Besotted: Emmett J Scanlan

Anyone who checked out the blog last weekend, read about my infatuation with Connell from Normal People.  Actor Paul Mescal created a character I wanted to spend more time with, and was sad when I finished watching the final episode.  I decided to check out Paul's IMDB page to see if there might be another project I could dive into.  Up until Normal People, Paul had mostly appeared on stage, but there was another show, also released in 2020, that intrigued me.

Paul doesn't have a very big part in The Deceived, it's almost not big enough to even qualify as supporting.  His character Sean is however, key to the plot and story.  Although the four part series didn't really satisfy my desire for more Connell, it did satisfy my love of Ireland.  There were more Irish accents, Irish small towns, and beautiful scenic bodies of water.  It also introduced me to another Irish actor, this time actor Emmett J Scanlan.

Some of you may know Scanlan from his role on Hollyoaks.  I've always wanted to try out the soap drama, but never knew really where to find it.  So often when I've researched and written about European actors, so many have appeared on Hollyoaks, or another of the UK based teen based soaps.

 Hollyoaks

Scanlan is the sexy lead in The Deceived, but unlike Normal People, romance isn't at the show's core.  There is a romance, but loving Scanlan's Professor Callaghan, doesn't seem to usually end to well...  The Deceived is a sort of a Gothic mystery, set in a possibly haunted house in a small town in Ireland.  There's creeks, ghost sightings and bumps in the night.  Scanlan is the stand out in the cast, playing the sexy villain, you're drawn to, even though you know it's a huge mistake.

The four episode series wasn't hard to find with a bit of looking, and the first three episodes were especially entertaining.  Like so many mysteries, this one fall a part a bit in the final instalment.  In party, it seems a bit rushed.  The first three episodes set up the climax, which really needed another two or three episodes to fully develop, regardless, it was a quick watch, and I loved meeting Scanlan, and the manipulatively horny professor that he plays.

I of course went on the hunt to see if Scanlan had done any nude scenes.  Although he's done quite a few sexy photo shoots, (the image below being one of my favorites...) he doesn't appear to have taken it all off for the camera, not since finding success on Hollyoaks.  He did however, drop trou in an early project before making it big.   Back in 2009, Scanlan took on a role, but one who's credit really said it all.  In Savage, the young actor was credited only as Gym Changing Room Guy #1, as as you can see from the clip below, it aptly fit.

Savage (2009)