Source:
Kansas City Star [follow link for complete interview]
MASTERPIECE MYSTERY - ZEN - KANSAS CITY STAR: In 'Zen,' Rufus Sewell exploits his dark, brooding side as seducer and sleuth
By
LUAINE LEE
Mon, Jul. 11, 2011
For actor
Rufus Sewell it's not the carefully orchestrated steps in life that make you shine. It's all the missteps.
"
Everything I do that's a strongly held belief is based on having learnt from doing the opposite," he says in his slightly breathy British tone.
"
It's how I've learned my craft is by getting things wrong. I think it's very valuable to get things wrong if you can learn what you don't want to do again."
Ever since he braved the stage as a porter in "
Macbeth," Sewell has explored the consequences of his choices.
"
I get more obstinate as I get older. I've just learned what makes me unhappy, and it's always my fault in the end," he says seated in a deserted bar in the late afternoon, the sun spilling a slanted shaft on the flowered carpet.
"
There's always some point you can trace it back to when you said 'yes' when you should've said 'no,' when you're aware dimly of all the facts, but you choose not to look at them. In my experience there's always that place I can point it embarrassingly back to, a point when I should've done something else - and for some reason didn't."
His credits - projects like "
Dark City," "
Eleventh Hour," "
The Pillars of the Earth," "
The Tourist," "
A Knight's Tale" contradict his premise.
So does his latest endeavor, the role of the smooth but determined Italian detective in the "
Masterpiece Mystery!" production of "
Zen," premiering July 17 [on PBS].
[Watch episode trailer
here.]
In "
Zen," Sewell exploits his dark, brooding looks as both seducer and sleuth. "
The worst times are always immediately after I've made a leap in my work," he says, his hazel eyes pinpointed by the sunlight...
