Note: The person who passed this article on liberally edited out a great deal of content.
Paul Mcgann specialises in playing outsiders, from I in Withnail & I to Dr Who and now Eugene Wrayburn in a new adaptation of Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. James Rampton reports.
The first indication we have of Eugene Wrayburn, Paul McGann's character in the new BBC adaptation of Our Mutual Friend, is a devil-may-care plume of cigar smoke emanating from behind an armchair. The camera then moves round to show a man draped lauguidly across the cushions, well away from the crowds at a society wedding. It is an image of yawning, nonchalant detachment.
McGann has made a speciality of such insouciant outsiders. Lying casually on the bed -- not unlike Eugene -- in his caravan between scenes, McGann directs me to a book on the sideboard. It is... [snip]....
Sporting Eugenes dashing whiskers, dark tartan trousers and opera cape, McGann points up the similarity between this character and other celebrated creations of his: Dr Who, I, and Private Percy Toplis. "They're all marginals. What is more interesting is that they're all heroes in their respective stories, yet for audiences they're not the easiest of people. You don't give you're allegiences to them easily. The producer of Doctor Who said I had an outsiderish quality. It's not cosy.
"When I was a kid, I loved Dirk Bogarde....."[snip]...
It was Eugene's duality that first drew McGann to him. "The very ambiguity of the character makes it a plum. In the book and in the series that ambiguity is there for all to see..."
Sandy Welch, adaptor of this commendably dark version of Our Mutual Friend, underlines the equivocal nature that makes Eugene so readily identifiable.... "The great thing about Paul is that he doesn't want to be liked all the time. He's not playing Wrayburn for sympathy."
McGann had the same ambiguous approach to the character of Dr Who. When he was first asked to take on the Time Lord mantle, the actor turned it down. "I took months to be persuaded that it would even be a good idea. To throw the producer off the scent, I said, 'This character is dark.' He went 'Bingo'."
He took the part knowing the enthusiastic nature of the show's fans, or Whovians...... [snip] "The Whovians are out there -- and I mean that ambiguously; it's wierd having all those websites and being part of a dynasty. But I went into it with my eyes open."
McGann can't see himself stepping into the Tardis again, however. "I gave it my best shot. Now I'm going to move over, and someone else will take it on. Lucky them."
The actor is used to obbsessive followings though; he did after all star in one of the cultiest films ever made....[snip]
Abjuring the first principles of the luvvie cult, he concludes: "Just keep your feet on the ground. Acting is not high-altitude mountineering, you're never in mortal danger. I still want to be here in 30 or 40 years time. The idea of digging in for a long career has always appealed."
'Our Mutual Friend', a four-part serial, begins Monday 9pm BBC1
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