Mayor of Kingstown, premiering on November 14 on Paramount Network and then available for streaming on Paramount+, is a crime drama from the mind of Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone) that takes a hard look at many contemporary issues. It follows the McLusky family, reigning kingpins of a town that exports incarceration.
Aidan Gillen plays Milo, a Russian mobster who handles the outside world from behind bars, while Emma Laird plays Iris, a charming dancer with wiles to spare. The stars spoke with Screen Rant about what to expect from the explosive series.
Screen Rant: Can you guys both talk to me a little bit about your characters, Milo, who is currently serving life in prison, and Iris.
Aidan Gillen: Milo is a Russian mob operative, who's been living in the states for some time, has been incarcerated, he's been in prison for some time, but still exercises quite control over the world outside, not just in the city of Kingstown, but also statewide, and even nationwide, or as part of a nationwide network of very dangerous people. He's a clinical, precise, assured, level-headed, ruthless person.
Iris, Emma's character is one of the many kinds of people who is connected to Milo, and who works for him essentially, and is indebted in some way that we don't know, but the relationship is quite dark. Iris's life is quite dark. It's a fantastic role for Emma, and she's going to tell you about it in a sec, grueling, but really kind of exciting. I know she's done a brilliant job.
Emma, the role of Iris is an intriguing one, but what did you want to bring to that role that wasn't necessarily on the page?
Emma Laird: Oh, what a good question. I just wanted to tell the truth, because I think some of the things that Iris goes through are really harrowing, they're really the worst things that women can go through, and I really just wanted it to be authentic, and I knew I was doing a good job when I was really not in a good place emotionally and mentally because it felt authentic to me.
I just wanted to do it right, and to not glamorize it, and to really just tell this story, because this happens to girls and I wanted to bring truth to it. It really helps when you've got a great script like Taylor's, and really it was then a case of building this backstory and filling in the gaps that are not in the script, and that are just left to your own imagination, that makes sense for your own internal dialogue as an actor.
A lot of that was actually deciding how Iris and Milo come to meet, and we probably maybe have different ideas of how that happened, and it's really not important for what happens on screen, but it's important to kind of think about that in your head, and so it was filling in the gaps, and I just wanted to make it as truthful as I possibly could.
Taylor Sheridan and Hugh Dillon, they're amazing as writers and creators. Can you talk to me about working with them, with the collaboration process, and some of the themes that attracted you to this project?
Aidan Gillen: My involvement this year, even though I'm quite central, and Milo is quite central to the story, a lot of it's set up in terms of how much we see this guy, and how much we know about him, a lot of that was kept back, but I was familiar with Taylor's work, I'd worked with Taylor before in fact, but before that, I was familiar anyway with great scripts for Sicario, or Hell or High Water, and direction on Wind River, and Hugh was new to me, but we hit it off, I have to say quite well and quite quickly.
You know what I mean when someone comes along that you know is kind of solid, and really knows what they're doing, and is really going to push for what they want, and he's also an actor and a musician, as well as a writer, that always helps. I feel like we're in really good hands, and I felt that with Taylor from the first time around as well. You don't sit around talking about things for three hours, you just do it.
Mayor of Kingstown premieres November 14 on Paramount+.