Tom Ellis relishes role on ‘Lucifer’
Tom Ellis is enjoying the devilish role he’s getting to play on the new Fox series “Lucifer.” It seems that the devil has gotten tired of ruling the underworld and decides to take a break.
In keeping with the hottest trend in TV these days, the series is based on a comic book – in this case, one created by Neil Gaiman.
Ellis didn’t feel any need to do some sinful research to play the role. He found everything he needed in the script.
“This was a script that when I picked it up, I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ This is really fun. And it didn’t bother me that it was about the devil. In fact, it didn’t land on me what that meant in terms of taking on as a role,” Ellis says. “I didn’t see it like that. I just saw it as a really fun character and a fun script that had loads of potential to carry on, basically.
”And true personal experiences of doing shows that have worked and haven’t worked and stuff, you sort of hone in your senses about what your choice has become, and this, for me, was just a very obvious choice. I really wanted to do it.“
Ellis, who was born in Bangor, Wales, has loads of experience with television shows including roles on ”EastEnders,“ ”Doctor Who,“ ”Harley Street,“ ”Merlin“ and ”Rush.“
Coming up with the way to play Lucifer came down to one line in the script.
”Lucifer himself says, ‘Am I the devil because I’m intrinsically evil, or am I the devil because dear old dad decided I was?’ and that’s kind of the crux of where we find him in the show,“ Ellis says.
The actor did come to the role with some previous knowledge of hell as his father, uncle and sister are all pastors. He grew up in a household where the message was peace and love and understanding for everyone.
His family was excited when they heard Ellis was the devil. One reason they are OK with his acting choice is that the series isn’t designed to be a theological debate.
”Everyone feels like they have a certain perception of the devil, and we’re using that character and using it to tell a new story, basically, in a fun way,“ Ellis says. ”If there’s anything at the heart of it at all, in any way a kind of message, it’s we should take a look at ourselves and responsibility for our own actions as opposed to trying to put it into some mythical ether and blaming it on someone else.“
In other words, Ellis isn’t going to ever say that the devil made him do this role.
“Lucifer” airs at 9 p.m. Mondays on Fox.