Redwater’s Oisín Stack
Oisin Stack on playing Kat’s secret killer son, rubbing shoulders with robert De Niro and why his real mum's delighted about his latest role
Redwater Thursday / BBC1 / 8.00Pm
Oisin Stack tells us that his mum was thrilled to bits when he told her he’d landed a starring role alongside Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace in Eastenders spin-off, Redwater.
‘She’s a big Eastenders fan, so the decibel level increased tenfold when I told her I’d got a role in a new drama about Kat and Alfie,’ smiles the 35-year-old actor, who plays Father Dermott Dolan in the sinister six-part BBC1 mystery, which continues this week.
Viewers were left stunned after the opening episode which saw Father Dermott murder
Lance Byrne, the man who told him he was Kat’s secret adopted son in the final moments.
And Oisin promises us there are still a lot more shocks and revelations to come in Redwater… We find out very quickly that Dermott is Kat’s secret adopted son and a killer as well. How much did you know beforehand? I got a sense early on that Dermott was an unstable guy and feels pretty hard done by. After he murders Lance I’d a clearer picture of what I was dealing with! There are so many more twists and turns to come. The final episode is the textbook definition of an amazing cliffhanger; I’m really excited for people to see it.
Is it exhausting or fun to play such a complex character? Exhausting can also be fun! This is my first time as a villain; I usually play best-friend roles, so for me it’s brilliant. It’s exhausting to spend the day screaming, crying, and doing horrendous things, yet it’s also so much fun to be able to act this way. I was knackered by the end of the day but also felt satisfied
I’d done a hard day’s work.
Did your mum visit you while filming Redwater in Ireland?
She spent a week with me and was incredibly excited! One evening we went to the pub with Shane and Jessie – it pretty much made her life!
Tell us more about yourself…
My mother is French and my father Irish. Until I was 11 I grew up outside Dublin in Arklow. It was the Eighties and my mum, as the only foreigner in town, was always known as ‘Marie, the French Lady’. We then lived in Bordeaux for 18 months. After that I moved to Chichester on the south coast of England.
How did you end up in Redwater? My professional life developed in France but I’ve also worked on the film The Family [2013], a TV remake of Rosemary’s Baby and a Russian production called Mata Hari. Filming in English made me realise I wanted to work in English again because I really miss it. I signed up to a Uk-irish agent and luckily got cast in Redwater a few months later!
Were you starstruck working with Robert De Niro and
Michelle Pfeiffer in The Family? Absolutely! I was supposed to be in a scene with them both but it was written out. However, on two days our timetables crossed over. On the first day I didn’t realise they’d turned up early and were watching me film my scenes! I turned around to see this man I recognise standing up to shake my hand. I can’t remember what I said, I became an absolute idiot. I watched them filming later and it was a masterclass to see two consummate professionals at work.
Could there be another second series of Redwater?
You never know. A cliffhanger leaves it open and the writers can weave different possibilities. There’s more to Redwater than Dermott’s adoption. Many other things get uncovered and come to light.
Redwater Is PREVIEWED on Pages 72-73
There are so many more twists and turns to come