Emmet Scanlan on being the ‘bad guy’
Emmet Scanlan was voted Top TV Villain – and viewers can soon see how dark he can be in The Deceived. Niamh Walsh discovers his softer side
ACTOR Emmet Scanlan comes across as a downto-earth Dublin lad. And in testament to his acting, his real-life personality is worlds apart from his slightly evil acting alter-egos.
Such is his on-screen sinister side, Scanlan won a British Soap Award for Villain of the Year for his role as sociopath Brendan Brady in the long-running soap Hollyoaks, a role that propelled him to small-screen fame.
Now he is back taking the lead in a dark psychological thriller, The Deceived, playing a university professor with more than teaching his students on his mind. The Deceived was written by Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee and also stars Normal People’s Paul Mescal. It has already aired to UK audiences but Irish thriller fans can catch the four-part series next month on Virgin Media One.
Scanlan said that he doesn’t seek out those sinister characters. They seem to just find him instead.
‘It just happened that this fell fortuitously on my lap. It wasn’t something I was searching for but it was something that I was very eager to invest my time into. It was shot over eight weeks in Belfast.
It was a 12-week shoot done in eight weeks, so it was tough.
‘There are a lot of twists and turns. It’s a psychological thriller so it was a real blast to headline a show with such a great cast and writing,’ he says.
The Deceived tells the story of a Cambridge University student named Ophelia Marsh, played by Emily Reid, who has an affair with her Irish professor Dr Michael Callaghan, played by Scanlan.
Set mainly in a ‘haunted’ old house in the village of Knockdara in Co. Donegal, the drama follows Marsh’s affair, with her married tutor.
Ophelia discovers Michael’s wife body on the same night he had told her about his affair – and she
starts to suspect something is amiss.
Scanlan said: ‘He’s intelligent, confident and has his students eating out of the palm of his hands.
‘He manipulates, or charms, not just his students, but people in general, for the most part anyway. He’s used to getting what he wants when he wants it.’
Scanlan has just become a father again after his actress wife, Claire Cooper, gave birth during lockdown to their son Ocean-Torin Scanlan.
So getting what he wants with a infant in the house can be challenging.
‘My son was born five weeks ago and everything went out the window. I haven’t managed to get home. So that’s probably been the hardest thing about this. My daughter is going to be 18 next month. It’s weird you don’t forget. At the moment we’re playing a game of nappy roulette.’
Scanlan has a daughter, Kayla, 17, from a previous relationship, but his nappy-changing days came back easily.
Speaking of his new son, he said: ‘He’s an amazing little kid. You understand what baby brain is, I’ve done this before 18 years ago... I miss my daughter like you wouldn’t believe,’ he says.
‘Being a dad is the best gig I’ll ever get. I remember before my daughter was born, I went down to The Sheds, which is my local pub in Clontarf, with my dad, I hadn’t told anybody. We had a Guinness each and a chaser of whiskey and I turned around and I said “dad” and he just looked at me and said, “she’s pregnant isn’t she?”. And I went, “Yes, she is...”. I said “what’s it’s like to be a dad” and he just said one word “vulnerable” and he sipped his Guinness. I’ve never forgotten that. In one moment you feel so vulnerable you love something more than you can possibly love yourself, so I wouldn’t change it for the world. So to be a father again I feel very blessed, especially during this time.
‘It hasn’t been without its challenges for my wife. The birth was 40 hours of labour with an emergency C-section at the end and I’m just there looking at my superhero wife. I would have tapped out at the first trimester when morning sickness kicked in.’
Scanlan’s parents still live in Clontarf, Dublin, and he is excited to be returning home next month to start a new project and also introduce the littlest member of his family. ‘I get to go home next month to start another project and I can’t wait to see and hug her (Kayla) and my parents. This is the longest we’ve been separated.
‘But, in other ways, I’m so grateful, I’m grateful for Zoom and FaceTime and all of these things we have that have helped us keep in touch.’
But he is keenly aware that he is very lucky in comparison to many other people.
‘In comparison to some, you would have to be a d***head to moan about anything really. I try to find a rhythm and routine.’
Scanlan says that while acting, like all walks of life in the current health situation, has had to adapt, the craft will always remain unchanged.
‘My intention is always to do to great work. Nobody ever signs up to to do a project that’s going to be s***. You always hope that it’s going to be great and something that the audience can watch from the safety of their living room. If they’re having a bad day, maybe it’s something that will make them feel better and if they’re having a good day, then it’s an added bonus,’ he says.
‘That’s the reason I got into acting in the first place. As a little kid, I was shadow-boxing to Rocky behind the couch for the 8,000th time. It’s my favourite movie of all time. I aspired to having this romantic idea of telling stories.
‘We come from a country of storytellers, and we are very good at it. So to be able to do that, to be able to live inside your imagination, it’s your job, it’s something that I don’t take for granted and I’m my happiest when I’m on set. I call it the Neverland Syndrome, or The Peter Pan Syndrome. You don’t have to grow up.’
And he says it’s the stories that play out on-screen that resonate with audiences.
‘I think it’s very important to be able to tell stories that touch on current events or taboo subjects that people find difficult.’ He says: ‘I did a show called Butterfly with Anna Friel and that touched on transgender [issues] and it was something that people maybe really didn’t want to touch on. It was beautifully written by Tony Merchant, a Bafta-winning writer, and I think that’s something that’s really great that we do for a living. ‘With stories like this that are visceral dark stories they just need to be told, it’s important to tell them,’ he says.
With the current outbreak of cancel-culture, the practice of blocking people from online and entertainment platforms after they have said or done something considered to be offensive, Scanlan says actors should always strive to be fearless.
‘I think we should tell stories I don’t think we should stop. If we can shine a light and raise awareness, I hope stuff isn’t censored too much. People can be afraid now of saying things in real life, but that’s way above my pay grade. Everybody can find offence in something.’ The Deceived also stars Normal People’s Paul Mescal, and Scanlan says has is just a normal ‘lovely guy’.
‘He’s lovely, he was a lovely guy, an absolute gent. This was filmed before Normal People blew up.
‘One day he had gone off down to Dublin to watch a few episodes before it aired with Lenny [Abrahamson, the show’s director]. He was a really happy with what he saw and he showed me the trailer and it looked amazing and it was. He’s a lovely lad.’
AS A CHILD, I WAS SHADOWBOXING TO ROCKY BEHIND THE COUCH