J.K. Rowling, BBC One's 'Strike' miniseries stars discuss casting, characters, more

[masterofmystery]

J.K. Rowling and the stars of the upcoming Strike miniseries discussed in detail how the BBC One and HBO miniseries came to the small screen in a series of new interviews leading up to The Cuckoo's Calling broadcast debut on Sunday, August 27, 2017.



J.K. Rowling on writing the series, the revelation she was the author, the immediate television rights, and what's the come for the books and shows:

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J.K. Rowling: ‘I really wanted to go back to the beginning. I wanted it to just be about the writing. I had this dream that I might be able to get maybe three books out under the pseudonym before anyone realised it was me.

‘I was realistic. I thought, if they [the detective books] have any success, then probably I will be rumbled, because I think questions would be asked about this “guy” who never wants to give an interview and never wants to meet a television producer and never wants to talk to anyone.

‘In fact, things became difficult quite quickly, because I was very lucky and the book was picked up. Then we had a call from the BBC and they wanted to adapt it before they knew it was me. That presented “Robert” with his biggest problem! Which is a really nice problem to have, but things became difficult to sustain quite quickly.’

‘It is challenging to create a hero who is not in the police force. We’ve moved – for excellent reasons – to heroes who are operating within the force, because then you have access to all this amazing evidence and it’s credible. That’s what real life is like.

‘Having said that, private detectives do still exist and many of them have come out of the forces. It’s an interesting world. You get to focus far more on the individual. Because I had this idea for a relationship between this man and this woman, that was the world it had to be in. If I’d placed them both [Cormoran and Robin] in the police force, the dynamic between them would have been entirely different. I wanted to explore a far more small-scale, human operation and a far more personal relationship.’

Tom Burke on getting cast as Cormoran Strike and the approval he got from author J.K. Rowling, whom the cast met during the script read. Burke admitted Rowling gave him some inside scoop about what's to come for Strike in the fourth book, Lethal White.

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Tom Burke: ‘Getting this really felt like a big deal. It had become a complete impossibility in my head that it would happen. Then, really early on it occurred to me that I wouldn’t get the job unless she [Rowling] gave me the seal of approval, but I knew they [the production company] wanted me to do it, so I thought, “I don’t need to worry about this.”’

‘[Rowling] approved of my interpretation of Dolokhov, and she seemed happy with my casting. She’s seen the first episode of The Cuckoo’s Calling now and has said she’s very happy.

‘I was aware of how hands-on [Rowling] was being with the script. Certain things were just “No, Strike wouldn’t do that, Robin wouldn’t do that.” So I felt like she was in every page of the script in the same way that she was in every page of the book.’

Rowling in turn noted she was originally apprehensive meeting Burke:

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J.K. Rowling: ‘The first time I met Tom I said, “Well I hope to God you do enjoy playing this character because I think I’ve got at least another ten books in me – so you could be locked in for quite a few years here.” It was really important to me that we got the right people in front of the camera, and off. Because this could go on for a very long time. I hope it does, because I absolutely love writing the books.’

Holliday Grainger (Robin Ellacott) reveals how she met J.K. Rowling for the first time and that fun interaction, as well as how hands-on the author was during production:

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Holliday Grainger: “We actually met for the first time in a toilet at the readthrough. We were obviously both doing that thing where we walked in and thought, ‘God! It’s everyone and their dog in here, Let’s go and escape to the loo.’

“We both came out of the next-door ladies toilets. She just went, ‘Hi, I’m Jo. There’s more people in there than in any Warner Bros. read-through.’ I’m like, ‘Great! Thought so.’”

‘She OKs all the scripts and rushes and scenes. I had notes on how Robin reacts in certain situations – a lot of the notes she gives are very specific. Robin doesn’t always think about herself – she’s often thinking of other people.’

For those who in the UK who want to tune in, the three-part The Cuckoo's Calling episodes will air on consecutive days - August 27 for the premiere; Monday, August 28 for the second part; and the finale on Tuesday, August 29th. The two-part adaptation of the sequel, The Silkworm, will air on BBC One the weekend after, starting Sunday, September 3, and finishing the day after. Career of Evil from Robert Galbraith will debut on BBC One sometime in 2018.