Hero is an average guy... not someone we’d consider to be on trial for murder
Guilty or innocent? MARION McMULLEN looks at compelling new BBC drama You Don’t Know Me
TAKING on the role of a suspect in the dock accused of murder, at times, proved an exhausting experience for Samuel Adewunmi.
He plays South Londoner Hero in BBC1’s new drama You Don’t Know Me and admits: “Some days I was really tired but I think it was one of my teachers who said some of your best work is produced when you’re tired because you have nothing left in the tank other than what is there.
“Those days, as challenging as they were, were a lot of fun to do. This is something that I love to do anyway, and we were lucky to be working during the pandemic.”
The four-part mini series was made in association with Netflix – the second episode can be seen on Monday – and has been adapted from criminal defence barrister and writer Imran Mahmood’s bestselling novel.
It asks viewers to decide if Hero is guilty or innocent of murder.
The prosecution barrister’s closing argument sounds damning in the opening episode, but Hero takes the brave decision to fire his legal representation and deliver his own speech. He tells the jury he is innocent and shares a very different sequence of events that placed a law-abiding car salesman in the frame for murder.
“Hero is a young guy, early to mid-20s. He’s a car salesman when we meet him in episode one,” says Samuel. “It’s the job of his dreams I guess, he’s always loved cars and it’s something he’s really passionate about, something he has a lot of information on and also something that he enjoys doing.
“He’s got his family, his mum and his sister, who he provides for as best as he can. He’s got a flat. He’s doing alright for himself but nothing special.
“He does have a really nice car, that’s one of the perks of work.
“He’s just this average guy going through his life. He’s content, but he’s not necessarily fulfilled. He’s not necessarily happy. He’s just sort of doing his thing, plodding along every day like we all do, looking forward to the weekends.”
Samuel adds: “He’s an intelligent guy but with average GCSEs, probably didn’t even do his A-levels.
“Being able to sell some of the best cars in the world is the actualisation of a childhood dream for him. He doesn’t really aspire to much more when we first meet him, he’s happy selling these cars.
“He gets a bonus at the end of the month and has a good relationship with his boss. It’s his haven, his comfort zone.”
Samuel was born and raised in London and won the Most Promising Newcomer award in 2019 for his role in the film The Last Tree.
He has also appeared on TV in dramas like Angela Black, with Joanne Froggatt, and Lucky Man.
You Don’t Know Me is set in London but was filmed in Birmingham during pandemic restrictions.
Series producer Jules Hussey explains: “We originally intended to shoot a week of shots in London, but that came down to a couple of days because Birmingham worked so brilliantly. We discovered that we could find Camden streets, tower blocks, all sorts of areas that really worked for us.”
She says she remembers seeing Samuel in The Last Tree a few years ago and was wowed by him and describes You Don’t Know Me as
a man who falls in love with a woman and makes the wrong decisions”.
Samuel explains how Hero’s story is told in flashback scenes as he falls in love with girlfriend Kyra (played by newcomer Sophie Wilde) and finds his whole world changing.
“In one of the first flashback scenes, he’s seen cooking a dish for his girlfriend,” says Samuel. “As the audience we’re thinking this seems like a pretty decent guy cooking some pasta, he has a nice suit, how did you end up in court? That’s the question that’s on all of our minds.
“As the story unravels his life is turned upside down. His whole world is shaken, I don’t think he’s ever the sort of person that we’d consider to be on trial for murder.
“He tries to give a compelling argument for his innocence and to explain why he ended up there.
“The story is a love story, essentially. That’s at the heart of it. With all these extraordinary circumstances, it is really just this guy that falls in love with a girl and she, essentially, is the catalyst for what happens next.
Samuel continues: “They meet on a bus and he’s completely mesmer“about
ised by her. She’s beautiful but she’s also really clever, really funny and really kind and caring. Those are the things that he’s really drawn to.
“She meets his family as well, and the fact that she gets on so well with them means everything to him. She also helps him to dream for more, even though she doesn’t really have much herself. Kyra’s a really nourishing spirit for him... at first.”
Hero finds the woman he loves is in terrible trouble and he is ready to risk everything to save her. He swears he’s innocent. But in the end, all that matters is this... do you believe him?
You Don’t Know Me starts tomorrow on BBC1 at 9pm