Wired: Laurence Fox interview

Laurence Fox plays Phillip Manningham

How would you describe your character?
He’s definitely a bad man. His character is a sort of narcissistic, masochistic, narrow minded, violent bully. Not a pleasant chap!

Phillip comes across as very manipulative. Is he very different from characters you’ve played in the past?
Yes he is. It’s really nice as an actor to let loose sometimes and have a go at a character like Phillip. He’s interesting because he’s seemingly weak but also strong.

Does he have a softer side at all or is he just evil through and through?
Yeah definitely, everyone has a softer side don’t they? He’s definitely got a softer side; I don’t think people see it very often though. I think more than anything he wants to prove himself, to Manesh especially.

What’s his first impression of Louise? Does he choose her because he thinks she’s going to be an easy target?
To some extent, but I think he still selected her carefully. He’s well aware that this is a really big deal, and I think he needed someone that could do the job. Louise is intelligent and capable, but she’s also struggling to bring up a daughter alone – to Phillip that’s the perfect situation.

How does his relationship develop with Louise? How does he end up bribing her?
He senses quite quickly that she might be on the make as well, which she is, so tries to use this to wind her in. The only problem is that he doesn’t know what he’s getting into with her. I think he really underestimates her.

Why does it start to go wrong?
I think that everyone starts to underestimate it (the deal). They all think that it’s going to be fine so they sort of let their guard down.  When Manesh decides to take control with violence; Phillip just takes a back seat. He really believes that it’s going to be fine and he should just trust Manesh. He definitely doesn’t think he’s going to die, he thinks he’s invincible.

What attracted you to the role?
I found the character really interesting and I enjoy playing roles, like Phillip, where you can play with them a bit. He’s very determined and I like that he saw what he wanted and just sort of went for it.

Do you have any memorable moments from set?
I think the whole thing generally was memorable; working with the cast and working with Kenny the Director. Everyone was really professional and really gave 100%.

What do you have coming up next?
I’ll be working on Lewis for the next few months, so not much time for anything else.