Paddy Considine is trading in a royal life in House of the Dragon for a more peaceful one in rural Ireland with his new role in Small Town, Big Story.

As Séamus, the character spends his days looking after the locals of the small town of Drumbán, Ireland, as their trusted doctor with his family Catherine, Sonny and Joanne.

While to many he looks like he has the picture perfect quiet life, in reality his family is hanging on by a thread, and he’s haunted by a strange past… which just so happens to rear its head again when old flame Wendy (Christina Hendricks) returns to town.

Speaking ahead of the show’s launch, Paddy talks about what he loved about the role, what Séamus’s emotional anchor is, and why he’s considering a move to Ireland…

I play Seamus in Small Town, Big Story. It's a story about a young couple, Wendy and Seamus, who are abducted on the eve of the millennium. This very strange experience profoundly affects their lives. It sets them on two different paths in life as Wendy leaves the town because of the event and Seamus stays.

What attracted me to the series is how the story deals with these people living with this secret and the effects of that one night on their present day lives.

Seamus Proctor is the local doctor in the town of Drumbán. He’s married to Catherine (Eileen Walsh) with two children Sonny (David Rawle) and Joanne (Leia Murphy). You meet him as he is just going along with his life as normal. When Wendy (Christina Hendricks) comes back to town and begins a big film production, all this stuff about his past starts to surface again.

I was attracted to the role because of the abduction, which I find interesting. I saw an opportunity to explore the impact of such an experience on someone’s life. People who claim to have been abducted often face a lot of shame and embarrassment, and it can make them outsiders in their own communities.

I wanted to portray a character dealing with that trauma and fear of ridicule. The story also touches on how Seamus makes a public admission of what happened to him, which brings on the ridicule he dreaded but eventually leads to some freedom when people start to realise he's telling the truth.

Working with Chris O’Dowd was great. I was interested in how far I could go with the comedy elements of the series and whether I could achieve it. I learned that my role was to be the believable guy amidst the ridiculous circumstances. I really enjoyed the scripts and found the story compelling, so there wasn’t much effort in wanting to work on the project.

Seamus is a pillar of the community, surrounded by townsfolk characters. How was it working with them?

There were so many great actors who play the locals of Drumbán, like Andrew Bennett who plays Barry Battles, David Willmot who plays Keith McCurdle, and Michele Forbes who plays Barbra The Butcher. My first scene was with them, and I felt like the alien in the room. It was a situation, which added to the world and elevated it. Seamus is brighter than a lot of the characters, but he genuinely likes them all. He’s not cynical or highbrow, and he enjoys their ridiculousness. They all gave a lot of great performances which I enjoyed.

The young Wendy and Seamus had this strange experience together on the eve of the

Millennium. When Wendy returns to Drumbán 20 years later, it stirs up a lot of anxiety and panic for Seamus because he’s hiding so much about his life and what happened to them both back then.

Her presence forces him to confront his past and the impact it has on his present. Their relationship evolves as the truth is revealed, bringing them closer together.

I always anchor my characters somewhere, and in the case of Seamus, it was with his daughter, Joanne Proctor, and hopefully you will see the father daughter bond come through on screen.

The dynamic within the family was important for me. There’s a scene where I try to prove I’ve been abducted by playing the trombone, which I was gifted with. It was important to play it straight and believable, allowing the comedy to come from the reactions of the family.

I’m musical, but learning the trombone was more of a chore than a pleasure. My trombone teacher said I made a lot of progress quickly, but I thought I sounded dreadful. It was something fun to do for the role, but I didn’t take it too seriously.

I wasn’t as focused on the folklore aspects, but the abduction themes were central to my character’s story. Seamus is dealing with the trauma and consequences of his abduction, which affects his relationships with his family and life in the town.

I’ve always been fascinated by this stuff since I was a kid. There’s a lot happening around these themes now, with more disclosure and admittance. It’s interesting how the idea of unidentified flying objects or extraterrestrials has become so commonplace that it’s not even shocking anymore. I find it all quite intriguing.

The last episode is particularly impactful and leaves the door open for more stories.

Memorable… Sitting on a boat in a giant lake in pouring rain, trying to do a scene. Most of our scenes were against the elements, but we worked great together despite the rain. It was a lot of fun despite the challenging conditions.

I love it in Ireland. I’m a walker, so I enjoyed all the walks and hikes. I love Ireland and might even consider moving here.

I’m not good at predicting how people will react, but I hope they enjoy it. I found it a lot of fun to make.