Interview with Percelle Ascott who plays Leon in new BBC drama Domino Day which debuts on Jan. 31

Percelle Ascott who plays Leon in Domino Day

Watch Domino Day on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from Wednesday 31 January at 9pm.

PHOTO: Percelle Ascott as Leon (Image: Dancing Ledge Productions/Sophie Mutevelian)

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Could you please give us an overview of Domino Day?

Domino Day is a dating drama series that follows Domino as she navigates relationships, swiping left and right, but through the lens of a witch. It’s a coming of age show about self-discovery where we see Domino getting to know herself as a person.

What makes the show unique?

The show is unique because we haven’t had a genre show like this in the UK for a while. Growing up we’ve only really watched genre shows like this from America so it’s been a long time coming. I’ve also never seen a show that taps into the dating world like this one does. It’s still grounded in relatable themes but all done through a witch’s perspective. Theme-wise, the show is funny, sexy, dark and intense. The audience is really taken on a journey with lots of twists and turns from episode one to six.

Can you tell us a little bit about your character and where we meet him?

We meet Leon right at the start in episode one. He's not magical like the rest of the characters are but he has a good connection with Domino from the beginning. However, as their love begins to blossom there are people out there who aren’t a fan of their romance so as they’re trying to figure things out between them, and Leon gets caught up in the mess with Domino.

What drew you to playing him?

I think it was the first conversation I had with the director, Eva Sigurdardottir. As there are so many supernatural elements, she wanted to find a way to ground the show through my relationship with Domino. At the end of the day, it’s just a relationship and it was fun to explore how we can find the comedy within our relationship and take it away from all the other scenes that are so supernatural. I feel like the scenes you see with Leon are more stripped back, grounded and wholesome.

What was your first impression after reading the script?

My first impression of Lauren’s script was that it was very impressive and it felt really ambitious. When I read it I felt like I could really picture Leon and envision all the scenes with him and Domino. Their relationship felt real, natural and relatable so it was definitely something I wanted to be a part of. Speaking to Lauren, it was great to get to know her and hear about her journey as she’s been developing this project since 2018. So after five years of developing and trying to get this off the ground, I’m grateful to have come in towards the end of the process and help tell her story and bring her vision to life.

What would you want audiences to take away from the show?

With genre-specific shows like this one, I feel like there's always going to be themes that are grounded in real life and that are relatable. I think the biggest thing for me about the show was that it’s all really about self-acceptance. For a show that’s targeted towards young adults I think it’s really important to have these small, positive messages that the audience can take away from it.

Circling back to your character, where do we first meet him?

We first meet Leon working at the bar. He’s from London but came to Manchester for university here and just ended up deciding to stay because he loves the city so much and he has a passion for music. He’s enjoying life, just cruising and then he meets Domino.

Have you enjoyed playing him?

I’ve loved playing Leon. When I initially read the script I could picture playing him and knew exactly what I wanted to do. For me it was also all about finding the comedy and a way to make audiences fall in love with him so I got to be my goofy, corny self and throw in a few improvised lines with Siena. The whole process has been super collaborative with Lauren, the directors and Siena of course. We just got to try different things and play with the script which has been really enjoyable.

Do you have any similarities with Leon?

I definitely have a lot of similarities with Leon and have got to add a little bit of Percy in. I’m quite goofy and corny, as well as a big romantic and I think Leon is as well.

About

The series follows Domino Day (played by Siena Kelly), a young woman on all of the dating apps. But Domino isn’t swiping to find her soulmate – she’s swiping to hunt.

A young witch with extraordinary powers, Domino is desperately seeking a community who can help her understand who she is, but she doesn’t need to look far, as a coven of witches is already tracking her every move, convinced they have to stop her before her powers destroy everyone and everything around her.

When a dangerous figure from Domino’s past comes back to haunt her, will it be a fresh start for them all, or a final showdown?

Domino Day (6x45’) is created and written by Lauren Sequeira, with individual episodes written by Charlene James and Haleema Mirza, and is directed by Eva Sigurdardottir and Nadira Amrani, with Nick Pitt as series producer and Megan Ott as producer. Executive producers are Lauren Sequeira with Laurence Bowen, Chris Carey and Elinor Day for Dancing Ledge Productions, a Fremantle company, and Lucy Richer and Ayela Butt for the BBC.

Watch Domino Day on BBC Three and BBC iPlayer from Wednesday 31 January at 9pm.

Source BBC Three

January 31, 2024 3:00am ET by Pressparty  

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