polish film he did. He is a really great director and it's a real concept film focusing on a young street kid - my character Tommy - who is kidnapped one night on a night out by this very straight-laced middle class couple who live in the middle of nowhere and they set out to rehabilitate this young man. It's intense.

Découvrez maintenant une interview de l’acteur David Shields, à l’affiche de Punch

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