Christopher Eccleston has described HBO's The Leftovers as being "incredibly optimistic" in spite of its dark subject matter.
The former Doctor Who star appears in Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta's new series as Matt Jamison, a reverend dedicated to proving that the disappearance of 2% of the world population was not a biblical rapture.
Remote Patrol: HBO's The Leftovers plays like the flip side of Lost
Eccleston recently spoke about the character to Rolling Stone, and was questioned on if Matt uses his faith as a "crutch" to cope with his true feelings about the mass disappearance.
"Well, don't we all have crutches? In that respect, Matt is not different from you, or me, or anyone else," he answered. "Look, I'm not saying that the reaction to the show as something of a downer, to use your word, is a bad reaction. But it isn't my reaction."
He continued: "I felt the same way when I read the scripts of the series that I did when I read the novel: That it's the story of survival, and that the very act of trying to survive, of trying to live life again after something like this has happened, is heroic.
What to Read Next
"It's remarkably heroic to me, at least. The act of trying to pick yourself up and heal is heroic, even if you stumble and fall… especially if you stumble and fall. Getting back up again is heroic. These are people who are coming to grips with the fact that their world has changed.
"But in a way, they're coming to grips that a lot hasn't changed as well. Life still goes on. It just happens to go on without Gary Busey being around anymore."
Eccleston further offered his opinion that The Leftovers ultimately has a hopeful message.
"I feel that The Leftovers is actually an incredibly optimistic look at humanity and how we deal with tragedy, both the book and the series," he said.
The Leftovers airs on Sundays on HBO in the US.
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
