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James Norton has said he had to go to ‘dark places’ to get into character for his latest role and ‘investigate his dark side’.
The actor, 39, said he likes to go as ‘far away as possible’ from himself whilst discussing his latest drama role.
The new ITV series Playing Nice follows a harrowing tale of two families entangled in a nightmarish scenario when they learn that their young sons were mistakenly swapped at birth due to a hospital blunder.
Faced with an agonising decision, they must choose between the children they've nurtured and their biological offspring.
Norton, who plays a father, said: ‘Any type of story where you have to go to those dark places is challenging because you have to extract yourself from your relatively comfortable existence and investigate the darker side of life.
‘You have to tap into pain, suffering and fear and that's always a challenge.’
James Norton says he had to go to ‘dark places’ to get into character for his latest role and ‘investigate his dark side’
The actor, 39, said he likes to go as ‘far away as possible’ from himself whilst discussing his latest drama role
Asked what drew him to the character he said he enjoys going as far away from himself as possible.
‘Often roles have lots of conflict and dilemmas and I've played a lot of roles which have a lot of darkness in them,’ he said.
‘I like going as far away from myself as possible because it allows you to learn a lot and it's always an exciting journey to really push to the fringes of humanity.’
The new series, which is set in Cornwall meant that Norton had to learn how to surf.
Talking about learning the new skill he said: ‘I loved it.
‘We met a surf instructor called Pete, who’s now become a friend, and he took us surfing to get us ready for the surf scenes.
‘Luckily for me, my character is not a good surfer.’
The Happy Valley actor, 39, revealed last month he has put off having children 'because it wouldn't be fair to have them right now'.
The new ITV series Playing Nice follows a harrowing tale of two families entangled in a nightmarish scenario when they learn that their young sons were mistakenly swapped at birth due to a hospital blunder
Faced with an agonising decision, they must choose between the children they've nurtured and their biological offspring
He split from his ex-fiancée Imogen Poots, 35, before Christmas last year, with their breakup being announced in February.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, he said: 'I love hanging out with kids — most of my friends have kids so I'm not quite in step with my peers — but the past few years have been the busiest I've been, so it would not have been fair to bring a child into that.’
Norton is joined by a stellar cast for Playing Nice including Niamh Algar from Channel 4's The Virtues Fame, James McArdle from HBO's Mare Of Easttown, and Jessica Brown Findlay, from Downton Abbey.
English (US) ·