JOHN LYNCH ON APPEARING IN VERA

This week John Lynch has a leading role in The Crow Trap the third episode of Vera, here he tells us about the character he plays and the joys of working once again with Brenda Blethyn.

Tell us about the character you play in The Crow Trap

“Edward Fulwell has been disinherited from a great trench of land. The subject of the film is the building of a quarry – my character has been disinherited yet he’s staked a claim on the land, built a shack there and refuses to move. He’s quite a lonely type who was very attached to the woman who gets killed very early on in the episode. He drinks too much and he’s very bitter and angry. He’s suspected because he has a lot of resentment against the landowning family and he’s known for having been violent in the past. He’s a loose cannon so the spotlight falls on him, amongst others. They built a great shack for me in the woods too, which was fantastic. It’s made me think about becoming a hermit! Writing in a shack, waiting for God… or the postman!

Besides the chance to play the hermit what else attracted you to the part?

“Not only did I really like the material but I worked with Brenda 20 years ago – we did a series together called All Good Things – and I love her work. We had such a laugh when we worked together before and we did again. It’s nice finding old friends again. “There aren’t many female detectives who are as earthed as Vera Stanhope. She’s a very rounded human character and I think that’s what makes her different. The landscape we’re filming in is also extraordinary. We drove out to a little village at about 6.30am one morning and there was a blanket of fog around the hills, it was extraordinary. There was rawness, a touch of savagery in the landscape. That is reflected in the material and the script. It all marries up very well. I think Brenda brings a wealth of experience to Vera, she’s real and she’s lived. And I think that’s evident in the way she plays and approaches the character. There is tremendous humanity to what she’s doing.”

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