NEW INTERVIEW: David Tennant On Playing Loki In The Sandman Act II "I'd Have Been Quite Annoyed If I Hadn't Been Asked"

David Tennant has been talking to New York Daily News about his role in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman for Audible. David takes on the role of Loki in the second instalment, The Sandman Act II which was released a few weeks ago.

Listen via audible here. 

Talking about how he got cast David said "I haven't really enquired, but I'm imagining it was Neil's idea. There's almost a kind of Neil Gailman Reperatory Company. So I'm very thrilled to be a member of that. The Sandman is pretty iconic stuff, isn't it?

What Neil did with the form and with that character cast a long shadow. Frankly, I'd have been quite annoyed if I hadn't been asked. 

"If the audio experience is your first experience with Sandman, how exciting to go on that journey inside your own ears, it'll be entrancing. It'll be really exciting, sometimes bewildering, sometimes mystifying, but always hugely satisfying"

According to David his character Loki's reputation might depend on whose "viewpoint you'd got at the time."

"He's forever in the shadow of his overachieving brother, isn't he? I suppose that's quite significant in terms of psychology? And if you cast that over eternity, it's going to be difficult to get over that. You know, there's a lot of therapy required there. And I'm not aware that he's indulging in trying to make himself better...I suppose the question is whether it's destruction or self-destruction that he practices."

David says it's hard to blame Loki for causing trouble when "he sees himself as the runt of the pack".

"When you've got Thor for a brother, it's quite hard to compete, I suppose. Especially is you think you're much cleverer than he is, and nobody else seems to agree with you."

Loki has of course been played by Tom Hiddleston in Marvel's Cinematic Universe but David is making the character his own. 

"It feels like a different world or different set of worlds. It feels like a different reality. And it was interesting to play the Norse gods with Scottish accents. I thought it was quite a nice touch. So maybe that allows me a certain freedom to go my own way."

The Sandman: Act II is once again adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs and narrated by Neil Gaiman, who also serves as creative director and co-executive producer. The original score is again provided by BAFTA-winning composer James Hannigan.

The ensemble cast is led by James McAvoy, reprising the title role of Dream (aka Morpheus), with Kat Dennings as Death, Michael Sheen Lucifer and Andy Serkis Matthew the Raven reprising their respective roles.

New and returning cast members for season 2 include Jeffrey Wright (Destiny), Regé-Jean Page (Orpheus), Brian Cox (Augustus), Emma Corrin (Thessaly), John Lithgow (Emperor Joshua Norton), Bill Nighy (Odin), Kristen Schaal (Delirium), Kevin Smith (Merv Pumpkinhead), Bebe Neuwirth (Bast), Miriam Margolyes (Despair), Joanna Lumley (Lady Johanna Constantine), Niamh Walsh (Nuala) and Arthur Darvill (William Shakespeare).

The Sandman: Act II adapts the graphic novel series’ “Volume Four: Season of Mists” and “Volume Five: A Game of You,” as well as the “Distant Mirrors” quartet and the “Convergence” trio from “Volume Six: Fables & Reflections.”

The Sandman is the Audible’s best-selling original title in its history, and it held the No. 1 spot on the New York Times Best Seller Audio Fiction list in July and August 2020.