In our interview, the actor told us all about his prep for A Working Man, his success with Kin, and his personal TV favourites.

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Hey Emmett! Let’s get straight to it – you are starring in A Working Man. Can you talk us through your role and what your character is all about?

I play a guy called Viper whose job it is to kidnap young girls, drug them up, and sell them to the highest bidder. High-end clients rely on him and his sister to do their job, to provide a human trafficking service, and they’re very good at doing that. When those girls are no longer of any use to either them or their clients, his job is to get rid of those girls. As callous and as vicious as that may sound, the most harrowing part of that storyline is that in real life this type of shit happens all the time. The number of girls that go missing every year is enough to make your blood turn cold. This horror story is happening at such a volume that even our top exec, Chris Long had to hire a bodyguard to shadow his daughter when she was on spring break. That fucking terrifies me.

The film is an action thriller – before we get into that, you have played a wide range of characters, from intense crime dramas like Gangs of London to more comedic roles in Derry Girls. How do you approach shifting between such different genres?

You play the truth of every situation. Regardless of the genre, you endeavour to mine out the truth of the circumstances you find yourself in, and you dance in that space. If you don’t do that, you are in great danger of getting caught acting. Which is the worst place to be. 

You play the truth, you don’t play the comedy, the drama, the horror; you don’t play a genre. The job of an actor in my opinion is to get out of your own fucking way, and let the moment use you not the other way around. Your job is to surrender. Leave your ego at home. If you can do that, you can do anything.

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What was it about the role and A Working Man that drew you to it initially, and what was the whole filming process like? 

Well, first of all, it was written by my childhood hero Sylvester Stallone. Seeing his name on the cover page of the script was enough to get me salivating. It’s also directed by David Ayer. He’s a stunning talent. The whole filming experience was great. It was organic, it was alive. It was a safe space to allow chaos to blossom. Chaos is a beautiful, terrifying place to be in. It’s the perfect place to make magic.

Following A Working Man, you’ve also got the series MobLand alongside Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Pierce Brosnan coming up at the end of March! Can you talk us through that? 

I loved doing MobLand. There was a controlled madness about it. It was never not boring. It was always exciting. Every time I stepped on set, it was exciting. I play Paul O’Donnell. Pierce Brosnans right hand man, his head of security. It’s written by the fantastic Jez Butterworth. From the runners all the way to the execs, everyone was operating at the top of their game. I hope that translates when you watch it. Like i said, it was a stunning job.

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So many exciting projects are coming up for you! What else can we expect?

In The Grey is a movie I did with Guy Richie that’s coming out in the summer. He’s brilliant to watch work. Incredibly entertaining. I ain’t seen any of the movie yet, but I’m sure it’s great. That’s Richie’s baseline. 

I also did the new Lisa McGee project for Netflix called How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. That comes out at the back end of the year. That’s my third Lisa show in a row. I always say the only thing better than working with people you admire is being invited back to work with them again and again. I know what you’re thinking. What dirt do I have on Lisa? I honestly can’t say. Legally. But what I can say is, she’s a fucking poet.

I’m going onto a new show after we wrap MobLand, which I can’t talk about yet. But I’ve got three weeks off in between gigs, and I’m gonna use that time to bear hug the shit out of my kids.

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What is usually your creative process when preparing for a film and series – and what do you find to be the biggest difference between preparing for a role in a film and for a role in a series? 

The process is always the same for every gig. Be kind. Be respectful. Be of service to other people. Know the text. Come in full. Come in prepared. And then without question when the day is wrapped, just fuck off with gratitude in your heart.

Kin was widely praised, and you received an IFTA nomination for your performance. 

2 nominations. Not that I’m counting or anything!

I can still see people commenting under your posts about the show. What was it like working on that series? 

Staggering. It’s one of those projects, those characters that I wish I could book all the time, but I am so grateful that it happened in the first place. I always thought Kin was gonna be special, but you never really know for sure.

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Do you feel more drawn to roles with complex, layered characters? 

I loved playing Jimmy. But he was exhausting. He was so vulnerable. So raw. So beaten. It was a tough but ultimately rewarding ride. Honoured to have donned that hat.

With such a big catalogue under your belt already, what would you say have been your absolute career highlights? 

I can tell you from hindsight the successes, the hit shows, but then again, so could you. One of the most surprising, most fun times I’ve ever had on set is being the first to inhabit Lobo. When I say fun, I mean pure freedom and joy. It was on a channel called syfy. The show was called Krypton. Unfortunately for us only 4 fucking people saw it. It flatlined.

With such a diverse career across film and TV, is there a dream role or director you’d love to work with in the future?

I’m trying to work with James Gunn again. I wanna get back into the superhero world. James has this thing where he gives out Play-Doh to an actor who goes above and beyond his expectations on set, who delights and surprises him. 

I never got that Play-Doh on Guardians of the Galaxy. But I want it. I want that fucking play-doh James. He’s an Incredible human who probably regrets giving me his phone number before he became King of DC. 

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Last but not least, what is your favourite guilty pleasure film or series?

I feel guilty about nothing. If I like it, I’ll scream about it from the rooftops. So, with that being said, let’s start screaming. Here are the last few movies I’ve seen that I loved: The Brutalist, Anora, The Conclave & The Wild Robot. There are a couple of TV series I’m watching right now that I think are magical. The White Lotus, Severance, Landman… also, I feel the need to say if you ain’t seen The Bear, 1883 or Mr Inbetween, make it happen…

‘A Working Man’ is in cinemas now.

‘MobLand’ is streaming on Paramount+.

‘Gangs of London’ is available via Sky.

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