Two Weeks In August: Irish actor Damien Molony enjoying his role in BBC hit show
Damien Molony in a scene from Two Weeks In August on BBC TV.
Sun, sea and sexual desire join forces in , a new comedy drama about a group of friends who go on holiday together to Greece.
The pals — many of who are now married with young families — are looking forward to some fun in the sun. But an illicit liaison threatens to unravel their best-laid plans amid growing frustrations and resentments.
The BBC drama is the latest from the production team behind It’s but with mortgage pressures and childcare dilemmas, and an Irish actor is at the heart of this holiday from hell.
Damien Molony plays Dan, a man wrestling with both personal demons and the emerging cracks in his marriage to Zoe (Jessica Raine) as the holiday heat builds.
“I didn't quite realise that it was a comedy until I got my hands on the actual scripts — then I was giggling away,” says Molony of being cast in the darkly funny story from writer Catherine Shepherd.
"I think what Catherine has captured so well is that awkward putting a brave face on it, even when things are going terribly wrong — this misguided hope that this holiday is going to fix everyone's problems.”
Molony, like many of us, has been there. He’s been on a holiday not as dramatic as in the show, but where things have gone badly wrong.
“We went to one holiday with friends of ours and we went to the south of Spain to this beautiful villa. We all brought our children, and all of the kids got hand, foot, and mouth disease on the first night.”
Like the old friends who gather in the Greek sunshine in they tried to put their best sides forward as chaos loomed. “It was agony for them. It was agony for us.
"But there was one hour every day where the kids had their dinner, and suddenly they were calm, and someone went around making a drink for everyone, you could just pretend for that moment that this wasn't the worst holiday we'd all been on,” smiles Molony.
“I think that's what this show reminded me of when I first read the scripts. For all the things that go wrong, there are these little pockets of joy and little pockets of hope that stop them from booking the next flight home.”
Playing in his own Irish accent, his character, Dan has neither the energy nor the headspace to head on a group holiday abroad. “I think he's a little bit broken, and he doesn't know how to put himself back together again. He's a reluctant holiday maker, he has no desire to go on this holiday.
"He is so sick and tired of his wife putting on the brave face. He knows that the relationship is in trouble, they both do, but they're not communicating, they're not investing in the relationship, and they're both exhausted, bringing up two kids, when money is tight.”
Filmed on location in Malta but set in Greece, the series takes an unusual turn and leans into the supernatural. Greek Gods and mythology feed heavily into the story. Did that influence Molony’s preparation for the role?
“Yes. I read Stephen Fry's brilliant book, . It helps put myths in a very pressure-free environment, and he starts the book by saying: ‘This is just my version of the myth’. He writes it in such an accessible way, so I read a lot of that.”
From Johnstownbridge in Co Kildare, Molony has been notching up impressive roles in recent years, including the well-received and the long-running comedy-drama .
More recently, he landed the leading role in the reboot of iconic British detective series which has returned for its second series following strong ratings. John Nettles played the Jersey-based sleuth in the much-loved 1980s series.
“I'm glad I didn't realise how massive was in the 80s, because really, how it was described to me was a new take, it was really more about a dad trying to reignite his relationship with his daughter, and then it just so happened to be a cop show,” says Molony.
It was really only after he agreed to do the job and was preparing to go to Jersey to film, that he mentioned his casting to family members in Ireland at a wedding. “They were like: ‘Damien, oh my God, ! The leather jacket! The car!’ I'm so happy I didn't know that before I auditioned for it, because then I would have freaked out.
"I deliberately didn't watch every episode of ever in the lead-up to starting shooting, because there might be trying to copy things that John Nettles did, or I'd be trying to land certain moments when really this was about putting my own stamp on this iconic character.
"You want to bring the original fans of the series with you. You also want to open it up to a new audience. I was blissfully unaware of the size of the shoes I was stepping into.”
Growing up in Johnstownbridge, Molony benefited from his parents’ love of theatre. His family would go to see shows in Dublin, which fostered his early interest in acting, and he dabbled in it as a hobby before deciding to move to London to train.
“I did the odd summer course at the Gaiety School of Acting, I did a few plays in secondary school, and then a little bit of theatre in Trinity. I didn't have a huge amount of experience before I went over to London to train. I got into drama school in London and have been lucky enough to be working ever since.”
Molony credits having a family who are a very good sounding board for navigating an acting career and also managing the down times. “That’s just as important as filming or being on stage.”
He has also felt the benefit of working with one of the all-time greats of stage and screen. “I’ve worked with Ian McKellen a few times, who was a great mentor. I'm constantly learning from him every time I see him.
"He came to see a play I was in a couple of weeks ago. Normally after a show I come off and I'm like: ‘God, there's so many lines, eight shows a week, I'm absolutely exhausted’. But you can't say that to Ian McKellen — he's 87. He’s playing King Lear for the third time.”
- is currently on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer
