Interview with Rebecca Front
Interview with Rebecca Front, who plays Cheryl Denon in Dirty Mon£y.
Published: 2 July 2019
Cheryl is Isaac's chaperone. When it becomes apparent that Isaac has been abused, the big question is, where was Cheryl in all of this? Did she know? Did she enable it? Did she not know, but was a little bit laissez-faire?
Can you introduce us to the series?
It's a very topical show in the wake of the whole #metoo revelations, the awful awareness of something that a lot of us had been vaguely aware of: that all is not necessarily right in the world of showbiz, media, business or politics - or indeed anywhere else.
I think we've known for a long time that these sorts of abuses of power probably take place, but now it’s coming to the fore. People are actually talking about it and there are court cases and litigation. So this is a very topical story, and what makes it more poignant of course is that the subject of it is a child, a 13 year-old boy. You get a sense of the damage that is done to anybody who gets caught up in this, but I think you’re particularly drawn in because he is so young and so vulnerable.
Tell us about your character.
Cheryl is Isaac's chaperone, so when Isaac goes off to do the film and he’s away filming for a long time and his parents both work, he is assigned to her care and she has this enormous responsibility. And of course, when it becomes apparent that Isaac has been abused, the big question is, where was Cheryl in all of this? Did she know? Did she enable it? Did she not know, but was a little bit laissez-faire about where Isaac was and what he was getting up to and who he was with?
Either way she’s at fault, and she knows that as soon as she discovers what's happened. The family blame her, and there’s a kind of strong feeling that she probably blames herself. There are certain scenes where it’s apparent that she’s upset with herself but it’s very vague what actually happened and how she was involved with this. Did she know about the rumours surrounding this guy? Did she enable it? Did she in some way deliver this poor kid to him? Or did she just not see what she chose not to see?
So from an actor's point of view that’s very appealing, that’s what drew me to the project. I thought it was a fascinating story, but I also read the script and thought, I don’t know who she is, I don’t know what she’s done. And I think that’s kind of what they want. They want the audience to be looking at her and thinking, where was she? Where is she in all of this? Is she a goodie or a baddie?
What do you think viewers will make of the series?
I think people will be drawn in, because what Levi has done, which is really clever, is to focus on a very normal family, one that we can all recognise. And they’re not particularly posh or at the bottom end of society, they’re just a normal fluid kind of family, albeit a slightly messy one, and they’re fundamentally quite nice, decent people who have been caught up in this horrible situation, with lawyers and NDAs and money and guilt.
And at the heart of all of that, where he shouldn’t be forgotten but is actually frequently forgotten, is Isaac, who has had this dreadful thing happen to him and then everything else becomes dreadful too. He’s caught in the middle, just feeling lost. And 13 is young. You look at Max (who plays Isaac) on set and he’s still a child. He’s savvy and smart and intelligent, but he’s very clearly still a child.
Isaac is a young boy and something absolutely terrible has happened to him but because it has a terrible impact on everyone else, he sort of gets lost in the middle of it. I think that’s one of the things that will draw people in, to find out really what’s happening to Isaac in the middle of all of this.
