Arwel
Played by Eddie Marsan
Starring as retired brewery boss Arwel is award-winning Eddie Marsan. Having recently wrapped Ridley Road, Eddie’s extensive credits also include Ray Donovan, Hobbs & Shaw, The Gentleman, The Power, Vice and Mowgli.
What was it about Pete McTighe’s script that appealed to you?
I liked Pete’s writing. When I read it, I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. It made me feel very much like an audience member when I was reading it - it really gripped me that much. Also, I’ve never done a Welsh character before and I’ve just coming back from working in America for eight years so coming back and doing something completely different is what I like to do. I like to have new challenges all the time. I’ve spent eight years playing a boxing trainer from Boston with stage four Parkinson’s so to play the wealthy owner of a brewery in Wales – someone with a traumatic past – it was a completely different character and somebody I’ve never played before and I thought ‘this is something I’d like to do.’
What can audiences expect from The Pact?
It’s really gripping. When I read the script, and what I’ve seen from the performances of the cast and the way it’s directed, I think it unravels very slowly and it’s compelling and you can’t wait to find out what happened. It’s fascinating and it’s a fascinating study of a group of women dealing with what happened and trying to deal with it collectively.
What was it like working with those cast members?
Oh, great! I do a lot of stuff with Laura Fraser and Jason Hughes and Jason was very, very kind to me. I was very nervous playing a Welsh character and all the Welsh actors were very supportive and very helpful. There’s some great performances and Laura was amazing. It was good to come back and play with such a professional bunch of actors, it was lovely.
What was it like filming in Wales?
Well I did a film years ago in Llandeilo in Wales so I like working in Wales. It was during lockdown so we were allowed to film but we had very strict Covid rules that we were following so I really didn’t get to see much of Cardiff. I wasn’t allowed out of my hotel room and I wasn’t allowed to go to any restaurants, I could only order takeaway food, but actually the countryside in Wales that we saw and filmed in was beautiful. It’s a lovely place.
