Rise of the Titan Rise of the Titan

First things first, how does it feel to become a real life comic book character? How did you feel when you got the call? I was in shock at first because it wasn't even a phone call - it was an email. I had to reread it a few times before I could get excited because I was thinking, ‘Am I reading this right? I don't want to get the wrong end of the stick here and get really hyped up for no reason.’ I felt like I'd done a good job with my audition but I was just hoping for a recall. I wasn't expecting to be offered the job at that point. So it was a real surprise.

What was the auditioning process like?

At first, it was actually quite tricky to figure out what they wanted, because there are two very different versions of the character out there. All of my auditions were done by self-tape so I had no real dialogue with anyone on the Titans side - there was no opportunity to ask questions or get a solid idea of what they wanted. So I just had to go on the limited information that I was given in the emails and the notes that I received. I was definitely more focused on what I needed to do to get the role, rather than thinking about the big picture of what it would mean for myself and my career if I then got the role.

I did a deep-dive into everything I could about both versions of Jinx. I did so much research and read loads of comic books to really figure out what I wanted to do with the character, and meld that with what I thought they wanted. Once I got the gig, it was a really collaborative process - on everything from what we were going to do with the hair to how I was going to portray the character on screen. There were lots of costume fittings and chats about Jinx’s background, where she comes from and where she would fit in the show. So while I was initially excited to join this great DC series, it wasn’t until I got to set that it all started to sink in.

Did you have any trepidation when signing on? Some actors talk about the challenge of constantly being associated with one particular character - was this ever a concern for you, even with you only being confirmed for four episodes?

While Titans isn’t quite the size of Superman, for example, it has been going for quite a few years, and has amassed its own following - so I did have a bit of anxiety about what the fans would think of me. I knew that there'd be judgement about my casting and I knew that comic book fans can sometimes be very passionate and opinionated. But people have been largely supportive and liked what I've done, and there's been a lot of love for the character. It’s the biggest show I've done so far, so I knew I was opening myself up to a wider audience, which is something that I've not been through yet - and that'll probably expand again when it goes on Netflix, because that’s a global platform. While that’s a bit nerve-wracking, though, the experience has been really positive.

Working on superhero productions is quite unique in that there’s more of a reliance on special effects and elements that actors themselves can’t see in real time. How did you find that process?

It's interesting. There were moments where it would be literally just me in front of the camera, with the director calling out actions that I had to react to, like, ‘Now you're going to fight these zombies over there. And now you're going to say this.’ I often just had to react to nothing and no one and hope that my facial expressions matched what they wanted and that my eyeline was in the right place. But, in truth, all of that is just part of being an actor. Whatever project you work on, you have to have a good imagination. At the same time, some of the stuff was practical - like when I moved the lasers in my first episode. That all happened; the lasers were there and they all physically shifted. So there were some really cool practical effects as well.

Finally, to take you back to before your time as a Titan, you trained at The Actors Workshop Nottingham. How did your time there prepare you for this career path?

How did you find joining a popular TV series when it was already four seasons in? Were there any challenges to that? The cast and crew were lovely and I really cherished getting to work with them. They weren't cliquey at all. They welcomed me wholeheartedly and I became good friends with some of them. They are a really lovely bunch; there are no egos and they seemed to love working with me and loved what I did with Jinx. So it was a great experience. I don't think I was too worried about that looking back on it, because starting any job is scary. Whether it's been going for a while and you have to join a cast that already knows each other, or whether it's a brand new cast all coming together, it's scary working with new people. So I was nervous, but when I actually got to set and did my first scene with Brenton [Thwaites], who plays Nightwing, I just had that feeling of, ‘Oh yeah, this is what I do. I'm fine!’

I started acting relatively late, and I hadn’t trained in it before. I didn't go to drama school. But I felt like this might be something that I wanted to do, that I could be really good at. The main problem was that it's really hard at 28 years old to know where to start. And it's also a very nerve-wracking thing to do and get used to at that age. So I needed somewhere that could help me become familiar with acting in front of audiences, and where I could meet like-minded people - and that’s when I found The Actors Workshop. I went pretty solidly for about a year and it was the perfect place to gain confidence. I'm still friends with a few of the people that I met there. It was a really great community.

Series four of DC Titans will arrive on Netflix later this year

It’s not often you get the chance to join a flagship Amazon Prime series, let alone one based on one of the most popular novels of all time - but that’s exactly what Marcus Rutherford, the Nottingham-born Television Workshop graduate, achieved. We sit down with him to chat all things The Wheel of Time Shadowspawn. Mystical powers. The Aes Sedai. To some fusty so-and-sos, it might sound like a load of old Trollocs. But to the almost 90 million people who have bought and devoured Robert Jordan’s seminal high fantasy novel The Wheel of Time, it’s the basis of one of the most ambitious, elaborate stories of all time. Launching a novel series spanning over a dozen volumes and countless pages, and exploring crazy concepts that completely redefined its genre, it’s become one of the most beloved fictional texts ever put to paper. So, when Amazon were looking for a title to rival HBO’s Game of Thrones and its subsequent series, there was really only one place to start.

For Marcus Rutherford, the Nottingham-born graduate of - you guessed itThe Television Workshop who signed on as Perrin Aybara, one of the show’s most prominent characters, getting the chance to join this epic universe of monsters and magic meant a refreshing switch from the norm.

“I’d started off my career by getting my foot in the door with quite - you could argue - stereotypical roles,” Rutherford explains. “You know, black guys from Hackney who grew up in broken homes, that sort of thing. And I decided I just wanted to be in a different sort of genre. One aim for my career is to avoid becoming someone who is known for just one thing. I want to become a real chameleon and constantly try different projects.”

Cue a switch from London Fields to Emond's Field. Far from the grit and mundanity of the English capital, the world in The Wheel of Time is outlandish, packed with axe-wielding beasts, ancient powers, death and destruction - and that’s just in the first episode. Put simply, it’s fantasy storytelling at its most fantastical. Yet the focus on character is just as important as the magic; something that excited Rutherford.

“It was really interesting to play a character who's a lot more reserved, quite quiet, in a show of such scale,” he says of filling the shoes of gentle giant Perrin. “A lot of the other characters are more confident, whereas his development is a bit slower, which I think is quite rewarding for the audience to see. It takes him a bit of time to come into his own, but he grows a lot in the first series, and will do so even more in the second.”

Not only are other characters more confident, though, but other cast members are largely more experienced - with everyone from X-Men’s Daniel Henney to The Alienist’s Michael McElhatton on the call sheet. Oh, and Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike - who “set the standard” for everyone else - of course. Like Perrin in the show, Rutherford was learning a lot as he went along, picking up tips and tricks from some of the best in the business.

“That was true both on and off screen,” he muses. “When you do the sort of indie films that I’d been doing, there’s not much money at stake - you’re mainly making it for the love of it. So you might be able to talk to the director in detail, and have quite a few takes of certain scenes. But with something like this, there’s so much money on the table, and such a strict schedule, that shooting scenes can be quite tight. Learning to deal with that was a big thing, and the other cast members helped a lot.

“And then there’s also navigating the stuff away from the camera, like fan expectations. I saw some of the other cast just block it out, not look at the reaction, and navigate that side of the job in a way that was really interesting. So I used that as inspiration for myself too.”

For all the pressure of adapting such a popular product, the reaction to series one - which picked up over 6 million viewers in its first three episodes - has been a largely positive one. It was enough for Amazon to greenlight at least two more seasons, in fact, and audiences have connected with the small-screen characters everywhere from Rio to Rome - something that has taken some getting used to, Rutherford admits.

“It’s quite funny, because I could be in London or Nottingham and not necessarily get recognised, but then you’ll have people from Brazil or India who know you,” he laughs. “It’s really cool. It was big in America too. When we went to Comic Con in New York, it was nice to see the faces of people who've been watching. There’s so much analysis of viewership and tweets and engagement, but it’s only when you go to something like a convention and see people who are so passionate about this stuff - to the point where it’s like following a football team - that you really realise why we do this.”

Excitingly for these fans, Rutherford claims that the best is yet to come. Where the first eight episodes saw those involved finding their feet both on and off screen, the upcoming series will have a more confident group of characters doing more cool stuff than ever before.

“In series one, the naivety of our characters is at the forefront of the story. But in season two, there's a bit of a time jump. They’ve started to accept and have faith in the prophecy and their destiny, so there's more of a maturity to them. It's darker too, more real and a bit more brutal. The innocence of those kids we find in the village in episode one is long gone, and they’re becoming a bit more grown-up. I'm really excited for people to see it.”

Evolved characters heading on fresh adventures with “a big jump in the writing and visual effects”? If you haven’t already checked out this series, it’s about time you did.

You can watch The Wheel of Time on Amazon Prime Video @marcus_rudda