British actor Tom Ellis is having one hell of a time playing the lead role in TV's Lucifer,
a police procedural which follows the devil himself as he retires to the City of Angels
and teams up with LAPD detective, Chloe Decker.
So, with Lucifer back on our screens, let's take a look at 7 crazy facts about the devilish
show.
Tom Ellis may play the former Lord of Hell in Lucifer, but in real life, he actually
grew up in a very religious family.
Ellis's father is a Baptist pastor, as are Ellis's sister, brother-in-law, and uncle.
And when they heard he was making this show, they were very excited for him.
Ellis says he sees Lucifer as a satirical "story of redemption" rather than "a big theological
debate."
Well before the show had even aired, it was already the target of protests, with several
organisations petitioning the show's network Fox to cancel the series completely.
A petition the American Family Association's website One Million Moms, which gathered 38,000
signatures, said the show 'mischaracterised and glorified Satan' and that if Fox went
ahead with their plans to air Lucifer, the network would be 'disrespecting Christianity'
and 'mocking the Bible'.
This isn't the first time the world of Lucifer has caused controversy though.
Author Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novel, which the TV show is loosely based on along
with the spin-off comic Lucifer, also drew fire from the American Family Association
back in 1991.
Not only has the series inspired anti-Lucifer protests, it's also inspired pro-Lucifer graffiti!
Yes, in keeping with the show's devilish spirit, someone in LA or perhaps more than one person,
took it upon themselves to spray-paint the words 'Watch Lucifer' on top of billboards
advertising other networks' shows such as NBC's Shades of Blue.
And they even added a set of horns to actors featuring on those billboards including Jennifer
Lopez!
Tom Ellis says he doesn't know who did it and he doesn't condone it, but he does find
it very funny!
When author Neil Gaiman created the character of Lucifer in The Sandman graphic novels,
he was inspired by David Bowie; however, after reading the show's scripts, Tom Ellis saw
Lucifer as an Oscar Wilde or Noel Coward character with added rock n roll spirit.
So, he approached Lucifer as if the character were the lovechild of Noel Coward and Mick
Jagger with a dash of British actor Terry Thomas.
The TV show still tips its hat to Bowie's influence on the original comic books though
by featuring his music.
As for choosing Lucifer's accent, according to Ellis, when he tried an American accent,
the character came off as a jerk, but with an English accent he found that Lucifer could
get away with saying all sorts of terrible things and still come across as rather charming.
As music is such a big part of the show, what with Lucifer running a nightclub and singing
and playing the piano, Ellis decided to make a special playlist for his character which
he listened to during his downtime to help him get into the part.
His playlist features a mix of tracks that appear in the series, such as David Bowie's
Fame and Rebel Rebel, as well as Ellis's own picks including Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix
and Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash.
Lucifer's showrunner Joe Henderson has even been known to listen to Ellis's playlist while
writing scripts.
In fact, Devil's Haircut by Beck was actually on Ellis's playlist before it made it into
the show's pilot episode!
By the way, Ellis comes from quite a musical family himself.
His mother was a music teacher, his dad did amateur operatics, and all his siblings grew
up playing instruments, with Ellis playing trumpet and then French horn in orchestras
during his teenage years.
When Tricia Helfer was cast as Lucifer's mother Charlotte for the show's second season, Tom
Ellis was blown away as not only is he a massive Battlestar Galactica fan, but he also used
to have a crush on the Canadian actress who played Number Six in the award-winning sci-fi
series.
In fact, although Helfer plays Lucifer's mother in the show, in real life she's just four
years older than Ellis and she's actually five years younger than DB Woodside who plays
her other on-screen son, Amenadiel!
Ellis has joked that it's all a bit weird and oedipal and that he and DB both feel like
Stifler from the American Pie movies!
While they were filming at Long Beach for season one's seventh episode "Wingman", the
shoot was repeatedly interrupted by a random drone flying around the cast and crew.
Eventually, the show's security tracked down the guy who was flying the drone, but he refused
to stop!
So, actor DB Woodside marched down the beach to confront the drone pilot guy who then tried
to make a speedy getaway in his car as Woodside knocked on his door, asking to speak with
him.
It was only later that Woodside realised just what he must have looked like in his full
Amenadiel costume at the time!
So guys, what are you most looking forward to about the new season of Lucifer?
And what's been your favourite part of the show so far?
If you enjoyed this video, do comment, like and hit that subscribe button.
And before you head off, you might also like to watch my video with Tom Ellis at Comic
Con.
Click here to check that out; and you can also click there for my full movie and TV
facts playlist with more videos like this.
Thanks for watching and see ya next time!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!