‘Flowers in the Attic: The Origin’ Cast: Who Plays Malcolm? Here’s Where You’ve Seen Max Irons Before
What makes a monster? Or rather, who? According to the newest Lifetime limited series, it’s time, unexpected marital discord, and just the right combination of chilling characters. Flowers in the Attic: The Origin tells the prequel story of how demure Olivia Foxworth falls in love with a handsome bachelor, becomes the mistress of Foxworth Manor, endures a variety of familial strife, and locks her grandchildren in an attic in the infamous follow-up, Flowers in the Attic.
Though the storyline is much more nuanced, it’s safe to say much of Olivia’s transformation is rooted in her marriage to Malcolm Foxworth, played in the new series by English-Irish actor Max Irons. He is no stranger to the silver screen, having starred in numerous films. Here’s more about the Flowers in the Attic: The Origin cast member.
‘Flowers in the Attic: The Origin’ is the Lifetime prequel to V.C. Andrews’ book series
Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is a prequel to the 2014 film Flowers in the Attic. Both are based on books by the famed and controversial author V.C. Andrews. Flowers in the Attic shares the same name on both, and the current limited series from Lifetime is based on the book Garden of Shadows.
In both the book and the TV series, Malcolm Foxworth is largely credited for Olivia’s downward spiral, though Flowers in the Attic: The Origin also attempts to show viewers his twisted reasoning for becoming diabolical. Malcolm might be easy to hate, but The Origin attempts to make it a bit more difficult to do so.
Irons was initially hesitant to play such a character — even going as far as apologizing to his castmates for his lines between takes. But the actor has since said it’s “quite fun” to portray the villain.
Irons’ previous credits include ‘Condor’ and ‘Terminal’
Irons is the son of acclaimed actors Jeremy Irons and Sinéad Cusack. (Jeremy Irons’ notable credits include Dead Ringers, Lolita, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, House of Gucci, and The Lion King, in which he voiced the villain Scar.)
Max Irons’ notable film projects include Bitter Harvest (2017), The Wife (2017), and Terminal (2018), IMDb reports. From 2018 until 2020, he was best known for playing CIA Agent Joe Turner in the spy thriller TV series Condor.
Max Irons said he was hesitant at to play Malcolm Foxworth in ‘Flowers in the Attic: The Origin’
Not everyone wants to be the villain, but Irons hasn’t seemed to mind — at least after he got over the initial shock of reading what was in store for his character.
“When I got the script, I was given a little breakdown of the character and a couple of the things he got up to. And I thought, ‘Oh, Jesus, I don’t know about this,’” Irons told ET Canada. In fact, the actor acknowledged his character is a “bit of a monster” and highly unlikable. However, in the end, the gripping tale was enough to persuade him to take on the role. “This was 400 pages, and, boy, I did it in one sitting.”
Irons said he was concerned his character would fill a two-dimensional villain archetype, but he aimed to bring something more complex to the screen in Flowers in the Attic: The Origin. “I want to try to find the humanity in him somewhere deep down and sort of the genesis of his evil,” he said of Malcolm.
Flowers in the Attic: The Origin Episode 4 airs Saturday, July 30, at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
