6 minute read
ANDY ELLIS // 71-73 KOLA BOKINNI
STEPPING OUT WITH ANDY ELLIS
ITV’s explosive new five-part thriller dropped on our boxes last month, and the aftershocks are still coursing through. From the pen of the outrageous Jeff Pope and the keen direction of Paul Andrew Williams, Stephen Graham reunites with fellow ‘This Is England’ alum Andrew Ellis to investigate the covert goings on of far-right terrorist organisation ‘National Action’ as the group plots disruption on the highest level.
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Each episode mounts tensions with a precision only few can master, excavating the very true events that occurred only several years ago with the trusted dramatic flair we come to expect from these kinds of prestigious ITV dramas. The series is dangerous, it’s risky, it doesn’t fictionalise nearly as much as it probably should, instead adopting the brutal and honest truth; something, I’d be remiss not to say, this country fucking needs.
Stills courtesy of the ITV Press Office. Catching up with Andy Ellis, it’s clear that, with a career that started tackling much similar issues on screen, he shares a similar perspective of the importance of modern media to push these boundaries.
“I think it’s probably easier for people to watch This Is England with a learned view, like, 'Oh, look how bad it used to be.' But I don’t think people are willing to admit how terrible the times we are currently living in are. The country is probably more divided than it ever has been at the moment, people are struggling and it's difficult. I think The Walk-In is brave in showing these recent tragedies and highlighting the state of the country for what it is now.”
“The real life elements of the show are tough to watch, especially for people who may have been affected by them. I'm so far removed from [his character] Robbie and his views but there are people out there who share them, even just minutely, in some way.”
And it’s interesting, isn’t it? How people have consumed this show and been shocked about it? The far-right extremist group in the show is founded in the very same group that were behind the assassination of Jo Cox, a truth of Modern British
Society that needed to be exorcised but brought with it it’s own complications. ITV couldn’t do press for the show until one month before its release and, despite the massive feat of it, restricted spread on social media to ensure the safety of all those involved in the production. After all, pockets of this organisation remain.
Andy says: “ITV have been amazing on this and have really done their due diligence to protect us. With this type of thing there is always the concern of retaliation, but it’s something that needs to be brought to light. The country is now more divided than ever and the media always needs to point a finger. For me, it’s never pointed at the actual causes of the problems but at easy targets that people can get angry over.”
Going deeper into his character, Robbie, who grows involved in the organisation and becomes surrounded by extremist ideology of the vibrant and angry young men, Andy, who hails from the small town of Wythenshawe in South Manchester, felt he had something of a duty to explore the reasons why so many working-class men end up in these types of groups in an attempt to help prevent such downfall moving forward.
“My first thoughts reading the script was that I knew blokes like this; blokes with low prospects and not much going on who could easily be led the wrong way by people with bad intentions. I'm from a town similar to Robbie where there is high unemployment and a general sense of abandonment so I related to that aspect of him. Thankfully I found my passion early on but for a lot of young blokes it can be bleak out there.”
His passion, of course, is in filmmaking. Andy landed the role of Gadget in Shane Meadows’ highly acclaimed ‘This Is England’ whilst still in high school and him, along with a plucky group of young actors, were guided by Meadows and the effervescent Stephen Graham to create, what’s regarded by most, as The Best British Film.
“I’d say it was probably the most formative time of my life. I was always pretty old-headed as a kid and adapted to the world of “work” really quickly. It opened up doors in the film and TV industry that are near impossible for people where I’m from. I knew I wanted to be an actor, but coming from a working class background I didn’t know what a drama school was and didn’t really know how to get ‘in’. I see This Is
England as my “training” in a way because it was such a full on job; but Shane works so uniquely that it really pushes you as an actor to consider your character in a unique way.”
Andy learned from Stephen Graham too, which is why this reunion feels like a full-circle moment.
“Being on set with Ste is like going to bloody Disney World. Everyday is a chance to learn from someone who has mastered the craft in ways people like myself can only dream of. I remember being 15 on the set of ‘This Is England’, watching and learning. Myself and the rest of the cast were loud, probably obnoxious, kids with far too much energy. Ste would take a moment before each take, I’d watch as he would go to a corner of the set, have a moment, and then transform. I nicked that and have used that method myself throughout the years. I’ll always be thankful to him and his lovely wife Hannah for all they have done for me.”
On where he’s going next, I, of course, have to ask if he would be game for the much mythic ‘This Is England ‘00’ series (a fourth instalment of Channel 4’s mini series following the film). Andy, with a grin, remarks:
“If Shane called me up to help decorate his spare bedroom I'd be there! I owe the man so much. I’ve heard whispers and rumours (Shane mentioned it on mine and Thomas Turgoose’s Podcast during Covid) so I’d say watch this space. I think there’s room for another story from these characters, it’s been a while since we did ’90 and I’d love to see what Gadget’s doing for the millennium.”
Until then, however, Andy is lending his voice to children’s animations, podcasting, running a production company (Odd Drawer Digital), being a wonderful husband and dad, and hoping one day he’ll finally get to be in the world of Game of Thrones.
In a final question before he returns to his exciting upcoming projects, I ask Andy what his favourite show at the moment is. I should expect it, really, when he answers:
“House of the Dragon. Paddy [Considine] is another fellow student of the Shane Meadows Academy and it’s brilliant to see him in something like that and he’s smashed it.”
Catch Andy at @andy_lp_ellis Watch Season 1 of The Walk-In on the ITV Hub now.
