On The Sea: Barry Ward on his tale of queer love in a rural setting
Lorne MacFadyen and Barry Ward in On The Sea.
When Ang Lee’s was released 20 years ago, it marked a watershed moment for gay representation on screen.
Starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two Wyoming sheep herders who fall in love, the film brought an LGBTQ+ love story to an unprecedented mainstream audience.
More than a decade later, Francis Lee’s 2017 film explored similar themes through the story of a young Yorkshire farmer, played by Josh O’Connor, whose life is transformed by a Romanian migrant worker.
Helen Walsh’s is the latest film to explore queer love in a rural setting, centring on two mussel farmers who fall in love within a hyper-masculine Welsh fishing community.
The film stars Irish actor Barry Ward as Jack, a man married to his childhood sweetheart whose life is shaped by the church and the fishing industry.
His world is turned upside down when he meets Daniel, a younger itinerant worker played by Scottish actor Lorne MacFadyen, who awakens desires he has spent most of his life suppressing.
Ward, 46, who has starred in and Ken Loach’s adopted a Welsh accent for the role. “We’re always looking as actors for interesting challenges, and they were plentiful on this,” says the Dublin-born actor. “The accent, first and foremost, was a tricky one, and Welsh is notoriously difficult. It was such a specific part of Wales as well, up north, closer to Liverpool, that it was a strange hybrid accent.
He adds: “They’re not the most kind of eloquent people, so there was a lot of room for creating subtext and creating a backstory. Once you fill all that up, then you can do so much with just looks and presence.
“I think it’s a very different set of challenges, but really great for an actor, and for the kind of things I’m into.” Speaking about what drew his character Jack to Daniel, Ward says it was a case of opposites attracting.
“It’s definitely kind of about the opposite traits we have, or the opposite lifestyles we lead, that really draw us to each other,” he explains.
“I think Jack, having been constrained and perhaps suppressing a side of his sexuality for so long, and being so duty-bound in this world, finds that Daniel acts as a real catalyst. He lifts the lid off that whole thing. Jack finally reaches a point where it all boils over and pours out; he can’t contain it anymore.”
He adds: “While there is a real love between them, I’m not sure how sustainable it could ever have been. But it’s powerful enough to make him risk everything for it and potentially blow up all the things he has spent his life building. I think that’s a compulsion everybody has – the potential to do these things.
“Most of the time, people can suppress those feelings, but it’s really interesting to see what happens when that side of a person is explored.”
MacFadyen, 36, who has also starred in and says he connected with the setting, having grown up in a fishing community on the Isle of Skye.
“I loved the writing, and the setting was something I really connected with because I’m from a fishing community in Skye,” he says.
“I felt that world was depicted very well, the close-knit, somewhat closed-off, community and the pressures that come with trying to exist within it as someone who is a bit different.
“I really loved the way Helen wrote the dialogue as well, and how there was so much space between the lines.
MacFadyen echoes Ward on why their characters are attracted to each other. He also points to another factor. “The common factor as well is class. The way sexuality is dealt with and perceived in certain trades and professions can make it more difficult for people who are queer, or who are living with some kind of alternative identity, to work in these very macho, heteronormative environments.
“I think that would be the common theme I recognise, but it would be interesting to see where the differences lie. I’m sure there would be some big ones that I wouldn’t know until I experienced it. It would be interesting to see.”
- is in UK and Irish cinemas now
