Humans: Interview with Mark Bonnar who plays Neil

9 May 2018

You play Dr Neil Sommer in the new series of Humans. Explain a little about him.

He is a behavioural scientist who has been brought in by the Dryden Commission to gauge public reaction to certain decisions about the synths and how they’re going to deal with them.

 

How did you find the experience of coming on to a show where the cast is already established? Did you feel very much like the new boy?

I think you have that new boy feeling on any set anyway, whether it’s an established cast or not. The beginning is always the first day at school on any job, but dealing with that is part of the job. Yeah, if it’s a long-running thing, some people have a short hand with each other. But everyone is generally very friendly so you bed in quite quickly. I was quite nervous on my first day, I think, because sometimes you find, as you dig deeper, that you discover things about the character emotionally that might surprise you. I partly discovered Neil as I went through, and particularly as his relationship with Laura develops. 

 

Had you watched the first two series?

Yes, I watched the first series. Not the second, because I have two young children and I just didn’t have time. I only had a certain amount of time before I started, and I wanted to make sure I’d got as much of a flavour as I could.

 

Why did you want to be part of the show?

Because I think they’re great writers, Sam and Jonathan, and also the character that they approached me with I found fascinating. He’s somebody whose judgement is compromised by his past, and what happened to him in his past, and I thought it was a fascinating journey that they proposed for this character. And it’s also a fascinating time to be a part of something that’s talking about division in the way that Humans does. It directly applies to what’s going on in our country constantly. There’s always a new Windrush, or something about immigrants, who are actually humans! I think it’s an important piece of work, and I really wanted to be a part of it.

 

You’re starring in a play at the moment with some similar themes, aren’t you?

Yes, I am. I’m in a show at The Royal Court called Instructions for Correct Assembly, which is about a couple who have lost their son to a heroin overdose aged 21. So they buy a flat-pack son, ostensibly. On the face of it, when you describe it like that, it does sound rather similar, but when you go and see it, it’s quite a different beast to Humans, because it’s about them, really, and what they need and what they’re trying to achieve. 

 

Most of your story is pretty closely linked to Laura. How was working with Katherine Parkinson?

Fantastic. I know her husband Harry very well, I’ve worked with him a couple of times, but I’d never met Katherine before. We got on like a house on fire, thank God. We had a really great time. Often, when you have to do the things you have to do in relationships like that on screen, it helps a great deal if you have someone you have a short hand with, and a sense of friendship, because you have to do some tricky stuff together. If it’s somebody you didn’t get on with, it would be a nightmare. 

 

What did you find the experience like of filming scenes with people playing synths? Was it a distraction at all?

I didn’t have a huge amount of scenes with synths. At the Dryden Commission we were surrounded by the Orange Eye synths, who are very much in the background, there to open the door for you. So you kind of forget about them when you’re in the midst of shooting, because that’s what you have to do. I did two days in the Power Station where the synths had their compound, so that was my direct contact with Green Eyes, and that was the beginning of Neil’s journey challenging his views on Green Eyes. He witnesses them playing chess and reading poetry and being emotional. You can’t dismiss something as unhuman when it’s clearly soaking up these experiences. To be honest, I found acting with them amazing. I had quite a bit of stuff with Ivanno [who plays Max] and I kind of marvelled at him, way back in my head as I was saying my lines. I was also thinking “How do they do that?” they’ve got an incredible poise, really amazing to watch. So I was a bit of a fanboy on the inside while trying to appear not to be on the outside. 

 

You seem to be in a particularly golden patch of your career – you are in everything! What do you put that down to?

I don’t know? Luck? Being in the right place at the right time? A bit more confidence? Work breeds a bit of work sometimes. If you’re in the right place at the right time, that can lead to other things. But basically I have no idea. If I knew the answer to that question, this golden patch would last ‘til I die!

 

Do you have that thing that a lot of actors have where it’s difficult to turn work down, because you’ve had lean times?

Yeah, I’ve had lean times. I’ve had, separately, two whole years of nothing, back in the 90s and early 2000s. Every actor knows what unemployment is like, and knows what long periods of unemployment are like, unless you’re spectacularly lucky. So I do have that thing of finding it hard to turn down work. I don’t usually turn down work, it usually involves a very big debate with agents and family and your conscience and your sense of panic. But it is the only power we have, as actors – to say no.

 

Your other half is an actor as well. Would you encourage your children in that direction?

I don’t know. I think all children love to dress up and play make believe. It’s just that I never stopped. So they love that stuff as much as any kids. Would I encourage them to go into the profession? I’d just be happy for them to be happy. 

 

Obviously your kids aren’t old enough to engage with a high-concept sci fi drama, but do they get excited when they hear your voice on Tree Fu Tom?

They used to, they’re a bit blasé about it now. But I did CBeebies Bedtime Stories recently, and that was a bit of a mike-drop moment in the house the other day. That was really cool. I really, really enjoyed sitting with them on the couch – I think I watched a couple with them. That’s really special – that’s up there. But Tree Fu Tom, because it’s just a voice, I find it hard to convince my youngest that it’s me. He’s not really that interested.

 

If this technology was available, would you get a synth?

No. Personally, I’m becoming more technophobic the older I get. I left Facebook last year. I read an article that pointed in the direction of some of the stuff we now know. Also, I didn’t like the insidious way that when you opened the app, it asked you if you wanted to add the photos you’d taken that day. I was thinking “Stop delving into that part of my phone and presenting it here! “ Things like that just creep me out. I’m becoming a bit of a grumpy old man in that way, and I don’t think I’d get a synth for that reason. Also, I don’t know how easy I’d feel with this human-like apparatus patrolling around the house. Complex machinery is prone to break down and malfunction, and I don’t think I’d feel happy with it. Also the fact that it’s an indentured slave, basically.