Funland
Starts this autumn on 大象传媒 THREE
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Kenny Doughty plays Liam Woolf
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Age: 30
Lives in: Originally from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Kenny now lives in London.
What's he been in before? Kenny's television credits include 大象传媒 ONE's The Canterbury Tales (The Miller's Tale) and Servants. Kenny will soon be seen on the big screen in My First Wedding, The Aryan Couple and The Great Raid.
Did you know? Kenny has a mysterious benefactor who paid for his drama school training.
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Kenny Doughty plays the dim-witted Liam Woolf, who is more interested in music than in the violent world which his dad Shirley inhabits.
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"All Liam wants in life is to be a band manager and he's obsessed with the late Eighties and early Nineties Manchester music scene," explains Kenny.
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"He completely models himself on The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays and Oasis. Liam's got great taste in music! Playing this role, I've had to rediscover Manchester music, which has been brilliant!
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"The background to Liam is that he's just spent some time in Manchester, after his grandma Mercy gave him some money to start a band, but he blew it all on drugs.
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"So Shirley brought him back to Blackpool and is now trying to make a man of him by sending him to collect protection money."
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But Liam shows his incompetence yet again.
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"Rather than getting the money that he's owed, he gets fobbed off with taking the shop owner's cat as collateral!"
laughs Kenny.
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Without meaning to, hapless Liam stirs up old family tensions in the Woolf family, reigniting the power struggle between his dad Shirley and his grandmother Mercy.
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"Liam is not supposed to see Mercy, but he approaches her for more money to start a band and that kicks off the family feud again. Liam's quite selfish because he crosses the line. His dad categorically says to him 'No spliff, no women and don't see Mercy' and he does all three within five minutes.
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"As soon as he gets out of the house, he's forgotten what his dad has told him.
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"Everyone in Blackpool is terrified of Shirley, apart from Liam, who is too simple to see what's going on - or he turns a blind eye to the violence. He immerses himself in his music as much as he can and tries not to get involved in all the ins and outs of what his dad and his stepmum Connie get up to."
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Kenny finds it difficult to sum up the strange world of Funland.
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"It's probably one of the most unique, original scripts I've read for a long time. The characters are real and yet they're really heightened. Every time Carter picks up a stone, he uncovers another world."
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Kenny had always wanted to be an actor, but was never allowed to believe that he could choose acting as a career.
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"At school I was always told I couldn't be an actor. When I was 16, I went to Manchester Youth Theatre, which is run by professional directors, and they said that although it might not be easy, acting didn't have to be just a hobby. I got into drama school but I didn't have the money to pay the fees."
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Kenny wrote to a number of charities and movie stars looking for financial help to get him through his training, but it was a chance meeting which helped him to realise his dream.
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A wealthy anonymous American, whom Kenny got chatting to at Hardwick Hall in Chesterfield, went on to support his training at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
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With three films due out on the big screen in the near future, Kenny's not resting on his laurels.
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"I star alongside my girlfriend Caroline in a new thriller called The Aryan Couple and then in My First Wedding we also appear together - she plays my sister which is a bit weird because she is the one who helps me get the girl!
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"I'm also planning to direct my own short film, so I've been doing a lot of research into that. With directing, there's so much pressure and so much to think about, it's a lot easier being an actor!"
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