We recently spoke to Catriona about her time working on the new Netflix series Dept. Q, starring Matthew Goode and Kelly Macdonald, as well as her time here at OSD. Catriona graduated from the One Year Course in 2022. Her credits include Hulu’s We Were the Lucky Ones and the BBC radio drama Charles Paris: So Much Blood. She was also selected for the Spotlight Scottish Graduate Showcase 2023.
By Omi Mantri
Congrats on Dept. Q! How was filming last year?
It was amazing. A wild ride. The scripts were being written and revised as we went along so I started the job not knowing how long I’d be involved or how big the part was. Initially, I was only hired for two weeks, maybe two or three scenes, it was the first two episodes. And then it ended up being five months!
What was the audition process like?
Really exciting. My agent called, which she didn’t usually do for auditions, to tell me about this Scandi-noir set in Edinburgh. I submitted a self-tape for Caroline Kerr (a young mum) and DC Wilson (young detective). I got a recall for Caroline which was in person with Olivia Scott-Webb (Casting Director) and Diane Mabbett (associate), and Scott Frank (Director) was on Zoom. I did the Caroline Kerr audition, and then he asked me to read for the other role. So, I went out, came back in, and read for DC Wilson. It was fun but I wasn’t sure how it had gone…
I left and got as far as Piccadilly Circus before my agent called and said, “Stop!! Where are you? They want you to go back. Go back, go back!” I went back, and they had me read with Aron Dochard (Aron and Cat play a double act in the series) for the first time. I thought I was just reading, but then I realized they were doing an impromptu chemistry read. The second time we did it, there was this immediate connection. It clicked.
They asked us to step out and then Olivia followed and said, “Scott’s thrilled. He said, we’ve found them, call their agents!” Which felt ridiculous and very Hollywood. Aron and I got in the lift and were like, “Did we just book a Netflix job?” It was kind of surreal. But then we didn’t hear anything for weeks. It felt like a long wait, and I was so happy when the offer came through.
What point did you find out that you’d be a recurring character?
Not until after our first week or two on set! Every time we were on set, it kind of felt like another audition, which was both fun and stressful. I had tracked
down Aron on Instagram (practising my detective skills) and thought, ‘We
won’t get it without each other’. So when we both got offers, we met up for
coffee and chatted for hours, and then started messaging lots about the characters. We didn’t have much info, so we had fun inventing who they were. And we sort of hoped if the characters were well-realised enough then we’d have more to do… It felt high pressure, but exciting.
I mean, in a way we didn’t really know until the show actually came out! Because you never know what’s going to be cut, whether it’s for time, because the scene didn’t serve the plot, or for any number of other reasons. Actually, no. Leah (Byrne) had watched most of the episodes before release and we three DCs have a group chat and she had told Aron and me that we popped up in most of the episodes.
What was your most memorable moment during filming?
Ooh. So many. But one moment that stands out was when a bunch of us went to Thurso for exterior shots of a ferry
*Spoilers ahead*
Aron and I went up to Thurso at the beginning of block 2 with Matthew, Alexei, Chloe, Steven, Tom and Alison. I just had one wee scene to shoot so spent most of the time in the ferry terminal making people play Bananagrams with me.
But I think there hadn’t been a decision yet about the fate of one of the characters. Scott wanted them to shoot themself but maybe there wasn’t consensus… so at the end of our scene he came over to us and was like, ‘we need to get your reactions to that moment now if we’re going to get it but we don’t have much time’. We had a few minutes where they just kept the camera rolling and Scott would yell ‘3, 2, 1 BANG’ and we’d react and then he’d go again just shouting ‘BANG’ at us from off camera. That was a fun, ‘this is my job?’ moment.
You grew up partly in Edinburgh. What was it like going back there to film?
That was amazing. I grew up there, took shows to the Fringe when I was at university and lived there again for a year or two before drama school, working in a bookshop. On my days off from filming I’d wander around lots of old haunts. Edinburgh is just my favourite city. I love it.
A beautiful full circle moment. The TV series is based on the book series by Jussi Adler-Olsen. Had you read the books before?
No, but I read the first one when I got the job because I like having stuff to do and I’m a nerd.
This series is based in a different place from the original books, right?
Yeah, the books were set in Denmark. It’s set in Edinburgh now. The books were an inspiration for the story, but characters and events are slightly adapted. For example my character, DC Wilson, doesn’t exist in the books. What was really exciting was seeing how Scott and the team reworked the story – we saw every draft as it came in for our episodes. Watching things change, like storylines merging or characters developing, was so cool.
Are there any specific pressures that come with playing a recurring role in an established platform like Netflix series, and how did you deal with them?
I didn’t know how much of the series I’d be in when I started, so that took the pressure off. But they bleached my hair a lot, and because I was in and out of filming, we had to re-bleach it every time to avoid roots. So I guess that was a specific pressure? In terms of trying to not kill my hair…
Aron and I were part of the ensemble, really. So we’re coming in after the leads have done many days back-to-back and long hours and I think it’s partly our job to kind of muck in and bring good energy. There’s a lot of waiting. Lots of time spent in the green room. So, staying ready is part of the job. Someone (John Candy) said something about how ‘Actors get paid to wait and then get to act.’ But it was such a lovely cast and crew, and everyone got on so well. So hanging out in the green room wasn’t any kind of chore.
You were also in HULU’s We Were the Lucky Ones before this. Was there anything you learned on set on that project which helped with Dept. Q?
I think doing We Were the Lucky Ones gave me that understanding of how a big set like that operates. What all the different roles do, and how you relate to them as an actor, that was so helpful. I’d like to think that things come when you’re ready for them. And had I got this job straight out of drama school it would have been incredibly overwhelming. But having had the experience on another big set, even though it was just a day of filming, that makes all the difference in the world in terms of demystifying things.
Have you always been interested in acting?
Sort of. We didn’t have a TV growing up and I read lots and wanted to be a writer. But I watched a lot of DVDs and I think when I was a teenager I got more interested in acting. I didn’t grow up seeing any theatre except my grandma, Marion, in amateur musicals in Kirkcaldy. I love theatre now, but TV and film acting is my first love.
Was there a particular moment in your life when you decided to pursue acting?
When I was a teenager, I remember seeing James McAvoy take off, and it was the first time I saw a Scottish person hit the limelight like that. I was living in St Andrews and it felt very far away from everything. And I didn’t know anyone in that kind of career. So seeing a young Scottish guy in Hollywood movies made it feel that bit closer.
How did you find transitioning from drama school to the industry?
The transition from drama school to the industry was hard, but I was prepared for that. After the showcase, I dove into auditions, even though I was scared, and spent any spare money on casting workshops. I also reached out to a director I met years ago, and we made some short films together.
A big part of it has been weekly acting gym. I met a girl from RCS, and we agreed it was frustrating not having a place to keep practising as actors once you graduate. We wanted to create a space for that, and I had started working at BOLD in Elephant and Castle. They’re so good at supporting young artists, offering subsidised space to people starting out; so we gather weekly to warm up, put scenes on their feet, and direct each other. Having that regularity and sense of agency after graduation has been huge. It can also be a really isolating career, so the sense of community is a big deal.
Looking back, are there any aspects of the training that you particularly value now that you are in the profession?
The stuff I come back to the most is still Kirsty McFarland’s movement work. So much of being an actor is just about stewarding your energetic resources. That was one of my big learnings.
Before training, it felt like I could either magically get into the right zone or I couldn’t. If I was tired or in a bad mood, I didn’t know how to access what I needed. Kirsty’s work wasn’t about getting into character; it was more about how to make my body and mind ready to do the job, no matter what state I’m starting in. I saw an interview with Andrew Garfield where he said “Being an actor means doing the job even when tired, sick, hungry” – because you’re a human body and conditions won’t always be perfect.
Kirsty’s training is about readiness: constantly asking, what do I need to be ready? Sometimes that’s Laban effort work to wake up certain energies, or Joanna’s (Weir-Ouston) breath work to calm my nervous system so I can go on set and focus. That’s the stuff I keep coming back to.
You’ve also written and produced several shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, created short films with your friends, how important is it would you say, for actors to create their own work nowadays?
It is important, I think. Particularly if you can find the people you want to work with. That’s key. Don’t overthink it, just take it step by step. If you click with people and have complementary skills, it’ll work. Set meetings, progress bit by bit. And give yourself deadlines! Like with one film, I realized my friends in Edinburgh were away for a few days and we (Ali, the director, and I) could have free accommodation. So, we set the shoot dates for then. We just had to have it ready by those dates, no excuses. That made it happen. So, yeah, my advice: find people you click with and then give yourself deadlines!
Is there anything you want to tell the readers?
Sure. I think just the importance of finding the fun in it, even though the lifestyle in this career can be psychologically taxing. The uncertainty of the job is tough. You never know what’s coming, and you can’t plan for anything. It’s emotionally draining and financially precarious. So, looking after yourself and each other is key. It’s good to try keep comparisons and competition out of it. Celebrate others’ wins, be happy for them, and keep people around you who will be happy for you too. It’s a very uncertain career and there are lots of ups and downs, so it takes a lot of discipline to try to keep paying attention to the positives. But it’s important!
Interview edited for length and clarity.
Quick fire Questions
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Film or TV?
Film -
Film or Theatre?
Film -
Classical or Contemporary work?
Contemporary -
Bodycon or Voicecon?
Bodycon -
Favourite subject at OSD?
Movement -
Favourite project at OSD?
Yerma by Federico García Lorca (Directed by Georgina Sowerby with Dylan Brown) -
Self-tape or In person auditions?
In-person -
What’s your favourite accent to do?
American -
What accent do you want to learn?
Contemporary ‘southern standard’ accent.
