I'm going to begin Thomas just by asking
you what it was that originally
attracted you to getting involved in
godless I read the script my agent sent
me and it was originally a draft from a
long time ago of what it could be as a
movie so it was a lot quicker to to read
through but always knowing that it was
gonna be a series and immediately just
loved the whole synopsis and the whole
kind of set up of this funny little very
normal mining town that has this
terrible accident that leaves it with a
town literally just full of women who
have to fend for themselves completely
in and the town is left with a blind or
going blind sheriff and and me a cocky
young deputy sheriff that kind of wants
to show off but at the same time misses
his dad and misses his mom and it's
actually very quite fragile I know so
you must just get scripted think I'm
playing a deputy sheriff that just
sounds cool isn't that just sounds cool
whitey it's cool because I think the
first time you see him he's fast asleep
on the porch yeah yeah is that sort of
sign of things to come my falling asleep
on the porch
Oh baby what can you tell us about the
character anyway what's he like he's
he's he's cheeky and kind of um he's
he's smiling kind of flirty and kind of
just coming into puberty and excited
about that but also maybe quite naive
about a lot of things in the world at
the same time he's trying to be really
manly and pretend that he does know lots
of things in the world and but he's you
know he is he's a good shot and he knows
how to ride a horse he knows how to be
you know pretty good deputy she's kind
of this weird nice mixture of being kind
of man kid thing you know I like that I
mean it's great as it is to obviously
see yourself up on the big screen and
have being in movies you know exactly
it's always great to be in films
be great as an actor to have a role that
you can play across a whole series it
must give you so much scope and to
explore them and to really get really
get into their kind of nitty-gritty of
the bond yeah it does it does and I
think that's what's nice about these
them you know these high budget TV shows
now is that it does give you so much
more to work with other than just having
a lead and then a few supporting
characters here and there you you really
get as an audience you really get
invested a lot more inside characters
and there's an actor there's just so
much more material there to play around
with and and you're given the time and
and the material to do so and it's it
just makes a really good storytelling
thing yeah there's still something so
cinematic about the quality of these
programs but when you want to set can
you tell quite quickly oh this is a TV
series set compared to a film one it was
that kind of palpable different nerve
not now not really they will shoot the
same cameras the sets look just as good
the costumes look just as good it's it's
very hard it felt like a big feature
film but look very long feature film
because I mean it must be great a great
time to be an actor in a sense that I
think when I was growing up it felt like
you had acts on the TV and actors in
film yeah there's no such thing as a TV
act anymore now there's a bit of
snobbery around it I think yeah and
that's all kind of gone which i think is
good and I think actually companies like
Netflix are putting pressure on bigger
studios to actually make more
intelligent films now so I think it's
good I think it's healthy and also I
mean given the quality and the success
rate of Netflix TV series at a moment
when you know they're behind something
it's almost like this is probably going
to be really good ya know it's the same
as having yeah a big studio behind your
name and you know that people are gonna
go and watch it and yeah they're not
afraid to put money into more
challenging storytelling and take risks
a lot more which is great I think we
need to take a bit more risks in film I
mean this does this burst a crystal it's
incredibly dark I mean in the opening
scene we see a child hanging I mean that
doesn't it's it's quite a quite
brutal impulses this yeah yeah and and
rightly so I like that it's that's
there's a really shocking horrible image
to see and but that that happens in the
world especially back then yeah and did
you get a sense that when you were
reading the screenplay that it was gonna
have that quite quite dark so
undercurrent to it was
yeah I did I mean the main body is the
priest
that's horrible terrifying and I was
hoping it was gonna be like that and
having talked spoken to Scott Scott
Frank director he kind of firmed that up
for me as well and said that's where we
want to take it I want to make it fairly
gritty and in the costumes not gonna be
over-the-top cowboy character costumes
it's not going to be slacks and no one
no one wore out of the courts to stick
their Spurs or anything like that no
Spurs allowed but no one was jingling
around and it wasn't happening there was
no one to staring down on the on the
Main Street drawing or anything it's all
real and much more relatable to I mean
in spite of that is it it must still
feel all the kind of horseback and and
the outfits and that kind of southern
twang accent I mean it must have felt
quite cool out like I mean I guess that
whole kind of period in American history
so steep now in cinema my relationship
with it is it forms purely in movies yes
that felt like you were I did almost
feel like you had just walked onto the
set one of the kind of classic Westerns
yeah it did
and once you're up on a horse and you've
got your two Colts step to you and and
think about covered in bullets and
cowboy hat on and you're just kind of
walking through the scenery of New
Mexico it's it's it's like you're in a
movie well you kind of are but this also
feels very real and the guy teaching you
is a is a real cowboy and the guy
teaching how to do all the gun stuff you
really knows how to do all that stuff
and and the scenery is all 100% real and
then you've got the amazing set built
into
as well which is a lot of that was
pretty real I think they're gonna keep
it there so it's still real cowboys on
that there's still real Cowboys yeah
calm Wranglers now no because I'll be in
in some way it's gonna be almost more
challenging to connect to the human in
the character when it is so steeped in
kind of cinema and so in a sense I mean
because it feels so cinematic you find
that when you try to connect with the
role you're almost perceiving them on
more cinematic terms and human terms
even without sort of realizing perhaps
yeah I know you mean it's interesting I
hope not I ever didn't do that no we're
out there well maybe that helped with
the writing I thought the writing was
really good the characters were all very
they're all very much there already and
I think they did a good job with casting
the right person to play that character
and it I think that just kind of they
just worked everyone involved was very
committed and very excited and very
passionate and all wanted to be there
and do the best that they can that they
can do and then that that becomes
contagious and so it can forces you to
to do the best that you can do as well
without going yeah it was there was a
main you know no one wanted to go for
anything too over-the-top they wanted to
keep it wanted to keep it quite quite
gritty and quite real even though I mean
you've been in industry for such a
number of years now you I guess it like
anyone in mace or crafter I guess you
always are still learning you must be
great to be an on one side the life of
Jeff Daniels obviously I mean there's
Jack O'Connell and there's Michelle
Dockery see quite remarkable cars hmm no
no yeah I mean you can earn oh yes an
actor you can you can learn off a a kid
who's never done anything before in his
life is the first job and you can
probably learn just as much from him as
a very well experienced actor that's
been doing for 50 years you don't know I
mean you learn all the time that's
what's exciting about it and I try and
do that in life as well I think the two
kind of crossover so I mean it's always
it's just interesting working with
people who are experienced and those who
aren't it's just interesting working
with people and of course there's a new
Maze Runner film
coming out relatively soon what can fans
expect of that next installment is it
totally kind of quite different to the
last or what yeah it is and it isn't I
mean it's the same characters it's the
same story but um I think yeah all three
the idea is to make kind of three
different movies visually as well so the
first one was all very cost effective
content second one is very very exposed
and we don't really know where you are
and the third one you kind of we well we
know where we are and we've got things
kind of sorted out a bit more it's about
I think it's about a year later from the
last one and so we're very much more
determined and we finally actually know
where we're going and what we're doing a
bit more it's got a huge fan base a
really commit a fan base but what did
you say you get recognized most for
these days because obviously been
involved in such big franchises and big
movies but is there one that you reckon
is tops up more when it comes to being
sort of stopped in the street and stuff
I don't know I'd be loved actually or
Game of Thrones
well Maze Runner is up there too I don't
know it's kind of a mixture between
probably those three because we
obviously enjoyed the Love Actually Red
Nose Day special is there any talks
potentio of a sequel down the line or if
it might snow is that just no I was I
thinking
no I haven't heard anything like that
and and and also I mean obviously it's
coming to an end and what's it like
watching it now as like as of audience
member do you ever try and get in touch
with some of the other cast members say
can you just tell me what's going on and
you quite like being like us kind of
basically unaware and kind of watching
it when it's on HBO like the rest of us
just kind of seeing where the story's
going yeah I am I'm very I'm very behind
with it so I I don't actually know
what's going on one moment
oh you're not kept up no I haven't like
halfway through season 4
which is my season I only between the
end of my season haven't seen my death
or anything and I just finally just to
top it all off obviously taking part in
Star Wars
must have been what was something that
was something incredible experience for
you yeah yeah that's that proper that
was that was like being a little boy
again it was great just walking onto the
set and in all the costume
the attention to detail and that was
ridiculous I mean even the cameras were
special cameras there was back to 35 mil
as well hadn't seen a proper film camera
in years
and they're all black out there blacked
special Star Wars ones look past the TIE
fighters and it's the Millennium Falcon
and yeah it's really cool not to go for
full fanboy in a situation oh yeah well
I say we I think you know everyone that
gets a part on that is in the exact same
situation including JJ Abrams which
really helped with me yeah yeah yeah
everyone's just a fan it's cool it's a
it seemed to be a passion piece that was
made by fans for fans is really cool
thank you so much your time too much
watching hey you guys hey you guys huh
is that from the Goonies
[Applause]