There’s a tendency in Ireland to sweep things under the rug
Series lays bare history that’s all too real says star
Challenging roles bring out where you sit with these topics in your life – and they stay with you
ACTOR Daryl Mccormack has told how he dug into his own past to play a man born in a Mother and Baby Home now searching for his birth mum. The Peaky Blinders star is back on our screens in the BBC gothic thriller The Woman in the Wall with the fifth gripping instalment due to air this evening. Set in the fictional Irish town of Kilkinure, it examines the shameful legacy of the State and church-run institutions which operated up until the 1990s. Daryl, 30, plays Detective Colman Akande who was born in a Mother and Baby Home and as a result doesn’t know who his biological mother is. The actor told how he read books on adoptees and used his own life experience of being born to a single mother to prepare for the role. He said: “What’s really interesting about playing roles, particularly having to go somewhere challenging or emotional, is that it brings out your own. “It brings out where you sit with those topics in your own life. If it’s something that carries a bit of weight, I often find... the piece stays with me. “It takes some time to take it off.” The drama stars Luther actress Ruth Wilson as Lorna, who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house with no idea of who the dead woman is or how she got there. Lorna’s baby was taken from her at 15 in a Magdalene Laundry, and her desperate search for her daughter sets her on a collision course with the detective. Rising star Daryl got his first acting gig on Fair City. He has since won praise for his role in Bad Sisters and was Bafta-nominated for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Tonight’s episode of The Woman in the Wall sees his character Colman form an unlikely alliance with murder suspect Lorna who is searching for her dead baby. Daryl said: “They both kind of have similar wounds from this system, and it’s about them going on to really tackle something that’s a lot bigger than just the murder case. “Colman is adopted... he’s never known the true identity of his mother. He is very bullheaded, kind of stubborn, but you can sense that it’s his only way to survive. “You can sense the wounds and trauma that he hasn’t yet dealt with and has to then face throughout the course of the series.” Simon Delaney plays local garda Massey whose seemingly laid-back attitude to solving the murder of a priest is a source of frustration for Colman. Daryl, whose latest movie project, thriller The Lesson, is out on September 22, said: “I think Colman is angry at what appears to him to be small mindedness on behalf of the local Gardai. “I think there can be an Irish tendency to sometimes sweep things under the rug in fear of hurting people or in fear of disrupting the peace.” Daryl’s knowledge of Magdalene Laundries and Mother and Baby Homes echoes that of show writer and director Joe Murtagh. His introduction to it came via The Magdalene Sisters which opens with a disturbing scene where the central character is raped by her cousin.
Rather than punish her rapist, she is sent to a nun-run Laundry and her baby is taken away from her. Daryl said: “I remember watching The Magdalene Sisters movie when I was maybe 14 or 15. “And through kind of just growing up in Ireland, it would have been talked about every once in a while. “So I knew of it for the most part, but I obviously did a much deeper dive into the history once I once I started prepping for this role. “It was difficult. Obviously, there’s a lot of pain and a lot of shame, which is part of the Catholic institution.” He thinks it’s important to tell the story to audiences today, and said he hopes the drama tackles the topic in a sensitive way. He said: “I think it’s important to cover anything that hasn’t gotten its fair share of exposure, particularly when it’s left a wound for some people in the country. “And I hope in doing that you give both the survivors, and the people involved a chance to hopefully salvage some recognition and some empathy, but also some justice.” He added: “We’re not making a documentary, we’re making a fictional drama, and there is some sort of creative licence in there. “There was a juggling act which was to really have respect to the truth of the show, but at the same time, as an actor be open to creatively where the show went and how it expressed itself.” Daryl has been a long-time admirer of Ruth Wilson and said working with her was a revelation. “I remember when I first saw her in Luther, I just thought she was incredible, so from that moment that I really wanted to work with her,” he said. “It was a joy.” Daryl’s hope for the series, that it is received well, has already been achieved. He concluded: “Hopefully it might bring up some more discussion, for the survivors and people involved. “And then on top of that, I hope that audiences get a show that is creatively fulfilling as well. “It’s a weird thing to hope for, because it’s based on true events, but I just want the survivors to feel like they’re being represented well. “I hope that they enjoy it.” The Woman In The Wall continues on BBC One tonight at 9pm.
This story hasn’t gotten its fair share of exposure and it’s left a wound for some people