Would you let your mother help you interview for a job? Actress Katherine Devlin does. Her mum read the audition sides that secured her the role in BBC’s Blue Lights, now approaching its third season. In fact, her mum – an artist and her biggest inspiration – is the one who put her on the stage in her early years.
Devlin speaks with utter adoration and pride: “She has really creative bones. I trust her a lot. She’s mental but she’s really great.” I ask who enjoys the taping process more? Mum’s the word. “She loves it too much. She goes all in,” she laughs as we sip coffee on a sunny Friday morning in Soho.
Devlin looks Irish: ethereally beautiful with porcelain skin, wide eyes and dark hair. Her collection of silver rings and a longline linen top add to her contemporary Gaelic mystique. On looks alone she’d be a shoo-in for an Irish TV show.
Yet there are many actors in the world, and casting is more than just looks. Taping can be an arduous process with little to no feedback given. Actors can spend hours trying to work out who casting want to see on their screens, and attempting to capture the essence of a character within a few short minutes is a tough gig. Devlin sounds as if she has it nailed though – not only in having the ultimate tape partner but also in learning to trust her instincts.
She never sends off a cut until it feels right. For Blue Lights’ junior officer Annie Conlon, this took quite a few attempts. “I remember not really getting the energy of Annie but then there were a couple of takes where I just fell into it. I surrendered. I felt like I knew who this person was and then just had some fun with it.”
Devlin sent the tapes away into the ether and heard nothing for a couple of months. Subsequently, she moved to London, assuming she hadn’t got the job. Lease signed, keys in hand, boxes ready to be unpacked, she stood navigating a labyrinth of new interior options and bed sheet decisions in Westfield Shopping Centre when her agent called.
She started the call conversationally, asking about her move and her décor plans before casually dropping in she’d booked Blue Lights. Within weeks, Devlin was back home to shoot in Belfast. She then attempted to move back to London for a second time, nearly a year later.
Guess what? The same thing happened again, this time for a role in The Day of the Jackal. It seems there’s a career-binding hex over her moves to London. I chat to her not long after her most recent attempt. Third time lucky? After penning this interview, maybe she’ll receive the next call.
Blue Lights follows three young police officers navigating the challenges of their first years in the job, building rivalries and friendships, battling internal struggles whilst also battling the morally grey happenings of modern-day Belfast. The team on screen reacts quickly to events and operates in a well-gelled manner, so it’s not surprising to me that they’re close off-screen too. “We genuinely really like each other,” she acknowledges, grinning.
So, what can we expect from season three? More gut-punching drama, apparently. “More ‘white collar’ crime, and more lines getting severely blurred.” Is this the finale? Or is there another season lined up? “Potentially,” she says with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow, giving nothing away.
What is it she enjoys most about playing Annie? The car chases, mostly. “That’s when I’m really doing the best acting because I have to pretend I’m not enjoying it,” she confesses. When it comes to the more hardcore stunts, there’s an incredible team helping them behind the scenes too. Yet still, after multiple seasons, what continues to surprise Devlin is how realistic so much of being on set can feel. She recalls a house fire in season two: “It was genuinely scary. You could really feel the heat. I didn’t expect it to be that big,” she tells me.
So the bonds are real, the stunts are real, but what about the copper’s skills? Does Devlin think she could retrain as a police woman after playing one? “No way! I absolutely could not!” She laughs. Acting is her calling. “It’s a love-hate relationship when it comes to the industry, but I don’t think I could do anything else.”
The show has given her appreciation for the police force. “It’s a vocation for sure.” A constant question that Devlin’s character is reckons with is: “Is this really worth it?” And this gets more intense with the storylines in latest season. “When it comes to movies and some TV shows, it’s very easy to lean into the idea of [policing] being a super-sexy and a sleek kind of job.”
Blue Lights is different. “You don’t get any of that,” says Devlin. “You get stories based on real people, people who are flawed, who are trying to tackle this high-pressure job within an institution which ultimately has its own flaws as well.”
While Annie is a firecracker of a character, Devlin comes across as incredibly intelligent, level-headed, and wise. “Annie is so different to me. Her demeanour, her overall way of thinking. She’s terrifying. You just don’t know what you’re going to get with her; she’s constantly evolving. It’s exciting.”
Annie is a Catholic in a predominantly Protestant environment, learning the ropes of a high-intensity job while caring for an unwell mother. “She shows a real resilience. There’s a strength behind her.” Devlin finds Annie inspiring, the character’s arc helping with her own self-reflection. “Something that I kept saying to myself during the season was ‘there’s so much strength in vulnerability’ and Annie really emulates that in so many different aspects.”
The Catholic-Protestant culture is something which adds to the authenticity of the show and the true-to-life writing was what caused her to adore the script in the first place. On a first read, she knew it was a thought-through drama, written by those with a deep knowledge of these topics. “You could really feel the authenticity behind it. It’s important. And it’s hard to emulate that because it’s such a unique culture.”
Irish culture continues to grow in popularity. From Derry Girls to Sally Rooney’s groaning novel subtext, not to mention Kneecap’s political rap and our unfaltering appreciation for Paul Mescal’s short shorts, love of the Irish seems to be going nowhere. I wonder: how does it feel to see her culture’s relevance transcend to many through mainstream media?
“It’s gorgeous to see our culture being celebrated in so many different facets.” She gives examples of Normal People, Gaelic football, religious jargon. “What it really boils down to is having that authenticity within it. It’s all the small intricate details that make a culture.”
Of course we can’t talk about Irish culture without discussing Guinness. “I love Guinness,” she says, going on to mention the recent renaissance: “And everyone’s loving Guinness now.” However the perfect sip will always be back home. “I find it different here,” she says. Although having only been ‘here’ permanently a matter of weeks, she’s geared up to do her homework and suss out her own favourites. Next up is Nunhead staple Skehans – not far from her home in South East London.
Our conversation continues into booze (not drinking it, sadly – it is only 10am), discussing the most important type of the stuff: martinis. She likes hers dirty (the correct answer). On her last birthday, she managed to drink nine of them apparently. Devlin protests: “To be fair, they weren’t as strong as they usually are, I think they missed out the vermouth!”
I point out my desire for not wanting to jump into Irish stereotypes. “Oh no, for sure,” Devlin agrees, a knowing glint in her eye. “I love to be spontaneous. And I have zero will power. If someone asks me to go out for a drink, cocktails or dinner then the answer is always yes.”
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She’s a bit of a film buff. We chat about indie stuff a lot and she reels off a number of titles I’ve not heard of. (I add them to my list immediately – from this conversation, I trust her taste in pretty much everything.) She’s keen to enter the world of film. And she’d love to work with more women.
“We need a lot more women directors and producers within this industry,” she says. Working with female director Angela Griffin for several episodes of Blue Lights helped her understand the kind of collaboration she’s aspiring to keep working on. “I was just drawn to her. There was so much trust. There was a lot of freedom. She was incredible.”
This leads me to ask about future dream collaborations. “I love Robert Eggers; I always lean to dark psychological thrillers.” Acting idols? “Natalie Portman is amazing. The likes of Mia Goth, Florence Pugh, too.”
Where does she want to go next? “I’m still winging it,” she laughs. She’s relatively open-minded as long as she’s happy with the script. “There’s definitely an idea of where I want to go but at the same time, you never know.” She appreciates she’s a very important cog existing in a much bigger wheel of creativity. “You’re only as good as the writing,” she says.
There’s a sort of sincere magnetism to Devlin, warm yet alluring. Her eyes are full of surprise. Through our chat, I continue to feel pulled in across the table as she repeatedly attempts to explain the intangible muses of her trade: “It’s so instinctual. You just get a gut feeling.” My gut feeling? Devlin will be flashing up on our screens for many years to come.
The new season of Blue Lights is on BBC One at 9pm every Monday and available on iPlayer.
