David Morrissey Trusts Gut Over Analysis for 'Gone'
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- David Morrissey stars as headmaster Michael Polly in ITV's "Gone," in competition at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival; the character becomes the chief suspect when his wife goes missing across six episodes and remains inscrutable for most of the run.
- Morrissey said he committed to "Gone" — written by "Lupin" creator George Kay — based on gut feeling, arguing "analysis can be paralysis sometimes" and that a script either pulls you in or it doesn't.
- Morrissey also plays Clive Gross in Russell T. Davies' Channel 4 series "Tip Toe," a character who rages against his gay neighbor Leo Struthers and the threat he perceives Leo poses to his sons.
- Morrissey connected "Tip Toe's" conflict to the current zeitgeist, explicitly citing "the Manosphere and toxic masculinity" as making the show feel like a work of its moment.
- Morrissey acknowledged he has made work he loved that "hasn't landed well with the public," but said that hasn't made him love it any less.
Why it matters: Morrissey's explicit framing of "Tip Toe" as engaging "the Manosphere and toxic masculinity" gives writer Russell T. Davies a topical hook ahead of the show's Channel 4 run, while ITV's "Gone" competes for Monte-Carlo prestige on a deliberately inscrutable lead performance the actor says he chose on instinct rather than analysis.
Ask SkimNews
