From Graphic Artist to Actor: A Conversation with Ned Dennehy for the release of Downhill
Gordon (Richard Lumsden – Sightseers, TV’s The Catherine Tate Show) is determined that he and best friend Keith (Karl Theobald – TV’s 2012, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa) will conquer Wainright’s Coast to Coast Walk from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire.
He also believes that having his film student son document the adventure is the perfect way to commemorate their achievement, but when a stray conversation determines that old school friends Steve (Jeremy Swift – Jupiter Ascending, TV’s Downton Abbey) and Julian (Ned Dennehy – Tyrannosaur, TV’s Luther) join them on the trip, best laid plans lead straight to multiple mid-life crises.
Combining keenly observed situational comedy; some of Britain’s finest comedy talent and a breathtaking journey through some of the best of British countryside, DOWNHILL is a comedy of errors, a testament to the tragically incompatible and a blow-by-blow account of the highs and lows of decades-long friendships.
Britain’s version of the road movie Downhill walks its way into UK homes on Monday and The Fan Carpet's Paul Risker recently took a second stroll with one quarter of the film’s adventurous ensemble; Ned Dennehy, to discuss his recent filmic adventure, whilst taking an occasional detour to discuss his career and thoughts on film and television in the modern age.
Why a career as an actor? Was there that one inspirational moment?
I used to be an architect, so let's start with that. I was actually a graphic artist as well as an architect, and then it came about that I started to do some theatre, some plays. But there wasn't necessarily one moment where I thought let's embrace poverty and the theatre.
Theatre was as far as I was thinking at that time because we were only a small production touring around Ireland. But somebody wrote some nice things about me, and so presumably I thought that was the thing to do. So then I decided I would embrace poverty and live the life of a waster actor on tour. But funnily enough the poverty didn't follow, because I immediately landed a part in a TV series. It was a Disney American TV series set in Ireland called Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog. I seemed to be making a lot of money for not very much effort, and so that was me gone from the architecture scene.
When you first read the script for Downhill, what was it that piqued your interest in the project?
On the page Julian was a brilliant character, and he had some great speeches. The project was an interesting one, although I do remember thinking at the start oh God, its low budget. But then I looked up James [Rouse] and Benji [Howell], the guys who were making it, and I saw that they had done some very slick ads. I knew how awful it would be to be stood on a side of the mountain freezing with a crew who didn't know what they were doing. But I could see straightaway that these guys had plenty of experience and so they would be technically proficient, and they would be able to do something. In the end I suppose they did. But I would have said yes straightaway if only for the fact I didn't want to be standing on the side of the mountain with student filmmakers.
Are there ever those scripts where the main point of interest is primarily the story over the character or are you looking for a combination of both?
The character would be the very first thing I'd be looking at, because everything else is someone else’s concern. But you are obviously hoping the story is good. I did a film called Tyrannosaur and you couldn't read the script. There seemed to be a story running through it, but when you read the script you were thinking what is this about; what's going on here because it is hard to decipher. But my particular character was interesting, and so you just went along with it. You have to place a certain amount of trust in other people, and trust that they know what they are doing with the story.
Film is one of the great collaborative art forms. With the nature of the production and story which is an assemble piece, do you look back on Downhill as a particularly collaborative experience?
In the case of Downhill it is a very small group. You could describe it as guerrilla filmmaking - a bunch of people travelling across the country in a van with the equipment and so on. It was not normal filmmaking in the sense that they setup a base with a camp and trailers where there were hundreds of people involved. They didn't even have wardrobe or make-up on the shoot. I’d say it was more like a documentary film crew.
But yes collaboration is one of the great things about filmmaking, though it is more so with other films than with Downhill because of the scale, and for that reason it was very different. One of the great things about the film job is that there are so many different departments and people that it can be like a fun day out.
Downhill is available on DVD and Digital Platforms fromJune 16 2014