Untitled Document

October 13, 2004

Witches, lesbians and fallen angels abound in Sky One's new homegrown supernatural drama 'Hex'. Tagged 'a British Buffy', though it's more reminiscentof 'The Hole', it's a curious choice for the channel, but a welcome shift away from the usual surfeit of jiggling breasts in Ibiza.

Joining the cast is Michael Fassbender, who plays Azazeal, a fallen angel and leader of the Nephelim, who falls in love with Cassie an A-level student and witch.

The Nephelim?

The Nephelim were a group of angels, who were kicked out of heaven for wanting to sleep with mortals. There's a tiny bit about them in the book of Genesis and Enoch.

Would you say there's an echo of Philip Pullman in 'Hex'?

It reminded me of the Philip Pullman books when I first read the script because it's about this fallen angel, who's going to try and take on the power of the Church and God. He likes the sins of the flesh and has been punished for that. That's the interesting thing about Azazeal: there's a lot of sadness there, he feels like he's been wronged, but he wants God's redemption in one way, yet to get him back in another.

There's a fair amount of theology in this

The religious twist makes a difference, rather than just being goblins and ghouls and stuff like that, which it's not. It deals with questioning certain religious aspects as well. The fact he's challenging the authority of God is a bold thing to do, and hopefully audiences won't despise him. They'll understand that he's just made some wrong decisions through the weakness of his flesh, which isn't really that bad.

Apparently there is some voodoo as well?

There's a pretty hardcore voodoo scene in the first episode a sacrifice which brings me back from the abyss.

And are you a voodoo expert?

No. I don't have any voodoo dolls. I don't even dabble.

Any other projects?

'The Case of Charles Bravo' for the BBC. It's a murder mystery set in the 1870s.

What's with you and period costumes?

They're great. I love them. It makes my job easier. You put on a costume and you look different Starts laughing Noam Friedlander 'Hex' starts Sun on Sky One. 'A Most Mysterious Murder: The Case of Charles Bravo' is on Sat on BBC1. See Time In for details.