Every actor is trying to find what's known as 'theatrical truth' in their role, but how they choose to prepare is entirely down to them, meaning character research can take on a lot of different forms, and that’s exactly the case for the cast of A Thousand Blows.
Speaking to the actors of the new Disney+ and Hulu series, I heard varied responses about how they prepared for the ruthless bare-knuckle boxing world set in the East End of London during the reign of the infamous all-female crime syndicate, the Forty Elephants – which also operated at the time of the Goodson brother’s rise to power. They discussed everything from watching classic boxing movies to listening to music.
Having such a unique setup means there are not many movies and shows like it. Still, it does join a sub-genre of historical gritty crime epics that make up some of the biggest hits in TV, like Gangs of London, Warrior and Peaky Blinders, and cinema, such as Gangs of New York, American Gangster, and Public Enemies that you can watch on the best streaming services. In fact, a lot of the cast of A Thousand Blows have even starred in the above list, including Stephen Graham and Jason Tobin, and of course, we can’t forget the connection with Steven Knight being the creator of the show.
Getting fighting ready
Being a series centered on the boxing scene, many of the actors, including Malachi Kirby, Francis Lovehall, James Nelson-Joyce, Daniel Mays as well as Graham, had to go through intense physical training to get into shape for a lot of the fighting matches as well as, of course, all the shirtless screen action.
During their research to familiarize themselves with various boxing styles, some of the actors did watch some boxing classics, including Rocky, Kirby says. "I watched a lot of random boxing films, but most of it was YouTube clips from back in the day – the oldest I could find – [which I used to get a] grasp of the style that people fought in those days and also their physicality. A lot of people in those times wouldn't of gone to the gym in the 1880s, because there wouldn't have been this vanity."
"But [I also watched videos to understand what happened] in between the boxing, because we have this thing of taunts and the other ways that you fight that aren't just with your fists, even when you're in the ring. That for me was interesting too, the moments between the punches," Kirby says.
Outside of training with his personal trainer and friend Graham Ridge, Stephen Graham also watched boxing videos on YouTube to get the fighting style down. "I watched a lot of Mike Tyson fights, because I'm little in stature and wanted to combine his style with a bare knuckle boxer called Lenny McLean," he says. But clarifies that he drew more inspiration from the set itself.
"It was a very similar experience to Gangs of New York, because I had the honor and privilege to work with Cinecittà Studios, where they built this beautiful set and it's exactly what we did. Our fantastic designer and all of the crew involved, made this world that we were completely immersed in. As an actor, your job is half done, because you don't have to imagine it."
Building original characters
Not every actor, of course, looked to early pieces of cinema or TV as inspiration for their Victorian East End London characters, but that was no bad thing either because the actors’ performances were all the more unique for it.
James Nelson-Joyce, who portrays Treacle Goodson in the show, doesn't like to watch movies and shows at all when researching a character for a role. “What I do to prepare, rather than watching things. Going to meet people that I know and just build up a playlist with that. Music helps.” he says.
It was the same for Dan Mayes, who plays William Lewis, who said it best: “I wouldn’t want to watch any other shows in preparation for this, because I think the challenge that was thrown down to us was to make it our own world. To make it as much of an original piece as we possibly could.”
The first TV show to portray the Forty Elephants
The series is completely original and steeped in history because of the real-life people it’s based on: it follows a Jamaican called Hezekiah Moscow, moving to London to be a lion tamer who then gets swept up in the middle of a criminal gang known as the Forty Elephants and the self-declared boxing ‘emperor’ of Victorian times, Sugar Goodson.
Indeed, apart from some short films and novels, there's never been a film or TV show about the Forty Elephants, making A Thousand Blows one of the first (if not the first) series to be released that features the real-life female gangsters.
"I think there's been several attempts to touch on the Forty Elephants but it's never been fully investigated or invested into like we've done," Hannah Walters, who plays Eliza Moody, reveals. Because of this, Morgan Hilaire, who portrays Esme Long, says she watched a lot of Peaky Blinders in the lead-up to the role.
Ultimately, a lot of the cast had to fill in the historical gaps about their characters, which was made all the more easier by having such an incredible East London set for A Thousand Blows that completely immersed them in the Victorian era. It's likely to have played a major role in why the cast's performances are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
You'll be able to meet the cast for yourself soon enough when all six episodes of A Thousand Blows are released on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK and Australia (as well as other territories where the service is available) this Friday, February 21.
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