Ross Kemp on return to acting in "empowering" Channel 5 drama Blindspot
The four-part thriller is Kemp's first acting credit since his last EastEnders stint in 2016.
Upcoming Channel 5 drama Blindspot marks Ross Kemp's first acting role since his final EastEnders appearance as the iconic Grant Mitchell seven years ago.
Kemp takes on the role of police detective Tony Warden in the four-part thriller, which sees Beth Alsbury star as Hannah Quinn, a disabled woman with a wry sense of humour who works monitoring the CCTV on an estate.
Tony and Hannah come into contact after the latter becomes convinced that a missing woman has been murdered, after which she begins to butt heads with the apathetic and possibly corrupt copper.
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Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com to promote his new factual series Deep Sea Treasure Hunter, Kemp explained that it was the "empowering" nature of the script which appealed most about the project.
"The script, it was the story – I thought it was clever, in terms of what the story is about, about people being watched and how people interpret being watched," he explained. "We are the most watched nation in the world – we're always being looked at."
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- Ross Kemp doesn't rule out EastEnders return as Grant: "Never say never"
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And he added that the people involved in the project also played a key role in persuading him to sign up for the series.
"Jordan Hogg [the director] has got cerebral palsy, and Beth [Alsbury, playing the series lead] is obviously in a wheelchair... I thought it was quite enabling, without ramming it down your throat," he said. "I just liked it from a point of view that it was about empowering somebody in a chair."
The cast for the series – which will debut later in 2023 – also includes Crystal Clarke (Sanditon), Sue Vincent (Waterloo Road), Kiran Landa (Line of Duty), Michelle Bonnard (House of the Dragon), Haylie Jones (Stay Close), Milán Bartha (Moon Knight) and Lewis Conway (The Canterville Ghost).
Although Kemp was originally known primarily as an actor, he has since become an award-winning documentary filmmaker, producing a number of series including Ross Kemp on Gangs and Ross Kemp: Extreme World for Sky.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
