David Suchet fears he would have lost out on his most famous TV role as detective Hercule Poirot if he was going for the part now because he’s not Belgian.
The 72-year-old English actor portrayed Agatha Christie’s fictional detective for 24 years in 70 episodes to much critical acclaim.
Suchet has watched with interest as some of his acting peers have been attacked by pressure groups for portraying minority characters and he says if you take that thinking to its ultimate conclusion then he would be deemed to be the wrong nationality to play Poirot, and it is a mindset which he thinks is worrying.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said: "I’ve seen a lot of change in 50 years. Multicultural casting took time to adapt to. I had to work on myself to become more open-minded, and stop hanging on to fuddy-duddy traditions.
"Theatre has to evolve. It’s never going to be the same again, but there’s a danger we’re actually becoming narrower. Art must be free if it’s to express itself – you should serve the writing. I’ve just been in a Pinter play (‘The Collection’) where I played a gay character: I’m not gay but it crossed my mind, ‘Will there be objections?’ I asked (gay co-star) Russell Tovey if he minded, he said ‘Absolutely not’ but it’s up for debate.
"I’m very passionate that performers should have the opportunity for their latent to emerge, but to say actors should only play themselves would render character-actors redundant. If you take this to an extreme conclusion, I couldn’t have played Poirot because I’m not Belgian. If this is the way it’s going, I’ll be out of a job."
Recently, Bryan Cranston was criticised for playing wheelchair-bound billionaire in ‘The Upside’ in 2017 taking the part away from a disabled actor but he dismissed the complaints insisting it is an actor’s job to transform into different people.
Suchet insists his hunger to explore different characters it was what drives him on in his career and he has always resisted attempts to pigeonhole him as a performer.
He said: "We live in a supermarket society where people want to box you in, but I can’t easily be boxed in. I’m part of the Establishment yet also an enigma."
David Suchet believes he’d miss out on Poirot now
