‘Down Cemetery Road’: Emma Thompson on Why She’s Drawn to the ‘Rageful Originality’ of Her Apple TV Character (Exclusive)

Emma Thompson was more than on board for a return to television when the Oscar-winning actress was offered the lead role in author Mick Herron’s latest adaptation for Apple TV, Down Cemetery Road.

Thompson plays private investigator Zoë Boehm in the fast-paced new thriller from the writer of Slow Horses, as she’s brought in on the case of a missing girl by art restorer Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson).

Prior to Wednesday’s premiere of Down Cemetery Road, Thompson and Wilson opened up to PopCulture.com about taking on the “rageful originality” of Zoë and the “unique characterization” of Sarah.

For Thompson, saying yes to Down Cemetery Road was a no-brainer, as the actress has been a fan of Herron’s writing long before Slow Horses was adapted for television.

“I found his books nearly 10 years ago and became a really passionate fan,” she told PopCulture, “and everything that came out, I just read it all.” While the Down Cemetery Road team wasn’t sure if she would be on board for a return to television after a long while away, she “immediately” leapt at the opportunity to play Zoë.

“I was like, Mick Herron? Give it to me. Give it to me now. I will do it. I will do anything,” she recalled, revealing that she also loved her private investigator character’s “punk kind of rageful originality,” especially when paired with Herron’s “cynical” and “very perspicacious” insight as an author into corruption and institutions.

Wilson wasn’t familiar with Herron’s books when she was approached about Down Cemetery Road, but she told PopCulture that the opportunity to work with Thompson was what “first drew” her to the role.

“Then I read the script, and the script was brilliant and very funny,” she continued. “And then I read Mick’s books, and I thought, ‘They’re amazing.’”

Wilson was also drawn to the “unique characterizations” of Sarah, who has been modernized a bit from the 2003 bestseller’s “bored housewife” character. “But I loved her because she was someone who there was a lot to discover with her,” Wilson teased. “I felt she was a character that I would find as I played, which was quite scary. … So I thought that was quite daunting, but also quite exciting.”

Down Cemetery Road premieres with two episodes on Wednesday, Oct. 29 on Apple TV+.