On top of all this is that terrific face, from which his eyes gleam like a rascal’s. The dialogue is a wonder and really helps to make the atmosphere of the old west. McShane is superb as the evil Al Swerengen, but plays him with a fantastic element of black comedy. I found this a riveting series and have watched all three seasons more than once. His spindly legs are covered by black jeans and biker boots, and a long blue coat and scarf covers a black T-shirt. Why Ian McShane did not get an award for this is beyond me. Like Keith Richards or Jimi Hendrix, he has one of those slight but top-heavy appearances that seems to build from the head downwards, as if he is subject to slightly different gravitational forces from the rest of us. In close-up on camera, his head looks large and lived in but in person he seems almost sprightly, more rock star than actor. The characters he has played tend to have a solid, life-worn appearance, from the irascible antiques dealer Lovejoy to the irascible Mr Wednesday in American Gods, via the irascible saloon owner Al Swearengen in Deadwood. McShane does not look like a man in his late seventies. I encountered a new one the other day: an ‘intimate director’ for intimate scenes. On some jobs now you have to sit through an hour-long presentation on bullying and harassment before you start the shoot. It’s just difficult to understand the parameters of the language. They write her letters to say, ‘you speak for me’. She explained that because of her stance she has become a role model for teenagers in Bumf**k, Illinois or wherever. She’s a terrific actor, too, but before we started I told her that I was sorry if I sometimes say ‘she’, but it’s hard to say ‘them’ when there’s only one of you. I shouldn’t say ‘girl’, because she prefers ‘them’, but she’s a lovely girl. “I worked with a girl on John Wick 3, Asia Kate Dillon.
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