Silk Series two of the courtroom drama starring Maxine Peake and Rupert Penry-Jones (BBC)

Interview with Rupert Penry-Jones
Date: 18.04.2012
Last updated: 18.04.2012 at 10.48
Category: BBC One; Drama

Rupert Penry-Jones stars as Clive Reader in the returning series of Silk, on BBC One.

What attracted you to Silk as a drama? 

It’s about normal people dealing with exceptional situations. The dilemma of a barrister who is defending someone who is guilty or who’s prosecuting someone who might be innocent is always going to be interesting. You get everyday people doing their jobs, working with people who are murderers, you know, shaking hands with a murderer. The show can feature anyone from every walk of life, in any job. It’s like a police show in that respect – there are so many different characters and stories you can draw from and I love that aspect.

Do we see Clive struggle with any moral dilemmas this series? 

I don’t think so actually. It’s Martha that seems to have these sort of moral dilemmas really. I don’t think Clive really worries about the morals - his job is to do the best thing for his client. He’s had an argument with Martha about that before - you can’t just get emotionally invested with cases, you just have to do the best you can, do the best for your client and move on. Martha suffers from getting emotionally involved I think.

READ MORE OF THIS INTERVIEW:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/mediapacks/silk/rupert-penry-jones.html