Horrifically violent MobLand season 2 villain ‘was inspired by Noel and Liam Gallagher’

Some TV villains are so nefarious and downright devious that they can terrify you even after the TV’s been switched off. 

I’m thinking of characters like Gus Fring, Ralph Cifaretto, and Richard Hillman – twisted small-screen psychos who are some of the best baddies ever to grace the small screen. 

And with the release of MobLand season two, there’s a new miscreant in their midst, none other than Frankie Cooper.

Played by Johnny Flynn, Frankie is a violent and ruthless drug lord who thinks the Harrigan crime family are yesterday’s news.

Yet Frankie isn’t your typical gangland thug; he’s less bombastic and more quietly menacing, with a disarming sense of fun that makes him seem more like Heath Ledger’s Joker than Tony Montana.

But when Metro met up with Johnny to chat about MbLand season two and Frankie, we asked if Heath had been an influence on his performance, and he admitted he was inspired by some Mancunian icons.

‘I can see what you mean [about the Joker],’ he began.‘I think he’s got that same superpower. You’ve got to believe that he’s not afraid, that he’ll go further than anyone in terms of staking a claim on something. That is scary to watch.

‘Somebody mentioned it earlier, but they picked up on the Gallagher Brothers, and that was a reference. I wanted to channel those formative years when you’re a teenager and the people that you think are really cool from the early 90s, mid-90s kind of vibe.

‘So I enjoyed giving myself a pageboy haircut and a sheepskin coat and everything because it gives you that swagger.’

He then admitted that there is some Keith Richard in Frankie’s DNA and maybe some Brian Jones as well.

‘You know, [Brian] in his latter years from the Rolling Stones, that sort of dead-eyed look and that kind of swagger, that sort of bravado that he has to have every time he walks into a room. That’s what I wanted.’

It’s interesting that when looking for inspiration, Johnny didn’t look at other TV villains, because his co-star, Lara Pulver, who plays the indomitable Bella Harrigan, thinks that’s what makes Frankie so dangerous to Conrad and Maeve’s operations because he’s not like them. 

‘Frankie’s not that old-school gangster in any way,’ she said. And generationally, for someone like Conrad, it’s difficult to get their head around this kind of enigma that’s coming for him.

‘I think it’s partly unknown with Frankie. It’s the unpredictability. He’s a very, very bright man. And as Johnny just alluded to, that confidence- you just don’t know how far that will go.

‘I feel like watching what Pierce does in season two is quite extraordinary in the sense that the cracks are starting to very much appear. But that unhinged unpredictability is almost clown-like, where he’s making you laugh one second and almost cry the next. It’s an extraordinary performance.’

So can Harry deal with Frankie? Well, according to Lara, she thinks he might be able to ‘reason’ with him before adding, with a smile, ‘and Bella could too.’

And without spoiling the fun, MobLand viewers will get to see the unlikely relationship between Bella and Frankie develop as the series goes along. 

‘Yeah, she has a good track record of intense men,’ Lara laughed. ‘Our first meeting was actually Johnny’s first day on set, and we got acquainted very fast…. Not in that way.

‘But she’s a Harrigan; they’re always in danger… It feels like part of your day-to-day, which is why they wear such extraordinary armour as people.’

MobLand season two has opened to an extraordinary 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and having watched the first four episodes, it’s easy to see why. 

This new series is fun, frantic and downright fantastic. In fact, you can tell that, despite the rumours, everyone had great fun filming it, and you don’t have to take my word for it. Pierce and Helen told me they had a ball, especially shooting (literally) the scenes of violence. 

‘It was so much fun. It was the best,’ Pierce said when I asked about the show’s bloody opening. 

‘That’s why people love the show. The violence is so over the top; it’s so ridiculous.’

‘It’s Jacobean,’ added Helen. ‘I would say it’s like a Jacobean tragedy.’

MobLand season two episode one is streaming now on Paramount Plus.