The Northern Irish actress stars alongside Jamie Dornan in the award-winning crime series as Rose Stagg.
As fans eagerly anticipate the upcoming third season, we catch up with Valene Kane on her experience of ‘The Fall’, shooting in NI and her strong collection of female roles.
IFTN: Can you talk us through what your experience of NI has been like In the last number of years as an actress, with the advent of such huge productions as ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘The Fall’?
"Well, coming home to work has been wonderful. Being able to see friends and family on weekends and days off is a joy, as I don’t get home very often. And I miss Ireland. I miss the quiet and the sea. I also think that 'The Fall' has helped to really change people’s perception of the Northern Irish accent.
None of the characters have anything to do with The Troubles. I think that’s been an incredible milestone. Before 'The Fall', I didn’t know if I was going to be able to use my own accent very often as an actress. Now a lot of international projects are open to the idea of a Northern Irish voice and its exciting."
IFTN: Your most recent project ‘Thirteen’ continues a trend of playing very strong female characters. What draws you to your roles?
"I think it always starts with the script for me, or if it’s an incredible director that I’m itching to work with. 'Thirteen' gave me both. Marnie’s script was so full and rich, Vanessa the director was a real visionary, and Merchant was one of those characters that was a dream to work on. It was a female heavy production and that was important to me. It’s rare.
I like being around opinionated and passionate women. The older I become, the more I am interested in what is it to be a woman, and I so I look out for roles that examine that. 'Merchant' looked at a woman in a male dominated environment that was consistently motivated by truth and reason rather than emotion."
IFTN: There has been an industry-wide call-out for more female centric content on the small screen recently. Do you feel actresses in Ireland and the UK have the same opportunities to represent realistic female characters as their international counterparts?
That’s a difficult one, as there is just more work being created in America. I am lucky now to be sent scripts for international projects, and I suppose I would be lying if I didn’t say that there tends to be richer roles for women coming from the states. However, I thought 'The Honorable Woman' was a incredible piece of storytelling, and Maggie Gyllenhaal was phenomenal in that role, as was Keeley Hawes in 'Line of Duty.'
And without Question Gillian does a beautiful job of balancing strength and sex in 'The Fall.' I am sure it is around the corner for Irish cinema and TV, The Irish women I know are some of the best. Fierce and Complex, and I’d love to see more of their stories. I’m itching to see an Irish Version of 'August Osage County.'
IFTN: What can we expect from the Rose in the upcoming season of ‘The Fall’?
"The psychologies of the characters are really explored this season. We get a more detailed look into her past, and learn a lot more about her early relationship to Spector and the truth of it all. Allan has once again written something beautiful and lyrical for Rose. Its been a dream to work on that character."
IFTN: If you could give our readers any advice in terms of honing a career in Film and TV, what would that be?
"Read, watch, travel, listen. Be Inquisitive, ask questions. I think Its important to really have a sense of who you are and what you want, only then can you start to work on the artist you want to become."
