Luke Evans’s John Moore is also on the run from a broken heart in TNT’s The Alienist.
Luke Evans is no stranger to playing dashing leading men, but his portrayal of John Moore in TNT’s The Alienist has a darker twist to it. The limited series doesn’t shy away when it comes to showing violence and suspense, but it also showcases the turmoil in the heart of Evans’ John Moore.
After Moore’s fiance leaves him for another man, he turns to the bottle and frequents brothels to lessen his pain. When his college friend, Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, enlists him to help catch a serial killer, Moore is faced with the seedy underbelly of New York City that he only used to flirt with. Evans has been on a strong streak of feature films in the last few years, but his performance in this limited series is one of his most controlled and layered to date.
You haven’t done TV other than The Great Train Robbery in 2013. What made you want to join The Alienist?
Television has come quite a long way—especially American television. It’s really gone through the roof in the last few years. I got to meet the director and read the book and quite a few of the scripts. I was truly taken by the idea of 10 hours—that’s so much time. To spend that much time shooting with a character and getting into his skin was definitely something to look forward to.
I love the relationship between John Moore and Laszlo Kreizler. Did you and Daniel have a lot of conversation about how to maintain that relationship?
We did some rehearsals together, but, honestly, it grew organically. Daniel’s character can be very difficult, and that was easy to play off of. Laszlo is very cerebral, so playing an emotional character opposite that was interesting. When the first few episodes aired, people on social media would say, “Oh, poor John! How does he put up with it!” Even though they are very different, the friendship is so deep that there is a mutual respect for each other.
