David Tennant on the Wild Side

Mar 22, 2017

Posted by: Dawn Johnson

Actor Interviews, Films, Gambon, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, HP Cast, Interviews, Movies, News, Tennant, Trailers

David Tennant seems to have a penchant for taking on characters with a flair for the wild side. They’re perfectly content to disavow ‘normal’ in order to push the envelope, whether they’re bucking the system or pursuing personal interests without regard for what’s accepted or expected.

His staid Broadchurch character (DI Hardy) aside, Tennant is exceptionally good in these roles. Most notably for Potter fans, they harken back to his turn as Barty Crouch Jr. Every wide-eyed flick of the tongue, every gleeful snarl, tipped us off to the barely-contained crazed zealot beneath.

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Now Tennant is starring as the title character in Patrick Marber’s Don Juan, which opened in Wyndham Theater in Soho March 17th and runs through June 10th. Leaky reported the Official London Theater’s summary of the play:

“Loosely based on Molière tragicomedy ‘Don Juan’, this savagely funny and filthy modern update transports the action to contemporary London and follows the final adventures of its debauched protagonist – a cruel seducer who lives only for pleasure.”

This Don Juan sounds a bit of a creep, a sentiment that may not be too far off the mark, even in Tennant’s own estimation. But while the character may be off-putting for his single-minded self-indulgence, Tennant tells What’s On Stage it’s incredibly entertaining for an actor–and apparently, the audience–to go there. He observed:

“It’s interesting indulging the entirely guilt-free side of your psychology. He’s a sociopath, really, and something you’d never want to practice in real life, but there’s something rather thrilling about indulging that psychology for a while. To see what it’s like to have an entirely guilt-free existence. And to be able to do that in the safety of a fictional universe is rather intoxicating. I wouldn’t want to be him, and certainly wouldn’t want my daughters anywhere near him… or my sons… But to get to play around in those Jermyn Street-crafted loafers for a while, I have to confess, is rather fun.”

He goes on to chip away at what makes that life philosophy interesting and unsettling at the same time. He said:

“At one point in the play, my character says to himself: ‘This is homo sapiens in their most natural state, existing only to hunt.’ There’s something rather animalistic about it. I don‘t know if I necessarily agree with that but it’s quite a persuasive argument. If you strip us all back to our bare essentials, we are creatures pursuing pleasure and to take that to the extreme is an intriguing place to be.”

Extreme, indeed. It sounds like the play is a wild ride, and his other current project is, perhaps, no less so, delving into the psychology of man from a completely different angle. Tennant plays Scottish psychiatrist RD Laing in the upcoming film Mad to Be Normal.

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Radio Times describes the character as follows:

“The maroon suit, patterned shirt and slicked back hair probably have something to do with the students flooding into a lecture hall to hear him speak – but, then again, the high attendance is just what you’d expect from RD Laing (played by Tennant) who was something of a sensation back in his sixties heyday.”

To say that he was a sensation may be putting it too mildly. Laing was the rock star of his field, when society clamored to embrace his anti-establishment school of thought. Leaky reported that he even had a famous following. Many celebrities, including the Beatles, were fans.

“He was known for his counter-culture views on medication and treatment, preferring a community-care approach rather than a reliance on anti-psychotic drugs. He opened a revolutionary mental health center for patients that left doors unlocked and provided a medication-free environment.”

View this clip for a glimpse of his reception–and the charisma that warrants it.

Mad to Be Normal also stars Gabriel Byrne, Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), fellow Harry Potter alum Michael Gambon, who can be seen in the trailer below. (Warning: language advisory.)

The film is set to release in UK theaters April 6th.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.