'You do your homework': Matthew Goode on playing a cop in major new Netflix series Dept. Q

Irish Examiner

a day ago

A cold-case mystery like no other is set to unfold in the binge-worthy crime series Dept. Q. The new show from The Queen's Gambit writer-director Scott Frank sees cantankerous English detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) setting up a cold-case department in his adopted city of Edinburgh.
Shaken by a violent attack that has left one colleague dead and another with serious injuries, Morck wrestles with his own trauma as he unfurls a shocking missing person case.
Dept. Q is an adaptation of the novels of the same name by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, with Frank moving the action from Copenhagen to the Scottish city.
For Goode, it feels like the second time Frank has given him a role that others may not have considered casting him in, following 2007 US crime thriller The Lookout, in which he co-starred with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels.
What was it, does he think, that the filmmaker saw in his leading man for this character? 'That's a question for Scott, really, and I suspect he's full of regret,' smiled the actor. 'A lot of pigeonholing goes on in our business. I've been quite lucky with the range of roles I've had over what is now into my 22nd, 23rd year.
"But he's given me the most different and challenging roles. One was a bank robber, which I don't think I scream, and now Morck. And I think some people would have gone for someone who's a bit more grizzled, a bit more... Tom Hardy would have made a very good Morck. Maybe he was busy. I don't know. I don't want to get into it.'
Matthew Goode in Dept Q on Netflix.
It proves to be an inspired piece of casting - as fans of Adler-Olsen's novels will know, there's a lot more to this detective than meets the eye.
An actor who likes to do his research, Goode delved deep into the character of a contrary, unpopular detective harbouring trauma because of recent events in his own life. It helps, he says, that Frank's writing is so nuanced.
'That's a great thing about Scott's writing: how you can balance something that's so dark and so on the nose, for the particular genre, and then it has all this hilarity in it as well. Certainly humour. You're always going to have a great time working with Scott Frank.
'We do an awful lot of homework. There are a lot of secrets that I can put into my brain about his life because of the transposition from Copenhagen to Edinburgh, and then making me an outsider by making me English. I get to mess around with all the socio-political stuff, the history of Carl, because none of it makes sense anymore from the novel, which is why I didn't bother reading it. We've given him a really great backstory. I don't know whether you have to like your character, just have great understanding.
'There was a lot of stuff going on with PTSD that really needed a lot of research - I had friends who worked and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once you've done all your homework, you turn up, and you just see what everyone else's homework looks like. Get it on film, and it's riding by the seat of your pants for six months. It was kind of marvellous. And we've always got Scott to say: 'Why are you doing that?'' he jokes.
Goode has enjoyed a steady career since first breaking through in comedy dramas such as Woody Allen's Match Point and an adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. TV roles have included Downton Abbey and The Crown, which got him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for playing Tony Armstrong Jones. Other movie roles include The Imitation Game, Watchmen and opposite young Irish star Alisha Weir in last year's horror hit Abigail.
Matthew Goode and Jamie Sives in Dept Q.
Mixing up his roles with talented directors remains his goal, he says. 'I mean, it is their medium, effectively. But you know, it's like a river. You're going to get caught in certain eddys, it's not going to be smooth.
"And financials, if we're honest, are a part of it, because if you have some money in your bank account, and you get to wait to make a better choice, then that's it. Working with Scott originally, that was my first American role, and I was very lucky to get that.'
He is also hopeful that Dept. Q, one of Netflix's big summer series, will resonate with audiences, but he says he tries not to think too much about that side of the business.
A series like this, which runs to almost nine hours, gives him a chance to do a deep dive into long-form TV storytelling, an opportunity he embraces, he says. 'I like it. I think it's great for adaptations of books now, that seems to be happening a lot, and it's nicer rather than trying to cram a book into two hours of a movie that it gets to unfurl like the chapters of the book.'
Dept Q is now available on Netflix
City switch: Copenhagen to Edinburgh
The creators of Dept. Q opted to shift the novels' setting of Copenhagen in Denmark to Edinburgh in Scotland, bringing a whole other edge and dimension to the gritty detective story. The combination of the modern and the medieval, Frank has said, felt right - and gives the historic and dramatic city a chance to shine on screen.
Leah Byrne, Matthew Goode, Scott Frank and Alexej Manvelov attend a screening of Dept Q. (Photo by StillMoving)
'Edinburgh's such a busy city, but it's a gorgeous city,' says Leah Byrne, who plays Detective Constable Rose Dickson in the show. 'It's beautiful - and I am from Glasgow, so there's a slight rivalry! I only spent a lot of time in Edinburgh via The Fringe, and obviously that's a really different experience to how it is normally.
"So it was so nice to just get to spend some time there and really appreciate how beautiful it is and why you should film more there, because it's so scenic and stunning. Everything's within walking distance, but there's just so much variety in terms of what you can do.'
Swedish actor Alexej Manvelov, whose previous work includes Chernobyl and who plays Goode's cold-case assistant in the series, the role marked his first time in the Scottish city, which memorably hosted Trainspotting, a massive hit for Danny Boyle and his cast back in 1996.
'It's so ancient, and it's very well preserved. It is a character in and of itself. Everywhere you go, there's just these details and statues, and I really appreciate the architecture of it all.'