‘The decisions are riskier’ – ‘Hidden Assets’ star Nora-Jane Noone on raising the stakes in third season of RTÉ crime drama
The RTÉ crime drama features a fictionalised version of the real-life Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB), the agency focused on the proceeds of serious crime.
Now returning to the show in an established role for season three, Noone has had the opportunity to delve deeper into DS Wallace’s character without the pressures of arriving on a new set for the first time.
“The hard work of joining in last time was spending a few episodes just introducing this person and setting them up,” she said. “She was ‘other’, she was on the outside.
“Now, you get to see who she is underneath it all. There are friendships, there are real stakes in terms of what she feels accountable and responsible for, having to justify going away and doing this work, the impact it’s having on her family.
“There’s so much more intimacy, softness and complexity this season, and that’s what was really exciting about reading it. The minute I read the first episode it was like ‘Oh, we’re in’.”
The stakes were firmly ramped up from the get-go in episode one of the new season – a CAB raid ends tragically in Dublin, while a murder in Spain takes DS Wallace to Bilbao, a new setting for the show this season.
“It means the decisions my character is making are riskier,” Noone said. “She’s taking a risk in trusting and partnering up with another agency in Bilbao, in the belief this is all connected somehow.
“If she’s wrong, it’s all on her. As time goes on, she starts to doubt herself. Everything is hinged on her instincts.
“The crew in both countries [Ireland and Spain] are incredible. It’s a lovely experience to work with people abroad and get to know a new city.”
It was Antwerp that brought the European flavour on previous seasons of Hidden Assets. Noone said the Belgian city was a “brilliant” place to work.
“Antwerp is gorgeous. I never knew much about it before filming there and it’s become one of my favourite places in Europe.”
As a production with multiple international partners, Hidden Assets is something of a melting pot of creativity. Noone said much of the credit goes to Belgian director Kadir Ferati Balci, who has been there from the start, and Irish director Mia Mullarkey who came aboard for season three.
“I don’t there are that many shows out there like this, where it is a blend of different cultures. It’s really exciting to be a part of that.
“The writing adds a level of sophistication to the show because it’s so clever. It’s a complicated story to try and get across to people, but they do such a brilliant job.
“Everyone in production being so collaborative and so open to different elements, and that means it’s possible for something new and interesting to be made.”
Hidden Assets airs Sundays at 9.30pm on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player.
