Fool Me Once: Irish actor Emmet J Scanlan on his role in major new Netflix series
Emmet J Scanlan and Michelle Keegan in Fool Me Once, on Netflix.
He usually sports a moustache and beard, so when Emmet J Scanlan became completely clean-shaven for his latest role, many were surprised by the transformation. They included his three-year-old son - who was stunned at the change in his dad.
“It looks so different - my son was aghast when he saw me. He ran away from me!” says the Irish actor. “He asked me where my beard had gone for three weeks afterwards. He was convinced dinosaurs took it.”
The look marks a departure for Scanlan, a regular on our screens in recent years in such high-profile series as Kin and Peaky Blinders.
“Jobs have come in and while I've been shooting a job, another job would come in and I’d be shooting that at the same time. So continuity would mean that my look would have to ultimately stay the same. I have no problems with shaving my hair off, my beard off - anything that can change a look.”
That’s what happened for his role in Fool Me Once, a major new series for Netflix from thriller writer and creator Harlan Coben. It centres on an ex-army captain, played by Michelle Keegan, who is grieving the death of her husband, only to make a shocking discovery.
“She is coming to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe, who gets shot to death in front of her. She's also experienced the death of her sister, Claire. She begins to question her own security and safety and installs a secret nanny cam to keep an eye on her young kid. And as she's looking back in the footage, she's shocked to see that there's a man in her house, playing with her little girl and that man is her husband who was killed two weeks previous.
“My character, Shane, is Mya's former platoon mate and police officer, and he's best friends with Mya. He's a soldier to the core, they've served together, they hang out together.”
This is Scanlan’s third collaboration with Coben, having previously starred in the series Safe and Butterfly.
“Harlan emailed me, he asked if I'd like to play a character in his new TV series, and I didn't need to read the scripts. I just needed to read his name on the email. Because I knew by saying yes, I was in safe hands. I knew I was in collaborative hands and generous hands.” Following early roles including three seasons on British soap opera Hollyoaks, Scanlan has established himself as one of our busiest screen stars. He has appeared in some of the most prolific series of recent times, including Derry Girls and opposite Cork actor Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders. He has a leading role in Kin, which centres on the escapades of the troubled and troublesome Kinsella crime family.
Having already established itself with Irish audiences, Kin is finding a new life in the UK, where it has become a prime time hit.
“The way that Irish people took that show into their homes has been so humbling and incredible to witness. For the BBC to take it on, to buy it and to show it… I really wanted (it) to go to Britain, I thought that the British people would like it - but I didn't expect them to like it so much.
“I have a bucket list of people I'd like to work with and projects I'd like to work on, and I’ve been able to knock a few of them off the list every single year. I don't say that lightly, I'm amazed by that. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and I say I can't believe that this has just happened. I was a fan of Peaky Blinders for god knows. I thought it was one of the greatest British shows - and I still do - ever made.
“The idea of being involved in it for two years wasn't something that I even imagined but it was something that was on my list. Being able to be part of the fabric of Derry Girls - Lisa McGee is a genius scribe and writer and what she created was phenomenal. Things like that have been really cool and whether they were supporting roles or in the case of Kin a leading role, it doesn't really matter so long as I get to work on projects and great scripts surrounded by great people.”
Recently, three Irish actors - Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan and Andrew Scott - have been announced as among the six worldwide nominated for best actor at the forthcoming Golden Globes. The Dublin actor is delighted for his fellow countrymen - in particular his Peaky Blinders co-star.
“The opportunities and the projects are shining a light on the talent that's in this country and it makes you really proud to be Irish. I worked with Cillian on Peaky and all I can say is that even watching him on set was beautiful. I saw him in Oppenheimer and I thought he was masterful. All of them are phenomenal in their own right. And it's great to see their names up there.”
It’s been an exciting time for Irish screen talent and for Scanlan personally. Having first fallen in love with screen storytelling while watching Rocky as a young boy, it’s been heartening for him to be able to build it as a career.
“My favourite movie of all time is Rocky. I've seen it countless times. I would shadowbox behind the couch in my living room when the montage would go on and quote that movie all the time. Sylvester Stallone was my hero growing up.
“I remember as a kid thinking: ‘Imagine doing a movie and influencing a kid on the other side of the world, that kid that you'll probably never get to meet, into choosing his career’.
“That movie made me fall in love with the act of make believing. I don't think I could have imagined the career that I've had so far when I was that kid behind the couch shadowboxing. I'm very grateful for it.”
- Fool Me Once comes to Netflix on New Year’s Day
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