The Stars of NBC’s Constantine Talk Source Material And Character Dynamics

The 2005 film Constantine will forever have a place in my heart. It’s not a great movie, but I saw it on a whim with an acquaintance I barely knew. She became my roommate and one of my dearest friends, thanks to bonding over the greatness of Tilda Swinton and the rampant silliness of the rest. Whenever I hear someone mention the on-screen version of John Constantine, I think of her, laughing all the way out of the theater.

Judging by its trailer, NBC’s upcoming Constantine series is an entirely different ball game. It looks properly dark and witty, and there was one visual effect that made me recoil from my keyboard (“Nana!”). By all accounts, the series hopes to win over comic fans. In a recent interview with IGN, lead actor Matt Ryan touched on just that.

I think as with the source material, there’s so much to draw from in terms of the character and the balance of humor and wit and dark and gritty. It’s great, because John has this kind of real sarcastic, ironic British wit. It’s funny, but at the same time it’s serious and dark and gritty. It’s got it all, I think…we’re trying to stay as close to the source material as possible and really do the comics justice. So, hopefully, we can do that.

Both Ryan and co-star Lucy Griffiths have been reading Hellblazer as research (Ryan says he’s about a third of the way through, and Griffiths digs the artwork). Griffiths, whose character was created for the show, talked about how she fits into the narrative equation.

IGN: Can you talk about the dynamic between your characters? What does Liv make of John?

Lucy Griffiths: Like how all women like to feel about men, she loves him and she hates him. She thinks he’s an absolute idiot, and she just finds him annoying. At the same time, she can’t deny that he’s a genius, and she’s thrilled by what he has to offer her in terms of excitement. He’s irresistible to her from that point of view.

Ryan: But dangerous to her as well.

Griffiths: Yeah, and she helps him. She’s his psychic sidekick.

Show of hands — who out there’s planning on checking this out in the fall?

(via Blastr)

Previously in Constantine

• Constantine Gets A Trailer And A Full Clip
• First Image From The Constantine Set
• Constantine Exec Talks Source Material

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