Inside the gangster romance where characters and sparks fly
"I think there's just a lot of hope in this series," says actor Emma Laird (left) about BBC drama Mint, a love story set in a world of crime
- Published
"I've always been obsessed with gangster movies and TV shows," says Bafta nominee Charlotte Regan about the inspiration her new BBC drama Mint.
But growing up, Regan says she found herself finishing those films and wondering "what's going on with the women that we catch in brief glances or the characters that we're not used to seeing".
So the new eight-part series, written and directed by Regan, follows Shannon (played by Emma Laird) the daughter of a notorious crime family who falls for Arran (played by Ben Coyle-Larner, also known as musician Loyle Carner) from a rival group.
As their relationship develops, magical realism is brought into the series: fantastical elements of storytelling that see the pair floating mid-air and literal sparks fly, as well as slow-motion fight scenes that the director says were influenced by Macbeth.
The director says one shot in Mint was influenced by the visual and abstract battle scenes she saw in a recent adaptation of Macbeth
Regan, known for her debut feature Scrapper, explains she wants to explore the vulnerability of the characters - and to offer a different way to look at people.
Mercury Prize-nominated musician Coyle-Larner, known for songs like Damselfly, is making his acting debut with the role of Arran and says he was "moved" after reading the first draft of the script.
"I've been sent a lot of stuff over the years and I felt like a lot of it falls into the same narrative or fulfills the same stereotype."
"Any day with us three was really special", Laird says about working on set in Grangemouth, Scotland with Coyle-Larner and Regan
However, he says the character Arran "was soft and delicate at times and kind of wasn't built for the life that he was living in".
The actor adds: "I just want people to look at someone who looks like me on the street afterwards and second guess what they might be like, or what they're going through, or why they're in a position that they're in."
Laird, who starred in 28 Years Later and The Brutalist, explains why she was drawn to the role of Shannon: "It's tough to find really great roles for a woman and usually it's in the shadow of a man and that's cool and you can be a part of something great, but it's very rare that you have the women at the forefront of a story."
While the story of forbidden love and rival families might sound familiar, Regan likes to see Mint as a "role reversal" of Romeo and Juliet.
In Mint, Regan explains, we see Shannon dive "head-first" into the chaos and violence of the story, while Arran - despite his love for his brother and Shannon - doesn't want to be part of their world.
Director Regan often wondered what was going on with the women that she'd catch glimpses of in gangster films
A lot of the action in Mint takes place after the head of the family Dylan (played by Sam Riley) mysteriously steps down and sees Shannon, her mother Cat (played by Laura Fraser) and her grandmother Ollie (played by Lindsay Duncan) scrambling to retain control.
"I like seeing female characters who are complicated and flawed," Regan says, with one scene seeing grandma Ollie cleaning her gun while listening to an erotic audio book.
Regan, who earlier in her career made music videos for Mumford & Sons and Stereophonics, adds that a lot of Mint's style was inspired by "watching endless music videos".
And Coyle-Larner says he stayed on set even when he wasn't in a scene to learn from the crew. He even asked Regan for advice on a music video he was directing. Laughing, he says the director gave him some "pretty harsh notes".
You can watch Mint on Monday 20 April at 21:00GMT on BBC One and on iPlayer.
- Published25 June 2023
