Interview with Peter Egan – David

14 December 2023

What can viewers expect from the show?

First of all, you can expect a fantastically written narrative. The scripts are absolutely fantastic. They're very exciting. All of the characters are very interesting, and the story is fascinating to follow. It's a dark thriller with comedy elements and it's also a love story. The arc of Phil and Ken in this series is so beautifully addressed, I think. There are so many elements in this series that will be fascinating on many levels.

How has it been having the main cast in their seventies?

I love the fact that I'm on set with my contemporaries for a variety of reasons. On a professional level, you don't have to explain who you are to very young people who wouldn't have a clue who you are because they weren't born when you started and probably aren't interested. So that is lovely. Also, what is great is that everyone on the set in the major roles comes with a very, very powerful skillset and their abilities are just wonderful. It's just great to work with actors who know exactly what they're doing or what they want to do, and to have two directors who also have a very clear vision in terms of what they want and how we are going to advocate for this wonderful story. For me, it is quite thrilling to be on the set with people I trust so much and who are so talented.

What can you tell us about the friendships between the main characters?

I think what is lovely is to be working on a story where you do have a group of people who have known each other for 50 years. Their relationships are incredibly layered. It gives me, as an actor, a wonderful chance to develop a backstory that I can invest in the simplest of lines. I can be saying something to Ken, who is played by the wonderful Clarke Peters, I can say something that seems innocuous to him, which is fuelled in my mind by a deep jealousy. It’s nice to have that chemistry within oneself as an actor, because often when you're working on the series, you are creating a backstory that is going to give you the confidence to speak. It's good to have the availability of a past history that you can bring into your performance and into your delivery. So that's multi-layered and very exciting from my point of view.

What was it like tackling the difficult issues showcased in Truelove?

At my age, it's very much a relevant question of your life. I'm in my mid- seventies and I think about death quite frequently now. It's an ongoing conversation amongst people in my generation. It's a very interesting conversation and one that I think has to be taken seriously. What is very good about this series is that this is presented as a premise. As with all big questions that deal with life and death, you have to be very careful about the dark side of that. This very quickly goes into the dark side and presents a strong argument about how careful you have to be when you start opening the can of worms that deal with assisted dying. It presents a very real discussion.

What about this project have you enjoyed most?

I've been an actor for 57 years now, and I've been very lucky that I've been, for want of a better word, successful. I've been employed for all my life as an actor, which is quite an achievement. Truelove would certainly rank amongst one of the top ten of my favourite jobs ever been. It's been a superb job to do.