In Maigret, which airs as part of MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS, the legendary detective Chief Inspector Maigret (Benjamin Wainwright) returns for a contemporary adaptation of the books by Geroges Simenon. Among Maigret’s best assets is Detective Janvier (Shaniqua Okwok), who brings her own particular approach to her policework.
Awards Buzz spoke with Wainwright about how he had miraculously never encountered any previous version of Maigret until this show came along:
“I’d never come across Maigret before somehow. I’m a French speaker, studied at school, spent a lot of time there, no one ever pointed me towards Maigret somehow. Slightly embarrassing. But it was a real joy to discover the books and Patrick’s scripts and this incredible, unconventional sleuth. I love his approach to things. Completely non-judgmental. Just wants to understand people and mete out justice on that basis as opposed to by the letter of the law. I think he’s an intriguing figure.”
Okwok also had no experience with the character, but she saw that as a positive thing going into a fresh take:
“Much like Ben, I somehow managed to not know about Maigret. I’m actually glad in many ways that I didn’t have any preconceived notion of what Maigret was, because we were creating something completely different and the characters also changed. With the people that were cast, it meant that the characters’ heartbeats felt different to what it was in the books. I’m actually glad I did come to it with a kind of open mind. But I can’t believe I missed it. Where was I?”
Watch the interviews above to hear from these two stars about the wonderful time they had on this show and what they’d like to see from their characters in future seasons.
The season finale of Maigret premieres Sunday, November 9th at 9pm on PBS.
