A passionate double act

On The Sea team, from left, Lorne MacFadyen, director Helen Walsh and Barry Ward Photo: Photo Kat Gollock for EIFF

Although they grew up worlds apart actors Barry Ward from Blanchardstown, a housing estate in the north of Dublin and Skye-born Lorne MacFadyen found common ground to draw upon when they began to create their characters in novelist Helen Walsh’s second feature On The Sea, which world premiered over the weekend at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Barry Ward: 'When I got to a certain age I discovered you can find your tribe' Photo: Kat Gollock/EIFF

Set in a brooding Welsh coastal community Ward, 45, plays Jack who owns a mussel farming business with his younger brother and harbours a dark secret about his conflicted sexuality. MacFadyen, 33, portrays Daniel, a deckhand incomer with whom Jack embarks on a passionate relationship in a town where the Church holds sway and everyone knows each other’s business.

Ward, who at 13 found his first professional job in Roddy Doyle’s Family (directed by Michael Winterbottom), admits that coming from a working-class background there were resonances of a masculine world – “and there were certain attitudes that would not have been all that far away from those portrayed in the film. When I got to a certain age I discovered you can find your tribe and the city was not that far away. But in the isolated community portrayed in On the Sea those outlets are few and far between.

“I read the script and the world it described spoke to me with a brilliantly assured sense of place and people. The character was very entwined with the place. There were lots of parallels I could draw from.There was the kind of family dynamic I am used to: Irish Catholic and very conservative – that’s all there inherently as well as the religiosity of it and Jack’s moral standing in the community and what he was risking … I could totally relate to all those things that I had adhered to in life. And it was interesting to see what it was like to break free of those shackles. That is one of the things you can do in dreams and film-making that you do not necessarily get to do in real life.”

MacFadyen, with his remote upbringing, was also able to identify with the atmosphere. “It is difficult to talk about that without sounding disparaging about where you are from but to be honest there are a lot of quite traditional views which, if you are not of that persuasion, can be quite stifling. So just to be different (whether through sexuality or just through your life style) there are no secrets in a place like that – or the ability to be able to express yourself fully.

“I suppose I was a bit different in the sense that I went off to be actor which was almost like coming out in a way. It was tricky to carve out a career because there was no blueprint laid out before me for someone from my background. It was a bit of a leap but I did have this self-belief for some reason. My parents were very encouraging if not a little apprehensive for my sake. I certainly would encounter a little bit of friction occasionally, because the word actor carries quite a lot of hoity-toity connotations,” he says.

“The reality of an actor, however, is nothing like that. I would not like to compare my experience to the character in the film, but I could well imagine what it was like. Daniel’s sexuality is just a fact but his backstory is that he has had a lot of trauma and conflict but it is something for the most part he has come to terms with and moved on from. He is happy in his skin compared to Jack. It is interesting because of the ten year or so age gap between them, the dynamics are constantly in flux.”

Scene from On The Sea: Lorne MacFadyen and Barry Ward Photo: Courtesy of EIFF

With sex scenes that are robust yet sensitively handled and filmed with a genuine feeling of intimacy both actors were grateful for the presence on the set of Lisa Jen Brown, the production’s intimacy co-ordinator. Ward said: “When you’re working on a tight shoot you do not have a lot of time to spend on that kind of the stuff. But with Lisa around we were able to talk it through and choreograph it so that on the day it becomes technical. Those barriers and awkwardness have been done away with. And the issue of who does what and when is left in the air on the day. As an actor it doesn’t inhibit what I do and in the rehearsal period it is collaborative and you throw in ideas and then on the day things can change for all kinds of reasons.”

MacFadyen adds: “I have always found them [intimacy co-ordinators) really positive because as much as it is for safety and the comfort of the actors, it also fills the role in the same way as you would have a fight co-ordinator. It is to make the scenes more dynamic and interesting, particularly with this situation where there are not many scenes to tell the story and the dialogue is sparse. The sex scenes almost tell the story themselves in a short space of time.

Lorne MacFadyen: 'The sex scenes almost tell the story themselves in a short space of time' Photo: Kat Gollock/EIFF

“They say a lot more than what you just see. The director and writer [Helen Walsh] has such a gentle approach. I think may be it would have been different with a male director. In my experience with women directors there is a lot less ego – I know it is a generalisation and I don’t want to fall into stereotypes but there is some truth in it. I have also worked with a lot of amazing male directors who have fulfilled that role just as well. There is still a bit of resistance to intimacy co-ordinators too … but more likely from people who are more established actors and have been around for a lot longer. Because it is a relatively new thing people are still finding their way with it.”

Ward who is never short of a TV series such as the hit Bad Sisters, admits that his first love is cinema. “I have done quite a few low-budget independent films and there is always a brilliant sense of camaraderie and team playing. And given the budget restrictions you have to come up with solutions a lot of the time. With TV generally it is much bigger and you dip in and out of and it’s less of a family affair. It all goes on much longer and often you feel you have less of a voice to contribute.” He has just completed a feature in West Cork Everybody Digs Bill Evans about the legendary jazz pianist as well as Czech co-production Ungrateful Beings by Slovenian filmmaker Olmo Omerzu. He will be gainfully employed for the next six months on a Netflix series Grown Ups, an ensemble family drama from the best-seller by Marian Keyes, shooting in Dublin.

MacFadyen, with appearances in a long list of acclaimed TV series including Vigil and Shetland, starred as football legend Bobby Moore in ITV’s Tina & Bobby as well as playing the younger brother of Robert the Bruce in David Mackenzie’s Outlaw King. He considers himself fortunate to have worked consistently. “The last few years in the industry has been a challenge with the writers’ strikes, Covid and the LA fires which had a global impact. The risks being taken nowadays are a lot less because producers want to use established names and the parts that I was going up for ten years ago I am not being seen now because some ‘celebrity’ is being considered instead.”

Whatever else emerges from On The Sea the pair of them are now the best of friends. They live in the same London neighbourhood and when casting was confirmed they went out for a few beers to celebrate, bonding over Guinness and music. MacFadyen suggests that if it had been a first date they would definitely have ended up going home together. Meanwhile his girlfriend had messaged Ward to say: “If my partner is going to be snogging anyone on screen, I’m very happy it’s you!”

Lorne MacFadyen and Barry Ward ahead of the weekend world premiere of On The Sea as part of Edinburgh International Film Festival Photo: Kat Gollock for EIFF