Shetland Series Seven | Interview with Shauna Macdonald (Rachel Cairns)

Can you tell us a little bit about your character, Rachel Cairns?

Rachel owns a B&B with her husband, Danny [played by Andrew Whipp] and they are fairly new to Shetland. They came from the city, from Glasgow, and it’s a new start for the whole family. It’s a new business they’re running and you learn quite quickly that Connor, their son, is quite vulnerable and he’s had some troubles in the past. So they’ve all come to Shetland to get away from the city, have a nice rural life where their kids have opportunities to do outdoor pursuits and perhaps live a more wholesome life. That was Plan A but it doesn’t work out that way…

Does Connor’s disappearance create a divide in the Cairns family?

You learn fairly quickly that Rachel and her husband aren’t on the same page. Things are brought to light through Perez’s investigation and it’s clear the Cairns family aren’t as much of a united front as Rachel would have everyone believe. There’s not as much trust going on as she thought and their past begins to haunt them.

And how does she respond to having Perez and his team in her life?

I think we find Rachel to be a very strong woman and her whole focus is to find her son, Connor, and if it means she has to go out and search for him herself, then she’ll do that. Like any parent who has a missing child, Rachel feels like things aren’t moving fast enough so she does it herself. She’s not that impressed with Perez but it’s not personal, it’s situational.

Did you enjoy filming in Shetland?

I did but it was tricky because it was during Covid so we had to be really careful. So I didn’t get to explore as much as I had wanted to.

What I got from Shetland is it’s incredibly beautiful and incredibly savage as well which, I think, is a perfect mix because you get to feel the wind, see the jagged sea stacks, the sheer cliff edges – it’s so epic and dramatic but with that you’ve got this culture of storytelling, music and art. What I did really get into was the Shetland arts scenes, there was a film festival while I was there and I got to see seven films in the most wonderful little cinema in Lerwick. So I found a home-from-home there and it was so nice to experience first hand how cultured and worldly the Shetland Isles are.

I would love to go back and explore the islands more.

Any memorable moments from filming?

Oh yes, there’s a harbour scene in this series which took three goes to shoot – it was a mix of weather and Covid in the end. It was a night shoot and was quite epic, and a dramatic story point which involved cars and running and drama. It is quite incredible what the Shetland production team managed to do and the drama they created in sometimes very tricky Covid times.

Douglas Henshall recently announced he’s leaving Shetland… what do you think he brought to the role of Perez?

What he’s done over the last ten years is create a character that people have fallen in love with, despite his flaws. He has an almost obsession with his job which often gets in the way of his relationships. Perez doesn’t have a very good work-life balance. The way Douglas has played it is you get to see the human behind the detective and he’s given Perez real gravitas. I’m really excited to see the new direction Shetland will go in now.

Latest Interviews

News Highlights