Mark Strong On ‘Before I Go To Sleep,’ Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Mark Strong stars in the new film Before I Go To Sleep, a mystery thriller with Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth. Strong plays Dr. Nasch, a mysterious neurologist aiding Kidman’s character Christine who suffers from an amnesia that wipes her memory daily. “[Nicole] really manages to deliver exactly what’s needed,” Strong told interview in this exclusive video interview. “So acting with her was a joy, because she’s a pro, and it just meant that it was easy.”

Strong has made something of a career out of playing villains. “Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes wanted to take over the world,” he said, “Those things are meat and drink to an actor, certainly to me. So, that’s kind of why I like the villains. They’re just never boring.”

Transcript:

ERIK MEERS: Hi Mark, congratulations on the release! Now, tell us where your character Doctor Nasch is at the onset of the movie.

MARK STRONG: Doctor Nasch appears once we’ve met Christine, the main character, and realize that she has amnesia. The kind of amnesia that means every morning her memory is wiped and she has no idea who she is or where she’s from. We’ve met her husband, played my Colin Firth, called Ben and he explained a little bit about her condition. Then, out of the blue, she gets a phone call from this character Doctor Nacsh who tells her go to the wardrobe, look in the bottom of it and find a video camera where she can find what’s been happening to her recently by switching it on. So he basically is her doctor, someone who is going to help her find out the causes of her amnesia and hopefully cure her of it.

EM: Did you have a favorite scene working with Nicole Kidman on the film?

MS: They were all great, to be honest. She is such a professional. She knows exactly what she is doing and how to achieve what she needs to achieve in each scene. Film acting is quite a technical thing as well an emotional one. There’s a lot of techniques that you need to learn subliminally. She is wonderful at it. She really manages to deliver exactly what’s needed. So acting with her was a joy because she’s a pro and it just meant it was easy.

EM: So you also got to work with Colin Firth on the film, what was that like for you?

MS: Well, with Colin in this one, unfortunately, we really only have one scene where he tells me to stay away from his wife. That was pretty much all we had to do. Most of my stuff was with Nicole. But the funny thing is, I’ve now done three or four movies, I think, with Colin that date all the way back to the early 90s. We did a film called Fever Pitch together. More recently we’™ve done, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Before I Go To Sleep and a film called Secret Service, which is about to come out in February. So, I know Colin pretty well and acting with him is always great fun.

EM: So you often play the heavies in these films. What is it about these roles that attract you?

MS: I think as an actor you’re always looking for complication, I am, in characters. I think if a character is very near me, it’s not that interesting to play. If I character is un-conflicted it’s not interesting to play. In fact the more problems they have, the more outrageous maybe those problems are and their desire and wishes are. For example, Blackwood in Sherlock Holmes wanted to take over the world. Those things are meat and drink to an actor, certainly to me. So, that’s kind of why I like the villains. They’re just never boring.