Blindspot offers something different to the classic crime cop thriller. The story centres on Hannah Quinn – played brilliantly by Beth Alsbury – a disabled woman who becomes convinced that she has witnessed the prelude to a murder while monitoring the CCTV on an estate.
She tries to get police involvement, to little avail, and begins to suspect corruption. Enter Ross Kemp, as Tony Warden, a disinterested and possibly corrupt police detective tasked with the case but seemingly unwilling to pursue it.
So begins a tumultuous relationship between the pair as the mystery unravels.
It is Kemp’s first acting role since his last EastEnders appearance seven years ago as Grant Mitchell, when he returned briefly in a number of episodes. Besides that, it’s been some 20 years since he officially left the soap in 1999.
That’s not to say he hasn’t been busy. Kemp, 58, has since become a Bafta award-winning documentary filmmaker, with hundreds of gritty and fascinating documentaries under his belt, ranging from Ross Kemp on Gangs, to the latest, Ross Kemp: Deep Sea Treasure Hunter.
Ahead of Blindspot’s launch, we sit down with Kemp to find out what drew him to the part and what viewers have to look forward to.
WHY WAS THIS ROLE THE RIGHT ONE FOR YOUR RETURN TO ACTING?
I think all the characters in it are slightly flawed. That’s part and parcel of what Blindspot’s about. They all have issues… Nearly everybody has a secret or is hiding something or has something in their past. So that was part of the interest.
Obviously, my dad was a copper. I think it’s a very interesting time in British policing right now. There are a lot of issues that we know are coming to the surface that haven’t been dealt with. And so I also wanted to humanise what it is to be a police officer in many ways because… the police are the public and the public are the police, supposedly.
And I think that isn’t probably the case in the eyes of most people out there right now, particularly those in the public, and I thought it would be interesting to try and humanise a police officer, with all his flaws.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE RETURNING TO ACTING AFTER SO LONG AND ALL YOUR ADVENTURES MAKING FACTUAL TV?
It was nerve-wracking. And I’d rather have gone and done a documentary in many respects, because when I first walked onto the set of EastEnders in 89, no one knew who that chirpy little cockney chappy was. And probably quite arrogant, and a little bit of a twit as far as I’m concerned now.
With hindsight and 130-odd documentaries behind me, I would hope that I’m a better, more level-headed, more rounded individual, and hopefully that will come through in my acting.
I was 100% nervous. Because there’s a greater expectation I guess, if you’ve got a recognisable face and you’ve been away from it for so long. But I really enjoyed it.
Normally, it’s me, a cameraman, director, and a sound-man and a local fixer in a car and I do the driving. And I was getting chauffeur driven to work… And I’d be asked to go into make-up and sit there and have someone play around with my bald head. And then I’d go into costume and some very nice people would put a costume on me.
So yeah, it was very different to what I’ve been doing over the last 20 odd years. And that was quite a nice experience. But also just to act again, to interact with other actors, was fun and enjoyable…
It’s different from making documentaries, but I suppose the most important part of being a documentarian is listening and understanding what someone is saying to you. That’s also pretty important when you’re acting. And I think, sometimes, people overlook that. And I think it’s really important to be believable, not only when you’re sending information but also when you’re receiving it.
CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER, TONY – WHAT YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT HIM AND HOW HE FITS INTO THE STORY?
Beth is the lead. Definitely. It’s all about really Beth’s journey, her character Hannah. And Beth’s character is the protagonist all the way through. I join her as a supporting co-lead, the supporting act to her.
And it’s about this unlikely friendship between the two characters who come from very different kinds of perspectives and outlooks, and how they come together to attempt to solve the thriller, or the mystery, or the whodunit – whichever you’d like to call it! And as I say, I think every character’s got some sort of flaw, apart from maybe Beth’s character.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE OF TONY, THE PROBLEMS THAT HE CARRIES THROUGH THE WORLD AND INTO HIS WORK?
He’s carrying personal issues. Not only in his relationship, but also with an incident that happened in his past… So like most people, he’s got more than one problem.
You don’t know whether he’s a bent copper or not. And the way I played it is that he doesn’t know. He’s not sure whether he’s going to become one, or is one, or not. So you don’t know pretty much up until the last episode what his modus is, and that was also appealing.
Blindspot airs on Channel 5 from 9pm on Tuesday, July 4.
