GARY: TANK COMMANDER STAR ON It’s brilliant to get a shot at playing a creepy baddie
Comic Greg says character’s fringe will freak fans out
From comedy hero Gary: Tank Commander to creepy villain, Greg McHugh’s spine-chilling performance in the new series of Guilt is guaranteed to give you nightmares.
The actor plays Teddy, who with his freaky fringe and sinister demeanour, is as far from his hilarious cheesy pasta-loving, perma-tanned squaddie alter ego as you can possibly get.
Greg, 41, is relishing his new-found baddie status and is delighted to be starring in one of the nation’s most anticipated drama sequels.
The first series of BBC thriller Guilt – starring Mark Bonnar and Jamie Sives as brothers Max and Jake who fail in their attempts to get away with murder – was an overnight hit and had audiences screaming for more.
In the dark comedy sequel, Greg plays Max’s weirdo ex- cellmate, who seeks out his jailbird pal for help when his brother is shot dead – not realising Max knows more about the killing than he is letting on.
The dad of two, whose Gary: Tank Commander is one of Scotland’s mostloved comedy characters, said: “Teddy has to be one of my most favourite roles. It’s a stonking part and as far from loveable Gary as you can get. He is a terrifying wee dude – a complete nutter. Let’s just say, I wouldn’t like to meet him down a dark street at night.
“Max thinks he’s got this wee guy under his thumb and it’s kind of a shame as Teddy thinks they have a relationship but Max is barely friends with anyone.
“Max tries to palm him off but Teddy figures out he knows more about his brother’s killing than he is letting on and it all starts to unravel as my character sets about getting his revenge. He’s been institutionalised and is immune to violence and the darker side of life, which makes him terrifyingly threatening.”
Greg, who also starred as Eddie Scott in BBC drama series The A Word and oddball Howard McGregor in Fresh Meat, added:
“To get a chance to play someone
with a dark side was just brilliant. Both Gary and Eddie in The A word are of the big cuddly blanket variety but Teddy is cut from a more sinister cloth. He’s about as far from a teddy bear as you can get.
“When I told my children the name of the character, they were like, ‘Aw, that’s so cute’. I didn’t have the heart to tell them there was nothing cutesie about Teddy and they won’t be watching the show any time soon. “As much as Teddy doesn’t want to go back into prison, he will do anything for revenge. He doesn’t fear anything – he has nothing to lose.
“Neil Forsyth’s writing is just genius and it’s the hardest I have worked on a part. The script is darkly funny but I wanted to make sure this guy is seriously creepy and that he gives off the impression he has the ability to do people harm. It was a big challenge.” Teddy’s most petrifying feature is his bowl- cut fringe, which Greg agrees freaked him out too. He said: “I don’t know what is more scary – me being a psycho or my freaky fringe. I wanted him to look like he didn’t care but that he had made a tiny bit of effort. “I wanted to make him almost childlike so viewers could see why Max thinks he can take advantage of him but in the end he can’t – this guy is the real deal.” Guilt 2’s stellar cast also includes Paradox sta r Emun El l iot t , Endeavour’s Sara Vickers, Downton’s Phyllis Logan and Bodyguard’s Stewart Bowman, who takes over from Bill Paterson as gangster boss Roy Lynch. Greg, who grew up in
Edinburgh, said: “I was acting alongside royalty. I worked with Mark’s wife Lucy Gaskell on The A Word but I didn’t know him. Before we started filming, he sent me a lovely message saying he couldn’t wait to work with me. I was a bit awestruck as it sunk in I was going to be in Guilt. The quality of the actors on the show, like Phyllis, Mark and Stewart, was phenomenal.
“Fair play to Neil and the producers for taking a chance on me as it was a risk. There are lots of people who had played that type of character before and were safer bets.”
Greg, who lives in Hove, near Brighton, with his wife Katie and their two children, will return to the stage later this year in Aladdin at Glasgow’s SEC. He will be joined by Still Game’s Boabby the barman star Gavin Mitchell as Abanazar, with Mrs Twankey played by Leah MacRae, who also appeared as Greg’s platonic pal Julie in the Tank Commander show, which shot him to fame in 2009.
Greg said: “I started playing Gary in my 20s so there’s no way I thought I’d still be doing him now. He’s always going to be a character I’m going to be associated with and I am proud of that.”
We are about to see a whole lot more of Greg on our screens as he will appear in the third series of Sky’s fantasy drama A Discovery of Witches and in Gold’s The Cockfields alongside Gregor Fisher. He has also filmed a comedy series with Rowan Atkinson for Netflix.
He said: “I’ve just shot a sitcom with Gregor Fisher and Sue Johnston. I play another oddball but he’s not aggressive. It was a total laugh to film.
“I also shot a comedy with Rowan Atkinson called Man vs Bee, which comes out next year. I’ve had an incredible run.”
I don’t know what’s more scary – me as a psycho or my freaky fringe