He was named one of Variety’s 10 Actors to Watch in 2024 after a string of stellar roles in Alien: Romulus, Rye Lane and Murder Is Easy.
Now, the 31-year-old actor is playing life-and-soul-of-the-party Marcus in new British rom-com, The Road Trip.
The six-part series sees Marcus go along for the ride as best friend Dylan (Laurie Davidson) and his ex Addie (Emma Appleton) find themselves reluctantly making the 1600km journey to Spain together to a mutual friend’s wedding in a campervan after a bitter break-up.
What could go wrong?!
What type of person is Marcus?
Marcus is a maverick. He’s not very conventional as a character for a romantic comedy – he’s not very romantic for a start.
He has a very hard surface. But he’s funny and I think he means well.
He’s definitely the most extroverted character I’ve ever played and that was fun to find what that is and put that on screen.
Does Marcus learn and grow along the group’s journey across Spain?
This is a compliment to Beth O’Leary, the writer of the novel [the series is based on], as I read the book when I got the part. She’s a wonderful writer, very contemporary and very now.
Quite a good thing about living in our current society is that, as much as we define things, we also love things left being undefined. That translates to our story, because I think Marcus learns a lot of hard lessons and goes through a lot.
What was it like filming The Road Trip?
We started in Bristol, which I love, then you go from Bristol to Gran Canaria, where British meets Spanish in the various resort towns, then going from there to Madrid and filming in a warehouse on a giant stage, we had a road trip of our own!
In Gran Canaria we certainly missed all the British winter.
Spending all that time in the van, what was it like to perform in a small space?
I’ve acted in tight spaces before, but going from such vast spaces, like in the middle of the Gran Canarian highway, where we’d being doing these very empty shots in what seemed like the desert, and then moving to a stage where you just squeeze into the corner of this campervan, was interesting…
In Rye Lane you played a nerdy, shy character. Do you always choose the unexpected character?
I don’t think he’s nerdy at all, I think he’s quite masculine actually! Do I choose the outsider? I guess so. I just like redefining myself.
My tastes are different, and I feel there are some actors that play themselves. That’s totally fine, but there are some actors that go to different places and find new things and in doing that they find their enjoyment. I’m just one of those actors.
The cast seems to have a real chemistry…Everyone was lovely. [Director] China [Moo-Young] did such a good job in casting people that were not just good for the role but people that would get on with each other.
Especially with a show like this, we have deep moments in drama, because there are times when Marcus is absolutely horrible to Addie.
I remember there were times when I had to really apologise to Emma and she’s like, “It’s fine!” She was very generous.
Then Addie will say something horrible to me as Marcus, and that takes a certain level of trust, actors being comfortable with each other.
Is this more of a romance, a comedy or a drama?
It’s all about having a balance – good drama with the comedy. Sometimes I lean towards the drama but sometimes I feel we play quite silly and goofy.
It’s probably got a little bit more drama and romance to it. The comedy finds itself within it.
Are you a romantic?
Yes, absolutely. I love the romance of the world. I’m the kind of person to see something and go, “Look how gorgeous that is.” I think that is romantic.
The Road Trip is now streaming on Paramount+.
