Paula f inds her beat on the streets of Dublin in Redemption
Belfast actor takes centre stage in Virgin Media’s major new Irish crime drama
ONE of Ireland’s busiest acting stars – who has played supporting roles in blockbusters like The Hunger Games and a slew of smallscreen hits such as Lost, ER, Deadwood and Sons of Anarchy – is relishing being centre stage in a new Irish crime drama.
Paula Malcomson stars in Redemption, a six-part Virgin Media series which debuts tomorrow night.
The Belfast actor plays a tough Liverpool cop, Det Insp Collette Cunningham, who arrives in Dublin to investigate the death of her estranged daughter Kate who she has not seen for 20 years.
And it’s the biggest role Malcomson, who has lived in Los Angeles for 30 years, has had in her native land.
‘Everyone in America thinks I’m American until they hear my accent,’ the actor says.
‘I think of my Northern Irish accent as my secret weapon and it’s nice that I have kept it.
‘My Northern Irish accent is my secret weapon’
Until I was over 40 I never played an Irish role.’
Malcomson left Belfast when she was just 18 at the height of the Troubles.
She landed in New York where she launched her career with small film parts in the 1990s before winning higher profile roles in the Oscar-nominated The Green Mile and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Since then she has racked up numerous appearances in everything from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
The actor says she is thrilled to be playing the lead in Redemption, her first time working extensively in Dublin.
‘It was so fine to be here in the land of saints and scholars,’ she said. ‘I was staying in a flat above where Brendan Behan used to live and Kavanagh’s home was across the street.
‘Having those voices in my head as I worked on this was tremendous. It was such an honour to be in Dublin.’
Malcolmson, who has played several high profile support roles – including as Jennifer Lawrence’s mother in all four Hunger Games – said she knew the time was right to take centre stage after reading up about her character.
‘I saw the script a couple of months before we got going last April and I knew very quickly that I wanted to do it,’ she said.
‘This is a great character. She is vulnerable and strong and I felt there was a lot of opportunity for both those things. She is a very accomplished woman with flaws.
‘When I started to talk to director John Hayes it made me even more sure that I wanted to play this role.
‘It’s beautiful to be the lead character and she is a very exceptional one because she is in every frame.
‘That’s unusual – they usually cut away to a B storyline but they don’t do it in this. And my partner is a woman so it’s very female-centric film written by a man.’
The actor, who usually works with an American accent, admits she was worried about the Liverpool timbre she had to master.
‘The responsibility is to do it right or not do it at all,’ she said.
‘I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the Liverpool accent – it wasn’t written specifically in the script.
‘I thought I might do something else because I didn’t want to mess it up.
‘But I woke up with it in my head – it sort of clicked in my unconscious so I thought, I’m going to try this, and I had a great voice coach who helped me through it.’
The Redemption cast includes Siobhán McSweeney, who plays Sister Michael in Derry Girls, which has just launched its third series.
And McSweeney, who plays an imposing police sergeant, made a huge impression on her compatriot.
‘Siobhán is absolutely brilliant. I ask you to find me someone in Ireland that doesn’t think Siobhán McSweeney should run for prime minister,’ laughs Malcomson.
‘Isn’t she something? We had to do things like tighten up on the camera angle because I was laughing so hard and we are supposed to be very serious.
‘Derry Girls is magnificent. They don’t bang on about the Troubles which is what I love.
‘It’s beautifully woven into it. They’ll be walking up the hill and you’ll see the British army and then peace breaks out at some point in that second season.
‘I think it’s magnificent. I think [Derry Girls creator] Lisa McGee is writing at the complete top of her game,’ she added.
Redemption, written by Seán Cook, also stars Ian Lloyd Anderson, Moe Dunford and Keith McErlean. Redemption begins on Virgin Media One tomorrow at 9pm.
‘It’s beautiful to be the lead, she is exceptional’