By Georgia Weir
Copyright hellomagazine
The BBC has revealed a first look at their upcoming series, Mint, which is billed as a darkly comic and unconventional drama about a crime family’s inner life. Starring Emma Laird (The Brutalist, Mayor of Kingstown) and musician-turned-actor Ben Coyle-Larner, the first pictures show flickerings of a highly anticipated drama and its lead characters Shannon and Arran who are set to give viewers a glimpse at a soaring romance, a crushing heartbreak and what love might feel like when everyone outside of your family is terrified of you.
The series is created, written and directed by the acclaimed filmmaker behind the award-winning Scrapper, Charlotte Regan. Charlotte was also responsible for directing episodes of The Buccaneers and The Responder. The upcoming eight-part series, which was filmed in Glasgow earlier this year, is told through Charlotte’s “unique and distinctive voice” according to the BBC. Joining Emma Laird and Ben Coyle-Larner on the cast is Sam Riley (Firebrand, Control), Laura Fraser (Breaking Bad, Patience), Lindsay Duncan (TrueLove, Birdman) and Shetland star Lewis Gribben.
What is Mint about?
“At the centre of Mint is Shannon (Emma Laird), the naïve and fiercely romantic daughter of the area’s dominant crime family. Shannon is desperately searching for love in the shadow of her gangster father, Dylan, devoted mum Cat (Laura Fraser), older brother Luke (Lewis) and the indomitable family matriarch, Grandma Ollie (Lindsay Duncan),” the synopsis reads.
“Having grown up protected within the surreal, yet violent confines of the ‘family business’, things are set to change once Arran – played by acting newcomer Ben Coyle-Larner (better known as musician, Loyle Carner) – arrives on the scene. A story about soaring romance and crushing heartbreak, love, infatuation, darkness and tragedy, Shannon is trying to find herself whilst dealing with the plain weirdness of living alongside the lawless world of the criminal elite, and pursuing her own version of power.”
It’s not yet known when the highly anticipated series is set to air, however, Charlotte Regan, the show’s director and creator, said of the cast: “I had a little cry the other day thinking about how incredible this cast are. Absolute emotional wreck. But I honestly can’t imagine these characters being brought into the world by better human beings. Every single one of them is going to smash it and I feel so grateful to have them all onboard.”
