Behind the Scenes of ‘The Missing’ with Tcheky Karyo

Tcheky Karyo Exclusive Interview on The Missing
Tcheky Karyo stars in ‘The Missing’ (Photo © Company Television Productions and New Pictures 2014)

Starz is debuting one of the best drama series of the 2014 season with the November 15th at 9pm ET/PT premiere of The Missing. Starring James Nesbitt, Frances O’Connor, and Tcheky Karyo, The Missing follows a couple’s desperate search for their son after he was abducted while the family was on vacation.

Nesbitt and O’Connor play the parents while Karyo tackles the role of respected police detective Julien Baptiste who helps the family in their search for their missing son.

Tcheky Karyo The Missing Interview:

What drew you in reading the first script?

Tcheky Karyo: “It was very well written. Two heads, two brothers wrote that, Harry and Jack Williams. It was really compelling and I was immediately attracted to it.”

How were you initially approached? Did they give you all the episodes at once or did you just get a pitch at first?

Tcheky Karyo: “No, they gave me everything and then they had to rewrite some moments. They were constantly working while we were shooting. They were very near the director, Tom Shankland, who is really amazing and a real guide for all of us. He directed the whole series which gives to it coherence. It’s compact and strong because it had one really strong person directing those episodes.”

Did your character change in the rewrites?

Tcheky Karyo: “No. What they were rewriting was the plot, the intrigue, the suspense, and all those things. How the truth would be revealed and how late it would be revealed. It was interesting the way it worked. Yes, it was really nice to follow that.”

Was there anything in particular about Julien that you latched onto? Was there one aspect of this character that you really connected with more than anything else?

Tcheky Karyo: “You know, I’m a grown-up man even though I feel like I’m 30 or 25, sometimes six years old…”

We all feel that way.

Tcheky Karyo: [Laughing] “Yes. When you arrive to a point where you can turn your head and say, “Hmm, there is quite a long road that I just went through.’ You’re like, ‘What is left?’ You start to be maybe a little bit wiser, maybe have more patience, maybe take more time to listen to people and understand where you are, where you’re from, things like that. This is something where I really relate with the character and was happy to share and give to this character.”

When you’re working on a series like this that goes back and forth between two distinct time periods is it difficult for you as an actor to remember where your character is?

Tcheky Karyo: “Yes, yes, you are absolutely right. It is a real challenge. As I told you it’s also collegial work. Is that the word? I will look in my dictionary.”

Do you really have a dictionary with you?

Tcheky Karyo: [Laughing] “Yes, Rebecca, on my iPhone. I’m using it a lot and it’s fantastic. Also, this is one of the challenges of the series was for me to have everything in English. That’s why sometimes when I may be lost there is somebody on the side helping me, Tom, the director. He was a really nice man, really good. It was a great experience to share with him.”

How difficult at this point in your career is it for you to do a film or series in English?

Tcheky Karyo: “As much as I’m happy to be able to share this conversation with you and look for some words in my dictionary, it was a real challenge for me. That’s why I needed someone to put the gloves on…you know, like sports people, you need a sparring partner. I do it also even in my own language, it’s not just because it’s not my own language, I do it in French also. It’s a great opportunity with the English, actually, to be to improvise sometimes. To be able to dream in English. To come to a point where I start dreaming in English. I speak in English in my dreams now.”

Did you get more out of playing him at the younger age or at the older age?

Tcheky Karyo: “I like him when he’s young but I like him also when he’s old. I have the same pleasure. It’s really great. As an older man it’s interesting to hold your body a little different, maybe I’m limping or maybe I’m slower. There’s a bit more inertia. And when I’m younger I play with the body, actually.”

Did you do any outside research on the police or detectives? Was that even necessary?

Tcheky Karyo: “No, I didn’t need it actually. The script was so well written I didn’t need to. I’ve met a lot of detectives. I’ve spent a lot of time with police people and I feel comfortable with it.”

With the script this tight, were you allowed to throw anything in?

Tcheky Karyo: “Yes, yes. I was allowed to. Since I’m French and I lived with this English woman, sometimes I could make up my lines. I didn’t change the meaning, even though sometimes I could discuss it and have an exchange about the meaning of things. I would make it my own language in a way sometimes.”

I would imagine overall with The Missing it was emotionally challenging work. Is this a character you were easily able to put aside at the end of the day?

Tcheky Karyo: “I didn’t put it aside. It may be more difficult for Jimmy Nesbitt and Frances O’Connor to put it aside because they had to go through deep, deep emotions. The loss of a child…I can’t even think of it. It’s so incredible. For them, they had some moments of emotion that were really shaking.

With my character I was in character all the time, actually. I was really trying to be myself, not to portray or compose. I was really trying to be authentic and true. So I related to this work 24 hours a day.”

You mentioned earlier that the writers were working on when to reveal what was happening and how to time that perfectly. Without giving anything away, do you believe that they’ve got it perfectly timed?

Tcheky Karyo: “I would think so, yes. I didn’t see the whole series. I saw two episodes, but I think so. Also, what is very important as you know is that it’s really character-driven so the suspense is also the inner life of each of those characters and the way they are structured.”

When you’re playing a character, in general do you create a detailed back story for him?

Tcheky Karyo: “Yes I do, but this one I jumped in it. I came on board quite late. We’re so lucky to have those guys; they are so talented. Also, the team around – the stars, the BBC and and the director. They are an amazing team.”

Would you have preferred to have been brought in a little bit earlier just so you could have created more of a back story?

Tcheky Karyo: “I mean it’s a bit of my fault. I have to say that it took me time to go on board because I was so moved. I had also my music going on. I had some projects going on and I knew that when I get hired in this project I have to dedicate myself 24 hours a day. At first I was not wanting to go but then I realized I made a mistake and I was lucky they came back to me. There is something special with that project.”

You’ve done television before but we seem to be in a new golden age of television. There’s a new renaissance in which the writing is actually better than feature films. Do you believe that?

Tcheky Karyo: “Well, it looks like television has the potential and it looks like the teams who are going there find real spaces for creation. That’s why I think there’s a real freedom. They want to be creative, inventive. They are not trying to recreate some recipe for success. They are more adventurous, I would say.”

Do you find as an actor it’s a greater challenge to be involved in a television series than it is to take a character through the course of a movie?

Tcheky Karyo: “Well, what is interesting is the time. When you do a series you work five, six, seven months and then you get to know people more near. There is a real human adventure also. You have time to develop things. It’s really nice. It’s really a good feeling.”