Karen Pirie star on her 'evil' role in new spooky drama

It is precisely why the Glasgow actor, better known as determined detective Karen Pirie in the drama series of the same name, was drawn to the role of Mia.

“I loved the idea of playing someone a bit evil and manipulative,” says Lauren.

“Mia is a drug addicted anaesthetist, whose childhood trauma is catching up with her and she’s trying to hide all of it. At times she is quite psychopathic. I loved the thrill of playing her and being told to push it further and further.

“I also loved the weirdness and spookiness of the way the story plays out.”

(Image: BBC)

The Ridge follows Mia as she travels to New Zealand to attend her sister Cassy’s wedding to fiancé Ewan (played by Jay Ryan).

On arrival she is shocked to learn Cassy has died, having fallen from a mountain ridge.

Believing she was murdered, Mia sets about hunting for the killer. As she is drawn into the small town’s web of lies and deceit, and struggling with her own problems, things become increasingly unsettling.

(Image: BBC)

The six-part series has been filmed in Scotland and New Zealand, where Lauren lived during her teenage years.

“New Zealand is a bit of a second home to me, I finished high school there and spent some formative years making lifelong family friends,” she explains.

(Image: BBC)

“So I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to blend both of my lives now I am more of a grown up. It’s the most amazing lifestyle and the people really are some of the coolest.

“There is something to be said for working in the sunshine, in insane landscapes, to help a day’s work feel good.”

She adds: “I had the coolest commutes to work, being driven up a mountain through the bush, hanging out a pickup truck at 7am.”

Lauren says The Ridge is “a speedy ride of spooky” and a “wild story.”

“Mia will take you across the world and show you the cruel depths of what she is willing to go through in order to protect her baby sister,” she says.

“It asks questions of what is right, freaky small town issues and how far you will go for family.”

Jay Ryan, who plays Cassy’s fiancé, the environmental activist Ewan Carmichael, says his character is “a complicated lad."

“He likes to be seen as one of the good guys and somewhat is - until his fiancé’s sister shows up,” he says, smiling.

“I think everyone has secrets to hide in The Ridge. The scripts were gloriously unnerving and exciting to read. There is a gothic tone that really seems to sit well in the rural New Zealand setting and the final twist of the story had me screaming aloud.

"I really did not see it coming …”

The Ridge starts on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer on Tuesday, October 21.