Ash Hunter – Harlots

By starrymag | July 17, 2019

By: Jennifer Verzuh

 

 

Q) What are the recent projects that you are working on?

 

A) Before I filmed “Harlots” I worked on the UK version of Hamilton for a year and a half as the alternate Hamilton. I played the lead on Monday nights before I ended up taking on the role full-time. I started “Harlots” two days after I finished on stag and jumped into filming for six months. After that I took like three holidays because I needed it! I think I was working for maybe two and a half years all the way through, which is obviously a first world problem, but I was so tired by the end of it. But I loved doing Hamilton!

 

Q) What can you tell us about your character Hal Pincher and how he fits into the show?

 

A) I think Hal Pincher and his brother Isaac, who’s played by Alfie Allen (of “Game of Thrones” fame) kind of just bring a completely different energy to the show. I don’t think there’s never been anyone quite like them on television. It was great working with Alfie – he’s since become one of my best mates.

 

The brilliant thing about “Harlots” is that it’s completely female led. The executive producers, the producer of the series and all of the directors are all female and I think that energy is in the show. Which I think it’s so brilliant and very seldom seen on TV. Well, actually, I know that’s changing at the moment, which is fantastic.

 

But I think the Pinchers bring this kind of masculine ambition and energy and danger. They’re there to rival what is already on the screen and they really do shake things up. And I think their relationship kind of sets up, in the beginning, Isaac (Alfie’s character) being the kind of the wild card and then my character, Hal, is kind of the cool, calm, collected, level-headed character. But what is brilliant is it soon becomes apparent all of this calm is actually there to disguise the fact that, out of the two of them, he’s probably the most dangerous. He does some pretty wild things!

 

I felt very grateful to be gifted with the chance to play someone who kind of goes from one thing to the other – a completely three dimensional character. It’s amazing to go from playing someone like Alexander Hamilton to Hal Pincher. I wasn’t expecting to find someone else so complex straight away, so I’m very happy.

 

Q) As you mentioned, Alfie Allen is joining the series as well as your brother/business partner. What was it like working with him and how did you approach establishing that sibling relationship?

 

A) It was wicked. And it was quite surreal because one of the only TV shows I actually watch is “Game of Thrones.” And he’d walk on set and I’d be like this is weird because the last season was coming out and he’s right in front of me. When we both had the day off, I invited him around to my place and we just drank a bunch of whisky and just chatted for eight hours. Just getting down to brass tacks – working out who each other were. After that, the rest of the shoot was just amazing. We really were brothers on set and even in the little more serious parts of the show we would always make sure that we were keeping it light between takes.

 

The dynamic between the brothers is actually quite different than the dynamic between Alfie and I because Alfie’s been in the game a lot longer than I have. And he was actually really, really forthcoming, giving me advice and just kind of allowing me to go toe to toe with him, even though our characters are very zen and calmed down.

 

I just had the best time and it really wasn’t that hard to create that relationship. Once you’ve had a good drinking session with someone and you know everything about them it makes it much easier to get up close and personal!

 

Q) Were you a fan of the series “Harlots” or familiar with any of your co-stars before working with them on this project?

 

A) I don’t actually watch that much telly normally but when I got the audition, I watched half of the first series and loved it. And obviously when I got the role I geeked out on it and now I’m obsessed. For me it was just kind of [difficult] to not lose my cool every day.

Samantha Morton, John Lynch, Liv Tyler, Lesley Manville; the list goes on of all the people that I thought were fantastic before I met them. Just think about how many Oscar nominations these people have. There were points where it felt like I could feel overwhelmed because I’m there, in character, shouting at people and making deals with people that I’ve dreamed of working with in my actual life. Do you know what I mean? And everyone was just super, super gracious.

I was very excited about John Lynch as he was on “The Fall,” which I used to watch a lot, and I’m just a massive fan of him. To be able to sit down and get some advice from these people that you’ve only known as legends was amazing. Everyone was so forthcoming with advice and didn’t treat me like I’m a young whippersnapper who doesn’t know what he’s doing. There were some days I’d just feel like pinching myself because it just seemed like madness. Again, I’m very lucky.

 

The odd thing about it, and you don’t realize this, is a lot of people on the show had seen Hamilton as well. So, I’m there geeking out about them and they just want to know more about Hamilton and how that was and how he did it and blah blah blah. And I’m just there like, “Why are you asking me? I’m just a guy who did the show. You guys are the real stars.”

 

Q) I wanted to ask what was the biggest difficulty for you in regards to the period aspect of this drama? Though it sounds like you definitely had experience in period garb before with Hamilton.

 

A) I think that’s the funny thing. I’m a young mixed race guy from London, and I didn’t think I was ever going to be cast in much period stuff. And everything is working out that way. I just thought maybe I look okay in the costume? Haha!

The thing about Hamilton is you get to wear the period clothes, you get to work out how to carry yourself like they would have but there’s also a sense of a modern tinge to it and there’s something quite like that about “Harlots.” They kind of want it to be able to speak to things that are going on now. So, you’re there and working with the language, but with a modern twist. The moment I tried to come in and say I should be wearing a top hat they said, “Oh no, we don’t want that. We want it to kind of look like how it would fit today while still kind of speaking with that sort of period lexicon and language.” So, again, Hamilton really set me up to kind of thrive in that environment. And also, the designers and the directors really helped me with anything that I hadn’t quite worked out yet. But I felt really cool. The first day you get on set there’s horses and carriages and all this stuff is amazing. I think the hardest thing for me was not to geek out all the time.

 

Q) You touched on this before, but previously the show has focused on two opposing female run brothels. So how does introducing a male run business change the dynamic of the show?

 

A) They’re just politically different. There are already some sexual elements between Lady Isabella (Liv Tyler) and Charlotte Wells (Jessica Brown Findlay), which are amazing but now you have two guys coming in and kind of trying to get their sexual wiles as well. And that’s just personally, not to mention in business.

There’s a threat I think intrinsically, whether right or wrong, that comes with having their kind of masculine energy because it’s kind of an entitled energy. And I think they play with it a lot.

So the women have to deal with the men, by virtue of them being male, thinking they are above them. And the shows plays it brilliantly because there’s so many times where these guys are outsmarted by the female characters. And also, to see how men sometimes very badly deal with women taking power and taking what they perceive to be theirs.

 

Q) It sounds fascinating. What were some of your most memorable or favorite moments from filming?

 

A) I think my first day on set was amazing. Alfie was there, Liv Tyler was sat on the table, Samantha Morton was about to walk in and I was pinching myself. I had to pretend like I was keeping my cool. And those moments were great. There are a few really cool script moments that I got really lucky to be at the heart of. And massive story moments that I was the catalyst for.

 

Q: Of course! What do you think the advantages of having a show like this on a streaming service, Hulu, versus being aired weekly on television are?

 

A). I love the fact that they release not just one episode at a time, so you can kind of save them up and watch them all at the same time. The thing about Netflix, Hulu and all these streaming services is that they allow you to watch these shows at your own leisure and respond to them in the way that you want. So, if you do just want to watch a full series in a day then you can. Hulu is my favourite though! Haha.

I got my mom a subscription to Hulu recently and she’s recently been ill so the idea of having all of these TV shows at her fingertips offers her a kind of freedom that she didn’t have. And I think for someone like me, how brilliant it was for research so I could watch the first two series of Harlots so easily in one. It’s giving the audience more control and more power which is just brilliant.

 

Q) You touched on it a bit, but in the past the show’s episodes have been impressively written and directed by women. Does that trend continue this season and what do you think the advantages of having women telling stories like this are?

 

A) I think it just changes the power dynamic. Sixty percent of women in London at that time were prostitutes. That was just the business. I think considering it was the main business, why would you not have women telling these stories? It has to come from that perspective. Female voices aren’t heard enough and a lot of times this sensitive of sensitive material, like sexual stuff are led by the kind of male, testosterone filled, ego filled, voices. There’s a couple of times on set where this switched and I’m the one who’s more naked than the girl. It’s nice to kind of have the tables turned.

 

The directors I worked with were just insane. They’re brilliant. And the fact that they haven’t been given an opportunity to work on this show before just because of the status quo is just absurd to me. I think a show like this gives people the chance to do that. The producer Pat Tookey-Dickson is the most amazing woman in the world and kept everything rolling. I think people will take that vibe onto the next thing and for how a set should run. I see more and more of this stuff happening, but I think it’s important.

 

Q) You are active on social media. Are you looking forward to the instant fan feedback you’ll receive to your time on “Harlots?”

 

A) I think that’s the craziest thing. That’s always been the difference between filming stuff and doing something on stage. When you’re doing something like Hamilton you go out to see the audience afterwards and they’re all lining up and there’s instant gratification. You’re singing stuff and I think a lot of times that’s what people really enjoy about theatre. You get to give something, a live performance, and people can tell you about it and whether you’re bad or good almost instantly. And I guess that’s the weird thing about social media and television now is that the two experiences are silimar. The only thing you have to worry about is it’s an anonymous thing. It’s a faceless thing so you kind of have to make sure that your skin’s thick I guess.

 

I’m really looking forward to hearing what people think. I’m actually really, really proud of what we made and I think people are going to love it. But I’m also prepared for anything. I think I’m tough enough to enjoy the bad with the good.

 

 

Q) What do you think it is about “Harlots” that continues to make it such a fan favorite series?

 

A) The writing is just brilliant! And the fact that you’ve got all these huge actors in it. They’re there for a reason and that’s because it’s written so well. Plus the themes in the show – I’ve never seen anything like it. I watched the trailer, the women are front and center and you don’t see that. It’s brilliant. I think they keep taking more and more risks with the characters and with the writing. And they’re just not scared. No one on that set is scared. And I think that shows in the script.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and the work you do?

 

A) The main thing I took from doing Hamilton is how important and how brilliant the support is from the people who are watching the work that I’m doing. My mom fell very ill last year and it was the only thing that got me through it. And when I got Harlots straight after, those people who had supported me through that whole year and a half were proud.

 

And all I have to say is thanks and [I’m] looking forward to making stuff that makes them smile and feel happy and proud. No ego, because I’m just lucky to be here and I know that not everyone gets the chance to do this at this level. My message is always a thank you and I’ll just keep trying to do it for those guys. What else is there?