The Teacher star Will Mellor was "worried" about one "emotional" scene
"We were shooting where we were going to go before we had even got going. That is when you must trust your director."
Will Mellor is one of the stars of the second season of anthology series The Teacher, playing Jimmy Spencer, a teacher who has an affair with his married colleague Dani, which soon spirals out of control.
Jimmy has a son who also goes to the school, the boisterous Matt. In a recent interview, Mellor was asked about the emotional scenes he shared with the actor who plays Matt, Forrest Bothwell, and whether there was any time for them to build a father/son relationship before filming.
Mellor said: "No, we went straight into an emotional scene from one of the later episodes. It’s a scene in the lounge where Matt breaks down and we find out that there was a knife involved in what happened on the school trip.
"I was so worried about that first scene we shot together a) because I had never met Forrest and b) because of where this would set in the piece. We had had no warm-up or relationship building. We were shooting where we were going to go before we had even got going. That is when you must trust your director."
He continued: "Forrest is a fabulous actor. I think he has got a very bright future. It helps in this part that he is older playing younger. I think he's 21 and Matt is 16. Sometimes when you have that slight age difference the actor can somehow be braver with their performance."
Mellor stars alongside Kara Tointon in the series, with Tointon playing Dani.
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Tointon said of her character: "She's been in her marriage since she was quite young, a relationship from her university days.
"The part was interesting for me because I've never really played a role where people might instantly take a disliking to my character. Not because of anything in her personality – she's not evil, but you question her choices. I've never played anyone so controversially naughty."
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The Teacher season 2 will air from Monday 9th September to Thursday 12th September at 9pm on Channel 5. Stream on My5.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
