'Raw' is the new restaurant-based Irish drama on Monday nights at 9.30pm on RTÉ Two. One of the show's stars is Keith McErlean, who plays leading kitchen porter Shane Harte. He spoke to RTÉ.ie Entertainment's Taragh Loughrey-Grant about the series and his future plans.
Taragh Loughrey-Grant: Keith, tell us about your character in 'Raw'.
Keith McErlean: I play Shane Harte, who is a brother of Jo Jo Harte, played by Charlene McKenna. Shane is kind of like a headstrong, determined, hardened, disciplined guy who, with a little bit of hard work, can probably get what he wants in life. So he's a lawyer, living in London and he has walked out on his job and eh, made some pretty big decisions in his life and big changes and ended up back in Dublin and gets a job as a kitchen porter in this restaurant. He's starting on a brand new path in life and overcoming all the hurdles it presents.
TLG: What was it that initially got you on board and how did you get cast?
KME: I auditioned like everybody else and I'd worked with Kieron J Walsh (director) before on 'When Brendan Met Trudy' quite a few years ago and knew Kieron and he brought me in for the role. I went in and done (sic) a brutal audition… really, really bad and I said: 'Listen just forget about that'. And he said: 'Do you want to come back tomorrow and give this another go again?' And I said: 'Nah, not really. I don't know if it's gonna get any better than that. Sure, take a look at the tapes tonight and if you want me to come in tomorrow, then let's do that'. So he did and I did a really good audition the next day and they gave me the part that weekend.'
TLG: Are there any similarities between you and your character?
KME: What I love about him, what I love about the writing of the series is that it's written by Lisa McGee, who's in her mid-twenties. She's from Derry which is only about 20 miles away from where I grew up. I grew up in Carndonagh in Inishowen. Isn't your dad an Inishowen man?
TLG: That's right, well remembered. He's a Clonmany man.
KME: Yeah, I knew you were familiar with the place. She (Lisa McGee) drew on many personal experiences from the place, the brother-sister relationship in the script is very strong and that’s something I can absolutely relate to. They love each other but they constantly kill each other; they're at each other all the time, giving each other abuse and that's something I know something about.
TLG: How many are in your family?
KME: I've one brother and one sister.
TLG: The music is amazing. In the first episode alone, you had the Undertones, Neosupervital and The Stranglers. What do you think of it?
KME: Yeah, I love the music. That’s all down to Kieron J Walsh. He's a big muso and loves his music. He's got a particular style of music, he likes the slightly darker stuff and it seems to work really well for the show.
TLG: It works really well.
KME: I've only seen the rough cuts; I haven’t seen the finished one. I haven't seen the sound mix so can't really comment on it but I've a good idea of what it sounds like.
TLG: 'Raw' is being praised for its high production values. How do you feel about it?
KME: Ecosse Films produced this and they're well known for producing high quality films and TV shows like 'Becoming Jane' and 'My Boy Jack'. So they've a good reputation for making stuff of a high standard and for casting very well, and I think that's one of the most important things. You've got the writing, anyway - the writing is superb. It's very difficult to write an ensemble piece to equally weigh out the characters, without leaving other characters behind. It's quite difficult to give everybody an individual voice and that’s what Lisa has done really well. So if you've got good writing and you've got good producers on board, they're gonna cast it well and you're a good way there to having somewhat of a success already, before it starts.
Then, it's just to do with the shoot itself, so many elements have to come together for it to be a success. I know when we were making 'Bachelors Walk' we'd a lot of fun everyday, like it wasn't really like working (laughs). We just went in and had a good laugh. I suppose 'Raw' was kind of like that, the cast got on very well, we had a ball. Even halfway through shooting we all went on holiday together which is bizarre.
TLG: Where did you all go?
KME: We rented a house in Kerry for a weekend, 12 of us, just the main cast, down for a bank holiday weekend in Dingle. Which is kind of a wee bit unheard of: I've never heard of a cast who've done that before. It's always come Friday, it's like: 'See yez! Good luck now'. When we came back after that, that brought us to a new level entirely. We all knew each other very well then; we all showed our darker sides over that weekend. (Laughs) So we were all quite comfortable when we came back.
TLG: I suppose you're not going to spill the beans about the goings on??
KME: (More laughs, nervous ones this time) You don't wanna know what happened down there, then.
TLG: We'll leave that where it is so. Looking at the relationships in 'Raw', though, and in the restaurant, it’s a very intense workplace. Did you learn anything?
KME: Yeah, I learned that I never want to be a chef, I suppose. Not in a million years would I do that job. We were pretending to be chefs and even that was difficult. Very high pressured and I can only imagine working in a restaurant of that standard. This is a restaurant that has a chance of getting a Michelin star, its pretty high end and the star means everything to them. That’s why they can set the high prices on the food and they get a particular type of clientele. Now one bad plate of food that leaves that kitchen might result in them losing that star and losing their whole custom and everything they've worked towards. The pressure to get each individual plate immaculate is just, you know, insane.
TLG: Following on from the reaction to the RTÉ documentary 'Pressure Cooker' earlier this year, and in particular Mint restaurant's head chef Dylan McGrath, do you think it's perfect timing for a show like 'Raw'?
KME: I suppose so, there's a lot of ego. There's a lot of talent. These people are really, really talented and they don't like to mess it up, so they get very angry, they get very irate. Which is understandable at a certain level, there's a lot at stake.
TLG: How did you learn to look like a chef on the shoot?
KME: We had a props guy, a chef, Nacho, who showed us what to do and how to look like chefs, how to look busy. As an actor you're always trying to find business, even if you're just sitting at a desk, writing something... little bits of business to get you through a scene. Here you've two pans on the go, putting oil on one and taking steaks off another. The concentration required to get all those things right in one take was quite difficult at times and I just can't imagine what it's like doing it for real.
TLG: Did you pick up any tricks?
KME: I like cooking; I did learn how to chop a vegetable properly, really well... and without looking!
TLG: Wow, the girls will love that!
KME: Yeah, right (laughs). 'Hey baby, come back to my place and watch me chop an onion really fast'.
TLG: You've recently moved to London. Do you think there is still a lack of work for Irish actors at home or have things changed?
KME: There's certainly more work now. There's more work in Ireland now then there's ever been and that’s probably to do with the advent of digital film making. People can make film now cheaper so there's more homegrown stuff being produced. But at the end of the day it's just something that I want to do - I wanted to give it a go in London for a long time. I think I'm probably at a point where I could come home and work quite steady but it's very easy to come back to work but it's more difficult to jump on a plane and go to London every time you've to do an audition.
TLG: Which actors have you admired over the years?
KME: I like Sean Penn, he's pretty immaculate in his films and that’s as good as it gets. There are a lot of actors that you love and then they do some movies that are s*** and you wonder about them and what they’re doing - did they do that for the money. Sean Penn never seemed to bow down to that.
I prefer the quirkier actors, the ones where you just don't know what to expect from them, people like Philip Seymour Hoffmann and Steve Buscemi. Those guys can do the straight stuff and they can also do the character stuff too. They're very versatile; there's a good group of them, the Cohen brothers and those types of actors. That’s the way I've moved on, but when I was younger I might have preferred straighter actors.
TLG: Is there any dream project, no matter how far fetched, that you'd love to see happen. You never know: someone might read this and realise your dream.
KME: I suppose a dream of mine - it's never gonna happen but I would love to - and not even if I was involved in it but I would love if they made a big Irish epic based around the Battle of Kinsale, in the early 1600s with Hugh O'Neill( Earl of Tyrone) and (his ally Red) Hugh O'Donnell. A big 'Braveheart' type epic about the Spanish coming over and the Irish being slaughtered at that battle. I think it’s a very interesting time in history and I think it'd be great to do a huge big epic and put everybody in it: Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn, Stephen Rea, Colin Farrell and Cillian Murphy, put them all in it. It'd be just amazing. A story the whole world should know about.
TLG: Never say never. Look at RTÉ's new series 'Cromwell in Ireland' focusing on Oliver Cromwell, which also looks at Hugh Dubh O'Neill. (For more information log onto: www.rte.ie/tv/cromwellinireland/series.html)
KME: It would be fantastic. I did a play in the Peacock a good few years ago now called 'Making History', it was a Brian Friel play and that's what it was based on. I thought Brian Friel's take on that, some of it was fictitious but his take on it was fantastic. The struggle these men went through. Hugh O'Neill was born and raised in England, then came home and was planted in Tyrone and was very central in organising the Battle of Kinsale with Hugh O'Donnell and then it all went disastrously wrong. I think it's an amazing story.
TLG: What's next for you?
KME: I'm back to auditioning. It’s the usual story for professional actors, you wait to see the reaction to the work you've just done. Hopefully 'Raw' will go down well and there might be another season. Right now I'd love to do some more theatre, maybe before the end of the year. I'd like to do some good stage work in London.
TLG: Thanks for talking to me for RTÉ.ie and judging by your performance and the first episode of 'Raw', I too hope its back again for another series. In the mean time good luck with all that you're working on.
KME: Thanks a million Taragh, good talking with you.
'Raw', Monday nights at 9.30pm on RTÉ Two.
