Anthony Boyle on Danny Boy and moving back in with his parents

Virgin Radio

9 May 2021, 13:23

Actor Anthony Boyle joined the Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose to talk about starring in the new BBC Two drama, Danny Boy, and working on an upcoming Spielberg project.

The feature-length Danny Boy tells the true story of a young man’s journey from war hero to alleged murderer, and his search for truth. The Northern Irish actor, who played Scorpius Malfoy onstage in Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, said, “I play Brian Wood, who was a soldier that served in Iraq, and he was involved in the Battle of Danny Boy. When he came home he was hailed as a war hero, on the front of the papers, people thought he was amazing. Then a human rights lawyer called Phil Shiner began to investigate him and thought there was wrongdoing. He was on trial for ten years, I believe.” 

He added, “Our story goes into his life when he was a bit younger, up until the trial. You see the trials and tribulations. It’s really about the grey area in the search for truth.”

As Anthony told Graham, Danny Boy isn’t a simple story of right and wrong. “What drew me to the script the most was how grey it was. It wasn’t judging the characters in it. It wasn’t saying, ‘here’s black, here’s white, here's a hero, here’s a villain’. I just felt it was, ‘here are people; some of them are making mistakes and some of them are getting it right’. I thought it was an incredible script.” 

When it came to portraying his character, Anthony explained to Graham that he didn't initially want to meet the real life Brian Wood before filming started. “I wanted to stay away from him, because I didn’t want to meet him, fall in love with him and be too sympathetic, or meet him, hate him or portray him as a bad person. 

“But then a week before we started filming I went, ‘okay I’ll meet him for half-an-hour and talk about the war stuff,’ but then we ended in a hall for about seven hours, eating Pret sandwiches and drinking soup. 

“We just talked about everything, about his life, about the war. He’s an incredible guy. He’s been through a unique singular experience that most human-beings haven't. We had him on set for the war scenes, which was invaluable. To have someone on set to say, ‘how was your breath right now’, or ‘what were you feeling in this moment?’”

Anthony went on to add, “He’s been nothing but supportive. It must have been such an exposing thing to share your life, to share the innermost details, especially the domesticity. He seems to be overjoyed by it. He’s got his book, it’s called Double Crossed. It’s great read if anyone wants to buy that, if they enjoy the show.”

Legendary actor Toby Jones plays the tenacious human rights lawyer who goes head-to-head with Wood. In keeping with one of the themes of Danny Boy, he is not a straightforward, black and white character either. “That’s the strength of the script,” Anthony noted. “It’s going to make people ask questions. It’s not spoon fed to you. It should inspire people to look into the case more, and these sort of cases… The testament to Brian is that he wanted to show the truth of it all. He wasn’t trying to show a clean, Disney version, He wanted to show the pain and the heartache. There is real strength in that. In being vulnerable and open and allowing us in.”

Adding to an impressive cast is Alex Ferns, who plays Brian Wood’s father. “He’s phenomenal,” Anthony enthused. “I saw him in Chernobyl and was blown away by that performance. When I found out he was going to play my dad, there’s no better man. He’s a real great guy, a really amazing presence and amazing character.” 

Danny Boy was written by BAFTA winner Robert Jones, and directed by Sam Miller, who previously directed the amazing I May Destroy You. Anthony told Graham that Covid-19 necessitated a change of plan when it came to filming the war scenes. “It was meant to be in Iraq, but because of Covid we ended up filming it in a ditch in Watford. The best acting I do in the movie is pretending to be warm!”

The start of the Covid-19 pandemic also caused Anthony to relocate, as he had previously been living in New York. Thinking that, “this Covid thing will blow over in a week or so,” Anthony and his brother made the decision to return temporarily to their parental home in Belfast, where he hadn’t lived since he was 18. “We were there for about a year. We had very thin walls. I could hear my brother sniff in the middle of the night. I was just there in my single bed, wishing I was back in America!”

Looking ahead, the actor will be appearing in Apple's World War II drama, Masters of the Air, which is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. “We’re in the third week of that now. It’s really good fun. It’s great, man… great cast, great directors,” he told Graham. 

It might be a while before we see that on our screens though, as Anthony confirmed that there is a long way to go with the mini-series’ production. 

“We haven’t been up in the air yet!”

Danny Boy will air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday 12 May at 9pm.

For more great interviews listen to The Graham Norton Radio Show with Waitrose, Saturdays AND Sundays from 09:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.

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