This New TV Show Recreated Old Hollywood Glamour and We Got the Inside Scoop

Archie is now streaming on BritBox

Jason Isaacs has been on sets of all sizes. The actor, perhaps most widely known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise, has over 100 film and television credits to his name from indies to blockbusters, across a range of genres.

So he's familiar with the different experiences an actor can have depending on the size of the set—whether it's one corner of a room, or even Hogwarts.

"[For Harry Potter], because they knew they were going to make multiple films, they had built all the sets," Isaacs tells The Spruce. "So I walked into the Ministry of Magic and it was the Ministry of Magic—it just blew your mind. And Dumbledore's office had a ceiling and walls."

Isaacs' latest role is in the new four-part limited series, Archie, about the traumatic childhood and chaotic personal life of the actor Cary Grant, born Archibald Leach.

Because the series takes place across so many different decades of Grant's life, the set design was crucial in both helping to create a sense of each era, as well as helping Isaacs stay in character.

"Acting is an odd thing; people who aren't involved in it think it's to do with learning lines, and what it really is, is tricking your imagination as far as possible into being a person," Isaacs says. "Anything that helps you trick your imagination is great."

The sets are the work of production designer, Jacqueline Smith, and her team, who had the challenging task of creating sets for the 1900s, '20s, '40s, '60s, and '80s.

"You know you're in the '60s, you're in the '30s, or you're in the '80s from everybody's costumes, and hair, and wallpaper...The more those things can be period appropriate, the easier it is to release yourself."

From Grant's childhood in a dark and dreary terraced house in Bristol, to the eras of Old Hollywood glamour, to the midcentury modern style of the '50s and '60s, Smith and her team worked tirelessly to create a unique feeling for each decade.

"Historical accuracy is important to me, but equally it's about storytelling," Smith tells us. "I'm not saying that we didn't get it all accurate, but I have to say that it was more about evoking an atmosphere and reflecting the emotions of what was happening in the scene, as well as the choices of colors."

Smith started with her renderings to create a sense of how each set should look, from Grant's Benedict Canyon home—a stunning, midcentury modern space with an Old Hollywood feel—to recreating moments of Grant filming North by Northwest, and even a few New York exterior shots.

"You know you're in the '60s, you're in the '30s, or you're in the '80s from everybody's costumes, and hair, and wallpaper," Isaacs says. "The more those things can be period appropriate, the easier it is to release yourself."

While Grant's life and the historical periods were of course an inspiration for Smith, she also turned to different artists, photographers, and of course, film, including the 1962 James Bond film, Dr. No, the set for which was designed by Academy Award-winner Ken Adam.

"Grant was nearly James Bond, he was offered the part [in Dr. No]," Smith says, adding that the Benedict Canyon home "was slightly an homage to it, but that was the to do with the angled vaulted ceilings and creating interesting volumes."

"Historical accuracy is important to me, but equally it's about storytelling."

Smith says creating sets for so many different decades was a challenge, but equally challenging was trying to create a sense of Los Angeles in northern England, where parts of Archie were filmed. To do that, she and her team made use of two of factors Smith says are crucial in any set design: lighting and color.

The resulting sets are stunning backdrops for Isaac to explore—and in some ways, create from scratch—the character of Archie Leach.

Grant is one of the most immortalized actors on film. Initially known for his starring roles in comedies and romantic dramas, his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock solidified him as a classic Hollywood actor.

So when Isaacs first learned of the series and the role, he wasn't sure it was for him.

"I wasn't sure I even knew any Cary Grant films," Isaacs says. "I did know that he was the biggest star in the world for many decades, that men and women lusted after him, and that anybody who tried to play him was an idiot."

But after reading the script, Isaacs realized the series was not actually about Grant, and that Grant was just a persona that he created to prevent people from seeing who he really was.

"I knew how many people would be sharpening knives, and if they choose to compare me to Cary Grant and wonder if on-screen they're going to meet the character from North by Northwest or The Philadelphia Story then they're going to be disappointed," Isaacs says.

"If they want to see who he was when he stepped off the set and came home and shut his front door, that's hopefully what I'm taking a crack at."

Archie is streaming now in the U.S. on BritBox.

Read Next: ‘Only Murders in the Building’ Has All the Design Inspiration You Need

Read the original article on The Spruce.