EXCLUSIVE | 'Alex Rider' star Otto Farrant says his character is a super spy but 'doesn't really want to be'
Otto Farrant was only around nine when he got hooked on the 'Alex Rider' book series by Anthony Horowitz. He remembers 'Point Blanc', the second book of the series and the basis of the IMDb TV show, "vividly". The free-to-stream show, which will incidentally premiere in the US on his birthday, November 13, was the ultimate dream job for him. He told MEAWW in an exclusive interview about how being cast as the titular Alex Rider after several grueling rounds of auditions was all worth it because of the impact the books had on him as a child.
"I remember reading 'Point Blanc' because I love the mountains [described] and I love the snowboarding scene, which is iconic," he said. Two years back he was only one of the hopefuls lining up for auditions and he had to go through more than four rounds of auditions. But Farrant says he was "lucky" to read with Brenock O'Connor, who plays Alex's best friend Tom, and Ronke Adekoluejo as Jack Starbright, Alex's housekeeper who becomes his only guardian figure after his uncle dies. "We just bounced off each other in the right way. And then we all got the jobs and we had fun making the show. I love the books so I was just so over the moon when I got the chance to play this role."
For Otto, the most striking thing about his character is that Alex Rider is a reluctant spy. Rather than being cocky about being a junior James Bond, he wants to be a normal teenager. It was this fact that informed his entire approach to the role. "Make him believable, make him a normal kid, make him someone who doesn't really want to be a spy. The key was to try and bring humanity. He wants to be a normal kid. But he is a super spy, so he has a special something about him. I think that comes from his instincts – he thinks on his feet, he's quick, he also has a moral compass. That's why he's a hero. But his superpower is his instincts. Bringing that to life was hard, but great."
According to him, 'Alex Rider' is the wish-fulfillment fantasy for young adults who want to be recruited as spies or dabble in espionage because of its realistic take. Describing it as a "gritty and a dark show", he said: "it blends fantasy and reality with the thrill of espionage. It's like you're constantly pushed along this rollercoaster of emotions and action. There are times when you're on the edge of your seat watching it because it's so exciting. And when there's a gritty edge to that [action], it becomes cool. That's what I wanted as a kid. As a kid, I always wanted to watch the [cool] things that I felt could, in a tiny way, be for me. It's just epic. So buckle up."
'Alex Rider' premieres on IMDb TV on November 13 and is free to stream for the US audience.