Tom Sturridge breaks down the grueling casting process, Morpheus’ quest, the character’s appearance, and the series’ impressive sets.

After over a decade of being stuck in Developmental Hell, Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman has finally been adapted for the small screen. The TV series follows Morpheus (Tom Sturridge), one of the magical siblings known as the Endless and the anthropomorphic personification of dreams. After accidentally being captured and imprisoned by a mortal for over a century, Morpheus escapes. To restore his kingdom, the Dreaming, to its former glory and exact a little Endless vengeance, Morpheus must retrieve his objects of power: his pouch of sand, ruby, and helm. However, there are powerful entities that would rather see Morpheus' dreams crushed.

While the series introduces a wide-ranging cast of compelling characters, The Sandman rests on the powerful performance of Sturridge as Morpheus, whose strong, brooding silence has captured the comic book hero perfectly. Sturridge recently spoke with CBR about the long audition process, nailing Morpheus' physical appearance, the show's gorgeous sets, and comic book story adaptations.

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CBR: Neil Gaiman has said that they went through an extensive audition process for this part. You had auditioned early on, and they really liked you, but they didn't make an offer until later on. What was that waiting period like for you?

Tom Sturridge: Obviously, because it was something I really wanted, it was nerve-racking. The beautiful thing about it is it gave me the opportunity to read the entire literature, from start to finish, which takes a while. I had to read it more than once. The only way to prepare for a role like this and being a part of something like this is to subsume the literature into your words. That's unbelievably helpful. The other thing is, for something like this, which has a serious fanbase, I didn't want them to make a quick decision. I wanted them to make the right decision. I wanted to know they deliberated and were quite happy with the decision they made. After nine months of auditioning, I felt, "We've got this."

When you do a deep dive into the Sandman universe, there's so much to digest. What about his story resonated with you?

The first thing I zeroed in on was the world, the Dreaming itself. I couldn't think of anything more wonderful than realizing it and to live and work inside it. I think of Morpheus and the Dreaming as Hogwarts inside Narnia, inside Middle Earth. The idea of entering that world, where Morpheus is the guardian of the collective unconscious of the universe... In some small way, in playing the part, I felt like I was the guardian of the collective dreams of the fans of who he might be. That burden was helpful to think about.

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Morpheus has a distinct appearance. How did you go about conveying that physicality?

The first thing I wanted to do as far as his physicality and the way he looked was to completely transpose the images from the comics onto my body. For the first test, they painted me in a much paler quality of white. I had black eyes. I had crazy hair. It looked almost identical to the comics, but it also looked like a Halloween costume. The one thing that was important to Neil was the way he walks down the street, although his presence should have a quality and a power. No one should bat an eyelid. They shouldn't feel they are in the presence of an Endless. Morpheus should be able to move freely throughout the world. That was very clearly not the case with these original tests. We decided to move closer and closer, basically, to me. I do happen to be ridiculously pale. I do have dark hair. You look into my eyes, and you can see the constellations of the stars.

The other thing is, obviously, for the first hour of our season -- as is the case in the first series of comics -- he is naked inside a glass sphere. It was very important to me, because Morpheus doesn't speak, to find the physicality to convey this is not a human but an Endless. That was months in the gym because I thought his body, rather than being built, should be as if you shaved a panther, that pure sinew and bone. It's as if someone lived a million years. That was incredibly hard work and required long periods of starvation, but I hope it tells a story without having to say anything.

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Neil Gaiman has previously said, "Morpheus' dialogue is incredibly specific." What did that mean to you, and how challenging was it to get that right?

The thing that Neil said to me that was extremely helpful was that Morpheus has thought every thought and encountered every situation because he's lived forever. Therefore, when he speaks, it's as if it is etched in stone. There is no hesitation. He's not forming thoughts in his head. It's there. So that was incredibly helpful.

As far as the language went, it's one of my favorite parts of the first season. If we carry on, we would explore further his relationship with Shakespeare and Morpheus being the one who initially inspires him to write the greatest works of our species. There is a Shakespearean quality to the language. There's a rhythm. There's a respect for words.

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The humans captured Morpheus for over a century. How has he changed over that time?

I think the main change comes from this vulnerability, from losing his three totems [of] office... his helmet, his bag of sand, and his ruby. In losing those, he's losing his power. When you take away who you are, you have to investigate and think about who you are. I think he uses those 100 years to calculate the new creature he has to be when he escapes.

Neil Gaiman's imagination knows no bounds. Besides Morpheus' castle, was there another set that blew your mind?

The first thing that is extraordinary about this is that the sets existed in the first place. In so many productions nowadays, you have giant screens, or it's all blue screen. We really had tangible, palpable sets. My favorite one was Lucifer's throne room. There were extraordinary 20-foot by 40-foot murals on the walls that they painted. There was real hot fire burning everywhere. There were extraordinary marble pillars. If it's our job to pretend, then the least amount of pretending you have to do, the better. When you feel the heat of real fire in Hell...

As somebody who became well-versed in the comic books, which storyline were you thrilled to adapt?

All of them, to be honest. I loved "A Hope in Hell." Confronting Gwendoline Christie, who plays Lucifer, was extraordinary. Also, The Sound of Her Wings, which is the edition where he spends time with his sister Death, who continues to educate him on the importance of humanity.

The Sandman is available to stream now on Netflix.

Torontonian who loves comic books and everything genre.

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