VIEWTIES | #80 - Emer Kenny by Viewties

FEB. 2022

Viewties

Emer Kenny by Iona Wolff

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Vanesa Miraglia

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TABLE OF CONTENTS NO. 80 - FEB. 2022

FEATURES

ON THE COVER EMER KENNY BY IONA WOLFF FOR VIEWTIES

Emer Kenny, p10 The actress chats about her work in ‘The Curse’ and anticipates new series ‘Karen Pirie’.

Emer Kenny

Editor's letter Welcome to the February issue! We took the first month of the year to plan and select the perfect features for you to read this month. It’s been a busy time meeting many talents and discovering their art in depth. We’re very happy with the result, I hope you are too when you read about your favourite artists through the pages of this magazine. One artist at the time, booklet style, intimate insight on the talents featured. Remember this is a fast read digital publication to celebrate art and value the talent and knowing the other side of the story including the amazing photography by the outstanding photographers that kindly collaborate with us. Don't miss any of our issues, as Viewties goes on bringing you the latest on film and television introducing artists whose passion is to make you feel something with their dedication to the job of bringing a project / character to life. As I always say, If I can take something from my job, I strongly believe you will take something from it too. Enjoy the ride and prepare your heart for being touched by our content. Happy month!

Founding editor-in-chief @vanmiraglia

Viewties

Emer Kenny Photography Iona Wolff Hair and makeup Hannah Elizabeth Styling Emma Lane - Words Vanesa Miraglia

For the actress and writer, Emer Kenny, creativity is in constant evolution or that’s at least how it makes me feel when I see her jumping from character to the next. You can see the beauty in all the characters she has played, she humanizes them and portray each of them on screen as unique as they sound on paper. Maybe this has to do with the fact that she is a very dedicated writer who has begun writing for the screen soon after her acting debut in the BAFTA-nominated single drama ‘Coming Down The Mountain’ in 2008. Most recently she has written, executive produced and acted in a new ITV crime drama based on a Val McDermid novel, ‘Karen Pirie’, coming to screens this 2022. What’s more, Emer is currently starring as the lead female in Channel 4 80’s crime-comedy ‘The Curse’, created by multi-BAFTA award-winning Tom Davis and James De Frond. The series is a tale of friendship that questions, can a group of childhood friends stick together when they find themselves transformed overnight from nobody’s to somebody’s and what are the sacrifices that they must make to survive…and ultimately is all the money in the world ever really worth it? In conversation with Viewties, the beautiful and brilliant Emer chats about her work in ‘The Curse’ and her experience balancing the role as writer and performer in the upcoming series of ‘Karen Pirie’.

Viewties

V: What is it about your job that you find so rewarding?

V: What was challenging about playing this particular character?

EMER: Making people laugh, making people emote, making them love a character. Collaborating with amazing creative people. There’s a Kazuo Ishiguro quote - ‘stories are about one person saying to another: this is the way it feels to me… does it feel this way to you?’ That bit of story-telling - that’s the bit I like.

EMER: Keeping a straight face! We did a lot of improvisation. I loved it, but it was terrifying at first. You have to feel really confident and comfortable to do it well - and all the boys had known each other for years and had so much experience improvising in People Just Do Nothing and Murder In Successville. It felt a bit like jumping off a cliff the first few times I did it. But I landed alright.

V: What do you look for in a character before accepting a role?

V: The series is set in London in the early 80’s - did you need to do any research into the time period to connect with the storyline?

EMER: I think with casting, there’s a kind of alchemy that is difficult to explain - it’s a bit like dating, sometimes you and a character just make sense together. Even if you have to transform with a costume or an accent, there will be some little spark or similarity that only you can bring. There isn’t always an obvious through-line - but you know it when you feel it. Tash from ‘The Curse’ is pretty powerful, she’s always in control, but she’s funny and an idiot too. I knew I could do that. But I also thought I totally flunked the audition! I came home and cried for two days. A week later they told me I’d got it.

EMER: Yes, I listened to a few podcasts about similar crimes from the 80s, to get a feel for the characters and the world. For the costumes we looked at lots of old episodes of Only Fools and Horses from the early 80s - very baggy skirts, lots of beige and paisley. I was born in ‘89 so I had to do lot of googling things like Bullseye and Worzel Gummidge to understand the references properly! V: What are the differences between working on a period production and on a series set in modern day?

V: What was your first impression of ‘The Curse’ when you read the script and what was it that made you want to get involved?

EMER: For the actors, not much, aside from a lot more wigs and more smoking! And the cars are a lot harder to drive. For the costume, makeup and art department, it’s a huge challenge - they have to turn whole streets back in time. Liverpool had so many amazing locations that the art department made into rundown East End London Tash and Albert’s flat and cafe were works of art! As soon as we stepped in it took us back into another decade swirly carpets, patterned wallpaper, so many colours you’d never put together now, browns and reds and oranges everywhere.

EMER: I wanted to be involved because of the team - the writers and the director are really everything to a project, and James, Tom, Steve, Allan and Hugo are all unbelievably talented. The scripts were so funny, but they also had a really gripping story at the centre which is rare for a half-hour comedy. The characters are a loveable, stupid gang. Then there was the world they were in - the details about the 80s and the East End at that time, the music, the clothes and the cars - I knew it was going to look amazing on screen. And everyone loves a heist.

Viewties

V: Were there any memorable moments on set while shooting ‘The Curse’?

I loved writing and performing in Karen Pirie. It’s something I would love to do more of.

EMER: My main memories are of not being able to stop laughing. Never not laughing. For 7 weeks. Oh, and when they pulled a bedroom seduction scene where I convince Albert to do the heist forward by a day, so we had no idea we were doing it until 5 minutes before. Allan hadn’t done too many kissing scenes before so he - though he will deny this - got SO NERVOUS. I told him to lie back and I would do everything. But we found the whole thing pretty funny.

tion, but they are never charged and the case goes cold. 25 years later, a true crime podcast about the murder comes out, and the Scottish Police Service feel under pressure to put someone on the case, for appearances sake at least. They give it to a young, inexperienced detective called DS Karen Pirie, because she’s a woman and they think it’ll look good to the public. Karen, feeling underestimated, is determined to solve the case. Only, the podcast has caused a lot of unwanted attention for the original suspects, and shocking things to start happening to them… The stakes for Karen to find out who the original murderer is get higher and higher. I’m so excited for people to see it - our cast is filled with the most amazing, in some cases very new, talent who give funny and moving performances. I think people are really going to fall in love with all of them - especially our three detectives, Lauren Lyle, Chris Jenks and Zach Wyatt.

V: How did you find balancing the role as writer and performer in the upcoming series of ‘Karen Pirie’? EMER: I loved writing and performing in Karen Pirie. It’s something I would love to do more of - but it’s challenging too, doing both at the same time, you have to be able to disconnect from vanity and assess your own performance in the edit, which is really hard. I was on set every day as the writer and exec, which is a really intense experience because at the end of the day the buck stops with you in terms of character and story - you have to have the answers to everything, and it was my first time ever taking on that role. When I got to go and get into costume and be an actress again, it was so relaxing. It was like, I know how to do this it’s what I’m used to - it’s where I feel at home. Hopefully I’ll get to that point with the writing and the execing at some point, after a couple more series!

V: Last question, as my nationality is Argentinian, have ever seen or experienced any type of art/culture from Argentina?

V: What can audiences expect from ‘Karen Pirie’ next year?

EMER: Francis Mallmann! The Argentinian chef. He’s featured in a great episode of Chef’s Table on Netflix - he cooks outside in Patagonia and it looks so beautiful and captivating. I desperately want to go to one of his restaurants one day. And I’ve heard there’s a small area in Patagonia where they speak Welsh? My mum is Welsh so I’d like to visit there to say ‘shwmae’.

EMER: Karen Pirie is set between 1996 and 2021 on the East coast of Scotland. Three students from St Andrew’s university are walking home from a party in '96 when they find a girl they know - Rosie Duff - dying in the cathedral grounds... Or at least that’s the story they tell the police. They become the main suspects in her murder investiga-

The Curse starts on Sunday 6th February at 10pm on Channel 4. The series is available on All 4.

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