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JOE GILGUN, MICHELLE KEEGAN AND DAMIEN MOLONY STAR IN A NEW SERIES ABOUT JUST GETTING BY…
Former Emmerdale and This Is England star Joe Gilgun isn’t impressed with the way working-class communities are very often portrayed on television – so he decided to do something about it… and Sky One’s new comedy-drama Brassic is the outcome. Inspired by Joe’s own life experiences, it tells the story of a gang of friends in the small rural community of Hawley, whose priorities are each other and scraping together enough money to keep enjoying themselves…
“The show is about a group of people we don’t usually see on TV,” explains Joe, who plays Vinnie. “We’ve seen what it is to be working class; we understand that they don’t have the things the middle and upper classes do; we’re told on television to feel sorry for them – and, for me, that’s a bad thing. The majority of working-class people I know are also the happiest – they’re content with what they’ve got.
“My character is kind of based on me,” continues the actor. “He and his mates are
happy with where they are in the world. They’re very much of the mindset that, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I know a lot of people like that, particularly young men. They don’t really know another life.”
Vinnie’s intelligent best mate Dylan – who’s also a fearsome adversary at the poker table – has always got his back. And despite Dylan’s best attempts to be a little more responsible, when it comes to Vinnie, he has a hard time saying no…
“He’s the brightest of the bunch, but probably lacks any real ambition to do anything with his smarts,” shares Damien Molony, who plays him. “He’s the only guy in the gang with a girlfriend, Erin, and she has a son, Tyler, from a previous relationship. But he’s very much a father figure for Tyler and he loves them both, and that’s a massive responsibility – so there’s a bit of tension dividing his time and attention between the lads and his relationship.”
Erin’s a former wild child, but had to grow up quickly when she had Tyler. She’s now enrolled in college and hoping to make a brighter future for them both. She’s hopeful that Dylan will want to be part of that, too, but she’s aware of the strong ties that he has to Vinnie and their home town.
“She’s very driven,” confirms Michelle Keegan, who plays her. “She’s a bit like a lioness – she protects her cub. She gave up her life as soon as she had Tyler and is trying to keep on the straight and narrow, but still has that wild streak – you’ll see that in a few flashbacks…”
Joe drew heavily on his own upbringing in Chorley, Lancs, to create the characters and situations for Brassic, along with writer Danny Brocklehurst – so just how true to life is what we’ll see in the show?
“I can’t go into it too much because I’ll get into trouble!”
THEY’RE OF THE MINDSET THAT IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT”
JOE
he chuckles. “All I’ll say is that some of it happened, some of it’s loosely based on reality, and some of it we made up. You’ll have to guess what’s what!”