The North Water
Season 1 M-Net Sat (*101) 22:30 Drama
Limited series are the hottest thing on TV at the moment, so it’s ironic that one of the most anticipated shows of the year is set in the icy Arctic Circle.
The North Water isn’t for the weak of stomach – it’s brutal and visceral and pushes the mind, says lead star Colin Farrell. “It’s bleak. It’s probably one of the bleakest productions that I’ve read, let alone been part of. And for that very reason I couldn’t pass it up,” says the Irish actor, who sports long hair and a messy beard in the period drama.
The show is set in 1859 on-board a whaling ship. Colin’s character Henry Drax is one of the rough-around-theedges sailors and he specialises in the grisly task of harpooning the helpless whales. But Drax is no ordinary man, explains the actor. “He’s vicious. He’s hiding a secret about his personality because it’s grim. He’s a monster, and that’s being polite. He’s a very cruel man, and he prides himself on how cruel and vile he can be,” says Colin, adding that “Drax is probably what the modern world would call a psychopath. But he’s more. He rapes people, he has no issue with murder. He’s the last person you want to be stuck on a ship with in the middle of nowhere.”
It’s not just the psychological aspect of Drax that drew Colin in, but also the fact that Drax is physically intimidating and the slender Irishman needed to transform himself. “Normally my characters have some form of interesting hair cut or they have facial hair. Drax has them both, but he’s big and brutish. There’s nothing delicate about him. He drinks, he fights, he revels in the hunt and he doesn’t mind getting hurt. He’s an adrenaline junkie and I was in the gym beefing up from the day I was cast. I want viewers feeling his threat.”