Welsh actor Matt Ryan takes on the lead role in the new series Constantine based on the comics and set to premiere on NBC on October 24, 2014. Executive producers David S Goyer and Daniel Cerone say the series will serve as an entry point into the comics for those not familiar with Constantine, while also satisfying long-time readers of the comic books, a delicate balancing act that Ryan’s looking to accomplish in his performance.
“I mean, I feel like the fact that he’s a tormented soul who’s harboring so much guilt, and then kind of counteracts that with this cynical look at the world – and he has this humor,” explained Ryan at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con when I asked about his way into the character. “The juxtaposition of someone with so much sh*t going on inside that they seem irreverent to it. It’s buried so deep inside them that they kind of come across as they don’t give a sh*t when he’s actually a humanist at heart.”
Ryan also discussed the challenge of playing a character who never really wins.
“The challenge in that is how many times can he get beat down and get up again?” pondered Ryan. “But, then, he’s always compelled to. No matter how much society kicks him in the teeth, he still has to go out and save them. That’s the interesting thing, that compulsion to do right by humanity.”
Check out the rest of the interview with Matt Ryan in which he discusses the accent (it’s not full-on Liverpudlian), the source material, and cosplay:
