Emily Fairn spoke about her journey from Canny Farm to TV star in an interview with the ECHO last year
Emily Fairn has won acclaim for her performance in House of Guinness(Image: Dave Benett/WireImage)
Emily Fairn is lighting up our screens once again in the hit series House of Guinness. The 26-year-old plays Anne Plunket in Netflix’s new prestige show from Peaky Blinders creator, Steven Knight.
Emily’s onscreen counterpart is inspired by Anne Guinness, the real life daughter of Sir Benjamin Guinness. The eight-part series is set in 1860s Dublin and follows Anne and her four brothers, as they attempt to take the Guinness family’s legacy into the next chapter after the brewery mogul’s death.
Although it is set in Dublin, the show was largely filmed in Emily’s home city of Liverpool. The actor has previously shone the spotlight on the city in The Responder when she shot to stardom as Town Centre Casey.
Emily spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview ahead of the release of season two last year, as she said how honoured she is to be part of Liverpool’s filming boom.
She said: “I said I wanted to be an actor growing up and I thought it would have to be in like Hollywood or something and then I’m just walking down Bold Street.
“For season two, we were driving down past my nan’s house. I’m texting her and she said ‘Why didn’t you come over for a cup of tea?’ I’m like, ‘I’m doing my big, serious important actor job now.” She added: “I just can’t believe my first job was a TV show set in Liverpool and made by Scousers. It’s amazing.”
Emily was raised in Stockbridge Village, a place she referred to by its nickname, Canny Farm. The rising star’s mum worked in a bank and her dad as a fruit and veg importer and she hailed their support throughout her journey.
She said: “When I got the role [in The Responder] I basically told my mum that I was a background artist. I was worried it was going to come out and I was barely in it and I’d been like ‘Mum, this is my big break.’
“Then it comes out and my mum said ‘every other bloody scene it’s Casey this, Casey that.’ She works in the bank in Liverpool. She’s going ‘so blah blah’s cousin’s, auntie’s, nan came in and said you were amazing’. She’s like ‘I don’t brag, but everyone knows you’re my daughter.’ It is so funny that this is happening.”
Emily Fairn spoke to the Liverpool ECHO in an interview last year at a celebratory screening of The Responder series two(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Emily is an inspiration to people in her home city as she has proved any doubters wrong who said she would struggle to make it in the industry. She added: “I was told when I started to be an actor there was no way you can be an actor with a Scouse accent. Blah, blah, blah.
The rising star is proud of how her home city has shaped as she said this has helped to to enjoy success in a notoriously difficult industry. She said: “[Without Liverpool] I wouldn’t have my humour and self deprecation.
“So I can’t believe that I’m doing this and it’s being celebrated.” She added: “I think there’s definitely an amount of hardiness you have from being from Liverpool. You’re just tough but you can also laugh at yourself.
“I live in London now and my dad always said ‘If anyone gives you any rubbish, just go as Scouse as possible’. That’s what I do. If anyone is being a bit scary, I just go dead Scouse.” She laughed: “Then I can skedaddle and I’m fine.”
House of Guinness series one is now available to watch on Netflix