Olly Rix looks forward to Casualty’s 40th anniversary: Exclusive Interview

Olly Rix, known for his role in “Call the Midwife,” has joined the cast of “Casualty” as the new clinical lead, Flynn Byron, for the “Internal Affairs” boxset, a 12-part miniseries.

The series continues every Saturday night at 9pm on BBC One and if you’re behind, you can of course catch up with BBC iPlayer.

We had an exclusive chat with Olly about joining the iconic series…

1.Olly, Casualty is such an iconic show, what was it like when you walked onto set for the first time?

The set is pretty extraordinary, however the cast are always what make a show. That’s the only bit I’m ever interested in. I don’t tend to walk into any production with expectations, I just do my homework and turn up, but it quickly became apparent that the cast are wonderful. They are meticulous about the work they do and the medical aspects of the show and I like companies like that, so it suited me as an actor. It has been a pleasure to work alongside them.

2.The great thing about the programme is it has evolved from “here’s an accident and someone being treated” to exploring some very in-depth and hardhitting issues within the much more complex lives of the staff. Olly is a slightly flawed character, what’s that like to play? Are we going to see him failing?

Yes I think Flynn is flawed and it’s what interested me about him. He has glaring blind spots in spite of a high-functioning brilliance and the result is he frequently makes mistakes. He acts decisively and quickly and he backs himself, though that isn’t always the best course of action. However, one of the most interesting aspects about him is he doesn’t run from his mistakes, when he learns about them he faces them and makes necessary adjustments. I think watching characters reorientate and rethink their position is always a fascinating thing for an audience.

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3.This series is labelled ‘Internal Affairs’, can you tell us more about the themes we can expect?

Well this leads on nicely from the previous question. The series largely centres around this man facing numerous internal struggles and constantly asks of him is he going to do the right thing, is he going to protect the right people, are his actions borne out of the right decisions and what are those decisions. He’s a husband and a father but he has to step into a public facing role and lead amidst complex situations. It’s fertile ground for apt questions about identity and purpose and we continually ask these questions throughout the series.

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4.Casaulty has really upped things with the way it tells stories… I’m thinking back to the incredible blood themed episode at Christmas. Your first episode is told in an innovate way as well, right?

That’s correct, yes. My introduction was told using a pov method for a large part of the episode. I guess it’s an invitation to an audience to recognise that the show has a new perspective and we’d like you to come along for that ride. Shows evolve and change, there’s a reason it has run for such a long time and with the 40th anniversary approaching we are looking to constantly reframe the look and feel of the stories we’re telling. The character of Flynn acts as a bit of a catalyst for this overall evolution of the show.

5.It’s exciting for viewers to push the boundaries. How would you feel about a ‘one take’ episode akin to ‘Adolescence’ or a live episode, as EastEnders has done?

Again this leads on nicely from the previous question, which touched upon the character led nature of innovation. I’ve no doubt that there will be exciting and unorthodox ways in which to direct episodes coming up and I’m confident they’ll be done for the purpose of furthering character insight. It starts with the writing and progresses to the directing. That way there’s always a distinct choice rather than an attempt to simply do something quirky or à la mode.

6.Brilliantly, Casualty doesn’t shy away from the realities of what it’s like in an A&E department today. Have you had any experiences in a real-life casualty yourself that you can share?

I spent quite a bit of time preparing with ex special forces operators at two London companies: Andarta and Darkprism. Through discussion, physical training and extensive conversation we tried to discover a character that would inevitably move into an ED with a very unique perspective. He’s largely unphased by a standard ED because he’s done it in so much more extreme circumstances. However, the human realities of an ED and the realities of managing civilian staff are perhaps not his natural area of operations. So there’s a constant push and pull between things he finds a breeze and things he really struggles with. It’s a new and interesting way for the show to look at the ‘realities’ of an ED in today’s nhs and continue to investigate that.