James Nesbitt has joked that he might start going to “some of the Comic Cons” when the pay cheques run out from his starring role in Stan Lee’s Lucky Man.
The actor, who plays a character who has the power to control luck with a supernatural bracelet in the drama, has also revealed that he gets more people asking him about the series than anything he has ever worked on, including football manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Nesbitt, 53, said that for him, Lee’s work and the comic book world in general was “never really my genre”, and that it “has been lovely” to discover the Marvel creator through working on his series.
Has Harry's luck finally run out?Find out when Stan Lee's Lucky Man returns to @SkyOne on Friday 20th July. #LuckyMan #Season3 pic.twitter.com/XTT3TlfyvU
— Stan Lee's Lucky Man (@luckyman) June 23, 2018
He told the Press Association: “One of the great surprises to me – but that’s as a result of my own ignorance – is just how appealing Stan is and the notion of the magic of this bracelet and the mythology of it, the very world of Marvel and all those characters, how it appeals to people of all ages.
“I’m honestly stopped by people in the street talking about Stan Lee more than almost anything else, about Lucky Man.
“And bizarre people – Alex Ferguson or somebody will go ‘have you got the bracelet on?’ It’s extraordinary. It really appeals to people, such a simple notion.”
Nesbitt said: “I only hear from Stan really through production, Stan’s a man of a certain age, but it’s been interesting – his influence is still very evident, he’s all across the scripts, he makes the odd suggestions here and there.
“One of my treasured possessions is something he sent me last year, a lovely still of one of the posters, ‘To Jimmy from your friend Stan’, you know.”
The Cold Feet actor said that he has not yet met any of the stars from the Marvel franchise, and added: “I’m hoping at some point to go to Stan’s Comic Con or go to the other Comic Cons.”
He added: “Lucky Man is now on Amazon over there I think, and iTunes, I think someone said to me, so the idea of it gathering a more global audience, when the pay cheques from this run out, I’ll go to some of the Comic Cons…”
Of future roles with a similar superhero edge, Nesbitt said: “I think it’s unlikely that I’ll play another superhero – I’m 53 – but it’s been a real voyage of discovery and I’m delighted.”
Nesbitt returns for the third series of Lucky Man along with newcomer Rupert Penry-Jones, who plays villain Samuel Blake.
“Rupert Penry-Jones has been a real pleasure to work with, he himself is a well-put-together lad, so there’s been plenty of that, and I think that won’t disappoint,” Nesbitt said.
Of working with the Whitechapel star in Hong Kong for the third series of Lucky Man, Nesbitt said: “We had a brilliant time in Hong Kong, he’s fabulous – Rupert’s used to being a leading man, and he’s walked into this playing the villain, and also he hasn’t.
“There has been no hidden agenda, no big ego, it’s been great, we’ve become very firm friends. He’s very serious but he’s also quite wicked.”
Stan Lee’s Lucky Man returns to Sky One on July 20.