With the shock engagement of Louisa Durrell and accordion goat herder, Sven, we couldn’t help wondering how Louisa’s number one fan, Sprio, was going to take the news.
What’s on TV caught up with Greek star Alexis Georgoulis, who reveals Sprio Halikiopoulos’s special relationship with the Durrells and his feelings for Louisa in particular.
Talking about the engagement between Louisa (Keeley Hawes) and Sven (Ulric von der Esch), Alexis said: “At first Spiro didn’t believe it. Then he started to be jealous. But at the end he has to confront it. He as to say, okay this nice person has to marry a non-Greek person!”
With Sprio resigned to Louisa’s marriage, What’s on TV wanted to know if Spiro is actually in love with Louisa?
Alexis answered: “When you read the script you can see that. But when I play the role I feel like that. So it’s a bit confusing. I think he has very sensitive feelings about Louisa.”
The Durrells has been a massive success for ITV, who recently announced the commissioning of a second series. Based on Gerald Durrell’s Corfu trilogy it draws from the real-life story of the family’s relocation to the Island of Corfu in the 1930s. And in both the books and this adaptation, Spiro looms larger than life. Alexis, a big star in Greece who has also starred in Hollywood’s Driving Aphrodite, explained more about Spiro’s relationship with the family:
“Spiro is Mr Fix-It on the Island. He thinks he knows everything and everyone so he has a great ego. He’s a bit loud! But when he meets the Durrells he finds a nice part of his soul and they make him more human, in a way. He wants to be the part that joins the family to the Island and the Greeks.”
Alexis went on to reveal Spiro’s spirit rubbed off on him too: “With The Durrells I felt more Greek than with any other job I did.”
For the full interview watch the video, above.
The final episode of The Durrells screens on Sunday, May 8 at 8pm on ITV
