Rough Diamond
Ben Davies plays Jonah Price
When 17-year-old Ben Davies got a call from an agent wishing to sign him up, it came as a huge surprise and a bit of a shock.
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"I didn't plan to start working quite so early in my career – initially I thought I would go to university, learn a craft and get a degree, but then my agent saw me in a play and wanted to sign me up," he laughs.
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"When I got the job in Rough Diamond, I was bowled over. My friends were brilliant – they all knew that this is what I wanted to do. I was at college when I got the call and they all clapped and patted me on the back. There is nothing to describe the feeling I had when my agent rang – it was like 'Flippin' 'eck this is going to be mad'."
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The role required Ben to be able to ride horses, so he went to his local stables in Todmorden, Lancashire, for some expert advice. Initially, however, all did not go according to plan.
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"I fell off three times. The first time was during a lesson, when I slid off the horse and fell flat on my face.
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"The second time, the horse wasn't even moving and I swung my leg over too fast and fell off the other side – I felt really stupid!
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"The third time I fell off I was riding bareback and the horse decided to canter round a corner. I was just bouncing up and down on his back and bounced right off the side. Of all the falls, that was probably the most legitimate as I was actually moving and bravely riding bareback!"
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Life turned upside-down for Ben when he landed the part of Jonah. His summer holiday was spent working in Ireland, living in a hotel room in Dublin, far away from his friends and family. But the experience didn't daunt the teenager.
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"I stayed in a hotel in Dublin for four months which had its ups and downs. But, to be honest, I was working such long hours that I barely noticed. I also had homework to do, so I was kept pretty occupied," he says.
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"Filming in Ireland was a lot of fun. When it was cold, it was freezing and when it was hot, it was frying," he smiles.
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Ben grew close to many of the cast and relied upon their experience and support to help him through the process.
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"I stayed at Muireann's [Bird] house a few weekends – she lives in the countryside, which is lovely, and I made friends with all her pals and her twin brother. They regularly called me 'city boy' and other such names – all in jest though," he smiles.
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"Conor [Mullen] and I became really close because we had so many scenes together. And then, of course, Muireann and I were both going through this experience for the first time, so it was a great help to have someone else who was in the same boat as me," he says.
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"We were able to talk over stuff that we thought wasn't going quite right. We would share ideas on each other's parts, then the experienced actors like Conor would help us both."
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Ben's character, Jonah, is a lad from Manchester who has gone over to Ireland to find his dad. His mum has a new man in her life and has just given birth to twins, so Jonah is feeling pretty isolated and does a moonlight flit to Ireland.
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When he is there, he discovers not just a new dad but something he enjoys as well. He knew his father worked with horses but has no idea about the gift Aidan has until he sees it for himself. Now Jonah wants to follow in his dad's footsteps.
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"Aidan is oblivious to Jonah's existence and it's really hard for Jonah to understand how this can be. When Aidan does find out and chooses not to believe it, then that is a double whammy for Jonah. So what happens thereafter is a struggle between the two where they are trying to come to terms with each other's existence."
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It is clear that, despite being alone in a strange country doing a new job for the first time and starring in a lead role, Ben's experiences on Rough Diamond have cemented ambitions as an actor. However, some aspects of the job were less appealing than others, he reveals.
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"It was a real shock to the system to have to get up so early in the mornings ... that was hard in the beginning and I couldn't believe how chipper the drivers were at that hour!"
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Ben hopes that a second series will be commissioned. "This is my flippin' dream job," he laughs. "It is so exciting and my friends are planning a big party for the transmission of the first episode round at my house!"
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