“MY initial thought was only an idiot would take this part, that anyone with half a brain would run in the opposite direction. 

“It was obviously impossible to play the icon who was the biggest star in the world for nearly thirty years and who’s still legendary for being the very epitome of suave, lady-killing manliness. 

“What was Jeff Pope thinking coming up with the idea? He’d written so many brilliant things in the past, why had he lost his mind now? 

“Then I read his script and wondered why I’d doubted him, that wasn’t the story he was telling at all.”

Jason Isaacs talking to me about his role as Hollywood superstar Cary Grant – once among the most famous men on the planet – in new four part drama Archie.

Available to watch in full on ITVX here from today and coming to ITV in 2024.

Archie tells an amazing story and it was my absolute pleasure to conduct and write the cast and production interviews for ITV.

You can read those interviews with Jason Isaacs (Cary Grant), Laura Aikman (Dyan Cannon), Harriet Walter (Elsie Leach), Jeff Pope (Writer / Executive Producer), Paul Andrew Williams (Director) plus Cary’s fourth wife Dyan Cannon and Cary and Dyan’s daughter Jennifer Grant, who were both also executive producers, via the link below.

Click / tap on any image below to open it in full: