Last month Eddie Marsan faced a happy dilemma: two high-profile projects in which he co-stars – Apple TV+ series “ Franklin ” led by Michael Douglas and Sam Taylor Johnson’s highly-anticipated Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” – were both being released on the same day, April 12, in Marsan’s native U.K. (“Back to Black came out in the U.
S. on May 17). The resulting publicity maelstrom was, Marsan says, “intense.
” And yet despite that, the actor – who has starred in over 150 screen projects including “Ray Donovan,” “Deadpool 2” and Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes,” can truthfully claim to be “not really that famous.” Partly that’s because his highest profile roles in the U.S.
have seen the East London-born actor putting on an American accent, including in “Franklin,” in which he plays the second U.S. President, John Adams.
Marsan has a long history with the character, having once been in the running to play Adams in HBO’s 2008 limited series “John Adams.” (Paul Giamatti eventually ended up playing the role). So when “Franklin” showrunner Kirk Ellis offered Marsan the part in a new series about founding father Benjamin Franklin and his bid for American independence, it was a no-brainer.
It helped, Marsan admits with a smile, that most of his scenes were going to be with Douglas, who was already on board as Franklin. “I was bit starstruck to be honest with you,” Marsan says over coffee in West London. “I said, wel.