BritBox South Africa presents three new Agatha Christie movies with the writer herself taking centre stage – Agatha the Truth of Murder; Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar and Agatha and the Midnight Murders. JONAH HAUER-KING from Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar chats about his role as Max Mallowan, the second husband of the writer herself, played by Lyndsey Marshal.
Playing the real-life husband of novelist Agatha Christie was fascinating for Jonah Hauer-King (A Dog’s Way Home, Little Women), who relished the chance to bring this love story to life in the middle of a murder mystery.
What drew him to the role?
“Max Mallowan is a real life figure who was Agatha Christie’s second husband. What drew me predominantly was the relationship between him and Agatha. It’s unusual and it feels very real. It is one that is almost cross-generational, but he is so in awe of Agatha and admires her so much and is so taken with her intellect and courage and I was inspired by that love story.”
“It felt very authentic and I really like the fact that Tom Dalton, the writer, didn’t dilute their age gap but instead honoured it, and then of course they went on to be together for 46 years, so it felt like a special relationship which seemed like a wonderful thing to bring to life.”
Jonah knew nothing of Max until landing the role
“Obviously I knew a fair bit about Agatha Christie, but what is interesting is that I don’t think many people know too much about her personal life. I didn’t know much about Max so it was really fun and part of the job of the script is that it is part truthful, part imagined and that lends itself really nicely when you are building a character, because on the one hand you’re able to do factual research and cheat in a way with images and information you can find, but you also have a real licence to bring your own sense of him to it as well.
The on-screen chemistry between Jonah and Lyndsey Marshal (Agatha) was a real bonus.
“We were very fortunate that we immediately clicked and she has become such a good friend. We had rehearsals, a day of getting to know each other and then another day of reading the script and trying to understand who these characters are and what their relationship is, but it is sometimes the luck of the draw that you will feel comfortable and so connected to someone and luckily Lyndsey just made that so easy.
So how do they meet in Agatha and The Curse of Ishtar?
“We meet Max when he is in his early 20s, he is bright and funny and passionate about archaeology. He has moved out to Iraq with Leonard Woolley, a celebrated archaeologist who is his guide and teacher.
“Without giving too much away, Agatha finds him in a bit of a pickle and she saves him. There is an immediate spark and immediate sense that they are intellectually matched, emotionally matched and despite the fact he is bowled over by her and in awe of her, he also can very much stand up to her and that sparky relationship happens throughout the film.
Was this a period in time that he had acted before?
“We are set in 1928 and I don’t think I had done 1920s before. It is such an incredible era for fashion and our amazing costume designer did an amazing job, it felt very glamorous at times.”
“I remember there was a scene where there was a big dinner party and suddenly everyone was out of their archaeological dig gear and into high class 1920s fashion and it felt exciting and glamorous seeing everyone that way, so that was a great element of it.”
Did he feel at home at the dig sites?
“Weirdly I was, in a very amateur way, into archaeology when I was younger. There were these toy dogs that you could get that were essentially compressed sand which you could buy at toy shops and you got tiny plastic tools and you slowly chipped away and within this sand you could find dinosaur bones.”
He does admit to loving a mystery: “Everyone loves a whodunit and Agatha Christie is the best. I have loved watching Ken Branagh’s films recently. Those stories are brilliant because they’re such high tension and they maintain that tension throughout the story and obviously it is such a satisfying reveal at the end. I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t like a murder mystery.”
What: Jonah Hauer-King interview
Movie: Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar
Web: BritBox South Africa
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