Dougray Scott Interview

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Dougray Scott - Takes on gritty new role

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Dougray Scott in new crime drama 'Father and Son'.

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Scott stars alongside Stephen Rea in his new series

Linda McGee: Could you talk to us about your impressions of the drama from first reading of the script? Did you immediately think that this was a project that you needed to sink your teeth into, because it's quite gritty and dark?
Dougray Scott: Yeah I did. I read it and I was kind of blown away by the writing and the world in which it occupied and thought that the character was someone that I hadn't played before and really instinctively felt that I could do something with it and I kind of immersed myself in this and got very excited about the prospect of doing it, so I was very positive about doing it, right from the start.

LM: The character of Michael seems to come from a very dark place. He doesn't have many redeeming features and we feel when we meet him that he's only stepping up to be a responsible parent to Seán when push comes to shove. Was it difficult to get into the headspace of a character with so much baggage and such a dark past?
DS: God, do I have an affinity with dark people?... I think that he does have redeeming qualities but I think that those redeeming qualities have to come from a place of truth. I think the thing with Michael is he does have a dark past and it's very difficult for him. He's left behind the world of crime. He's tried to start a new life and his whole outlook on life has changed and then he has to go back into this world in order to survive, to save his son, so it's a bit of a complicated process for someone like that.

It's almost like switching characters, going back into his past in order to survive in that environment. So he almost puts on a suit of armour when he goes back to Manchester, so that, I guess, is what you see. He's a muscular, unrelenting tough guy, mentally and physically, but it's kind of almost like a role he's assuming in order to survive but, throughout the course of the last two episodes, you do see the emotional pain that he goes through in order to try and do the right thing and the consequences of his past coming to haunt him, you know, it becomes incredibly interesting to watch a character like this, not particularly unravel (although he does at one point) but to see how he manages to keep it together in order to achieve his ultimate goal.

LM: There's quite a lot to the character of Michael. In one sense he's wracked with guilt over his wife's death and the kind of life he has set up for Seán and then he's also got this opportunity for a new life, where he genuinely seems to want to do right by his new family. Is he always fighting two sides of himself in your mind?
DS: Yeah, he is. He's torn between two worlds and it's a very precarious line that he's walking on so he's having to juggle many different things at the same time and he's walking into a minefield when he comes back to Manchester in many respects, his son, his ex-sister-in-law, his ex-partner. So he's got all that, and the police, his old business associate, played by Stephen Rea, Augustine. So he's having to quickly address all these things that he thought he'd left behind. But he's doing the best that he can.

LM: It seemed Michael was trying very hard to forget his past, but did he actually want to go straight? Do you think that maybe his feeling was that staying away from Seán was the only way to protect him from the kind of life he led up until that point?
DS: Yeah, I think that's what it was. I think he thought he'd given the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his son from his involvement in his life anymore. What he discovers at the end is that he's come nowhere near the sacrifice that he has to give in order to save his son, and the people around him as well, so he's got a long way to go before he reaches a point that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

LM: How was shooting the series? There's an amazing cast involved, including a lot of Irish faces - how did you all get on?
DS: Yeah, we had a wonderful cast, you know, Stephen Rea, who's a phenomenal actor - all the cast Sophie Okonedo, Ian Hart, Flora Montogomery... they're all very, very great actors. I had a wonderful time doing it and Dublin's a great city to film in.

LM: How much time did you spend in Dublin shooting?
DS: Well, we were about 11 weeks in Dublin, so yeah, I spent a long time in Dublin and it was long hours so I didn't really get the chance to go out much... and I know people really love going out in Dublin but unfortunately some of us have to work.

LM: And we have to ask you about your time on 'Desperate Housewives' as Susan Mayer's love interest Ian - what was your experience of working on a big-budget show like that?
DS: I enjoyed it. I wasn't something that I had done before, in terms of that character and that genre of quick-fire comedy. So I learned a lot from doing it and had a terrific time and got on very well with all the cast and the directors and the producers so I really enjoyed my time on it.

LM: Do you prefer working on projects closer to home, like 'Father and Son', or do you like shooting Stateside?
DS: I like shooting everywhere but it's easier to see my kids when I'm in Europe. At the same time, they come over to America, and they've been all over the world, so they're used to travelling so it's not a big problem really. It just depends where the projects are.

Watch 'Father and Son' on RTÉ One, Mondays at 9.30pm.