Eddie Marsan doubts that any actor has clocked in more air miles than he has in the last decade. The British actor, who works in Los Angeles, is constantly flying to London, to be with his family. “I am a British actor who works in Hollywood. My life is between LA and London,” begins the 50-year-old actor who plays Terry Donovan, Ray Donovan’s older brother in the crime-drama series, Ray Donovan.
Apart from a string of appearances on TV, including the popular mid-1990s British TV show Game On, Marsan has appeared in films too. Some of his memorable roles on screen include Inspector Lestrade in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes (2009) and the antagonist in Hancock (2008). More recently, the British actor has voiced Vihaan (the wolf), in the Netflix film Mowgli. As the latest season of Ray Donovan airs, we speak to Marsan about his character, his work with Parkinson’s patients and living away from his family.
Punches & Parkinson’s
Created by Ann Biderman, Ray Donovan, for the uninitiated, is a crime drama about four brothers, among whom Ray (Schreiber) is a fixer — one who arranges loans, bribes and other activities of similar nature. Marsan plays his oldest brother, Terry, a retired boxer, who develops Parkinson’s disease. Speaking of what to expect in the latest season, Marsan says, “Terry goes back to fighting, because he is tired of being imprisoned by his disease and living that life.”
Marsan trained with a professional (boxing) coach, for the first five seasons. That Terry suffers from Parkinson’s is another key character trait. “I spoke to people suffering from Parkinson’s, and to doctors. We took care to portray it in honest light.”
All in the family
Marsan first arrived in LA from London, back in 2000 to work in Hollywood. But the actor, who is a devoted dad of four, says that he goes home as often as he can. “I wake up, go to work, film and go back home (to London).
So, I don’t have much of a social life anywhere really, especially in Hollywood. I know Hollywood only as a film set; I don’t know Hollywood outside of it,” he says, adding that the Ray
Donovan family is now like his own. “We shot the pilot of this show in 2012. So, I feel very close to all of them, really. They have been a great support network because I am living away from home. We all go to each other’s houses quite often, and when my kids are here, all the children hang out and do barbeques together.” Weekdays, at 10 pm on AXN.