I do like to do a bit of research and source work relevant to the job at hand, but between auditioning (May 12th 1992) and receiving the call from Jan, my agent (early July) I had clean forgotten about going up for Sharpe. And between those two dates, I deliberately didn’t read any of the Sharpe books for fear of eventual disappointment. Part of the ‘dealing with rejection’ mechanism some actors develop.
 
In the time leading up to our departure from Heathrow (15th Aug) we had read-throughs, costume fittings and Chosen Man classes both theory and practical with our guru Richard Rutherford Moore, I started the novels. The ‘Harris recollections’ quickly followed along with general books on the Napoleonic wars. I eventually read all the way up to Sharpe’s Waterloo while waiting on the set of Sharpe’s Enemy, quickly followed by Devil.

And of course I read every Sharpe novel that has come out since the advent of the Sharpe TV series.

I was a regular visitor to the gym where I observed a fairly brutal punishing physical regime, so the physical side of Sharpe was a walk in the park for me. The real job was getting in to the head of a Napoleonic era soldier caught up in a Europe wide war where thousands of man frequently met their deaths and how an educated man like Harris could put himself in this position.

An extremely intriguing character! Thoughtful and principled, yet shy of responsibility; ‘hiding’ as a lowly corporal when really a learned man such as him should have forced his way up through the ranks.
Chosen Man Harris is anachronistic, paradoxical, unrealistic, loyal, stubborn and a happy, willing member of one hell of a team.

I like to think of myself as an effective communicator, I wouldn’t claim to have mastery of any particular language (including English!), I do like to fully experience the culture of the country I find myself in. In Ukraine, if you didn’t want to overly rely on the interpreters who were never there when you needed them, you therefore had to learn the basics of Russian. When I’d got the basics of the alphabet, helped much by having a Russian speaking girlfriend, I could engage and understand more and more.

I believe the main reason for Sharpe being such compelling viewing is the works of a certain Mr. Cornwell!
The attention to detail, the historical accuracy, the characters, his narrative in the Sharpe novels has provided an almost idiot-proof template for transfer to the screen. It was also the first TV drama set in the Napoleonic war since Poldark (I think?), so Sharpe had novelty value going for it as well.
Of course, the hideously disfigured features of the Yorkshire lad have created a strong interest across a certain demographic!
Hopefully viewers will glean a little more about a historical chapter that has remained untackled on TV while being thoroughly entertained at the same time