GRACEPOINT: David Tennant And Anna Gunn Impressed With Each Other's Acting Skills

On Thursday 2^nd October at 9pm/8c, the new ten-part event series Gracepoint premieres on Fox TV. Heading up an impressive ensemble cast, which includes Nick Nolte, Kevin Zegers and Jacki Weaver, are David Tennant and Anna Gunn. They play the two police detectives charged with tracking down the killer of twelve year old Danny Solano, around whose murder the plot revolves.

Both leads are already known in iconic roles: David as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who and Anna as Skyler White in Breaking Bad, but the four-month long shoot for Gracepoint on Vancouver Island earlier this year was the first time working together. Fortunately they were more than impressed with one anothers’ performances.

Gracepoint is based on the original UK series Broadchurch, and David, who starred as Alec Hardy in that series now essentially reprises the part in Emmett Carver. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, he denied that he was suffering from too much déjà vu.

“Actors are used to repeating things,” he explained. “On stage you do it eight times a week. Telling the same story is not foreign to us, and this didn’t even feel like that because you’re telling it with different people and telling—at times—a different story.”

Part of the difference was his interaction on set with Anna, who brought a new perspective to the character of Ellie Miller, originally played by Olivia Colman.

“I never felt for a second this was somewhere I’d been before. Objectively some of the lines are the same, but Anna has such a different energy and clarity as a performer I never felt like these were scenes that were familiar to me, they felt fresh and new—and that’s a credit to her,” he said of his co-star.

Anna found that their on-set interactions worked well for her.

“I think I was just impressed with how we were very present with each other all the time,” she said. “It’s great when you know you have a scene partner you can throw things at each other in different ways and you know they can receive the ball and throw it back a different way. I think we had such a sense of fun with each other that it felt playful and joyful to do that kind of acting even though its a serious story. You couldn’t ask for anything more as an actor.”

And what about David’s much-discussed America accent? Did she need to give him any tips?

“No!” she stated. “When you’re in a scene with somebody you’re not paying attention to that, you’re paying attention to the human being sitting across from you—and his accent’s good.”

Read the full interview on the Entertainment Weekly website

Gracepoint explores the impact of the murder of a local child in a sleepy seaside town in California. As the police attempt to solve the crime and keep the peace, long-hidden secrets emerge and suspicion and fear threaten to tear the small community apart. The producers say that although based on the UK series Broadchurch, Gracepoint will have its own twists, different suspects and a new ending.

The series also premieres in Canada on the Global Network on 2nd October at 9pm ET and in Australia on the Universal Channel on 3rd October at 8.30pm. A UK date will be confirmed soon.

To find out more about Gracepoint please visit our website.