I landed a massive Netflix role after I dyed my hair ginger

Scottish Sun

3 days ago

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NETFLIX sensation Leah Byrne has revealed how she became a real head-turner – after deciding to go red.
The newcomer from Yoker, Glasgow, has been the standout as DC Rose Dickson in the new cop drama Dept. Q which rocketed to the top of the streaming service's charts.
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The newcomer has been the standout as DC Rose Dickson
Credit: PA
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Leah believes the highlight of her career came after she ditched her natural locks
Credit: Jamie Simpson/Netflix
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The series is based on the books Department Q by bestselling author Jussi Adler-Olsen
But Leah, 28, believes the highlight of her career so far came after she decided to ditch her natural dark locks for more of a copper-tinged Scottish look.
She says: 'My hair's normally dark brunette but I've dyed it for about three years now as I just felt like doing it.
'But yeah, since going copper, I think I definitely have a more Scottish look going on that has helped me get noticed because up until now I have mainly been working in theatre.'
One of the first major TV jobs Leah landed as a redhead was for Tennent's Lager's Ooft campaign which ran last year in the build-up to the Euros Finals in Germany.
And that proved to be a big surprise for the cast and crew of Dept. Q, which was filmed almost exclusively in Edinburgh last year.
She says: 'While we were filming, the football was on and the crew were in the pub next to the set when I started getting messages like, 'We've just seen you in a Tennent's ad'. That surprised them.'
But playing police cadet Dickson has proved to be her big break as she does not look out of place beside an all-star cast including fellow Scots Kelly Macdonald, Shirley Henderson, Jamie Sives, Kate Dickie and Mark Bonnar.
In fact Leah's role alongside Alexej Manvelov, as police station civilian worker Akram Salim, proves to be pivotal in the series which features Matthew Goode as DCI Carl Morck - the cop tasked with setting up the new cold case unit staffed by a bunch of police misfits.
The pair even appear in the promo poster for the show alongside former Downton Abbey fave Goode.
Leah says: 'When we saw we were in the poster we started texting each other saying, 'We've made it'. It's so cool. A dream come true.'
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Although Leah's older brother Nathan is also an actor, the pair do not come from a showbiz background with dad Pete working as a postie and mum Liz a retired call centre worker.
She says: 'There were no youth groups in Yoker so I used to get the bus into the city where I went to the Scottish Youth Theatre from when I was 11.
'I started those classes because I was the most shy child. I would just cry at the drop of a hat. I hated socialising, hated doing anything but joining the Youth Theatre gave me that bit of confidence I needed.'
Leah went on to study at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, graduating in 2019.
She adds: 'I met people at the Youth Theatre who believed in me and really pushed me to make acting a job. So thanks to them, I'm sitting here now.'
But Leah admits she was left starstruck during her first days on set alongside the likes of Trainspotting star Kelly, who plays therapist Dr Rachel Irving, however, she did well not to show it.
She explains: 'I did a self-tape (audition video) about two years ago now, and I remember reading the script and being like, 'This is amazing, this is so big, like, I really hope I get it'.
'Then I got the part which was like Christmas for me, just waiting for it to start filming.
'But when I got the full cast list through, I saw that not only would I be working with Matthew Goode himself, but also it was a list of just about every massive Scottish star there is.
'I remember meeting Kelly Macdonald and thinking back to when I was maybe like seven or eight years old and going to see Nanny McPhee in the cinema with my mum on a rainy bank holiday.
'She was Miss Evangeline. She's been part of my life, and then I was next to her in the make-up trailer getting my hair done.
'Did I mention that to her? No. I just said, 'Hi, how are you?'. But I'm sure if I had, she would have been cool because everybody who worked on this show was lovely.'
The Netflix series is based on the books Department Q by bestselling Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, with their Copenhagen setting swapped for the cobbled streets of Edinburgh.
And the show certainly shows the tourist capital in a different light, kicking off with an explosive start when three cops are gunned down at a crime scene.
Leah says: 'I think that's what the show does so well, is that we're not afraid to go to some dark and quite intense places.
'But I think also mirroring that, there's some really, really funny comedic moments too. Comedy shines through when you're in the darkest of moments.'
'I don't think you can have one without the other. And so I think that's what makes the show so special. It goes from being intense, but then the next scene you'll be laughing about something silly.'
She adds: 'That's what I love about Rose and the show in general. She is so colourful. She's like a beam of light that kind of jumps through.'
While Leah is definitely one of the country's most exciting acting talents, she is happy to admit that Rose's hairstyle helped her grab the limelight in a show packed with big names.
She says: 'I love Rose's hair. That was Lizzi (Lawson Zeiss), our hair and makeup designer, who found this amazing reference photo of a model with gorgeous tight, curly, ginger hair.
'We both fell in love with it and tried to recreate it, but I had quite short hair at the time. So Lizzi decided to just curl my hair and see what happens.
'By the end of it I had this gorgeous mop of curls that just felt so right. I then did a screen test and everyone said it felt like Rose.'
And despite her blossoming stardom, Leah has no intentions of going incognito anytime soon.
She adds: 'Ever since I've dyed my hair people have been so kind about it. I can't imagine myself without it now. So the copper is going nowhere - it's here to stay.'
All nine episodes of Dept. Q are available to stream now on Netflix.