Amy Ryan on Colin Farrell: "Colin has such a keen sense of humour and it's always rooted in this hearty vulnerability"

In the new noir series from Apple TV+, Sugar, Colin Farrell plays private investigator John Sugar, who’s hired by Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel (Succession’s James Cromwell), to look into the mysterious disappearance of his grand-daughter, Olivia. This is the cue for an atmospheric dive into the world of modern Los Angeles, with the dark secrets of the Siegel family uncovered, as Sugar explores the underbelly of the entertainment business.

Also among the impressive cast is Amy Ryan, noted for her work with directors like Steven Spielberg and appearances in TV classics like The Wire, who plays hardboiled dame Melanie Mackie. With Farrell acting as both lead and executive producer on Sugar, the show marks another stage in the modern Irish takeover of Hollywood. Indeed, when Hot Press catches up with Ryan in LA, it’s only a couple of says since Cillian Murphy’s richly deserved Best Actor Oscar for Oppenheimer. Is she surprised by the current Hollywood love affair with Irish actors?

“No, congratulations to Cillian!” she replies. “With Colin, I’ve kind of been working backwards, because we were working together when The Banshees Of Inisherin came out. It was remarkable to sit in the cinema and see that performance – with him in his knitted jumper with the lapels – and then go back to the set the next day, where he’s transformed into this other person. I’ve watched that movie three times and I just think he’s exquisite. He has such a keen sense of humour, and it’s always rooted in this heavy vulnerability and truthfulness. I just think he’s one of our finest actors and I got to see that up close working with him. (Laughs) But no, I’m not surprised by your Irish takeover!”

As teased out in Sugar, Melanie Mackie was once a major rock star, although Amy notes it wasn’t an aspect of her character she immediately identified with.

“Shamefully, I don’t know music well,” she says. “So I did not connect with the character in terms of her being a popular rock star in her twenties. I had to try and substitute that out. It wasn’t like, ‘She’s going to be my favourite female singer.’ But I liked that challenge of coming out of any world that I know, and I trying to step into the role believably. Getting up onstage and rocking out with a band – I don’t know if I could have done that! I’m always looking at, ‘How can I not repeat myself?’

“For myself and anyone who might tune in to see something new I’ve done, I don’t want to do the same stuff. So, Ioved this character of Melanie, that she’s made a career for herself and that she’s on her own now, living the second part of her life. Albeit she’s still battling her own demons and secrets.”

Not being overly au fait with the world of music, Ryan found other routes into playing the character.

“I didn’t really lean on any real person.” she explains. “I like to work with images and photographs, and of course costumers. There was a nice collaboration there, where you’re going, ‘She’s not working with her 22-year-old self, but as a woman who’s made money through music, what comes into her style?’ I leaned more heavily into visuals and photographs of other women, and what would work well on my physique, in terms of shapes, colours and hairstyles.

“To be honest, I’m not gonna go out and be like, ‘Oh yeah, I based this on Patti Smith!’ I wouldn’t dare go near that goddess, and think that I might steal parts of her. It’s not possible. So what can I shape of my own that’s plausible? I worked with great costume and hair and make-up people, and I relied on that to be honest.”

With Sugar fitting into the lineage of great LA noir movies like The Big Sleep and Chinatown, does Ryan feel the series might make audiences fall in love with the city?

“Maybe,” she muses. “Certainly, Colin’s character is obsessed with old films. Characters he’s familiar with from these movies are visually interspersed throughout the series. Watching any old movie, it’s so easy to fall in love with those images. The way they filmed Los Angeles to meld into that, that’s what got me. I don’t know, you might go to Los Angeles and be like, ‘Where’s that car? Where are those images?’

“You might have to have the director, Fernando Meirelles, taking you around and taking your photos for you! But I think that’s truly the magic of making moving pictures, and they did a beautiful job with this.”

• Sugar is available to stream on Apple TV+ from April 5.