Interview with Lewis Gribben who plays Danny

11 October 2022

How would you describe Danny?

Danny is a very young 18-year-old, very happy, loves his dad, very into romantic comedies and romantic music. He’s got more and more interested in the outside world, but still believes in his dad (Rory Keenan), that he’s trying his best and trying to protect him. But Danny’s also a very curious individual who doesn't really know what it's like to be cool, or have any idea of how to change himself. He can't really adapt in social situations so he's unapologetically himself, very innocent and vulnerable. So a nice guy, if a bit weird!

 

How would you characterise Danny’s relationship with his dad, Steve?

Very complicated. They love each other and care about each other, because his dad's been the only person in Danny’s life for so long. But at the same time, there's emotional manipulation because Steve has created this fiction about monsters roaming the world outside the house. Steve is so overprotective that he's denying him what he really wants, which is to experience these so-called monsters and try to fend them off. The longer things have gone on as Danny goes through his teenage years, the more it looks like a relationship that’s going to break at the seams.

 

A lot of people might imagine their relationship is straightforward child abuse. Is the reality more complex?

Yeah, the only thing I could compare it to was stories about kids being trapped in their houses and starved. People could view Steve as an abuser, manipulating his child to believe certain things, but it comes from his irrational fear. Imagine losing the love of your life and you only have your child, and you're completely driven by the fear of them being knocked over on the road or something happening at school? He wants to protect Danny so badly that he is willing to, in a really complex way, damage his son to keep him safe. You feel for every single person in this show, including Steve.

 

How does Danny react to finally being in the outside world?

He freaks out. He's never really seen anyone else before, so to wake up in a hospital bed is foreign in itself. He has a mini-panic attack when he finally meets his Auntie Sue (Lisa McGrillis) and cousin Aaron (Samuel Bottomley), people he never knew existed – it’s a bit of a culture shock. There are moments, especially in the first episode, where he does find wonder in the wind chimes or the grass or cars on a motorway, but for the most part it’s frightening and confusing. I think Danny expects to be killed and eaten by a savage beast within five minutes because of what his dad has told him.

 

Does he want to connect with people, or would he ideally live in his own head?

I think he does want friendship and Aaron is the gateway to that, because Danny's not grown up with anyone his own age and he doesn't know what's normal. He’s never watched live football, he doesn't know ordering a beer is more normal than a Martini for his age group. He is just authentically himself, which is quite powerful because people will like him for him and not what he wants to project, unlike Aaron who feels he has to live up to a certain image.

 

Why do you want to get involved in Somewhere Boy?

It was so different to things I was reading for. I've always liked the whole outsider quality of certain characters because everyone feels too polished or popular in a lot of dramas so there's a suspension of disbelief. The idea of someone trapped in one environment and finding the outside world alien was so good because normally, it's a regular person in an extraordinary world. Somewhere Boy flips it so it's an extraordinary person in an ordinary world. I found that fascinating. And it starts off so dramatically: two minutes of normal conversation, then it goes dark, and I like dark stuff.

 

Are you a fan of movies and songs from the 1940s and ’50s, like Danny?

Rebel Without a Cause is one of my favourites – I love that idea of being a teenager and trying to figure out who you are against the establishment and traditional parenting. I also love this communist singer called Louis Jordan, who does a lot of comedic songs.

 

Danny does some karaoke during the series. How was that for you?

I did two songs and I actually preferred the one they didn’t use! It was terrifying because, although I've done a bit of musical theatre, I’m not much of a singer. My karaoke choice would probably be rap, something like Eminem’s Without Me. For this, then the extras started clapping after my rehearsal and I was like, you're going to have to hear this 20 more times…

 

Could you relate to Danny?

100 percent. I've always felt like an outsider in my own world. Before I got into acting. I used to talk to myself incessantly, in little voices and characters. I could see that element of me in Danny, and of him wanting friendship, love, romance, understanding, the quest for solace. I don't feel like I fit in, but I'm going to find a way to fit in by being who I am. I understood the outsider thing of trying to fit into a world you don't feel like you should be in, but want to be part of. Being an actor feels like it was never the path I was meant to go on, but I fell in love with it – that desire to get into it was as strong as Danny’s desire for vengeance.

 

Was it hard to become Lewis again at the end of a day’s filming?

It was a bit weird because I’m from Glasgow and Danny is from northern England, so I had accent coaching. One day before we started, I decided I wasn’t going to break it – I’d convince everyone that I was from Leeds. For the darker stuff in Danny’s life, I wondered what I would do if I came back to my own childhood house to find everyone I loved had gone, or my friends or parents dying, or having my heart broken… How I would cope if things Danny faces happened to me in real life. It was hard coming home to my flat on my own, living with it even when I wasn't filming, but I felt a sense of mourning for a solid month after we wrapped, because I've never invested so much of myself into a character.

 

How was it working with Sam after your 2019 film Get Duked!, and also with Lisa, who you worked with on Deadwater Fell?

Chemistry reads are really tricky if you're meeting someone for the first time and having to bounce off them, but when it’s someone you know, it's brilliant – there’s more energy. Get Duked! was bizarre and funny, this was more serious, but having that relationship really helped. Lisa is so funny and down to earth, she’s not afraid to take a slagging and slag you off back, which I love. I could really speak to her about my nerves and any stress or worries I had, because she's such an open, loving and caring person.

 

What was the most challenging aspect of the shoot?

Being vulnerable enough to do my first-ever intimate scene and feeling comfortable about it was a real challenge. Those scenes were very difficult, but on the day everyone was really loving and respectful and realised I was terrified. I’m dead proud of what we accomplished there.

 

 

Was there a personal highlight from filming?

The crew that I worked with. We had so much fun despite how dark the show is. That’s what I needed, because if people had been too serious all the time, I would have been depressed at the end of every day. They were so encouraging and supportive, I feel like I've made genuine friendships with that crew. If Danny's story continued, having them come back to work on it would be brilliant – and I know Pete Jackson has had some ideas…

 

What’s next for you?

I could be very boring and do the whole, “Oh, I've got this coming out.” But really, I’d like to get respect from being in a show like this. There's a very small circle of well-known actors in Scotland, and unless you’re in Hollywood films or something like Outlander with big American backing, people don't really know who you are – you're in the midst of loads of other actors. I want people to go: who the hell is that? And after that, whatever will be, will be.