Casualty's Olly Rix admits he doesn't want fans to 'dismiss' Flynn's wrongdoing

Casualty star Olly Rix has insisted that he doesn't want his character to be 'dismissed' by viewers. The actor, 40, started playing clinical lead Flynn Byron on the BBC's flagship medical drama last year, and, on Saturday night's episode, viewers discovered some of the secrets of his past.

Amid heartbreaking scenes that saw life support turned off for one patient, it was revealed that Flynn was dealt the same sort of tragedy regarding his son many years ago. After staying silent on the matter for so long, he eventually opened up about the trauma through tears to colleague Dylan Keogh (William Beck), but Olly has admitted that even though his character might come across as 'toxically masculine' sometimes, he wants him to be a 'challenge' to viewers of the show.

He said: "One of the things I find really interesting about Flynn is that he has certain characteristics we would maybe label as, toxically masculine. That’s a really popular phrase I hear all the time, and sometimes I think it’s a bit harsh in its application, in the way people use it."

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He added to Metro: "I think some guys have blind spots. They struggle to articulate their feelings and sometimes struggle to even understand what their feelings are, let alone articulate them. That doesn’t make you a bad person; it doesn’t make you flawed or somebody that can’t contribute to society, but it’s very readily attacked and dismissed.

"I think Flynn is a nice challenge to an audience in that respect, because I’d be really disappointed if Flynn were easily dismissed. I think that he’s quite a decent person and a brilliant doctor, and sure, he’s made mistakes, but I hope this series sort of challenges the ease with which people would write Flynn off, because I think that’s a mistake."

Olly, who previously starred in Call The Midwife, recently explained that things are set to take a dramatic turn for his alter-ego and revealed to the Mirror that his character will face a major obstacle. "That becomes really the sort of centrepiece of the box set, and that and that moral dilemma," said Olly.

He added: "I think what you're seeing being set up and something that we really explore is 'Who is this man? When the chips are down, what does he do? Is he brave? Despite personal consequences, does he tugtail and run?'

"We've introduced this high-functioning, very competent alpha-male personality who's come from that world, and we're saying now, 'Can you do it when it counts?'" Russell will later give Flynn an ultimatum – if he exposes his wrongdoing, he'll make sure Flynn won't see his wife Claire and their children after discovering that Flynn had been unfaithful during his time in the military.

"That's really the kicker – Russell can potentially leverage Flynn's silence," he revealed, before adding: "They're not actively at war, they're not fighting. He's saying, providing you don't do anything, I won't do anything. Flynn has to choose to step into that fire and say 'I'm going to risk it all, or he won't."

After joining the BBC medical drama earlier this year, Olly admitted it was a "collaborative process" between himself, series producer Liza Mellody for Olly to step into the role of Flynn. "The character himself, we had such an exciting conversation about him," he revealed, admitting he "threw suggestions in" for his character.

Olly's research for the character saw him take inspiration from the special forces, given Flynn's background in the forces. His first episode saw the camera focus from Flynn's point of view, after being admitted as a patient following a car incident.

Speaking of his role, Olly said: "Flynn doesn't come in like any good character, he doesn't come in static or fully formed, unevolving entity. If the audience sticks with him and goes with him, they're going to go on a journey. That's why we did the research and the character we began to wrench him out of that context and put him in an NHS world and people that he has to treat very differently, and watching him discover himself in a new environment. It becomes a bit of a redemption arc for Flynn."

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