Talking dinosaurs with 'Primeval' star Douglas Henshall

Primeval star Douglas Henshall doesn't have a lot of action-hero work on his resume. As he puts it, "I kind of tended to be on Channel 4 at 10 o'clock at night" in some serious drama or other.

So when he was offered the lead role in Primeval, a series about dinosaurs roaming around present-day England thanks to some tears in the space-time continuum, he was a little surprised.

"But it was also kind of a relief, because at the same time I was offered something where I was going to end up shooting myself in the head. That was how my part ended," Henshall says. "I thought, 'OK, do I want to shoot myself in the head, or do I want to go play with dinosaurs?'"

He chose the dinosaurs, and it turned out to be the right call. Primeval has been a hit for U.K. broadcaster ITV, where two seasons have averaged better than 6 million viewers. It makes its American debut Saturday (Aug. 9) on BBC America. 

In an interview with me last month, Henshall (Angels and Insects, Anna Karenina) talked about his role as paleontologist Nick Cutter, how the show has been received and conveying the right amount of awe toward an empty space.

What's it like working with dinosaurs?
Oh, it's great fun. They're very tricky, especially in the morning. [Laughs]

Is doing a lot of green-screen work more of a challenge as an actor?
It's not so much green screen -- [the technology] seems to have moved forward in such a way that the only time we really need green screen is if the camera's here, and I'm in the shot and the monster's in the shot. But most of the shots we do of monsters are pretty much free of people. Most of the time when we're working with them, there's nothing there at all. You get kind of, "It's in between those two lines on the curtain." ... And you just have to make people believe it's there.

For about the first two or three weeks we were doing it, I just thought I looked like an idiot all the time. Because you kind of think, What would your reaction be like? Those are the things you have to ask yourself: What would my reaction be like if I saw a 50 million-year-old [dinosaur] running through the forest? What would you do? How much awe would there be [laughs] -- "How far can I push awe today?" So it's tricky to find the right balance for something like that when there's nothing there.

Does that make it more fun to see the finished product?
Of course. Especially the first [season], because you just don't know if it's going to work. The CGI is about 30 percent of the show ... so I thought unless it looks great -- because, you know, kids are sophisticated. They're so well-versed now. ... If you come up with something that looks basically like the rubber shark from Jaws, you're stuck, because the kids will laugh at you. Thankfully, they did a fantastic job with it, and when we finally saw it, it was like, "Oh my God, it works." That was a real pleasure.

This is considered something of a family show in the U.K., right?
Yeah. I always thought one of the things that was so appealing about Jurassic Park was that what-if idea. That was kind of the big question mark-exclamation mark ... that wonderful thing at the beginning where he went into a piece of amber, found this little bug and took the DNA out and thought, We could make one of these. Everyone kind of went, "I wonder if that's possible." I think that was partly the thing with Primeval -- to try to get that what-if and get people's attention. And I think it's also a little bit like The A-Team with dinosaurs. You have a bunch of people who've got to solve problems, which I think appeals to most people. You take a bunch of people you like and then put them in jeopardy.

What do you think the core of Cutter's character is?
I think the core of the character is his natural curiosity about the world and how it works. He's one of those people who's kind of a lifetime scientist, and he enjoys the day-to-day of it. He's not like a thrill-seeker. He doesn't need to come to work and find something amazing every day of the week. I think he quite enjoys what he does; he's just naturally curious and capable as a man. ... I was trying to think about who I could think to compare the character to. The obvious is Indiana Jones ... I kind of like his approach. He's a normal professor by day, and a lot of days he's someone else entirely. I quite like that.

What would you say to a non-sci-fi fan to get them interested in the show?
Well, I'm not a sci-fi fan, and I really wanted to watch it. If I wasn't in it, I'd watch. I really liked dinosaurs when I was a kid. I didn't like them as some kind of fantasy thing. I was fascinated by the idea that at one point these creatures completely ruled the planet -- how they ate, how they moved, the size of them, the weight of them, colors and shapes and sizes. I wanted to know all their names and how they were built. And I think that stayed with me, that kind of enduring love of these creatures.

I think if you ever loved anything like that when you were a kid, then you'll like the show as an adult. It taps into that exact same kind of fascination and sense of adventure. I think there's quite a lot of that, and there are also some quite grown-up storylines as well. There's comedy in it, there's drama, there's action -- it covers so many bases. ... We don't go to made-up places with made-up people. It's based in reality as much as we can, both scientifically and historically.

Primeval premieres at 9 p.m. ET Saturday on BBC America.

Comments

Thanks for this story! I saw it advertised on the Robin Hood season 2 DVD and have been curious about it - I assume that since the RH DVD I have is the American release, that the release date advertised on it for this show is accurate.

A-Team with dinosaurs! - humorous description! I'll have to definitely check it out now.

AndreaC | Aug 14, 2008 6:13:34 AM | #

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