Prime Video's The Assassin star Gerald Kyd looks totally different after soap role
Keeley Hawes returns to our screens tonight in Prime Video's new crime thriller The Assassin - a six-part series about retired hitwoman Julie, who reunites with her estranged son.
Written by Fleabag 's Harry and Jack Williams, the series sees Julie face up to the past as her son arrives seeking answers about his father.
The Assassin features a number of established British stars - from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Freddie Highmore to Line of Duty's Shalom Brune-Franklin. However, there's one particular character that may make viewers do a double take.
Greek-Scottish actor Gerald Kyd takes on the role of Luka - a villager who sticks with Julie after surviving a local massacre. However, soap fans may recognise Gerald from his stint in BBC One's Casualty.
The actor took on the role of Sean Maddox in the medical drama from 1998 until 2000, marking one of his first-ever acting roles.
Sean was best known on the soap for striking up a romance with nurse Tina Seabrook (Claire Goose), before having an affair with her best friend Chloe (Jan Anderson) and impregnating her.
After leaving Casualty, Gerald took on roles in Brief Encounters, Sherlock, Silent Witness, Unforgotten, Doctor Who and more recently, The Split and Malory Towers.
Speaking ahead of the show's release, star Keeley revealed that she was left "shocked" by one particular detail in The Assassin. "[In] a show like this, you need to keep the humour, otherwise it would all become very serious very quickly," she said.
But opening up about how deadly the show proves to be for some characters, she said: "I was quite shocked at the body count... I kept thinking, 'That'll probably be pulled back', as these things sometimes are.
"You read the scripts, it's a great idea, reads really well, and then the closer you get to it, the body count gets smaller. You have to embrace that.
We have to see the human cost of that and that's important so it's not just literally ticking off bodies, and later on that does become a big part of the storyline, the human cost of the tragedy we see at the beginning."
While creators Harry and Jack added: "We lost count of the body count, which is a new one. It's called The Assassin, people are going to die.
"It's always fun, particularly the opening, there's a long shot. [Julie's] got to kill a lot of people, that just felt right for this kind of show."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Olly Alexander says It's A Sin helped him confront his 'fear of HIV and sex'... as Tatler cover star reveals what he really thinks of his Eurovision nightmare
To date, it is arguably his most successful acting role - and with good reason. Set against the backdrop of 1980s London, the Russell T. Davies scripted It's A Sin won multiple awards for its heart wrenching portrayal of a gay community torn apart by the ravages of AIDS. But it was Olly Alexander who commanded the screen as Richie Tozer - a fun-loving young actor who would ultimately fall victim to the disease. Already established as lead singer of pop group Years & Years, Alexander, 35, consequently received multiple award nominations, while the show earned a BAFTA TV win for its harrowing portrayal of a society left blindsided by the AIDS crisis. Reflecting on his involvement in the Channel 4 mini-series with the September issue of Tatler, the British star admitted accepting the role helped him face an uncomfortable truth. He said: 'I didn't realise it until I went towards it, but I had inherited this fear around HIV and sex, which is connected to the shame I had about being gay. 'It helped me unpack all of that. I never understood actors who say they brought their characters home with them until I did.' In It's A Sin, Tozer is an openly gay man among friends, but remains closeted to his parents until they are forced to confront his sexuality head on after discovering he has AIDS. While Alexander has always been open about his own sexuality off-screen, he admits a media advisor warned him not to 'come out' to the public when he first entered the music industry in his twenties. 'You'd never give that advice now, and it was terrible advice then,' he said. 'I knew it was never really going to be an option for me, but it did feel like a fork-in-the-road moment.' But North Yorkshire born Alexander admits his own journey as a young gay man confronted by the bright lights of London mirrors that of Tozer. 'I feel like a lot of my identity has been fostered in London,' he said. 'I was a very young gay boy, too scared to go out until I was 20. 'Then I would just go to every club: Madame Jojo's, East Bloc, Dalston Superstore, The Joiners Arms and The George and Dragon. 'I was there every weekend, trying to find my people. It was just joyful chaos.' Away from the small screen, Alexander released solo album Polari - his first without Years & Years - in February, just nine months after representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. With his pop star pedigree, there were high hopes for the singer after he announced his involvement in the annual competition and unveiled his chosen song, the upbeat electro-pop single Dizzy. But it would end in bitter disappointment for Alexander after a sexually charged performance at Sweden's Malmö Arena failed to impress viewers across mainland Europe, with the United Kingdom winning 46 points and finishing in a miserable 18th place. 'Now that I've had a bit of time away, I'm so proud I got to do it,' he told Tatler. 'But it was also very stressful, it can be very vulnerable and isolating.' After years of failure at the competition, Alexander admits he'd predicted the outcome long before he took to the stage. 'Everyone said, 'You're going to bring it home, Olly'', he recalled. 'I knew I wouldn't.'
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Esme Creed-Miles appears to confirm engagement to girlfriend Daisy Maybe as Hanna actress shares adorable new snaps with very telling clue
Soon to play hopeless romantic Marianne Dashwood in the new film adaptation of Sense And Sensibility, Samantha Morton's daughter Esme Creed-Miles is enjoying her own love story off screen. After coming out as a lesbian earlier this year, the 25-year-old has made a very modern declaration of love for her girlfriend Daisy Maybe. Esme, whose father is actor Charlie Creed-Miles, posted a picture of the British singer and model, and captioned it with engagement ring and love heart emojis, prompting much speculation the couple plan to tie the knot. They were congratulated by friends such as Noel Gallagher 's daughter Anais, who wrote in a caption: 'Congrats.' DailyMail has contacted Esme's representative for comment. It comes after it was announced that Esme is set to join Daisy Edgar-Jones in a new adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. Esme, whose father is actor Charlie Creed-Miles, posted a picture of the British singer and model, and captioned it with engagement ring and love heart emojis, prompting much speculation the couple plan to tie the knot Sense and Sensibility is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, as they come of age. They are forced to leave their family estate after the death of their father and move with their mother and younger sister, Margaret, to a cottage in rural Devonshire. The novel details their experiences of love and loss, and the pressures of late 18th-century England. The upcoming remake will follow the 1995 Oscar-winning film starring Emma Thompson and a 2008 mini series which featured on the BBC. The first cast member to be announced last month was Daisy, who will take on the leading role of eldest sister Elinor Dashwood. She is no stranger to book adaptations, having already starred in the BBC's version of Sally Rooney's Normal People. In her ELLE US cover story, she spoke about the importance of playing layered characters. She said: 'It's great that more and more stories are being made with women front and centre.' She continued: 'I feel lucky that a lot of the characters I've played have had that. 'They aren't defined by their actions or their experiences, or by the men in their life.' On July 11, Deadline reported that Esme had been cast as Marianne Dashwood, Elinor's emotional sister. She shared an Instagram post celebrating the big news with a shot of the book and her script next to Daisy's. Alongside the post, she penned: 'Gratitude beyond. ❤️' Other cast members include Caitríona Balfe, George MacKay, Fiona Shaw, Frank Dillane, Herbert Nordrum, and Bodhi Rae Breathnach.
Telegraph
10 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘I've had death threats': Why Edinburgh Fringe isn't safe for Jews
Edinburgh's Niddry Street comes alive during the city's annual Fringe festival. Like so many roads in the heart of the Scottish capital, punters pack into bars and clubs on the narrow thoroughfare just off the Royal Mile to see everything from stand-up comedy and musical theatre to university student productions and improvisation. Comedian Philip Simon has performed there for the past few years; so much so that, on his posters for this year's festival, he described his shows as 'staples of Niddry Street'. Events of the past week, however, mean that Simon's promotional material is now out of date – and he has no desire to go anywhere near the venues at which he has previously had such a good time. First, Simon and his fellow Jewish comic, Rachel Creeger, had their shows cancelled by the Whistle Binkies bar less than two weeks before the festival started. It was claimed that venue staff raised 'safety concerns' as a result of the extra security put on amid the escalation of the war in the Middle East and the knock-on effect for British Jews. His run of gigs, Jew-O-Rama, is a showcase of different comics, while hers, Ultimate Jewish Mother, is an interactive stand-up show that has also played at the venue for years. Neither show is political, or about the Israel-Hamas war. But they are the only shows with 'Jew' in the title, and the only ones cancelled by Whistle Binkies this year. Then Simon had a second run of gigs, Shall I Compere Thee in a Funny Way?, axed by the neighbouring Banshee Labyrinth after its bosses trawled his social media profiles. It was decided that his attendance at a vigil for victims of the Hamas attacks of October 2023, and public calls for a return of the hostages taken into Gaza, were beyond the pale. He was told that 'it is inappropriate for us to provide a platform for performers whose views and actions align with the rhetoric and symbology of groups associated with humanitarian violations'.
