What do you make of the new US modern Sherlock Holmes adaptation, Elementary?
Jonny [Lee Miller] asked me if I was all right with him doing it. I said, ‘What are the similarities?’ And he went, ‘Well it’s modern.’ I went, ‘Oh.’ Then he said, ‘Lucy Liu’s going to play Joan Watson’. And I went, ‘Oh.’ I got hold of the pilot script just to check it out. I don’t know, we’ll see. I think there’s room for us both to coexist. I don’t feel threatened by it and I wish him the best, which is as diplomatic as I can be.
It’s a strange position to be in.
It’s very odd. I did say, ‘Well, I’d prefer you didn’t do it but you’ve got a kid to feed, a nice house in LA and a wife to keep in good clothes.’ When you get used to a certain standard of living and they waft a pay cheque at you, what are you going to do? I think Jonny was like, ‘Mate, I’ve got the f*cking mountain to climb here [to reach the acclaim of Sherlock], you’ve got nothing to fear. I wish him the best of luck, but I’m a bit cynical about why they’ve chosen to do it and why they cast him.
