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LOVE/LOVE
06 Oct 2014 : Paul Byrne
It’s the breakthrough that David Caffrey has always dreamed of, but the director of Love/Hate wants you to know there are more bullets in his chamber.

It took a while for David Caffrey to find his feet.

From an early short, The Connivers (led by fellow Greystonian and Fair City star Maclean Burke), through the Jack Thwelis feature debut Divorcing Jack (1998), the Michael Shannon-led American feature debut Grand Theft Parsons (2003) and a whole bunch of TV (including Monarch Of The Glen and Raw), Caffrey has been honing his craft. And patiently waiting for that breakthrough.

It finally arrived in 2010 with something of a bang. And a wallop. And a rifle-butt in the gut. From the very start, Dublin crime drama Love/Hate struck a chord, audiences lapping up creator Stuart Carolan’s complex, interweaving stories and sleazy, sexy, cool characters, critics admiring the inventiveness of the writing and the sleekness of the direction, whilst the tabloids rejoiced in having another reason to shout about the sorry state of our seemingly crime-riddled capital.

With each season, the audiences and the outrage has grown - who can forget Wayne gunning down an innocent feline in series 4? - along with the accolades and awards. Including a whole batch of IFTA gongs and nominations, for Caffrey, Carolan and cast members such as Aiden Gillen, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Charlie Murphy and Robert Sheehan.

We caught up with Dave Caffrey just two days before the fifth season of Love/Hate hit Irish TV screens to talk about making a 28-hour independent film, conquering pubs, and being part of an Irish cultural phenomenon.

Paul Byrne: So, what can you tell us about the new series without having writer and creator Stuart Carolan slap you on the back of the head?

David Caffrey: I was at a Monsters of Rock concert in Donnington about 20 years ago and Iron Maiden were the headline act. Their set over ran by about an hour so the end of festival 40 minute firework display had to be let loose in 10 minutes, due to air traffic restrictions. It was an awesome sight to see so many fireworks going of in such a short space of time. That’s about the best analogy I can give for the new series.

Did you ever imagine, back in 2010, that you’d still be making Love/Hate in 2014?

You just take it year by year and hope you get another crack at it after it’s been aired. The only sure thing was that series 4 and 5 were going to happen, so Stuart was able to work the structure of it over 12 episodes instead of the usual six.

Has much changed over the years? I’m guessing the budget for Season One was somewhat smaller than the budget for Season Five, right?

On a production level, little or nothing has changed over the years apart from the fact that we are a well-oiled machine and our ambition grows year on year. The resources haven’t fluctuated much.

Besides your incredible directing skills, what do you think the secret to the show’s success is?

A great writer with well researched knowledge of the subject matter coupled with a team of talented people who shared our vision for the series.

And just how successful is Love/Hate in Ireland? Have you memorised the ratings yet? The iPlayer figures?

The ratings are not really my area. I gauge the success differently. My brother lives in Panama and he sent me a photo of a Love/Hate screening party in a big apartment with 30 Irish expats watching a few episodes of the show. When we filmed in a pub in Edenmore the landlady said that all of their sports screens are tuned to Love/Hate on a Sunday night and they can only serve drink during the ad breaks because the punters go mad it they’re interrupted. That’s just two examples of what makes me aware that the show is a success.

Given just how loved the show is, both by audiences and critics, what are the plans for future assaults outside of Ireland? I’ve got brothers in Chicago who are completely hooked on Love/Hate...

I often read about it being screened in other territories but I haven’t had any feedback on how it was received. Ed Sheeran is my main source of information on how it’s doing internationally. All the tweeting from the overseas Irish community gives us all a bit of a lift.

It helped that Ed got that signed box-set of Love/Hate on The Late Late Show. Many of the lead actors have found themselves becoming bona fide celebrities in this country, which can be both a blessing and a curse, of course. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is a versatile actor who doesn’t necessarily want to be known as Nidge for the rest of his career...

I see it only as a blessing for the actors. A dream for most actors is to get a lot of work and play lots of interesting roles, and being well known for a particular role opens lots of doors. Sean Connery was James Bond until he did The Untouchables. 

What sort of effect has the success of Love/Hate had on your own career - besides the dream come true of winning an IFTA, that is?

During my 5 years on Love/Hate, I have worked on one other production called Line of Duty for the BBC, so I’ll only be able gauge the effect on my own career if and when I hang up my Love/Hate boots and start to look for other opportunities. 

Ready now to follow-up your last feature film, 2003’s Grand Theft Parsons, or has TV got its hooks in too deep now...?

I’m very interested in both mediums and am always looking for interesting projects. Recently, the projects that have caught my interest the most have been TV drama projects.

It is a golden time for television, with the HBO blueprint of movie-quality productions stretching over hours upon hours of storytelling somewhat dominating the schedules. Surprised?

I’m not surprised because there are so many films out there with brilliant characters that you only get to enjoy for a couple of hours whereas great TV can give you days of entertainment with film-like production qualities. In the beginning, I approached Love/Hate like it was an independent film that just happened to be 4 hours long. Now it’s an independent feature film that is 28 hours long, to date.

What other TV shows out there are rockin’ your world right now?

Boardwalk Empire, Breaking Bad and Gomorrah.

Short of having seasons 2, 3 and 4 all turn out to be Darren’s dream, do you still find new sensations as Love/Hate progresses? Are you still surprised by what Stuart comes up with?

Stuart always finds ways to surprise everyone, including me. 

The pressure to live up to not only the ratings but the glowing reputation - enjoy it, or is there the occasional sleepless night?

The only sleepless nights are when you’ve put all that time and effort into something and it gets weakened by spoilers being broadcast.

Series five of Love/Hate continues at 9.30 this Sunday, on RTE1





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