Q: You’ve said you know your “Servant” character of Sean Turner. How so?

A: From my perspective, the way I saw it was this is a guy who’s found someone he loves. He’s got his career in a place where he’s doing well and earning money and he’s found someone he wants to spend his life with and marry and have a family with, and then all that tragedy befalls him. And I think from Sean’s point of view, he can’t lose everything. He doesn’t want to lose his wife as well so he’s willing to play along with this charade.

Q: And he leans on his brother-in-law — played by Rupert Grint — for a dose of sanity.

A: Absolutely. I mean, his brother represents all those things that he used to enjoy, which is having guests over and introducing them to things and mockery and humor and everything. I mean, what a tremendous brother-in-law that would be to have — and played so well by Rupert. His timing’s just excellent.

Q: How was it filming in executive producer M. Night Shyamalan’s studios outside of Philadelphia?

A: It’s a great, great little space where they built a brownstone and it’s just absolutely an astonishing replica in every detail. You know, you open a drawer and there’s cutlery and you turn on the tap and it works or you flush the lavatory — you know, anything you’ve got to do a scene in and he’s built it so that it works. If the wall needs to come out, it comes out. You know, it’s really well thought out and just astonishing work by a wonderful set designer.

Q: How was it working with your co-star Lauren Ambrose?

A: So easy — and not easy like not without work. I mean, easy but you put the work there and she’s such a giving actress, it’s just so fun to work alongside her. And we’re both dealing with an incredibly stressful subject, so we share a great sense of humor, so it was just a pleasure.