‘My character in Netflix thriller Unchosen does deplorable things – I had to love him’

Netflix’s new drama Unchosen is as haunting as it is mesmerising.

The psychological thriller, which has already soared to number one on the top 10 chart, takes place in a setting that I know very little about – a religious cult in modern-day England.

Even Fra Fee, who plays escaped prisoner Sam in the series, was astounded by what he learnt while preparing to play his ‘traumatised’ character.

‘I had no idea that so many groups like this existed in England,’ the Irish actor tells Metro. ‘I’m a real sucker for a documentary about separatist communities.’

As the Hawkeye star points out, documentaries about cults often are about American communities. So, placing this fictional story in the UK, where there are apparently more than 2,000 cults in real life, made it the ‘perfect setting for a drama’.

Sam enters the story as an outsider, both on the inside and the outside. He’s led a turbulent life, having been in prison since he was 16 and recently escaped. He’s tattooed and dishevelled, a stark contrast to the immaculately groomed members of the ‘Fellowship of the Divine’ faith. Especially in comparison to dutiful wife Rosie (Molly Windsor), with whom he forms an undeniable connection.

‘The character of Sam was so brilliantly conceived. He’s wonderfully complicated and complex, and to try and figure out what makes him function and why he behaves in the way that he does was a real gift of an exercise,’ the 38-year-old shares.

‘I, rightly or wrongly, really learned to love him because he does some seriously dubious stuff in his lifetime.

‘At the beginning of the show, we see him escaping from prison for doing something obviously very bad, and his actions continue to be seriously questionable throughout the course of the story. But he’s a real survivor and a master manipulator. What a brilliant character to get to play – I felt very lucky.’

Many people who watch Unchosen might believe that it would be far-fetched for an average person to be enticed by a cult’s ideology. However, in Sam’s case, it could be seen as somewhat reasonable that he would find the environment appealing.

‘His life has been chaotic up until that point, and he’s just come from prison where he’s been for 16 years. So to have a world that is serene and ordered, and everyone has their place, and there’s a sense of communion within everybody, there’s something very, very appealing about that,’ Fra states.

In Rosie’s sheltered life, in which she’s married to her devout husband Adam (Asa Butterfield) and abides by the laws of her faith as laid out by their leader, Mr Phillips (Christopher Eccleston), it might appear as though Sam emerges from nowhere.

In episode one, Rosie’s daughter Grace (Olivia Pickering) is drowning in a lake when Sam dives in to save her, having recently escaped from prison. Rosie has her guard up, knowing that he’s an outsider and therefore deemed an ‘Unchosen’, but she can’t help the feelings that she begins to develop for him, especially when she provides a roof over his head.

Rosie is aware that Sam has a turbulent past, given that he was in prison, but there’s far more to his story that he initially keeps hidden from her.

‘I was very fortunate that Julie had written an extensive backstory for Sam,’ the actor reveals. ‘She was really adamant that she wanted this to come from a real place and for me to fully understand why he behaves in the way that he has.

‘I had this brilliantly comprehensive backstory that involved his mum, who was a very, very good and attentive mother, but she abandons him because she can’t cope with the abusive husband, Sam’s dad. So he grows up with this really bad example of a father figure, and then the issues with abandonment trauma result in emotional dysregulation, and he can dissociate. So my research was about the psychological effects of trauma on a kid.

‘That was all extremely useful, because I had to understand Sam. I had to love him, even though his actions are deplorable and the way he behaves is not the way a normal, functioning adult should behave, but I had to love him, and I had to figure him out. A lot of my research was based on the psychological effects of trauma and abandonment.’

Sam isn’t the only character who will take viewers by surprise. Asa, who’s best known as the good-natured Otis in Sex Education, delivers such an amazing, dramatic performance’, Fra promises, adding: ‘I think people are going to be blown away by his different facets of skills.’

Molly, who previously starred in The Unloved and Three Girls, ‘leads this show with such grace and integrity, and she’s got such a phenomenal ability to carry so much emotion with such stillness’.

Meanwhile, it sounds as though Doctor Who star Christopher was just as terrifying to witness transforming into a cult leader in person as he was on screen for audiences.

‘He has such a warmth to his smile and his general aura, but then as the story unfolds, what his demons are, particularly when he’s had a drink, his behaviour and attitude towards the women in his life or the women in the community is so disgusting,’ Fra says.

‘When he is presenting himself as the goodly leader of this group, he’s so warm. It’s just a fantastic performance that I suspect he was able to draw on a lot of inspiration in the real world for. I was blown away by him.’

Mr Phillips’ wife, Mrs Phillips, played by Downton Abbey legend Siobhan Finneran, also has ‘dual personalities’, resulting in some of the most emotional moments in the whole series.

‘She’s so stern, and she’s such a stalwart of the community and the rule book, and she fiercely is fighting for the survival of this community,’ Fra outlines. ‘But there’s this deep, deep sadness and pain within as well, and to see them play both sides of their characters, personalities, it’s quite incredible.’

With early comparisons made to The Handmaid’s Tale and Midsommar when the trailer for Unchosen was released, how are viewers going to feel by the time they reach the end of the series?

‘Like all of the best TV, you can imagine the story continuing, but also it’s a very, very satisfying closure, if it were to be that,’ Fra promises. ‘Everyone’s got their own journey and their own demons to deal with.’

Unchosen is available to stream on Netflix.

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