Mark Gatiss Discusses His New Film The Road Dance, Sherlock, Doctor Who, And Mission: Impossible 7 - Exclusive Interview

This interview contains references to sexual assault.

Mark Gatiss wears many hats. In addition to a lengthy list of acting credits that includes a stint on "Game of Thrones" as Tycho Nestoris, as well as parts in acclaimed films like "The Favourite" and "The Father," Gatiss is also an accomplished writer, producer, and director who may be best known for co-creating the BBC series "Dracula" and "Sherlock." Gatiss is equally at home with comedy and drama, and even timey wimey adventure, having written and performed in several episodes of "Doctor Who."

In his latest film, "The Road Dance," Gatiss wears his actor's hat to take on the role of Doctor Maclean, the physician in a small village in the Scottish Hebrides at the start of World War I. The movie tells the story of young Kirsty Macleod (Hermione Corfield), whose life takes a tragic turn on the evening of a town dance, just a day before her boyfriend Murdo (Will Fletcher) is set to leave for the Western Front. Doctor Maclean plays an important role in Kirsty's story, and Gatiss portrays him as a warm, avuncular member of the community whose trustworthy demeanor hides other parts of who he is. It's a sad and stirring film that showcases Gatiss' impressively versatile talent.

In a wide-ranging interview with Looper, Gatiss discussed his experience on "The Road Dance," looked forward to his upcoming appearance in "Mission: Impossible 7," and reflected on his work on "Sherlock," "Dracula," and "Doctor Who."

You have a long filmography, but you're working with younger actors. What was the experience of working, particularly with Hermione Corfield? Was it challenging to work with someone with more limited experience?

Oh God, no. She's an absolute pro and she's a wonderful actress. She's kind of luminous, isn't she, on screen? Literally, like in an old-fashioned sense, her skin glows. She's beautiful and brilliant, and Will and Ali [Fumiko Whitney who plays Annie in "The Road Dance"] and they were all so lovely.

It really does you good to work with young people because I'm such a jaded old hack and it's delightful because they're full of energy and they're full of ideas and they're full of invention and an amazing work ethic as well. More than anything, that je ne sais quoi, you can't fake it and they all have it. It was really lovely to be around that kind of energy. It keeps you young, it does. I sound like Yoda now. [Laughs]

The story deals with some really heavy issues that are still with us today, unfortunately, and really all too common still. What do you hope the film says about the topic of sexual assault in terms of speaking to today from this time period we don't really think about that much anymore?

There are obvious differences. The big question, apart from physical survival, for Kirsty, is what it does to her reputation. I guess that's very different now. People don't have a reputation in that way. It's a staggering fact to me that in [the UK], 1% of rapes are prosecuted. 1%. It seems amazing to me that when there have been so many strides elsewhere — the #MeToo movement, for instance — that, as it were, that the most dramatic and ghastly part of all that is so little prosecuted, almost to the extent where it's almost normalized now. It might be expected.

There was an appalling case [in the UK] last year where a woman was abducted and murdered by a policeman.

Yes. I remember reading about that.

Sarah Everard. The police really closed ranks about, and there was a protest and the policing of the protest was so heavy handed. It was disgusting. I remember thinking then, "What on earth is this saying to people and particularly to young women?" It's staggering. This is fiction, but based on a true story, and the circumstances are very different — it's about an isolated community and then what happens to a young girl's potential reputation, etc. — but it has a wider resonance for all those reasons. It could be now as well.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

You act in both "The Road Dance" and "Mission: Impossible 7," but you're also a writer, a producer, a showrunner, a director. You seem like the hardest working man in show business. Why have you chosen to pursue each of those different avenues?

I'm a control freak. [Laughs] No, I'm very interested in all kinds of things. I've always acted and written, that was how I started, and it's been extremely good to me. Weirdly, I was saying that all the young cast of "The Road Dance" were all writing and they're all making their own movies. There's been a real shift in terms of people making their own work, partly because of technology, but it's really exciting because that's how you do it. It's much better to try and generate your own stuff than waiting for the phone to ring. That's always stood me in good stead.

In terms of other stuff, I fell into producing by a dint of [his comedy troupe] "The League of Gentleman" being our own show, and therefore, we were naturally doing that, and then "Sherlock" as part of that etc. I've always wanted to direct, I think it's a natural development in that sense. Having said that, I don't want to be a director for hire. There are certain things I want to do and I think you've got to be led by your passion if you can. If you're lucky enough to actually say, "I want to do this because I can see it from beginning to end, I've got a vision for the whole thing," then there's nothing like it.

I wrote and directed "The Amazing Mr. Blunden" last year for [British network] Sky TV at Christmas. It's a remake of one of my favorite movies. I enjoyed it so much, holistically, the whole experience, from writing it, to casting it, to choosing the team, and the shoot itself. It's a wonderful feeling to see something through absolutely from beginning to end.

One of my favorite stories is [from] the director's commentary on "The Silence of the Lambs." As [Hannibal] Lecter is walking away, the camera pulls back and you hear bird song. The last thing before it goes to black, there's just bird song. Jonathan Demme, in his director's comment, said, "The bird's song is just the sound of a director who can't bear to stop fiddling with his movie." [Laughs] I love that. It's absolutely true. Like, "Oh, is there something else we could do?"

In creating those series and the stories around them you tinker with the timeline, the plot points. What inspired those different ways of looking at the story? I would imagine a lot of people would adapt such famous works in a more straightforward manner.

It's an interesting question. Jonathan Miller made a very famous version of "Alice in Wonderland" for the BBC in the '60s, I don't know if you've ever seen it. It's an extraordinary piece of work [with] Ravi Shankar music. It's very, very 1966. I think it is. It's very hippy, and it's ravishing and strange. But he said, "If you just want to film the book, why don't you just read the book?" And I think there's a lot to be said for that. Not in a kind of perverse way.

It also depends on how familiar people are with the original. If you took a rare Charles Dickens [story] like "Dombey and Son," which is never done, the story is unfamiliar enough for you to do a straight adaptation. But if you do something like "Dracula," which has been done very, very many times, I think our principle, as with "Sherlock Holmes," was to get back to the essence of it and then also play with it. That's what people respond to, really.

[The reason] we're thrilled with "Sherlock" was how many people thought that an awful lot of this stuff, which we'd taken from ["Sherlock Holmes" creator Arthur] Conan Doyle, was us. It started with a throwaway remark about how odd it was that we were in the middle of another Afghan war, like Dr. Watson, and that was [an] "oh" moment. Tons of Conan Doyle people gave us credit for, and then they read the stories and went, "Oh, I see. That's where you got it from."

The joyous thing about that is Doyle, particularly, was fantastically casual about his creation. I love that. He didn't treat it like an edifice. There's a famous telegram he sent when William Gillette wanted to adapt it into a play. He wrote to Conan Doyle and said, "Do I have your permission to marry Sherlock Holmes?" And he replied, "You may marry him, murder him, do what you like with him." If the creator thinks that, then I think you have plenty of room to play around.

Now I have to ask, is there any chance that we'll get another season of "Sherlock?"

It all depends on whether Benedict wins the Oscar on the weekend. [Laughs] I don't know. We've not shut the door. We've talked about whether we could do a one off or something. I think that would be nice. I think everyone's up for that, and it'd be nice to leave it long enough for people to really miss it, I suppose. We've also lost Una Stubbs [who played Mrs. Hudson] and it would feel very different. Never say never. I hope he wins the Oscar anyway. [Laughs]