Agatha Christie’s iconic detective Hercule Poirot is to be played on screen by the youngest actor to date – 33-year-old Killing Eve star Edward Bluemel.
Bluemel, who previously appeared in the Netflix adaptation of Christie’s The Seven Dials, has been cast as the lead in a three-series deal between the author’s estate and the BBC.
Called simply Hercule and billed as an “ambitious reimagining”, it will be set in the 1920s and made by Poldark production company Mammoth Screen. The first six-part run is due to air next year and will tell the origin story of the famous sleuth, as he first arrives in the UK from Belgium.
4View 4 ImagesEdward Bluemel is a lot younger than his Poirot predecessors
4View 4 ImagesDavid Suchet is the TV star best known for playing the famous Belgian(Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Providng an “epic portrait” of Britain between the wars, it puts three of Christie’s most celebrated stories under the spotlight, including her first Poirot story The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The series also charts Poirot’s burgeoning friendship with Captain Arthur Hastings and his early encounters with Scotland Yard’s James Japp.
Edward, who has also appeared in We Might Regret This and My Lady Jane, said he was thrilled to have landed the plum role. “I feel very lucky to have been trusted with such an iconic character who has been played by so many great actors. I can’t wait to continue Hercule’s legacy.”
BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt said the team had been blown away by the actor’s “charm, dynamism and wit”. “From the first moments of Edward’s audition we knew we’d found the perfect actor for Hercule, with a performance that feels both fresh and exciting,” she said. “Hercule Poirot is one of the greatest and most loved characters of all time, and bringing him back to the BBC is a real privilege.”
View 4 ImagesKenneth Brannagh was 55 when he played the role(Image: AP)
Albert Finney was previously the youngest actor to have taken on the role of Poirot, having landed the role for the 1974 film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express when he was just 37 years old. But make-up artists spent many hours at the start of each day on set adding a fake nose and cosmetics to make him look like a man in his fifties – while he slept.
David Suchet look on the role at the age of 42 and played him on and off, for ITV, until he was 67. Kenneth Brannagh has played Poirot three times, his first came when he was55, and Peter Ustinov kicked off his stint in 1978 at the age of 57.
James Prichard, executive producer for Agatha Christie Limited and the author’s grandson said that Edward had been selected with great care. “My father had the privilege of working with David Suchet for nearly 25 years, and I now have the good fortune of being able to share my great grandmother’s brilliant stories with a new generation of viewers,” he explained.
“Edward Bluemel is an extremely talented performer and will make a great addition to the long line of actors that have played this celebrated character, aided and abetted by Benji Walters’ thoughtful scripts. I cannot wait to see Edward on screen as Hercule Poirot.”
Executive producer Damien Timmer said the new series was designed to be “a love letter to Agatha Christie” which would bring a “fascinating new perspective” to the renowned character.
Filming on the series, to be shown around the world, will begin this summer, primarily in Liverpool.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest detectives in fiction, Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot novels have sold over 750 million copies, captivating readers and audiences for more than a century.
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