'When I was young we watched Dallas and Dynasty': Dominic West on War, his new series
Sienna Miller and Dominic West in new series, War.
The success of prestige shows such as and has demonstrated our insatiable appetite for a glimpse into the lives of the ultra-wealthy.
starring Dominic West and Sienna Miller, is the latest series to explore this world. It centres on the explosive divorce between British tech entrepreneur Morgan Henderson, played by West, and international film star Carla Duva, played by Miller.
Set in the elite world of London law, the eight-part series follows two of the city’s most prestigious rival firms, Cathcarts and Taylor & Byrne, as they go head-to-head in the divorce case of the century.
Each side is certain they’ll win. But as the case spirals and loyalties fracture, reputations are on the line and everyone is playing to win.
The legal thriller, written by George Kay, also stars actress Phoebe Fox and actor James McArdle as partners in life and business at Taylor & Byrne, alongside Baby Reindeer’s Nina Sosanya and Succession’s Pip Torrens as their counterparts and fierce rivals at Cathcarts.
West, 56, who is best known for and says it was easy for him to separate himself from his character because he isn’t a billionaire.
“It was quite easy for me because he is a billionaire, a highly successful finance guy, which is a totally alien world to me. It was a real sort of step up in competence,” laughs the Sheffield-born actor.
Speaking about his character Morgan, he says his relationship with his stepson Gabriel, played by Aran Murphy (son of Cork actor Cillian Murphy) is one of his redeeming features.
“I think he had lots of redeeming features, and it really does come out with that because it’s his stepson. He doesn’t have to look after him and I think that that does make him sympathetic. That he knows how to be a dad and he knows how to lay down the law or be disciplined when someone’s gone a bit away with him, I like that about him.”
Commenting on audiences’ appetite for series about the ultra-wealthy, he says: “It’s funny, isn’t it, as it always used to be on American TV. When I was young we watched Dallas and Dynasty and everything, and we were making Coronation Street, and now we’ve become very American in our love of rich people. I’m not sure it’s a good thing.”
Miller, 44, who has starred in Anatomy of a Scandal, says that although she is playing an actress, her character is very different from her in real life.
“Although I’m playing an actress, she’s a very different type of person, and I felt that quite instantly. She was very in command of her environment and quite ruthless in the way that she manages people,” she explains.
“I think with Carla, I wanted to play her as someone who wasn’t really influenced by her concern about what people thought of her, which was quite a liberating way of moving through the world. I had much more energy than being myself. I think I just kind of amped up what I imagine people would think of an actress in that environment.”
Miller and West, who starred together in a West End production of in 2005, say it was a joy to reunite for the series.
“It was great to work together again because we hadn’t worked together since then, and it’s obviously such an intimate thing, doing a play,” says Miller. “It was also a really tempestuous moment. There was a lot going on while we were making that piece of theatre, so it was lovely.
“We’ve seen each other over the years, but the sad thing about this is that because we were at war, we didn’t actually have that much time together. But every time we did, we had a great time.”
“It also gave us a sort of familiarity, and that it was essential for a married couple,” adds West.
Speaking about the audience’s fascination with the ultra-wealthy, Miller says: “It’s aspirational, and I think people want to see how the other side lives and kind of dip a toe into the ugliness that comes with all of that.
“I mean, I think we think that’s what we want, and we’re kind of encouraged in a society like ours to aim for that kind of status or wealth. But actually, you see that once people have it, they’re not particularly happy.
“Yeah, so maybe there’s that kind of rubbernecking.” Torrens, 60, who played Peter Munion in says these series also show billionaires as ordinary people.
“The fact is that, at the end of the day, they’re very ordinary people. You know, the kids in just don’t know how lucky they are. That’s their big problem. They think they’re serious people, as he says to them: ‘You’re not serious people.’ “And I think that amount of wealth just takes you far away. You think it hasn’t changed you, but of course it has. But then to see people like that with ordinary human emotions, needs and frustrations is just interesting.”
Fox, 39, adds: “It’s such a small percentage of the world, isn’t it? It’s fascinating because it’s like peering into this sort of microcosm that so few of us have access to.
“But also it’s beautiful, you know, when you have so much money involved, like the clothes, the offices, it’s actually just like it’s gorgeous to kind of feast on it in that way.”
- launches on Sky and NOW on Friday, October 2
