Tom Britney is about to become your new favorite hired gun. The 35-year-old actor is probably best known for the detective show grantchesterBut, as soon as his name enters the market of rumors of actors who could possibly play the next batmanHis new breakout role will almost certainly be Jimmy Rourke in the new historical crime drama Vestige. With less serious and more party atmosphere peaky blinders-but with some of the same energy-VestigeSet in New York City in 1980, it focuses on the real-life Irish gang of the same name. An ’80s punk rock vibe with views that aren’t too far from an old NYC pub Vestige It’s raunchy and heart-touching.
In addition to the cast including Titus Welliver, Jessica Frances Dukes and Sarah Bolger, Brittany stars alongside screen legend JK Simmons, who plays Westies crime boss Eamon Sweeney. With Jimmy as his right-hand man, Sweeney negotiates a complex relationship with the powerful Italian mob of the 1980s. VestigeIn short, there’s a show about downtrodden Irish mobsters, and in the middle of the chaos is Jimmy, the Westies enforcer with a heart of gold. Jimmy is the protagonist of the series and the guy we’re rooting for the most – a kind of Irish version of Michael Corleone.
Before the debut of Vestige July 12 on MGM+, men’s journal Working with JK Simmons, we caught up with Brittany to get her take on Irish mobsters, and what makes the show different from other mob epics of the past.
Men’s Journal: Why does a show about 1980s Irish mobsters feel so fresh?
I think some of our best gangster shows are about the Italian mob. It’s a well-worn path we know a lot about—but not so much about the Irish mob. when i saw the title VestigeI went, who are these people? I had never heard anything. we know heavenly resident, And that’s the Boston Irish mob, and state of grace, Which was with Gary Oldman and Sean Penn in the 90s. Apart from that, there is nothing else about these people.
For every actor on this project, we all had the same reaction: Why wasn’t something done about these people before? It certainly attracted me – going, Wow, I would love to be a part of a show that’s venturing into this new territory. And the 80’s. Who doesn’t love the 80’s? Music, hair, fashion!
MGM+
Fashion is great! As Jimmy, you have a big 80s jacket. Did you get to keep that?
Yes, I have a nice jacket. anne dixonThe costume designers were fantastic. That’s always the scariest part as an actor when you’re going on a show or when you’re playing a new character, and the costume, when you know what the character is supposed to look like, you really hope it matches, and it knocked it out of the park. I love it—and everything fits like a glove. You always feel good when you are in that outfit. I will say, I didn’t keep any of it because hopefully it would be reused…
More than just good looks, Jimmy is their heart and soul Vestige. How did you find his voice? What is the origin of this man?
What I really liked about him was that it seemed like he had a moral code in an immoral world. He does some objectively bad things, but he’s trying to do them in the best possible way. And he’s a real idealist who’s trying to keep this tribe of useless people together. He’s trying to keep his Irish American identity strong in a city that’s really trying to defeat him. And he has this amazing relationship with his girlfriend Bridget (Sarah Bolger).
And that relationship was another thing I had never seen quite like that – a different kind of mob wife relationship. She understands the world she is in. He hides some things from her. They keep things from each other, but she’s with someone she knows. If he comes home, he might have a little bit of blood on his hands, and she’s there for him because she’s had some past with it herself.
Jimmy’s second major relationship is with mob boss Eamon Sweeney, played by JK Simmons. What was it like working with him?
Incredible. I pinched myself. Every day I got a chance to work with one of the best actors of our generation. I think he’s played some very scary characters, and to be able to play opposite someone and try to play a character who’s trying to hold his own…it was like life imitating art. Because my character is trying, Jimmy is trying to stand up to her at certain points and try to impress her, try to make her love him. And in a way, I wanted JK to do the same for me. I wanted to go into a scene and say to JK Simmons, “That was great.” I wanted to feel that I was holding my own against him as an actor too.
It’s a very physical show. When you’re not doing tense scenes with JK Simmons, you’re fighting. How much work were you doing yourself?
As much as they will allow me. Everything I’m doing is very stunt heavy, I always try to get stuck in as much as possible. Producers want to protect you as an actor. But I believe that if I end the day with bruises and injuries, that’s good. (The producers) don’t want that. They don’t want broken bones.
We had a great stunt crew and it was so much fun to choreograph those fight scenes. And we had a great armory who taught us how to use these weapons. These characters are bad. It’s not like a Marvel movie, where the fights are really easy. It is difficult. It is heavy. The way they hold guns, these guys are not trained. They’re not Navy SEALs. It’s an extension of themselves that they breathe fire into and hope for the best.
Besides the focus on the Irish, what does this show have that other mob and crime shows don’t?
I think it’s a really stylish and fun show. Yes, it’s dark, and it’s violent in places, but I think you really care about a group of people who are trying to make their way in this little part of New York, even if they do things you may not agree with. The unique thing about this is that these people are anarchists! They’re chaotic and fun. In fact, this was his downfall.
So, you’re following a group of people who were not the organized Italian Mafia. They didn’t have rules and order, and because of that they were destroyed in some ways, but you’re seeing them at their peak. I think it would be a cool rollercoaster to follow these guys who are sometimes making a real mess of themselves trying to keep it together.
