From showrunner/executive producer John Carney, the Amazon original anthology series Modern Love is inspired by the New York Times column of the same name that explores all types of love and relationships. In the episode entitled “Second Embrace, With Hearts and Eyes Open,” divorced parents (played by Tobias Menzies and Sophie Okonedo) of two daughters reignite their flame and begin a fling that starts off casual, but is quickly tested when one of them receives a life-changing medical diagnosis.

During this 1-on-1 virtual interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, Menzies talked about what drew him to this project, what makes Okonedo one of the best actors he’s worked with, and what he enjoyed about collaborating with Carney. He also talked about the happy memories he has from his time on the TV series Rome, along with why he continues to return to the theater.

Collider: This is a couple that is easy to feel for and root for. When you first read the script and were introduced to these characters and their story, what were the emotions that you went through with them? What most touches you about their story?

TOBIAS MENZIES: If I’m being completely honest, when you’re looking at material and thinking about whether to get involved in a project, you haven’t really gotten quite as far as to digging into the emotions and the story. It’s a bit more calculated than that. You’re reading the material for whether it’s something that you like – whether you like the dialogue, or whether it’s a subject matter that you have a response to or an affinity with. So, that’s the first thing that happens. I also read the article and listened to the podcast, which is a reading of the article as well, and got the vibe of the New York Times article itself. That’s where I started. We’re doing a dramatization, but it was nonfiction when it was published, so it’s this couple’s real life. That inherently drew me into it. It was later on, once we started making it, that I started to engage in what the journey of this couple is, the more complicated aspects of that being her diagnosis and how to do justice to that.

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Image via Amazon Studios

Because so much of this is you and Sophie Okonedo, what did you most enjoy about working with her as a scene partner? What do you think she brought to this?

MENZIES: She’s really one of the best actors I’ve worked with. She is really authentic, very honest about stuff, and really insists that it happens in front of the camera. You can’t fake it, which is a really galvanizing, energizing thing to be around. It’s exciting. We had a similar way of working. We were both interested in digging into the script with Kieran [Carney] and John [Carney], in the week or two leading up to it, and talking about possible changes or whether there was stuff that we could cut, and they were open to that too. That side of it, I definitely find that helpful, as a way into material where there could be some push and pull and some conversation around the actual material itself. You never quite know when you head into these things, but it was a pretty happy collaboration. All of us were pulling in the same direction. We were interested in making the same show and totally interested in the same things.

I’m a fan of John Carney’s work. I love Sing Street and Once. How familiar were you with his work, and what do you think it is that makes his work special?

MENZIES: Once was certainly a film that I had really admired. What makes his work special? Having worked with him now, I was really struck by the free-wheeling quality to how he shoots. It’s not too controlling. He really keeps it to a minimum, in terms of your sense of being filmed. It’s quite a light touch. He didn’t do huge amounts of takes. He seemed to really have confidence in us, as performers. He would really let things play and not intervene too much. I think that’s partly why his work has quite a fresh, authentic, almost improvisatory quality. He has a light touch that’s non-invasive. That particularly paid off when we were working with the two little girls playing our kids. He was very good at also keeping the techniques of what we were doing in the background, so that they could be quite relaxed and quite free.

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Having done shows like Game of Thrones, Outlander and The Crown, you’ve been on some sets of the largest scale. What most stands out to you about being a part of productions of that size and scale, especially when compared to something so much smaller and more intimate, like Modern Love?

MENZIES: Yeah, that’s partly why I wanted to go and do Modern Love. I fancied a change of pace, and this was a modern story and a very different kind of show than something like The Crown. It was less overtly dramatic. I like them both, but it was very nice to go and do something a little more intimate and a little smaller with a smaller team and a quicker conversation around it.

What do you remember about your experience on Rome, which was one of the earlier big large-scale TV productions, before it was as much of a thing as it is now?

MENZIES: Yes, it was one of the early trailblazers of a lot of the shows that came after. I have very happy memories. I was pretty young. It was my first big American TV production that I had done. I remember going and talking to the showrunners about the script on that one too and being sufficiently young and naive, not to know any better and no one told me to bugger off. They were very kind then. It’s amazing how many people continue to reference that show, as both an important show, but also maybe an influential show, for some of the stuff that came after.

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Image via HBO

You’re also someone who’s had an extensive career on the stage and you’re an experienced stage actor. How has that influenced and affected your work, as an actor in front of the camera? Do you feel like that’s had an effect on how you perform on camera?

MENZIES: Undoubtedly, yeah. It’s not clear cut. All of these things contribute. But yeah, it’s definitely where, fundamentally, I learned to act. It’s where a lot of my early career was. It’s where I made a lot of my mistakes and cut my teeth, and got it wrong and then learn to get it right. In that sense, it’s hugely formative, and also continues to be. One of the interesting things about theater is that you get very, very direct feedback, unlike with the screen, where it takes months for an audience or viewers to see it. In a live theater, it’s very clear what people’s responses are. There’s an immediacy to that, which means that you grow pretty quickly through doing that. There’s no hiding place. I think that’s really good for actors to do. It keeps you fit. That’s definitely my feeling about it. That’s why I continue to go back and continue to do it.

It’s definitely the thing that seems exciting and terrifying, in equal measure.

MENZIES: There can be terrifying moments, yes.

Modern Love is available to stream at Amazon Prime Video on August 13.

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