Buzz’s Amy Wild caught up with venerable English thespian Sir David Suchet mid-tour – packing his bags down in Truro and preparing to set off for Belfast, no less – as his conversational show Poirot And More – A Retrospective crisscrosses the UK before reaching Wales this month.
David Suchet is most recognized for his unforgettable portrayal of Hercule Poirot in the TV series Agatha Christie’s Poirot, which spanned 70 episodes and 13 series from 1989 to 2013. Many actors have taken on the Poirot mantle – most recently Kenneth Branagh, in 2023’s A Haunting In Venice – but what ingredients make a great portrayal of the Belgian detective?
“For me, it’s being loyal to the character created by Agatha Christie,” says Suchet. “When I was offered the role, I read all the books – from the first, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, right through all of the 70 stories! I decided to play the character that Christie wrote, rather than create one of my own.”
Christie wrote Poirot stories from 1920 to 1975, while Suchet brought the character to life on TV for 25 years. Yet, Poirot continued to develop through Suchet’s performance in the series. Considering the evolution of the character now, the actor says, “While Christie didn’t alter his character in many ways, she provided hints and clues in various stories that I could draw upon visually. As I matured in the character, I believe I was able to capture his loneliness – his yearning for, as he expresses, ‘the love between a man and a woman’.
“This suggests, to me, that he was a melancholic figure. The feelings of solitude became a significant part of his character in later episodes. Also, his active listening is extraordinary, so whenever you saw my Poirot, you saw me give no less concentration to my listening than to anything else I would do. Developing that side of his character has helped me to be a better listener.”
Many people’s highlight of Poirot episodes are the revelations at the end, where we discover who the true culprit was all along. Surprisingly, these moments were the most challenging for Suchet. “The long explanations at the end of each episode! We had to do them in one take, so I had to learn about 20 minutes’ worth of dialogue.”
And then there’s that instantly recognisable Poirot accent – one retained in later adaptations by other actors. How did Suchet perfect it? “In my show – right at the very end – I give a complete in-depth demonstration of how I developed his voice. If you listen to my voice, you can hear where my centre is: it’s in my solar plexus. That’s the sort of person I am, a ‘gut’ person in my emotions. Poirot is described by Agatha Christie as ‘a walking brain’ and someone who ‘doesn’t exist from the neck down’. So his voice is based much higher in his body, and the accent starts there.”
Offscreen, meanwhile, Suchet’s career is no less storied: stints with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s and 1980s, and roles both in the West End and on Broadway. Ask him which he prefers and he’ll answer, “Whatever I am doing at the present time!” Of course, though, the actor has favourite roles beyond Poirot.
“On television, I would say Melmotte in The Way We Live Now. And in the theatre it’s Iago in Othello, opposite Ben Kingsley. My other great favourites are George in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, with Diana Rigg.”
Suchet is currently touring the UK with a spoken word show which visits Cardiff in the second week of March. Says the man in the middle: “It’s a lovely evening where you can learn about my early life, my education, my early roles and training, my work in repertory and Shakespeare, and the other characters which I have been blessed to have been offered. It’s about me, my life, my career – and, of course, the iconic character of Hercule Poirot.”
David Suchet, Poirot And More – A Retrospective, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Sun 10 Mar.
Tickets: £26-£39. Info: here
words AMY WILD
