‘The Alienist’ Star Daniel Brühl on His Golden Globe Nod & the Upcoming Sequel Series
Q&A
Need a new series to binge over the holidays?
TNT’s psychological thriller, The Alienist, is a fascinating story about a serial killer targeting young boys in the late 19th century New York City. Its plot is filled with twists and turns, a little romance, and an eye-opening depiction of the social and political issues of the time.
The limited series, based on the best-selling book by Caleb Carr, stars three film heavy-hitters — Daniel Brühl as criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, Luke Evans as newspaper illustrator John Moore, and Dakota Fanning as Sara Howard, the police department’s first female employee, whose intelligence and wit is light years ahead of her male counterparts. The show was well received and subsequently nominated for six Emmy awards, winning Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.
It was also nominated for two Golden Globes: Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, and Brühl was spotlighted with a nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television.
The actor spoke with TV Insider about getting recognized by the HFPA and shared some details about the series’ second series, The Angel of Darkness, based off Carr’s book sequel of the same name.
Congrats on your Golden Globe nomination, how does it feel to be recognized?
Daniel Brühl: It’s very flattering and I feel honored and happy because I’m really proud of the show. It was an exceptional experience from the beginning. It was my first big TV show I did playing one of the leads. I was very nervous at first and tried to ignore the pressure. Getting recognized is wonderful and very motivating going into the second journey that we have ahead of us. We all cannot wait to get back to work on The Angel of Darkness.
What can you tease about the sequel series?
We shot [The Alienist] in Budapest, so we would go back there. And right now, they’re in the writing process so I haven’t heard anything yet. I’m very keen and, if possible, I would love to go to New York to visit the writers. Our new showrunner [former House of Cards executive producer] Frank Pugliese, who is a perfect choice for the second installment, invited us to join. Right now, I’m reading the book but I’m very curious to see what they’re doing with the [TV] adaptation.
It’s also exciting all the actors [Dakota Fanning and Luke Evans] will be returning to reprise their roles.
There was really a special chemistry and a bond between us that I haven’t experienced on other sets. We spent a lot of time together and really became friends. It was actually the case! We spent almost all of our weekend time together. It’s so nice when you can create that extra bit of magic.
Was this character difficult to detach from?
No, I had to switch it off. My son was a couple of months old when we shot the show, so it would have been very traumatizing for my little boy if he would have been surrounded by the character since he’s quite odd. It was fascinating, though, to spend so much time in the mindset of such an interesting character. Dr. Laszlo Kreizler is caring for people with mental diseases but he himself is so hugely traumatized.
Could Dr. Kreizler possibly get a new love interest?
I hope so. [The actors] were texting back and forth when we found out we got the second season. Luke wants to be a superhero in the next season. I said I’d like to have two arms and a new maid that talks!
The Alienist, Available to steam, TNT/Available on Netflix outside the US
The Angel of Darkness, Coming Soon, TNT
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