Nico Mirallegro likes telling the truth. Performing, according to the former Hollyoaks and My Mad Fat Diary actor, is about telling stories in the most honest way. It is an attitude that should serve him well as the 25-year-old takes on his latest role as Timothy Evans, the man falsely convicted of the murders of his wife Beryl and baby daughter Geraldine, whose story is perhaps better known by his address at the time: 10 Rillington Place.
Real-life story
The real-life story of Rillington Place, which stars Tim Roth and Samantha Morton as infamous murderer John Christie and his wife Ethel, begins on BBC1 this week. The three-parter tells the tale of serial killer Christie, who acted as a prosecution witness in Evans’ murder trial and ultimately watched the young father hang for crimes he himself had committed. When Christie’s own murders were discovered three years later, doubts were raised about the integrity of Evans’ conviction. Christie later admitted to killing Beryl Evans, although never to the murder of Geraldine. The case was one of several which contributed to the abolition of capital punishment in Britain.
“He was a normal, everyday bloke just trying to make his way.”
The responsibility of playing Evans weighed heavy, admits Mirallegro. “The main pressure for me is getting it right and doing his family justice,” he says. “It’s always difficult when you’re playing a real character as you’re living actual scenes that this guy went through.”
To get inside Evans’ head, Mirallegro met with the Welshman’s half-sister, Maureen. “Some of the stories she told were quite personal to her, so I’m not going to repeat them,” says the actor when I ask whether she was able to shed any light on her brother. But he says talking to a family member gave him useful insight into who Evans was. “He was a normal, everyday bloke just trying to make his way.”
Spooky set
The fact that the death penalty was still around just over 50 years ago, though, is something Mirallegro finds almost impossible to get his head around. He also admits that, when filming the series, the set itself became a “spooky” place, with Roth rarely coming out of character. “I was always slightly on edge when he was around.”
Remakes
Of course, this Rillington Place is itself something of a remake. The story was originally told in the film 10 Rillington Place, with John Hurt winning a Bafta for his performance as Evans. What’s it like following in Hurt’s footsteps? “I actually saw him just after I’d auditioned for the part,” says Mirallegro. “He gave me a little bit of advice, so that was nice.” What advice did he give? “It was just funny things an older person might say to a younger person.”
“John Hurt gave me a little bit of advice, so that was nice.”
The BBC was criticised recently for broadcasting too many remakes. Does Mirallegro think Rillington Place is guilty of rehashing an old story? Should the BBC be focusing on new dramas instead? He thinks for a moment. “If it’s a real issue that can further society’s understanding of problems, then remakes are great,” he says. “We need things on TV we can learn from, that’s not just drivel. There’s too much of that; people are becoming obsessed by it.”
Soap star
It’s a point of view that one might not expect from an actor who started his career on a soap. But Mirallegro, who starred as Barry “Newt” Newton in Hollyoaks for three years, thinks soaps still play an important role in society. Some of his story lines cast a light on topics such as schizophrenia and suicide. “[Mental health] still has a terrible stigma, but I think people are beginning to understand that it affects so many of us,” he says. “[The Hollyoaks storyline] made me more understanding of it.”
“We need things on TV we can learn from, that’s not just drivel. There’s too much of that; people are becoming obsessed by it.”
He admits that soap actors can get typecast, and describes working on Hollyoaks as like being an “acting robot”. It was hard work, he says, with tight deadlines and multiple shoots running at once. “It’s impossible to make anything of real, substantial quality with little time and little resources.” That said, he credits Hollyoaks with teaching him the industry ropes. “I learnt more there than I have done in a whole heap of places,” he says. “It was a great place to grow up and become an adult.”
Part of growing up in the public eye can include dealing with unsavoury media. When I point out that a number of news sites have run stories referring to him as “totty” or a “pin-up”, he’s immediately sceptical. “You’re talking to a guy with a mouthful of chips, so I don’t care about anything like that,” he laughs.
Politically-minded
What he is passionate about is politics, as one look at his lively Twitter page confirms. “More than anything, I just want an equal playing field for everyone. Everyone deserves a chance. Is it political or should everyone just be fighting for everyone?” he asks. He doesn’t buy what many politicians stand for, although beleaguered Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is an exception. “I believe what he speaks is from the heart and it seems like he speaks the truth.”
Which brings us back to truth. Ultimately, Mirallegro wants to work on projects that tell that truth. He’d love to work with Mike Leigh, he says, or on a project such as Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake. “I just want to tell stories that I can learn from, and that can educate others.”
