Curtis Donovan

Curtis Donovan
Misfits character
First appearance	Series 1 Episode 1
Created by	Howard Overman
Portrayed by	Nathan Stewart-Jarrett Kehinde Fadipe (as female)
Power	Time manipulation (series 1-2) Gender Swapping (series 3—)
Information
Nickname(s)	Melissa (when female)
Gender	Male, Female (when using power)
Occupation	Bartender

Curtis Donovan is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 science fiction comedy-drama Misfits, portrayed by Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. His storylines include being sentenced to community service after being caught in possession of cocaine which led to him gaining the power of time manipulation. He has also been involved in a relationship with Alisha Bailey and later with Nikki. He later gains the power to swap gender.

Casting and character creation

Casting for the part was announced on 17 August 2009 by Digital Spy.^[1] Stewart-Jarett went through an audition process for the part in which he commented on saying "I always thought your audition for drama school was meant to be the hardest you would ever do, but Misfits trumped that. I had to get through four auditions and five meetings before I got the part. The fourth audition was the worst. They placed around 20 of us in a house in Fitzrovia and we all had to work in groups so they could see the dynamics between us. We started in the morning and as the day wore on people were plucked out one by one and sent home. It was quite brutal."^[2] Fellow cast member Iwan Rheon revealed that Overman who created the character discussed how to write their parts with the cast and later began writing for them as actors. Stewart-Jarett later added that Overman "gave us a licence to do that and it was actually quite nice in a way".^[3]

Development

Characterisation

E4's official website depicts him as "a rising sports star whose goal was to compete in the 2012 Olympics. But his career is left in tatters after he’s caught with an illegal substance and is publicly shamed as he’s made an example under the eyes of the law".^[4] Stewart-Jarrett described the character as "a serious guy. He's disappointed in himself and the demise of his athletic aspirations. There's a real sense of frustration about the character it's like he's a fallen angel.".^[5] The Times described him as a "shamed athlete who can stop and rewind time" a description which is similarly used by the The Daily Telegraph who describes him as "shamed sports star Curtis".^[6][7]

Storylines

He is the first Misfit to use his power for the benefit of someone else, being inspired by a meeting with his just released from prison, more-or-less former girlfriend Sam to undo the drug charges that led to their arrest. However, after he learns that the other Misfits —- with the exception of the unknowingly immortal Nathan Young (Robert Sheehan) —- were killed in Tony's rampage without him present to undo their deaths and provide advance warning, he once again resets time. In this iteration he willingly sacrifices his career by allowing himself to be caught with the drugs while ensuring that Sam stays clear. But no matter how he alters events, Sam still believes that they are in a relationship, whereas he now considers himself to be with Alisha Bailey (Antonia Thomas). He eventually breaks up with Sam after using the line "the ones I love will always be the ones who pay" from the film Spider-Man.

At the start of the second series he and Alisha are still in a relationship and Curtis acts very affectionately towards her, even to the point of violently threatening Simon Bellamy (Iwan Rheon) when he believes he received oral sex from her. Superhoodie later saves Curtis' life when he is nearly suffocated to death by Lucy. When his power acted in reverse during a drug trip, Curtis 'flash-forwarded' to the future where he was standing on a rooftop dressed in a black costume and green cape while being approached by an unfamiliar woman named Nikki. Although he attempted to reject her apparent desire for sex, Curtis was subsequently surprised to encounter her past self while the Misfits were tracking Superhoodie. At the end of the fourth episode of the second series, Curtis and Nikki meet up after being held hostage with the rest of the Misfits and they kiss, resulting in a relationship, the two later experiencing the events of Curtis' 'flash-forward' again while attending a fancy dress party.

It was revealed that Curtis is lactose intolerant, which resulted in him being the only member of the group left after they were attacked by Brian, a former 'tea boy' who could control all dairy products. Brian was able to suffocate others by manipulating the dairy products that they had eaten earlier, including 'strangling' Nathan's brain with mozzarella cheese to give him brain damage as his immortality made it impossible to kill him directly. Curtis, having never consumed anything for Brian to use against him, was able to drive Brian off, albeit after Simon sacrificed himself to stop Curtis being stabbed. Curtis travelled back in time to save his friends by preventing Brian from going public or learning about his power.

Curtis has lost his power after selling it to a 'power dealer', who states that he has already passed his power on to an old Jewish man who wanted go back in time to kill Hitler.

Reception

Stewart-Jarrett was nominated for Outstanding Actor in the fiction catergory at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival in 2011.^[8] Den Of Geek described Nathan as "an all-round good egg, is Curtis, and his relationship with Alisha is lovely, if a little bizarre".^[9] Tim Dowling of The Guardian described him as the "angry one" of the group of "foul-mouthed young criminals".^[10] Boxcutters commented negatively on the characters of Misfits saying it was "filled with unattractive and very annoying characters" although they responded positively to the show asking "why do we find it so strangely compelling?"^[11]

References

1. ^ French, Dan (17 August 2009). "E4 commissions new teen superhero comedy". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a171453/e4-commissions-new-teen-superhero-comedy.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
2. ^ Corner, Lena. "Actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett plays Curtis in E4's brilliant comedy-drama Misfits, which follows a group of superhero ASBO teens. He talks to IdeasTap about his big break, gruelling auditions and finding his stage voice...". IdeasMag. Ideastap.com. http://www.ideastap.com/IdeasMag/The-Knowledge/nathan-stewart-jarrett. Retrieved 1 October 2011. 
3. ^ "Misfits stars: We helped writers". Metro. 2 December 2009. http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/802667-misfits-stars-we-helped-writers. Retrieved 1 October 2011. 
4. ^ "E4 Curtis Character Profile description". E4. http://www.e4.com/misfits/characters/curtis.html. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
5. ^ Thomas, Chloe. "THE MISFITS: A Lime Exclusive". The LIME Magazine. http://www.comelime.com/interviews/sept2010/the-misfits.html. Retrieved 12 September 2011. 
6. ^ "Misfits review by The Times". The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6914519.ece. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
7. ^ "Misfits E4 Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6555277/Misfits-E4-review.html. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 
8. ^ Wightman, Catriona (20 April 2011). "In Full: Monte Carlo TV Festival fiction nominees". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a315649/in-full-monte-carlo-tv-festival-fiction-nominees.html. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
9. ^ "Den of Geek Series 1 Episode 4 review". Den of Geek. http://www.denofgeek.com/television/375053/misfits_episode_4_review.html. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
10. ^ "Misfits review Asbo's with superpowers". The Guardian. 13 November 2009. http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2009/nov/13/misfits-review-asbo-superheroes. Retrieved 19 July 2011. 
11. ^ "Misfits review by Boxcutters". Boxcutters. http://boxcutters.net/2009/12/07/ep-206-misfits-the-prisoner-lunch-disclosure/. Retrieved 24 July 2011. 

External links

• Curtis E4 profile at E4