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PHOTO: Connor Swindells (David Stirling) (Image: BBC/Banijay UK/Robert Viglasky)
Interview with Connor Swindells who plays David Stirling in SAS Rogue Heroes – debuts January 1
What can viewers expect from the second series?
The second series of SAS Rogue Heroes introduces a lot of new and interesting characters, we see David Stirling missing out on a lot of the action that’s happening in Italy. It’s very different, there is a lot more civilian influence and storytelling in the show which is totally different to what we saw in the desert, this is a new obstacle for the guys of the SAS to face.
Where did we leave the SAS at the end of series one and where do we meet them in series two?
We pick up after David Stirling’s capture and Paddy Mayne being allocated the new leader of the SAS. We now find Paddy leading his boys in a very Paddy-like fashion whilst David rattles away in his cell very begrudgingly. Largely, the story for David’s part is him coming to terms with the fact he is missing out on all the action – which is how I felt too, because I was missing out on all the fun! Everyone was shooting in very wonderful conditions and I was in a cave.
How has it felt to return to this role?
It’s been great to step back into David Stirling’s shoes, after the first series I didn’t realise how much I’d miss playing David. I felt really honoured and extremely grateful when I got the call to come back. Slipping back into his shoes was something that was surprisingly very easy and also something that I really enjoyed. He is such an interesting character and I felt like I only got to scratch the surface in the first series, so picking him up in a completely different environment was really fun.
What is like to play a different side to this role in such a different context?
It’s been an extremely fun challenge to play someone who is so unafraid to take up space in a room but has been confined to a particular corner of a dark and dingy place. He can’t do anything about this and he has to relinquish control. He’s someone who has always been trying to gain control by opening himself up to failure a lot of the time, that’s what I tried to play with in the first series and what Tom Shankland (series one director) and I mined. I think during series two the challenge has been that this is about David being on his own for the first time in his life, and for me as an actor that’s really fun. It was a challenge to shoot at times, but ultimately it’s been a great joy and an honour.
It’s been a completely different job really, a strange experience because the first series was so intense for such different reasons; we were in the desert, fighting the elements. For me this time being away from everyone in the big group, it felt like such a different experience. But I’m really glad that we got to tell David’s story.
What were you most excited about after reading the series two scripts?
The main things were David’s problem-solving brain and putting that into action, and him descending into madness. He’s thirsty and malnourished. I lost a lot of weight for this series. I knew in reading the scripts I was going to have to and that was a big challenge, as it’s something I’ve not done before. I felt like I had to do that in order to get to this place, I had to try and live as much like David as I could. To feel the hunger of ”I need to get out of here”. I didn’t realise how helpful it was going to be to lose weight for a project like this, but it was really helpful.
Eve is back for series two as well?
I really enjoyed working with Sofia for the first series, being able to tell more of the story between David and Eve has been really fun. As always with TV these things are shot so quickly and Sofia is so great at getting into the rhythm so brilliantly, and helping me along the way a lot of the time as well. We did a really great job I think of carving out a nice story for those two. Eve is a primary motivator for David’s desire to escape, alongside missing out on the action of it all. Having that be a driving force for him was really important for the arc we all created for David across the series.
We get to meet David’s older brother Bill this series. How would you describe him, and how does he shake up the dynamic?
In series two we meet Bill Stirling, played by the ever profound and brilliant Gwilym Lee who is a dear friend of mine. I was extremely happy to hear when he told me he was going to play my big brother. He’s brilliant, more of a voice of reason in the Stirling family who tries to follow in their father’s footsteps, more than David did.
What were the locations like for shooting the prison scenes?
The prison set has been actually quite hard. We’ve shot in a couple of different places, one of which was an old World War Two barracks, this amazing fortress built into a cliff in Chatham. There was a great long walk to get there and thin passages we had to crawl through. It was really interesting to be fortunate enough to shoot in a place that was used in World War Two. But it was hard, with a lot of creeping around on my hands and knees. And yes there were a couple of rats I got the great privilege to work with in some scenes. They were very cute, very sweet and I enjoyed that a lot – they enjoyed eating biscuits off my chest.
What has it been like working with Stephen Woolfenden?
He’s such a brilliant collaborator who’s had some brilliant ideas. He’s really allowed me, with David in this unknown environment, to be extremely in control of the emotional arc during this period. Stephen’s also has some amazing input and I feel privileged I’ve got to work with him, he has brilliant insight for the story and the time.
How do you think series two differs from the first?
I think series two differs a lot in visual terms – it’s a different paintbrush used in a completely different way. It’s change for the better I think, as in the first series we saw these characters in a very extreme environment, and now we’ve put them somewhere that’s very different but no less interesting and we see them work out how to flourish once again. There’s a stark difference between who they were as people – they’ve all grown and they continue to do so whilst going through a deeply horrific, dark period of history. Steven Knight has said before that these might be the guys who got thrown out of pubs back in peacetime, but in war they’re the guys we need. We see this again with them in Italy, in a brilliant way.
About
Spring, 1943. Paddy Mayne takes control of the SAS following David Stirling’s capture, as attention turns from the conflict in North Africa to mainland Europe. But GHQ have cast doubt over the future of the regiment, while the creation of a second unit and an influx of new arrivals make things even more difficult for the men. Can they prove that the SAS remains essential to the war, wherever it may lead them? Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name.
SAS Rogue Heroes series two is available in full on BBC iPlayer from 6am on New Year’s Day, and airs on BBC One from 9pm that night.
Source
BBC One