The Rising | Interview with Alex Lanipekun (Daniel Sands)

At the start of The Rising how does Daniel react when his stepdaughter Neve hasn’t come home?

It’s not the first time that she’s stayed out, but usually she would have checked in at some point. Her mum Maria is a little concerned. Daniel is a little easier about it. I think he’s trying to maintain calm so he volunteers to take a look for her and go down to where all the kids were having a party and grab her and bring her home, slightly begrudgingly to be honest, but he is nothing if not pragmatic. Then he finds her phone and then the wheels start to turn in his head that something more dangerous may have occurred. Dan is quite instrumental in the first gathering of a search party. He goes to Tom, Neve’s father who is played by Matthew McNulty. They have a very fractious relationship. It’s not easy. Tom’s an alcoholic. He failed the family when Tom and Maria split up and Daniel has had to step in as a surrogate father to Neve for the best part of the last decade. Dan tries to bring Tom in without that much success.

What conversations did you have with Clara Rugaard about navigating that stepfather/stepdaughter dynamic?

It’s an interesting one. I don’t have a stepdad, but I have a stepmum. I always felt very lucky that my stepmum really wanted me to be a part of the new family. I hadn’t had a great relationship with my dad when I was young but my stepmum and my mum were both very active in making sure that relationship grew. So I drew from that.

Daniel has already suffered family loss, hasn’t he?

Daniel has had a lot of trauma in his past. He lost his wife, Victoria when he had two young children, Katie and Max. Then he met Maria who also has a young child. I think they both met in this moment of grief. So they came together almost to help each other and then something developed out of that. So him wrapping his arms around Neve felt very easy. Clara and I don’t have masses to do together, but the memory of us was really important for the energy in the household.

When Daniel starts to be side-lined in the aftermath of Neve’s murder he makes the point to Maria, “I was Neve’s dad too.”

That came out of conversations with Sid Strickland, the story producer, Julian Stevens and Pete McTighe. They had a very clear arc and line of projection for the characters, but there was an open door where we could discuss things. So we talked about that relationship and how Daniel would feel about being ostracised in that way. It felt very important that he needed to remind Maria of that because it’s incredibly painful after everything that’s happened between them to be treated as if he didn’t love this child.

What rehearsals were you able to do with Clara, Emily, Robyn and Cameron to build that believable family unit?

Ed Lilly was fantastic. There’s a big family breakfast scene that’s over the breakfast table counter and quite banter-y. Getting the rhythm of it was really important. We worked on that with Ed one morning and then sat down as a group and talked to each other, and the day we did family photos in the local park, we ran around together and played and cemented something. I’ve known Emily Taaffe for 15 years or so. We both graduated from different drama schools the same year, so we’ve been on the circuit together so to speak. That was really useful because we had a shorthand.

Clara and I are both very much into music. She’s got an amazing singing voice. I sadly do not. So we would send each other Neve songs and Daniel songs and things that we really liked. It was really lovely because then I had this repository of moments that I would play to create a kind of atmosphere. It was that act of sharing because that’s what I did with my dad and my mum. I was into Soul II Soul because my dad was into Soul II Soul. I was into Kate Bush and Prince because my mum was into Kate Bush and Prince. So it was about building all those things out.

Have you a favourite location?

I’d never been to the Lake District before. Being up there and exploring the forests and taking a boat around the lakes and doing long walks when you had time off it was just incredible. One thing about the last couple of years has been having the opportunity at times to reinvestigate our own country. In the last eight years or so I hadn’t worked in Britain. You name a country in Eastern Europe and I was there for six months doing some show. I loved being in the Lake District and I loved the motorcycle club set. It got really hot in the summer. We had to manage that but it was really well rendered, full of life.

Had you ever worn a thermal raincoat before?

I’d never worn a thermal raincoat. Grace Snell, the costume designer, is incredible. I was fascinated by the wardrobe choices for the three actors, Clara, Robyn and Cameron who are playing Daniel’s children. I was just imagining all of these colours in their house in the morning when Dan hadn’t had his coffee yet. They were so vibrant. Daniel is very clean lines. He’s very much looking to the horizon and his clothes reflect that. That was great juxtaposing him alongside Maria who is much more earthy, much more organic. The colour palette is different. Daniel used to be more fun but there is something austere about his clothing now. He has battened down the hatches and isn’t allowing the colour back into his life anymore. He’s a wonderful character to play.

Are you as eco-conscious as Daniel?

I’ve been vegan for six years now. I do wear leather on occasions but I try not to buy it. There were a couple of items that Grace Snell sourced for me that I already owned myself, like Barefoot shoes. That was quite funny. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve already got those. They’re brilliant.’ So I guess I am eco-conscious.

You were in the series Being Human early in your career. Do you enjoy the supernatural genre?

Yeah, I love it. The best film I’ve seen recently would be Hereditary, which had a supernatural edge to it, but even films like The Innocents and Don’t Look Now. It’s a great genre. This is the first time really since then and this was a lot of fun. It’s very strange when you’ve got Clara sitting next to you and you are having to think, ‘Don’t look at her.’ Lots of times actors would say a line but they would say it to her and it was like, ‘Damn, I said it to Clara!’

What do you hope viewers take from this series?

It’s a great whodunit. It’s really grounded. It feels very real. I know that Ed and Pete and Sid and the whole team were very clear about that. And then these supernatural elements burst out of it. These amazing moments happen that lift the story, but it’s a human story and it’s a family story. That’s the heart of the piece and why it works so well. I hope people connect with the family and with Neve. She’s this incredible character. So driven, so dynamic. Clara is just a fantastic actor, she is just so luminous and magnetic. She has vulnerability and strength that she’s able to manage and navigate. She led this show with such grace. So much was on her shoulders and I think she delivers such a wonderful performance. So I hope people feel really connected to this fantastic character and her journey.