Rectify: Aden Young opens up on US TV's greatest unsung gem
"Often-times, when you make things, you get paid in applause - and even that's very rare. So to do a show where there's a yearning to see it is a great honour."
SundanceTV's Rectify is one of US television's great unsung gems - despite winning much critical acclaim, particularly for the performance of its leading man Aden Young, the show had not secured a broadcaster in the United Kingdom - until now.
AMC UK will air the series from the start, as part of a prestigious line-up that also includes the red-hot Fear the Walking Dead and underground hit Manhattan.
"I'm glad to see it's finally going to hit the shores of the UK," says Young. "Because I think that it's something that a lot of people will be able to recognise in themselves - the journey of this family trying to find their way forward by feeling."
Rectify tells the story of Young's Daniel Holden, a Death Row inmate released after 19 years when new DNA evidence throws his conviction for rape and murder into question.
"His family has been destroyed by this event 20 years ago - and over the course of that time has managed to rebuild itself from the shards of that destruction," the actor explains.
"Season one, episode one begins with Daniel landing right in the middle of that mosaic - and smashing it once again - and the story is about how do they rebuild that mosaic... or is it even possible now that it's been destroyed again?"
Young - who resides in Australia when not shooting the show in Atlanta - originally turned down the part of Daniel, disaffected after working on a string of unfulfilling projects.
"I'd played a few characters - minor roles in a few films - and they weren't the greatest of experiences, simply because you couldn't sink your teeth into it," he recalls.
"It was a casting agent in Australia who fought against my idea that I shouldn't be doing it. It was a big deal - I had to pack up the family and move to the States - but after she sent me through the second episode, I was immediately hooked."
One of the most compelling things about Rectify is the ambiguity surrounding Daniel's potential guilt - it's not immediately clear whether or not he did commit the crimes of which he was once accused.
Young takes issue with the word 'ambiguity' though: "In some ways, there's an apathetic nature to the definition of 'ambiguity' - and I don't think that's the compulsion behind whether to allow the audience to know if he did or didn't.
"To me, there's an investigation going on - there's nothing ambiguous about that investigation. The question is 'Did he or did he do it?' - not 'Who cares?' - an investigation is playing out through Ray's lens."
'Ray' is Ray McKinnon, an actor who's appeared on the likes of Deadwood and Sons of Anarchy, and who - after early success as a writer and director of award-winning short films - created his first television series in Rectify.
Young believes that the series is telling the sort of intimate human stories that were once the domain of independent cinema, and has since become synonymous with cable television.
"The adults are not forking out enough money - they're sending their kids [to the cinema], and what do the kid want to watch?" he poses. "Slowly, adult drama was pushed away to make way for those tent-pole films - and a lot of the writers were smart to look at television as a new medium.
"Shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under really opened up the way we understood story - and what it meant to have a intense family drama played out in front of us - and to be a part of something like that now is a wonderful opportunity."
Having already wowed a discerning US audience, the cult of Rectify looks set to grow with its UK premiere - the only sticking point for the series' staunch supporters is its lack of awards recognition, despite terrific notices.
Young admits it would be a "wonderful thing" to see the series win an Emmy or a Golden Globe, but is modest when deliberating on his own achievements: "Rectify is something that we are, as a crew and cast, extremely proud of.
"We all work very hard. If the show was to receive any recognition, then it would only help to bring exposure to the story we're trying to tell.
"As to me..." he closes. "I don't need the doorstop."
SundanceTV's Rectify is one of US television's great unsung gems - despite winning much critical acclaim, particularly for the performance of its leading man Aden Young, the show had not secured a broadcaster in the United Kingdom - until now.
© Sundance TV/Blake Tyers
AMC UK will air the series from the start, as part of a prestigious line-up that also includes the red-hot Fear the Walking Dead and underground hit Manhattan.
"I'm glad to see it's finally going to hit the shores of the UK," says Young. "Because I think that it's something that a lot of people will be able to recognise in themselves - the journey of this family trying to find their way forward by feeling."
Rectify tells the story of Young's Daniel Holden, a Death Row inmate released after 19 years when new DNA evidence throws his conviction for rape and murder into question.
"His family has been destroyed by this event 20 years ago - and over the course of that time has managed to rebuild itself from the shards of that destruction," the actor explains.
"Season one, episode one begins with Daniel landing right in the middle of that mosaic - and smashing it once again - and the story is about how do they rebuild that mosaic... or is it even possible now that it's been destroyed again?"
© Sundance Channel / AMC Networks
Young - who resides in Australia when not shooting the show in Atlanta - originally turned down the part of Daniel, disaffected after working on a string of unfulfilling projects.
"I'd played a few characters - minor roles in a few films - and they weren't the greatest of experiences, simply because you couldn't sink your teeth into it," he recalls.
"It was a casting agent in Australia who fought against my idea that I shouldn't be doing it. It was a big deal - I had to pack up the family and move to the States - but after she sent me through the second episode, I was immediately hooked."
© Sundance TV/Curtis Baker
One of the most compelling things about Rectify is the ambiguity surrounding Daniel's potential guilt - it's not immediately clear whether or not he did commit the crimes of which he was once accused.
Young takes issue with the word 'ambiguity' though: "In some ways, there's an apathetic nature to the definition of 'ambiguity' - and I don't think that's the compulsion behind whether to allow the audience to know if he did or didn't.
"To me, there's an investigation going on - there's nothing ambiguous about that investigation. The question is 'Did he or did he do it?' - not 'Who cares?' - an investigation is playing out through Ray's lens."
© Sundance TV/Curtis Baker
'Ray' is Ray McKinnon, an actor who's appeared on the likes of Deadwood and Sons of Anarchy, and who - after early success as a writer and director of award-winning short films - created his first television series in Rectify.
Young believes that the series is telling the sort of intimate human stories that were once the domain of independent cinema, and has since become synonymous with cable television.
"The adults are not forking out enough money - they're sending their kids [to the cinema], and what do the kid want to watch?" he poses. "Slowly, adult drama was pushed away to make way for those tent-pole films - and a lot of the writers were smart to look at television as a new medium.
"Shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under really opened up the way we understood story - and what it meant to have a intense family drama played out in front of us - and to be a part of something like that now is a wonderful opportunity."
© Sundance TV/Tina Rowden
Having already wowed a discerning US audience, the cult of Rectify looks set to grow with its UK premiere - the only sticking point for the series' staunch supporters is its lack of awards recognition, despite terrific notices.
Young admits it would be a "wonderful thing" to see the series win an Emmy or a Golden Globe, but is modest when deliberating on his own achievements: "Rectify is something that we are, as a crew and cast, extremely proud of.
"We all work very hard. If the show was to receive any recognition, then it would only help to bring exposure to the story we're trying to tell.
"As to me..." he closes. "I don't need the doorstop."
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