Van Der Valk’s Marc Warren felt ‘vulnerable and under pressure’ fronting ITV reboot – fearing it’d ‘go down in flames’
VAN Der Valk's Marc Warren says he felt "vulnerable and under pressure" by playing his first lead role in years.
The 53-year-old plays a streetwise Dutch detective in the new crime drama and confessed he was nervous the reboot would "go up in flames."
Warren told the PA news agency: “I have played lead roles before but not so much… mainly in my 30s I was doing that kind of thing, not so much in my 40s; it would be much more ensemble like Mad Dogs and stuff, and you spread the load there."
He added: "If it goes down in flames, you’re all going down together, but when you’re the title character, there’s a lot more pressure to it."
The former Hustle star said the feeling of partaking in a lead role reminded him of when he first started acting: “I think I felt it throughout the whole job, really."
He added: “Certainly in my younger days, I suppose I felt almost fearless when I was at work. But I didn’t have that on this, I suppose I just felt more vulnerable."
The new ITV reboot of the original dutch detective crime series has put Marc Warren in the lead role as detective Piet Van Der Valk.
Running over three feature-length episodes, viewers will see the detective investigate a series of murders and high profile cases.
Van Der Valk and his team start by investigating the mysterious deaths of two strangers with no connection to each other.
This leads the detective and his team into the world of politics, addiction, and the art scene of Amsterdam where the entire series is filmed.
MORE ON VAN DER VALK
Speaking about his role in the new series, Warren revealed to The Express his mysterious character is "a bit of a loner."
He explained: "Van Der Valk is an everyman sort of character. He reflects the energies of Amsterdam: It's tolerance and liberalism.
"At times he might seem a little taciturn or moody but he has some stuff going on that we find out about as the show goes on.
He has appeared in numerous theatre and television productions including the HBO mini-series, Band Of Brothers, Count Dracula and The Good Wife.
Catch Van Der Valk on Sundays from 8pm on ITV.