Mutual Friends
Marc Warren plays Martin Grantham
Writer Anil Gupta explains that Martin is "a series of contradictions, not least because he himself dislikes inconsistency.
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"He is neurotic yet smug, a control freak whose life is dictated to him by others notably his wife and his boss.
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"He thinks he's cleverer than everyone, but can't stop telling himself so – so he's not that clever.
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"A bright under-achiever, he has married above himself, but then took his wife for granted.
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"He constantly tries to do the right thing – provide for his family, be there for his son, share the household chores – and is left confused and distressed when it turns out that doing all these doesn't stop things from going wrong."
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"Marc Warren is a very gifted actor who has wonderful comic timing and understands that a lot of comedy is not so much about what is said but about the reaction to it.
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"He has a vast range of expressions and it was a pleasure to be able to put him into situations which bring them out."
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Marc is particularly well known to television audiences for his portrayal of Edward Leeford in Â鶹ԼÅÄ Drama Production's Oliver Twist, for Dougie Raymond in the hard-hitting cop series The Vice, as Albert Blithe in HBO's blockbuster mini-series Band Of Brothers and for the role of Danny Blue in the popular Â鶹ԼÅÄ series Hustle.
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Marc describes his role in Mutual Friends: "Martin Grantham is a lawyer, married to Jen with a young son, Dan. He's a solicitor, a beta male who worries about everything and is slightly neurotic and anal. The glass is always half empty.
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"He and Patrick are like the two sides of man – I personally would like to think that I am made up of both bits!"
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He continues: "As the story opens, his best friend, Carl, commits suicide.
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"One of their mutual friends is Patrick, who's a bit of a womaniser.
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"The group, who were all together at university, hadn't really seen each other for a long time. The lads all went on holiday together years ago in Thailand and they are brought back together by this terrible tragedy.
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"At the wake after the funeral, Martin's wife, Jen, tells him that she slept with Carl twice and Mutual Friends follows their stories as their lives begin to unravel."
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Martin is hit really hard when Jen tells him about her betrayal.
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Marc says : "He gets visions of them romping through the fields happy and in love, Jen and his dead best friend, and he imagines them having sex – all in his head, of course, but it affects his work and everything else.
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"So when Patrick comes along, he saves the day in lots of ways."
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But Martin doesn't walk out on Jen.
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Marc says: "No, he loves her, he really wants to make it work and he's devastated that it's all gone wrong.
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"So he agrees to go and see a relationship therapist, which are some of the funniest scenes, I think.
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"They see a guy called Jolyon, who Jen's been going to visit for about nine months because she's been having therapy since she started the affair.
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"And by the end of their second visit, they seem to be on the path to getting back together again."
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He continues: "Jen tells Martin that she had the affair because she felt 'unfulfilled'.
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"Martin is completely flummoxed when he hears that: 'What does that even mean?! You know we've been married 15 years, we have holidays, we have a nice house, had the extension done...'
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"He thinks that that's all you need, but she's looking for excitement, spontaneity – she wants to wake up in the morning and not know what's going to happen, so she looks to him to change that."
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Marc sees Patrick and Martin as The Odd Couple, and says: "They're both very different, but it works, the chemistry is absolutely there.
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"Most of the time I'm just being very hostile to him and he just takes it and it's hilarious!"
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As for comparison with Sideways, Marc says: "I'm trying to work out which one I am – the bald one, Paul Giamatti, and Xander's the blonde one. Which means I'm the one who knows about wine! Yep, I like the idea of that!"
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Marc would love to see Mutual Friends turn into a long-running series.
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He says: "I was working in Los Angeles when they sent me the original script for the pilot episode, which I loved, and they flew me back for a week's rehearsal and then we shot it, so it was a very quick turnaround.
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"I could see Xander playing opposite me straight away and I just thought it was very funny."
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Marc's trip to LA was a success; he was cast in the feature film Wanted with Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and James McIlroy.
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He says: "I played one of Morgan Freeman's assassins. I've always wanted to do a big Hollywood film – although this one was filmed in Prague, so I really kind of kept my eye on the prize and was very focused in what I wanted and I was fortunate enough for it to happen."
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Marc actually turned 40 while he was out in LA.
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He says: "I drove up into the desert and spent three days in Vegas celebrating.
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"I went to see the Cirque du Soleil in the evening and when it finished at midnight I was 40.
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"I'd always wanted to do that five-hour drive from LA to Vegas. I set off at four in the morning and watched the sunrise – just me.â€
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