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Damien Molony Talks Brassic Ahead of its Debut on Sky One this Thursday at 10pm
21 Aug 2019 : Nathan Griffin
Damien Molony & Michelle Keegan in Brassic.
IFTN previously caught up with Irish actor Damien Molony to find out more about Sky’s new comedy series, how he got involved and the making the most of awkward scenes.

Brassic will debut with a special double bill showing of episodes 1&2 this Thursday, August 22nd on Sky One and streaming service Now TV.

Molony (Ripper Street) stars opposite Michelle Keegan (Our Girl) and Joe Gilgun (This is England) in the hotly-anticipated comedy about how to win at life in the land that craft beer forgot.

The series follows ringleader Vinnie (Gilgun) and his Lancashire-based band of misfits who go from caper to caper and try to have a laugh while doing it. In the opening episode, we join Vinnie during a less than stellar day that involves a cross-country car chase, a Shetland pony, a jar of chloroform and a pigeon named Nigel. All this gets Vinnie and his crew tangled with a local crime boss who sets out to make an example of them. Then, in the second chapter of this Lancashire odyssey, the boys plan a heist at a strip club, but when things go awry they find their escape route is blocked by a colossal fatberg. Better get digging.

Molony plays Dylan, Vinnie’s best friend and a man who knows how to play a mean game of poker. He is in love with Erin and has a close relationship with her kid, Tyler, but his friends mean everything to him. Vinnie is like a brother to Dylan and the one person that truly understands him. Dylan passed up a chance to go to Uni as he didn’t want to abandon his mates and, to Erin’s frustration, he hasn’t ever really grown up. He occasionally works at Kath’s pub but spends most of his time having fun with the lads.

Veering between hilarious comedy and heartfelt emotion, this outrageous, funny and bold show is about lifelong friends, loyalty and the things that come between them.

The show is written by Danny Brocklehurst (Safe), Brassic also stars fellow Irish actor Aaron Heffernan (Metal Heart, Love/Hate). 

IFTN journalist Nathan Griffin caught up with Damien to find out more about the upcoming series.

IFTN: For people who might not know much about Brassic right now, what could you tell us about it?

Damien: “The term brassic is rhyming slang. The stuff that’s in your pocket, the fluff. It's called lint, obviously, and there's a type of lint called brassic lint. If the only thing that you have in your pocket is lint, it means that you're skint, it means you're penniless, it means you're broke. So brassic lint is brassic equals skint. That's what the name comes from. Then the show itself is about a group of mates in the North of England getting into mischief. Fairly harmless mischief, but they're tearing around having the absolute time of their lives. The show is about friendship and it's about having a laugh with your mates and trying to make a quick buck along the way.”

“I think a lot of small town shows, whether they're based in the UK or in Ireland or anywhere are usually about characters who want to get out of town and want to improve themselves in some way. Brassic is not about that. Brassic is about mates who are having such good craic that they have absolutely no interest in leaving. In a way, they're probably avoiding real life in a way and probably avoiding growing up, but they're not really too worried about that.”

IFTN: How did the opportunity to get involved with Brassic come about?

Damien: “I had worked with an Irish director actually, Daniel O'Hara on Being Human. I jumped at the opportunity really to work with him again. Then, obviously, Joe Gilgun, he has created the show. I've been such a massive fan of his since This is England. Danny Brocklehurst has written the script and then there's a whole sequence in the show that takes places in a sewer. Once I had gone and read that I was pretty much on board.”

Can you tell me about your character, Dylan?

Damien: “Dylan is the brains of the gang. He’s a reluctant mischief-maker, because he’s smart enough to see the flaws in the plan. But he always ends up getting involved and he’s arguably at his happiest when he’s right in the middle of it all! He’s the brightest of the bunch, but probably lacks any real ambition to do anything with his smarts. He is the only guy in the gang with a girlfriend, Erin and she has a son from a previous relationship. But he is very much a father figure for Tyler and he loves them both very much. And that’s a huge responsibility, so there is a bit of tension dividing his time and attention between the lads and his relationship with Erin... she’s not exactly delighted with what he gets up to with the gang.”

IFTN: The show looks incredibly funny. I imagine it was quite a fun set to work on?

Damien: “Massively. We just laughed and laughed. I've never really been on a show before with so many regular cast. All being in together every day, for four months in Manchester was just great craic. The stuff that we would get up to-- I did something on this show for the first time every single day. When I'd be in the trailer in the morning and I'd facetime with my parents, they'd say, ‘What are you doing today?’ and I'd say, ‘Today we're being shot at by a local farmer while we try to still his Shetland pony.’ Or ‘I'm getting sprayed on by an exploding ‘fat bird’ in a sewer.’There was lots of great craic to be had.”

IFTN: One bizarre scene audiences can look forward to seeing involves your character, Dylan, share an unflattering romantic scene in a port-a-loo with his love interest Erin, played by Michelle Keegan. How do you prepare for a scene like that, especially when you had only met Michelle for the first time early that same day?

Damien: “I've done a few of them at this stage. Sex scenes are just so bizarre because you're surrounded by 30 people of a film crew who kind of aren't really too interested in what you’re doing. First and foremost, there's absolutely nothing sexy about a Brassic sex scene. For the people involved, you just get on with it and you just try to have a good laugh really because you both understand the complete ridiculousness of the situation.”

All episodes of Brassic will be available to watch from Thursday 22nd August on Sky One and streaming service NOW TV.





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