Tell us about your character.
I play Harry in the series, and Harry is Adam’s boyfriend. He’s a graphic designer and kind of struggling to exit the party boy mode and grow up into adult life.
What attracted you to the role?
The book mainly, and then the fact that Ben Whishaw was attached to play Adam Kay, and the director was Lucy Forbes also. I love her work.
Tell us a little about the relationship between Harry and Adam.
Yeah, it’s quite… up and down. You can tell that there’s a lot of natural chemistry between them, and there’s a lot of fun. Harry’s is the light side of the relationship, whereas Adam is much more serious and burdened with the trials and tribulations of his job. It’s very much the job that weighs heavy on the relationship. And that’s the kind of arc of the series – the job testing their love for each other.
The series is an adaptation of Adam Kay’s multi-million copy bestselling book. How closely have you worked with him in your time on the project? Had you read the book before reading the script/auditioning?
I didn’t actually, but I knew of it. I didn’t want to read it in case I got kind of distorted by it. I tend to kind of lean away from doing that stuff when preparing. But it’s in the house here. My mum has it, and she’s always like, “It’s so funny, it’s so good. You need to read this!” And I’m like, “Okay, I’ll kind of read it at the right time”. Everyone who has read it just thinks it’s fantastic, so I’m looking forward to it. In terms of working with Adam, we were able to work as close as Covid allowed. He was amazing in pre-production, when we were put in contact. We had an amazing phone call where we wanted to discuss who Harry was in more detail. So yeah, I had a great time collaborating with him, myself, Ben and Lucy were all in it together to bring it to life.
In what ways do you think the series might resonate with audiences, especially today? What do you think are the main elements/themes of the series that audiences will be able to relate to?
Well, I think the biggest thing – I don’t know if it’s a theme – but the NHS really, given everything we’ve gone through, and are still going through with the C-word. Just how these people are superhuman, and I don’t think any of us can fully imagine what they do day in day out, and the weight they carry even in their personal lives, bringing that work home. I think that’s going to resonate hugely, seeing behind closed doors, so to speak. And then I guess, it’s career and passion versus love and relationships, and how are we all, as a society, are managing that balance in our own lives? Whether we’re able to put ourselves first, I think that’s a big thing for our modern age with everything being so busy.
Your character plays Adam’s boyfriend/Adam’s best friend in the series, one of his closest relationships outside of the hospital. We spend so much time with Adam’s character within the hospital walls, that it’s interesting for the audience to see how his work has such an impact on those closest to him in his personal life. Why do you think this relationship portrayal is so important?
Oh well, just to see that. You know, it affects everyone, and if this is affecting someone at home I hope that they don’t feel alone, that they’re struggling to juggle all facets of their life, I suppose.
The series (much as with Adam’s book) perfectly balances the comedic moments of everyday life, with the truly heartbreaking and emotional reality. Tell us a bit about how these two elements work side by side.
I think it straddles the line between comedy and drama perfectly, in that it will make you laugh out loud, but then it’s going to really punch you in the heart at the same time. So I think it has a great darkly comic tone through it, but also a really pumping beating heart. And I don’t see that loads in hospital dramas. It really stands apart.
Were there any memorable highlights during filming?
All of it was memorable, to be honest. I was just delighted to be involved. Something that initially attracted me to the project was to get to play a same-sex partnership in a TV programme that it wasn’t about them being gay. That’s something that I’ve been very passionate about my whole career, and finally, I’ve found something where that happened. And for me to live out this – even though it’s a difficult relationship – to get to explore that with such a wonderful actor, like Ben, all the ins and outs of a relationship, but that journey as a whole was a huge highlight.
Also getting to work with The Vivienne, as I’m a huge RuPaul’s Drag Race fan. I spent most of last year bingeing every series there was because I’m a bit late to the game. So, to get to hang with her and just to hear that cracking Liverpool accent, up close and personal was fantastic. Me and Ben are also very into photography. Ben is a little better than I am – if not amazingly better than I am. So we’d spend a lot of time taking photographs of each other, and there were amazing shots we were taking with The Vivienne. During a nightclub scene we were doing, there was a disco ball outside spinning around. And I was trying to get a shot of her as the disco ball passed across her face. But unfortunately, I loaded the film wrong so that that shot didn’t get to see the light of day sadly.
What was it like to work with Ben Whishaw?
Phenomenal. Wonderful. He’s such a gentle soul and incredible actor, very patient and so wonderfully open to work with. Yeah, it’s just a joy. You don’t feel like you’re acting.
Do you have a favourite moment that you are excited for audiences to see?
All of it!