Louie
Played by Eiry Thomas
Louie is brewery boss Jack’s aunt and retired boss Arwel’s sister. Content to work on the brewery floor alongside Anna, Nancy, Cat and Tish, Louie is played by Eiry Thomas. The three-time winner of the BAFTA Cymru Best Actress Award, Eiry’s TV credits include Keeping Faith, The Accident and Hinterland, while her stage credis include Woman of Flowers, The Glass Menageri and Measure For Measure.
Tell us about Louie, who you play in The Pact?
Louie’s nephew Jack is looking after the brewery and she has worked there for a long time. She has had various jobs in the brewery; accounting, she’s worked everywhere on the floor, she knows it inside and out. She’s very happy in that role of not being the top dog there. She likes being where she is. She’s in this gang with three other women and they’re close friends. Her friends are her family, that’s who she is.
What is her relationship like with Jack?
Her relationship with Jack was great when he was small; his mum disappeared when he was little so they became close. I think she helped a lot. As he’s got to his teens, he had different issues and problems and their relationship was strained, that’s where we find them at the beginning of The Pact. He’s taken over the brewery and I think the rest of the people in the brewery don’t think he’s what they expect him to be. I think Louie wants to try and tap him into shape, but he won’t let her, so there’s a little bit of friction.
What’s her relationship like with her brother Arwel?
When they were very small things happened to them that made them close. Since then, things have pushed them apart. I suppose like any brother and sister, they have things that draw them together and things that push them apart. She wants to try and close the door and get away from the things that have happened to her in the past, but at the same time she’s heading towards them. They have to try and sort out those issues.
How would you describe The Pact?
If The Pact was a beer… it would be dark, with bitter notes, but maybe with an unexpected kick at the end.
What attracted you to the character of Louie?
I love that she’s impulsive. It’s working out what those impulses are. I am quite controlling, I think, and I like to know what I’m doing. But she will fly. Suddenly something will happen and she will fly off the handle, or you’ll think ‘oh she didn’t react to that, that’s interesting’. She’s not one thing, she’s complex.
Why do you think The Pact will speak to universal audiences?
I love that it’s just a group of ordinary women who are in an extraordinary situation. I think that is something we can all relate to. I think you can go, ‘these women are not majorly special, they’ve got quite ordinary lives like all of us’. But something happens to them that throws all the cards in the air and the cards are landing in places they weren’t expecting. They’re not incredibly well dressed or super rich or anything. They’re just straight up, ordinary girls who find themselves in a bit of a pickle.
