2 months ago
Siobhán Cullen has been softly building a estimation arsenic 1 of Ireland’s astir promising stars, acknowledgment to her roles successful Irish comedy-drama series The Dry and darkly comic series Bodkin and Obituary, but her adjacent roles spot a departure from her erstwhile endeavors arsenic she steps onto nan world stage.
The Irish character is presently connected BBC One successful babe nonaccomplishment drama Babies, which began airing earlier this week, and is now filming the Highlander reboot successful nan female lead of Brenda alongside Harry Cavill’s titular role.
Cullen admits these latest projects are a “massive departure” from her erstwhile activity but she’s fresh for nan change.
“Looking backmost astatine nan activity I’ve done crossed nan past 5 years connected screen, it’s been solely comedy-dramas and acheronian comedies, and it’s been a existent astonishment to maine that my profession has taken maine successful that direction,” she says. “I suppose erstwhile I was a younger actor, I was ever drawn to play much than comedy. Comedy conscionable terrified maine and calamity was ever a spot of a magnet.”
So, erstwhile Cullen, who has a inheritance successful theatre, first publication nan book for Stefan Golaszewksi’s tender emotion story Babies, astir nan affectional resilience of a mates navigating nan heartbreak of gestation loss, she was keen to jump aboard.
“I deliberation it was 1 of nan champion scripts I had ever read,” admits Cullen. “It conscionable moved maine successful specified a monolithic way, and I’d ne'er publication penning for illustration that before. Without sounding excessively grandiose, it captured nan principle of what it is to beryllium a human. I conscionable consciousness that Stefan has specified an unthinkable penetration into people, really they communicate, really they don’t pass and really they love. It conscionable hooked maine from nan beginning.”
Cullen is successful London erstwhile she speaks to Deadline via Zoom, wherever she’s presently filming nan Amazon MGM’s reboot of 1986 deed film Highlander, from John Wick filmmaker Chad Stahelski. At nan time, she was besides gearing up for a travel to Lille successful France, where Babies world premiered astatine Series Mania.
Cullen stars alongside Paapa Essiedu successful nan six-part drama, which began airing connected BBC One connected Monday. The series, which is created, written and directed by two-time BAFTA victor Golaszewski (Him & Her, Marriage), sees Cullen and Essiedu play Lisa and Stephen, a mates successful their 30s whose dream of becoming parents is tested arsenic they strengthen aggregate miscarriages. It besides stars Charlotte Riley and Jack Bannon and is produced by Snowed-In Productions and The Money Men Studios.
“Even though we’re dealing pinch rather a dense taxable and immoderate devastating themes, there’s still truthful overmuch drama wrong nan show,” says Cullen. “There’s truthful overmuch lightness and truthful overmuch joyousness and I deliberation that’s Stefan’s signature – being capable to tread that statement betwixt drama and drama. It’s a weapon separator but he’s a brilliant and he could do it. Loads of what I person learned on The Dry and those kinds of much comic shows has been really useful for Babies.”
The show intends to radiance a affirmative ray connected what is simply a very communal and achy statistic: It is estimated that astir 1 successful 8 pregnancies extremity successful miscarriage. To hole for nan role, Cullen admits she drew connected stories from friends, listened to podcasts and went connected forums to amended herself for nan role.
“Lots of group successful my life were generous to show maine astir their experiences,” she says. “It’s an highly backstage rumor and I’m grateful to those who shared pinch me, and I dream that nan show tin create a small spot of abstraction for anyone who is going done gestation nonaccomplishment aliases has gone done it.”
She continues: “It shouldn’t beryllium this veil of soundlessness astir us. It should beryllium talked astir successful nan aforesaid activity arsenic we talk astir gestation and transportation and each of women’s health. If location was anyone that was going done this astatine nan clip and if they are capable to spot thing of themselves successful this show and consciousness a mini spot little unsocial successful nan chaos of it all, past we’ve done our job.”
While Babies does screen nan themes of condolences and loss, she’s adamant that it’s very overmuch a coming-of-age story. “It’s astir a joined mates who are experiencing their first benignant of obstacle, their first benignant of devastation and becoming adults successful nan midst of it all. Even if parenthood aliases nonaccomplishment isn’t thing that you’ve gone through, I still deliberation there’s truthful overmuch successful nan show that we touch connected and explore, specified arsenic relationship and difficult relationships pinch parents. Ultimately, it’s a hopeful story.”
Highlander, meanwhile, is Cullen’s first foray into nan action abstraction and while she admits she can’t relay overmuch astir nan project, she says Stahelski’s type is “definitely 1 for nan fans.” The reboot boasts a formed including Cavill, Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Marisa Abela, Djimon Hounsou and Jeremy Irons.
Stahelski notably played Keanu Reeves’ stunt double on The Matrix and subsequently directed Reeves successful the John Wick franchise. “Some of nan fighting scenes I’ve seen are conscionable insane,” says Cullen.
The 1986 Highlander starred Christopher Lambert arsenic immortal Scottish warrior Connor MacLeod who was calved successful 1518. Sean Connery played his mentor, Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez (also immortal) while Clancy Brown played Kurgen, who hunts down Connor successful 1980s New York City. Roxanne Hart played NYC forensics master Brenda, who is suspicious of Connor.
The latest loop is group successful London and Cullen says that while she loved Hart’s original depiction of Brenda and took “lots of inspiration” from her performance, “our Brenda is wholly different.”
“We find her astatine a different clip successful her life,” she says. “We find her getting into problem and erstwhile she meets Connor connected a pivotal night, arsenic a mortal, she gets swept up successful nan world of immortals. Because she is mortal successful this immortal work, she’s benignant of nan eyes of nan assemblage because she is being introduced into this full caller world, which wholly upends her full knowing of humanity and clip and what’s possible.”
Working pinch Stahelski and his predominant collaborator and cinematographer Dan Laustsen has been an eye-opening caller acquisition for Cullen. “It’s breathtaking to activity pinch personification who is truthful fluent successful nan connection of action, and it’s for illustration there’s this full different book that’s happening that is parallel to our dialogue. The subtext and unthinkable item to characteristic is unthinkable and I’m conscionable a keen student.”
Cullen is spending nan adjacent fewer months finishing nan sprout and aft that, she’s unsure of what’s next. “I’m really enjoying Highlander and nan standard of that, and I’d emotion to do much film. I’d besides emotion to do much scripts like Babies and dream much of those travel my way. I conscionable dream I proceed to activity pinch group that I really respect and tin study from. That’s nan eventual goal.”
