Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Career started as a teenager at Perth theatre group
HE was just a lad of 13 when he took his first steps on the theatrical ladder with Perth’s Unmasqued Drama Company.
Now Saul Marron is set to star again in the BBC1 drama Gentleman Jack, portraying James MacKenzie in the
19th Century tale which gained rave reviews for the first series.
More filming is set to take place, once again thrusting Saul, an ex-pupil of St Columba’s High School in the Fair City, into the limelight.
After four years with Unmasqued, which is still running and has given hundreds of children a taste of acting, 37-year-old Saul spent a year at The Space in Dundee to further hone his craft.
“After that it was off to the East 15 theatre school in London for three years and I’ve been down south ever since,” he said.
“I have done mostly stage work, including a lot of Shakespeare in the West End.
“Gentleman Jack is my first real TV exposure.”
Gentleman Jack also stars Suranne Jones of Coronation Street, Scott and Bailey, Unforgiven and Doctor Foster fame.
The drama is set in west Yorkshire, where landowner
Anne Lister is determined to save her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, even if it means bucking society’s expectations. Reopening the coal mines is part of her plan to help her family, with marrying well also on her horizon.
However, the charismatic, singleminded Anne, who dresses in black from head to toe and charms her way into high society, has no intention of marrying a man.
Gentleman Jack examines Anne’s relationships, not only with her family but also with her servants, tenants, industrial rivals – and would-be wife.
The real-life Anne Lister’s story was recorded in her diaries and the most intimate details of her life are revealed for the series. “I had a great time on Gentleman Jack – five solid months of filming,” said Saul.
“Now we are down to do more filming next year.”
He described his time at Unmasqued as “a great grounding.” Saul added: “It was a superb start to the acting profession for me. “Acting was what I wanted to do and the group gave me the chance to do that.
“They were very welcoming. I loved my four years there.” Although Gentleman Jack is Saul’s latest TV work, it is not his first.
His debut role on the small screen was The London Affair and he then acted alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Michael Shannon in the feature film The Current War.
He has also completed a lot of voiceover work, appearing in several advertising campaigns, most notably the “Frank” antidrugs commercial with David Mitchell where he played the part of Baggie.