Kin's Charlie Cox talks tough days on set and perfecting the Dublin accent

Charlie Cox plays Michael Kinsella in Kin. Picture: Walter McBride/Getty Images

Working on a show such as the gritty gangland series Kin brings a range of emotions with intense storylines and for Charlie Cox, there have been some days where it has been particularly tough to shoot scenes.

Cox, who is also known for his role as Matt Murdock in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plays Michael Kinsella in the RTÉ series which follows a Dublin family embroiled in gangland war.

Some have criticised the show in the past for seeming to glamourise gangland violence, but when Cox read the script, he felt it highlighted how “gruesome and uncomfortable and painful” that life can be. 

With his character, the actor says he wants to portray the sense that he is “so far beyond” the possibility of exiting a life of crime.

“You should feel when you watch him do the things he does, a sense of reluctance and grief and frustration and anger and fear,” he explains ahead of the release of series two.

With the show comes some difficult scenes and while filming episodes two and three last year, the 39-year-old admits there was a period of time when he was almost "dreading" going to work.

"There was a period of time when I was like, 'wow. I'm really kind of dreading going to work," he says. 

“I loved the creative process, I was loving the storytelling and I believed in it so much but sitting in those feelings. When you do a funeral scene, you’re doing a funeral all day. You’re sitting in that grief all day.” 

It can be a “very uncomfortable” emotion to be living in and often lingers after scenes finish, the actor says.

“My feeling with this show, particularly what happens at the beginning is that if anything, it shines a light on how devastating to a family and to a community that life can be.” 

Clare Dunne (Kin), Dervla Kirwan (Smother) and Charlie Cox (Kin) pictured at the RTÉ New Season Launch in the RDS Dublin. Picture: Andres Poveda Photography

His involvement in the crime drama series came during lockdown when his wife and producer, Samantha Thomas, asked him to read the show while they were in the States.

“I said to my wife, is there a version that they would consider hiring me and we can keep the family together and we can all go to Dublin and make the show?

“I’d read it and I’d also just finished watching Normal People and was really moved by that and reminded of the kind of storytelling I wanted to be involved in.” 

While first getting acquainted with the Irish ways, the British actor says the strangest thing he has noticed about Irish people is the ability to agree by simply breathing in.

“It’s that thing where people agree with you by breathing in. I’ve tried to put it in the show a couple of times. The first time, I was in a car with a guy, and I was chatting to him…I thought he was asthmatic,” he jokes.

“He kept doing [it]. I’ve tried to put it in the show but it keeps feeling really fake, so I haven’t quite got it down.” 

As for nailing the Dublin accent, Cox was “terrified” about getting it wrong and spent hours listening to podcasts and even took inspiration from ex-soccer player Shane Supple.

“I listened to Shane in an interview and there was a texture in his voice that I felt was unexpected for Michael and I felt like it was close to what I wanted to try and do with him and his voice,” Cox says.

“Not to copy and repeat but he has a clarity — he’s very clear about what he wants to say but there was a complete lack of ego. The opposite of a Conor McGregor-type thing. 

"That was the closest I found to something that would suit Michael.”