#Amazing Accrington - Winter 2017

being a soap to a serial drama. We were really excited about it and yet we were still ignored. I think it takes people a while for their perceptions to change, especially about something like Emmerdale which had been a certain way for a long time. All of a sudden nowwe’re geing the recognition that we believe we deserve. We’re all over the moon and certainly not taking it lightly, we are all very grateful.” We spoke with Dominic about his childhood in Accrington, which he remembers very fondly. He recalls working on a stall on Accrington Market as a teenager. “The stall owner would give us a load of towels to sell and then he’d go off to the pub for the rest of the day. At the end of the day we’d give him all the earnings and he’d give us £3.50 each. It seemed like a lot at the time. “I absolutely loved the market. I remember there was a whole underworld underneath it that stretched for miles. We used to spend hours down there. You could walk directly underneath the Arndale, carry on walking then pop up where the police station is. We’d go down there looking for dog rats.” Dominic explains that there were rumours of giant rats, a result of dogs interbreeding with rats. “There was obviously nothing like that down there but when you’re young you’ll believe it.” When he wasn’t working on the market Dominic would spend his time playing arcade games. “We used to spend a lot of time in the amusement arcade just opposite the town hall. We spent hours and hours down there. I was never a gambler but I was a massive gamer. My favourites from the time were R-Type and Kung Fu Master. Oh, and Galaga which I’m still really good at! I’ve even got a stand-up arcade machine at home with all the games loaded into it which has followed me all my life.” Dominic’s fascination with horror and zombie films all started in a video shop in Accrington, he tells us. “A friend of mine’s dad owned Accrington Video at the boom of Burnley Road. A brilliant shop. The front of it is still there but it’s just a shell nowwhich is really sad. We both liked horror films and that’s where we got our zombie films from. We used to watch tons of them.” A self-confessed zombie fanatic, Dominic has recently branched out into directing and starring in horror films. “Every two or three years they (Emmerdale) let me go away and do films which is great. They’re brilliant like that. It’s really supportive.” Films such as Inbred (2011) and Before Dawn (2012) have achieved international success and a cult following. “I directed Bait and Before

QUICK-FIRE QUESTIONS Q. Favourite TV show as a kid? A. Tiswas. Some of my friends weren’t allowed to watch it because it was naughty, they had to watch Swap Shop. We were the stray kids! Q. What do you do when relaxing? A. I play the mandolin. I watch a lot of films. I’m always busy in either pre-production or post-production of a film so I enjoy doing that. I read a lot of comics as well. Q. First car? A. Aminivan that I was doing up that chickens would live in. Q. What would you do if you weren’t an actor? A. I’d be a welder. Q. Worst thing about acting? A. Remembering the lines. Q. What part in a film would you like to play? A. Any part inWhistle Down theWind. It’s my favourite film of all time.

Q. Last gi? A. A pile of comics for my birthday.

Dawn and I’ve just directed Adult Babies which had its Leicester Square premiere in August. I’ve also just bought the rights to a book which we’ll be filming in a couple of years so I’m swapping between two films at the moment. “We’ve been very successful, we’ve been distributed in Japan, Australia, America and Germany. We’ve been very lucky. Slowly we’re gaining ground which is great.” However, when asked if he sees his future going forward as more of a director than an actor, Dominic was quick to answer. “No, I see staying at Emmerdale as long as I possibly can as the way forward!”

Q . First acting role? A. Lazy Jack in a play. Q. Any pets? A. A tortoise, chickens, a fish and a hamster. Q . First bike? A. I had a Grier and then a Budgie.

Top: Dominic plays the part of Paddy Kirk in ITV’s Emmerdale. The show won ‘Best Continuing Drama Series’, at the National Television Awards 2017. Above: Accrington Market where Dominic worked on a stall as a teenager. Celeb judge at ‘Misty Moon‘ International Film Festival. Left: R-Type, one of Dominic’s favourite arcade games. ‘Before Dawn’ a film starring and directed by Dominic Brunt. Opposite: Dominic back in East Lancashire.

You don’t have to be a show off to be an actor, you just don’t. That’s been an important lesson for me. I’m not a raconteur. I won’t get up and start telling stories at a party. I’m shy really. It’s totally different when you’re acting and you’re just in front of two boom operators.

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#Ama z i n g A c c r i n g t o n W i n t e r 2 0 1 7 9