Lisburn actor leads cast of new hit show

Richard, a former pupil of Laurelhill Community College, is well known on the local theatre circuit, and received rave reviews for his one man show ‘Hurricane’, which told the heartbreaking story of Northern Irish snooker legend Alex Higgins.

The Lisburn actor rose to worldwide fame for his role as Lord Beric Dondarrion in the hit television series Game of Thrones and now his latest role has taken him to the wilds of the Arctic Circle, where he plays the Sheriff Dan Anderssen in a small town with no crime, that is until the murder of a noted professor.

“Dan Anderssen is the sheriff of Fortitude, but at the beginning of the series people don’t know how good a sheriff he is because there is no crime in the town,” explained Richard.

“He’s a dependable and strong guy, who doesn’t say a great deal, then when things start to kick off he has to rise to the challenge and call on every skill he has as a policeman to cope with things.

“I loved the character of Dan, there’s a real soul to the guy.

“I really like his journey, he’s quite surprising as you start to get to know him.

“He’s a bit like a shepherd, very protective of his flock and of the town of Fortitude.

“Ultimately, Dan is a good man who does bad things, but he does them for the right reasons.

“It’s up for debate whether he’s right or not morally, but I think he’s right.

“He has a dark past, but he has every reason to behave the way he does.”

Richard is certain that fans of series such as The Killing will love this new show and is encouraging local viewers to tune in.

“They will see something they’ve never seen before,” he said.

“They’ll be uplifted, they’ll laugh and maybe even shed a tear at the end.

“There’s a brilliant ensemble cast, great scripting, a love story, it looks out of this world and it is absolutely terrifying. It gave me nightmares, and that’s saying something.”