Actor Zach Wyatt has just made his debut in the main cast in the series Karen Pirie, so far perhaps the biggest challenge of his still young career. Wyatt, who lived in Macau most of his life before deciding to study Drama at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama, is Phil Parhatka, a Scottish detective who finds himself side-lined in a murder investigation now headed by Karen Pirie, a character played by well-known actress Lauren Lyle.
“There’s a lot to enjoy in this series – the immense exploration of life through humour, darkness and an archived case that comes back to life. There’s a lot to be unpacked and to discuss. It’s a very special series with the adapted screenplay by Emer Kenny and with Lauren Lyle as the female lead,” the actor said in an interview with Bradford Zone.
The son of an American mother and a Canadian father, Zach lived and grew up in Macau and “learned a lot” here.
“I’ve always been different in Macau. Here I look different, I sound different. People see me as different. I come from a different culture. My parents are outsiders. I wasn’t born in Macau. I think that shaped my personality,” he said in a 2020 interview with Plataforma newspaper.
“For example, when I went to the UK, it wasn’t so scary anymore. They’re different realities. I’m not such an alien there anymore. Macau gave me a sense of belonging, but Macau also taught me how to adapt better to different realities. Speaking Chinese or speaking English, I ended up being a bit of a chameleon. Macau was, is and always will be a very important place for me. This is where I grew up.”
After he finished his studies, he made his debut at the highest level in a play with Maise Wiiliams, star of the Game of Thrones series. This was followed by his role as Jimi Hendrix in Urban Myths on the British channel Sky Arts. He also had a small part in the film Blithe Spirit before being chosen for the main cast to play Syndril in the series The Witcher: Blood Origin, episodes which are still in post-production and are due to premiere on Netflix this December on Christmas Day.
Now, Zach Wyatt is starring in Karen Pirie, a story based on Val McDermid’s first Karen Pirie novel, The Distant Echo. In the first episode, Karen is tasked with reopening a murder investigation that was the subject of a provocative true crime podcast.
“When teenager Rosie Duff was found brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in 1996, suspicion fell on three drunken students who were discovered at the scene claiming to have found the body. Sigmund ‘Ziggy’ Malkiewicz, Tom ‘Weird’ Mackie and Alex Gilbey were the suspects, but with a lack of forensic evidence, no charges were brought and the police investigation failed. Twenty-five years later, someone seems willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. Do the three men know more than they previously revealed? How badly did the original investigation fail? And can Karen discover the truth about what happened to Rosie that fateful night?”, the series synopsis reads.
“I’ve always been really excited to explore the culture of Scotland, as well as these incredible characters from Val McDermid’s novel The Distant Echo. There was something about the writing of the TV adaptation that seemed to have a different energy to other scripts out there, there was a unique vibe and that really drew me in,” the actor further told Bradford Zone. “Crime is a typically male genre and for me it’s refreshing to be part of a series that challenges those norms. I hope the audience feels that way too.”