Sheridan Smith's I Fought the Law co-star Jack James Ryan has praised the star for her performance in the new ITV true crime drama.
Beginning in the 1980s, the series follows Smith as Ann Ming, the mother of murder victim Julie Hogg. Upset and frustrated about the lack of justice, she pushes for a change in the Double Jeopardy Law to get William Dunlop sent down for his crime.
Ryan, who previously played Jacob Hay in Coronation Street, plays William opposite Smith's Ann, and gushed over his co-star in an interview with The Mirror.
"People say, 'Oh I've always loved this actor', but when I knew that I was going to be playing alongside Sheridan, I couldn't believe it," he stated.
"It was just amazing, I have followed her career as a young actor and been totally inspired by the work that she's done, so getting to spend the last four months watching her work and stealing everything was the best, so much better than drama school."
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He continued by stating that Smith's performance is "absolutely breathtaking".
"To be surrounded by these actors, it has an absolutely great supporting cast throughout the series, so to be surrounded by them felt like I'd won the lottery," he added. "This is the type of work that I've always dreamed of doing."
He also explained that this is the first major project he's done that's based on real-life, which felt a bit daunting.
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"I know that we all felt the pressure, Sheridan and everyone, to do this story justice and deliver it in a sensitive way that was going to be impactful and honouring the people that we've lost, and also the people that are still fighting for justice," he concluded.
"It wasn't easy but it was also incredibly exciting to be a part of something which felt like it has the opportunity to really help and change people and have a real impact for the better."
I Fought the Law is airing on ITV1 on Monday nights, while all episodes are available on ITVX now.
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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.
