A new version of Sherlock is back on screens, but with a very different Moriarty at the helm.
Amazon Prime Video is bringing a bold new take to the age-old Sherlock Holmes tale with an origin story where the famed literary detective, played by Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and his arch-nemesis start out as well-matched university friends.
As creator Matthew Parkhill told Metro about fleshing out this unique dynamic in Young Sherlock: ‘They are two sides of the same coin, and they’re intellectual equals. So that was always a sort of starting point.’
For The Wheel of Time star Dónal Finn, stepping into the shoes of this widely-coveted villain was not as daunting as you might think, given it’s unlike any version we’ve seen before.
Still, the Irish actor managed to find a balance between paying homage to the actors who came before him while also bringing his own flair to the character.
He explained: ‘It’s kind of undeniable to be informed by previous iterations of it – I don’t say that like [I’m] drawing on past performances of Moriarty to influence this, [but] simply because I was watching them as a young person getting into film and television.
‘I found Jared Harris [Moriarty in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows] and particularly Andrew Scott in the BBC one, just informative for being an actor.
‘Particularly, Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch, and their willingness to make huge character leaps and decisions, was just so inspiring.
‘Truly, I had a picture of Andrew Scott up on my wall all through drama school, as a benchmark of how bold and playful you can be.’
Still, he reiterated there are key differences between all of their iterations, especially since we meet Jared and Andrew’s versions ‘when [Moriarty] is this Napoleon of crime and properly arrived villain’.
Meanwhile, his Moriarty, more often called ‘James’ in the show, is a young man ‘understanding how the world works’ and reckoning with its ‘unfairness’.
Given Guy is familiar with this world through his movie duology, he and Matthew were all too aware that they didn’t just want to make Sherlock a younger version of Robert Downey Jr’s version of the character.
As Matthew explained: ‘They’re informed tonally in terms of that irreverence and that swagger. But also Guy is a different man and a different director than he was all those years ago, so he naturally brings a different part to it.’
Pointing to one key contrast, Sherlock in the movies is ‘great at fighting’ whereas Hero’s version… not so much.
The question of how much to draw from TV shows and movies gone by is one that Mycroft Holmes actor Max Irons also grappled with when looking to actors like Mark Gatiss (whom he bestowed a chef’s kiss on during our chat).
‘It’s good to watch, appreciate, learn, steal the odd thing, respect, but then recognise that your DNA – which you can’t change – is unique, and that’s the new ingredient in the pot, on top of the director, Guy Ritchie, who is fearlessly reimagining this and building it his way.
‘Otherwise, I think it can weigh you down or restrict you and make you afraid, and you don’t want any of that.’
On the flip side, actress Zine Tseng has the luxury of coming in without the weight of legacy with her vivacious new character, Princess Gulun Shou’an.
‘In Young Sherlock, Matthew is dancing with Guy on the script,’ she shared, explaining how every moment was completely fluid.
‘My first day was in the church [and] Guy threw me this big monologue about the judicial Bible. I had no knowledge about any Bible.
‘Matthew was able to dance along with Guy’s knowledge base and they were able to create something in such a short time [that] all made sense to me.
‘The best part was English was my second language, but I was able to pull out the entire monologue because it’s very logically phrased. I wasn’t reciting it, but I was actually putting it into my words and letting it flow in my blood. That’s how good they were.’
Guy’s sets are famed for their unique and ‘fast-paced’ atmosphere, with Max adding: ‘Normally film sets can be agonisingly slow, things take a long time to happen. Guy [is like]: “Five, four, three, two, one,” and if you’re not ready, you’re going.
‘That’s quite scary and challenging at first, but very liberating once you adjust to the tempo, and it’s a lot of fun. You trust a man like that who’s driving the pace. He’s got the vision.’
As for what we can expect in potential future seasons, we had to ask the million-dollar question. Now that Moriarty and Sherlock are friends, could there be a romance on the cards?
‘He’s an easy man to love,’Dónal coyly teased.
Matthew added: ‘If this show does well, we’re going to carry on, so I don’t want to give away too much of where we might go. We explore this great Butch Sundance friendship and the boundaries between friendship and love.
‘Put it this way – Sherlock will never have, in his life, another friend like Moriarty.’
Young Sherlock is streaming now on Amazon Prime.
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