'It's a joy to be a part of'
Stephen Moyer loves a collection, from guitars and typewriters to great roles – and his latest in The Forsytes is one to treasure
Mammoth Screen Limited / © 5 Broadcasting Limited
- Gareth McLean
Published: Friday, 14 November 2025 at 2:24 pm
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In the course of our 45-minute interview that lasts an hour and a half, Stephen Moyer, 56, shares that he collects guitars – which he has hung up on the walls of his new home in Suffolk, because he can’t actually play the guitar – and typewriters, of which he has 30. We establish that he looks good in a duffle coat – which not every grown man does – and what he has in his pockets. Namely a “quite rare” $1 coin and an acorn, “which is a long story”.
Further, he impresses upon me the virtues of good headphones and quality speakers, summer evening walks on Clifton Down in Bristol [he stays in the city while filming The Forsytes] and cooking for one in a Belfast kitchen. He confesses a love for Marmite and peanut butter, and details his favourite snack. “Anna [Paquin, his actress wife] calls them Stevie Snacks and they consist of some cheese, roasted almonds, some saucisson and chutney.” His mum makes an amazing green tomato chutney, apparently. “I’ve got jars from 1994 in my cupboard and I’m not even joking.”
Stephen Moyer as Jolyon Forsyte Sr (left) and Jack Davenport as James Forsyte. Mammoth Screen Limited / © 5 Broadcasting Limited
In his 20s, Moyer lived on a houseboat for seven years in London’s Little Venice, with no electricity – which is why he bought his first typewriter – and recently, in his 50s, he’s taken up sailing. “I really love that it’s an ancient skill and it doesn’t involve phones. I spend a lot of time in the digital world and I love it, but I’m actually quite analogue.”
Moyer is great company, as inquisitive as he is forthcoming. You might be tempted to say that his work is the least interesting thing about him. Except that isn’t true. For this Essex-born actor, who made it big in America, also collects great roles, recently adding two very different characters to his collection.
First, there is patriarch Jolyon Forsyte Sr in Debbie Horsfield’s fantastic take on John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. “What Debbie has done is empower the female characters in the story to be having the conversations that they weren’t having in the novel,” he says. “While the men are worrying about stupid financial stuff, the women are dealing with real-life problems.”
What Debbie has done is empower the female characters
Stephen Moyer
A radical reimagining, to be sure. But Moyer hastens to add that Galsworthy’s novel isn’t without a boldness of its own. “Yes, we all love the frocks, the big old houses and the horses and carriages, but he was the first person to talk about marital rape in a novel – which was a scandalous thing to do at the time – and he also examines the social structures and norms.
“Debbie has taken inspiration from the book and created something extraordinary that it’s a joy to be part of.”
Part of the joy that Moyer derives from The Forsytes, which has filmed for the last two summers in Bristol (there is one more series to air next year, with at least one more commissioned) is working with Jack Davenport, who plays his toxic, competitive younger brother, James. The pair first worked together on Ultraviolet, Channel 4’s 1998 vampire drama. “Back then, we were the young men about town and now we’re the old geezers. We’re like an old married couple, it’s hilarious.
“When we did the first season of The Forsytes, we lived next door to each other and spent all our time together. Meanwhile, back in New York where we lived at the time, Anna and Michelle [Gomez, Davenport’s wife] were close, too. So it was kind of lovely.”
Moyer and Nina Singh in Art Detectives. U
Moyer’s other recent role made for an altogether more solitary existence as he upped sticks for Northern Ireland, where Art Detectives is filmed. In it, he plays DI Mick Palmer, lead sleuth for the Heritage Crime Unit. The series does what it says on the tin with murders linked to Viking gold and artefacts from the Titanic.
“I’d never thought of myself doing cosy crime, but there was a warmth to Mick and to Shazia [Mick’s detective constable sidekick] and an understanding that I was drawn to. Mick’s quite eccentric – from the duffle coat to his obsession with comic books – and I enjoyed working him out and getting to know him.”
As indeed do audiences. Made for Acorn TV, Art Detectives became the platform’s most watched new series, with another series in the works. It’s far from his usual grittier roles.
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“I’m quite happy doing a show that is a gentler version of the world than the one we live in right now. There’s a lot to be said for seeking a life more analogue.”
Authors
Gareth McLean
Gareth McLean has been writing about television for nearly 30 years. As a critic, he's reviewed thousands of programmes. As a feature writer, he's interviewed hundreds of people, from Liza Minnelli to Jimmy Savile. He has also written for TV.
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