Clive Owen on Learning French for ‘Monsieur Spade’ & Channeling Humphrey Bogart (VIDEO)
The iconic detective Sam Spade returns to the screen in AMC‘s gripping limited drama Monsieur Spade. The character, created by Dashiell Hammett and famously played by Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, is revived by Clive Owen, who’s more than up for the task of bringing out the gumshoe’s emotional side as we see a new side of the character.
Owen’s Spade is unabashedly influenced by Bogart, Owen tells TV Insider. Diving into Bogart’s work to prepare for the drama was a thrill — and as a longtime fan of the Hollywood icon, something Owen has done many times before. Studying Bogart was easy. Learning French for this series was hard.
The year is 1963, and the legendary Detective Sam Spade is enjoying his retirement in the South of France. By contrast to his days as a private eye in San Francisco, Spade’s life in Bozouls is peaceful and quiet. But the rumored return of his old adversary will change everything. Six beloved nuns have been brutally murdered at the local convent. As the town grieves, secrets emerge, and new leads are established. Spade learns that the murders are somehow connected to a mysterious child who is believed to possess great powers.
Owen stars in the series with French-speaking actors, and half of the dialogue is spoken in the romantic language. The British actor doesn’t speak French in real life. This meant he had to memorize not only his own lines, but the French-speaking lines of his scene partners as well.
“It was quite complicated,” he admits. “I started to learn French for it, like with a school teacher, in a very traditional way, and then realized that I was spending an awful lot of time learning stuff that I didn’t really need. I was never going to be tested on grammar. It’s not like I was trying to pass an exam, so I switched tactics and just learned it phonetically.”
Ditching the French lessons didn’t mean his job got easier. “What that meant is I had the scenes in English for when I was talking with the the French actors, and I had to really memorize their stuff as well so I remembered exactly what they were saying. And then I just learned the French accent like I learned the American accent: phonetically broke it down, worked with a French coach, and just learned the sounds, really. But you know, I realized just how impressive it is when an actor acts in another language. It’s really hard.”
Monsieur Spade debuted its first episode on Sunday, January 14 on AMC (catch the remaining five episodes Sundays at 9/8c on the network, on Acorn TV, and stream it on AMC+). The drama was created by The Queen’s Gambit creator Scott Frank, whom Owen regards as one of the best writers working in the industry today. Tom Frank of Oz, Homicide: Life on the Street, and City on a Hill also executive produces. They called Owen to offer him the role early in the show’s creation stages. It was an immediate yes from the Closer star, but he had no interest in separating his Sam Spade from Bogart’s. He “drowned in Bogart” to prepare. In fact, that was vital for the character.
“We’re jumping Sam Spade into the ’60s from the ’40s. I’m also in France working primarily with French actors,” Owen says. “In terms of grounding who he is, it’s quite difficult because you’re not being surrounded by the period accent, you’re being surrounded by French.”
He watched “tons of Bogart films” and recorded Bogart’s dialogue to create his version of the character. He’d play those audio recordings to help him slip into the accent and remind himself of Sam’s roots, providing the 59-year-old star with “a template to work from.”
This being a “gift” of a role for Owen, he wants to make more than just six episodes. “We’ve talked about the possibility of doing more,” he tells TV Insider. “We’ve come up with some very cool ideas about where to take it, but we’ll see how this goes and then Scott and I will talk. But yeah, there are some exciting things being talked about.”
Learn more about Owen’s process and this new Sam Spade in the full video interview above.
Monsieur Spade, Sundays, 9/8c, AMC and AMC+
Monsieur Spade where to stream
