Highland actor pops up in time for BBC hit series Happy Valley's big finish – did you spot him?
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Fans of tense BBC thriller Happy Valley may have done a double-take on Sunday night when a face familiar in Highland theatrical circles made a surprise cameo appearance.
Matthew Zajac might have been hard to spot at first with a cap pulled low over his face.
But he was so deeply into the role of Surroje – helping out chilling criminal Tommy Lee – that even Invernessians who know him well took a minute or two to recognise Matthew.
He said: “I haven’t particularly advertised to anyone that I’m in the series!
“But I was obviously very pleased to get a wee role in Happy Valley. It’s a relatively small role, but those ones can become a lot more significant to the public.”
Matthew is tight-lipped about the part his character will play in the final Happy Valley episode of Sally Wainwright’s third and final series.
But it looks as if Matthew will be there – an exciting showdown looks likely between main characters and bitter enemies, Tommy and Sergeant Catherine Cawood, played by Sarah Lancashire.
Matthew believes his character is Croatian – and has an Eastern European accent in the drama.
Matthew has his own family connections with Eastern Europe.
Brought up in Inverness where his father Mateusz had settled after the Second World War, Matthew looked into his late dad's Polish roots, He discovered Mateusz – who died in 1992 – had been born in Eastern Poland which went on to become Western Ukraine, but that his war had been different from what he had told his family. Matthew told the full story – including rediscovering a secret family in Poland – in his play, then book, The Tailor Of Inverness. He also played his father in the production by Dogstar Theatre, which he founded and which took the play across the world.
“There was some debate how to pronounce Surroje, but no-one actually speaks his name!” the actor confirmed.
After auditioning for the role on a “self tape”, a popular way of auditioning since the pandemic, where you just film yourself performing lines you have been sent to learn, Matthew learned he had won the role. He then headed for Yorkshire and Halifax where the series have been filmed.
“I think Sally Wainwright is a very humane writer and all the characters are interesting. Obviously Tommy Lee Royce has all his flaws, but he is still portrayed as a human being,” the Inverness actor said.
In real life, Matthew enjoyed his scenes with James Norton who plays Tommy.
“He’s a very nice guy, pretty easy-going and has a good sense of humour!”
Matthew has just come back from filming in Romania – where scenes involved him driving a horse and cart through a forest.
But having organised and hosted the special With Love To Ukraine fundraising night at Eden Court a few months ago, Matthew is turning his attention again to Ukraine, co-hosting an event at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall called Salut Ukraine! on Sunday, February 26. Again, there will be a mix of Ukrainian and Scottish performers including Lau, Kathleen Jamie, as well as North Highland-based musicians such as Hamish Napier, Su-a Lee and Ross Ainslie.
“I hope some people will travel down to see it,” Matthew said.
The final part of BBC1 thriller Happy Valley starts at 9pm on Sunday. Salut Ukraine! is at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh on Sunday, February 26 at 7pm and runs for 140 minutes. For tickets (£10), reach box office on: 0131 228 1155 and customer.enquiries@usherhall.co.uk
