From 'Grey's Anatomy' to Scottish indie boss: Kevin McKidd on Freeman's films and his new show 'Only Suspect'

Scottish double-slasher Kevin McKidd has launched an independent film on home turf and says he's using his Hollywood experience to make it happen. When Deadline spoke to him in a New York hotel, McKidd was busy filming Conviction, the Hulu legal drama starring Elisabeth Moss from House creator David Shore. After that, he […]

Scottish double-slasher Kevin McKidd has launched an independent film on home turf and says he's using his Hollywood experience to make it happen.

When Deadline spoke to him at a New York hotel, McKidd was busy filming Conviction , the Hulu legal drama starring Elisabeth Moss from House creator David Shore. After that, he moved to Los Angeles to direct episodes of Grey's Anatomy, a show in which he played Dr. Owen Hunt, which he retired from in 2026 after nearly two decades. Meanwhile, he recently wrapped the British drama The Only Suspect. Related News Sky-ITV News: UK Culture Minister 'Approved To Intervene' Over $2.1B Merger News ITV Buys Trailer 'Galway Bay Murders' Starring Kate Mulgrew, Colm Meaney

In Conviction McKidd plays Moss' husband Neve Harper, a confident lawyer who ends up shooting her in a professional case: a murder in which a husband is accused of killing his wife by setting their house on fire. Watch on Deadline

However, the conversation quickly turns to his native Scotland. McKidd is using the smarts he learned in the US business to strengthen Ferryman Films, his independent label from Edinburgh. "I've got access to this American talent and these people who have been on big shows, and then there are these Scottish writers with so much potential," he says. "It was really fun to see that cross-pollination."

One project he's working on, but keeping mum, is Troubadour. "We are," says McKidd, who is developing it with Bruno Heller (Rome), who is the boss, but Kieran Hurley, who is a very accomplished Scottish playwright, is working with him.

His new independent banner is STV Studios, the production and distribution arm of Scottish broadcaster STV, which is co-founded by former NBCUniversal chief executive David Mortimer. An adaptation of William Shaw's crime novel, Red Beach, is the first collaboration resulting from this deal.

Also in development for the BBC is Friends Like These, a female-led show about a group of 30-something friends. Jillian McCormack (Advice) is writing.

One thing that has finished is the psychological drama The Only Suspect, adapted by Simon Ashdon (Trigger Point) from the novel by Louise Kendlish. It is for ITV in the UK, directed by Farren Blackburn. Set in present-day London to the mid-1990s, it follows Alex (McKidd) and his wife Beth, played by Amaka Okafor (Black Rabbit). The devoted couple's apparently picture-perfect suburban life hides a devastating truth about the dead body - Alex, it turns out, is the man who buried the body and has been harboring a dark secret ever since.

"He's kind of an anti-hero," McKidd says of his character. “It's a really delicious challenge – having the audience root for a character while also having major mixed feelings about them. "I find those characters to be a fantastic knot to unravel."

The scene of the 1990s part of the series is Camden, London, which was largely the epicenter of the British Cool movement. Given that McKidd was one of the stars of Trainspotting, which was a defining film of the era, this mattered. He played the memorable and tragic Tommy in Danny Boyle's film and recently attended the film's 30th anniversary screening in Edinburgh.

"I spent my formative years right around the time where we're seeing younger versions of these characters," McKidd says.

"Luckily I didn't kill anyone," he quipped. "But there are mistakes you make in your twenties, which is what this show is about. I was able to get into that character because it mirrored my life in a weird way, in the same way that Alex has to come back to this place and face what happened in the '90s."

McKidd says viewers should brace themselves for the twists and turns. Every episode will keep you guessing. Just when you think you know what's going on, they pull the rug out from under you. "It's quite dark psychology, but there's a lot of humor in it as well."

Red Planet Pictures is producing. The venerable British label owned by Fremantle handles international sales and will be active at MIPCOM. It's Candlish's second Red Planet adaptation after Our Home, one of ITV's biggest new dramas, which launches in 2022.

Explaining why McKidd was the right fit for The Only Suspect, Red Planet's Tom Mullins, who is executive producing the series, said: "He is. A smart actor with great dramatic range and chameleon versatility, which was essential for the role of Alex, a deeply complex character who goes on a tragic journey over four episodes.

Not only do we see the charming and manipulative Alex protecting his secret, but we also see a man who loves his wife and is faced with an impossible choice, knowing that by facing his guilt and telling the truth, he may destroy his life and his marriage.

McKidd starred in several British shows during her time on Grey's Anatomy, but she still noticed a change when filming The Only Suspect.

In [Grey's Anatomy], we have three cameras that are always rolling in every shot. But with The Only Suspect it was one camera, which is pretty much where I started, in the indie films of the 90s and early 2000s.

“With three cameras, it can blur what you're doing. [Director] Farren Blackburn and the DP did a great job of using one camera and placing it in the optimal position to get the most intense version of that setting.

McKidd's own directing work has made him more of a team player. “Before, I probably had a little pain in the butt. I was like, "You know, my character wouldn't do that." I am much more consistent now. I know what it's like to sit in that director's chair."

With experience in front of and behind the camera, she says she's happy to let go of the controls when an acting gig hits the stage. When I worked with Ben Williams, who was brilliant [as Six Four director Hideo Yokoyama], and Farren, the first thing I said to them was, “I'm not coming in as this actor-director who rolls his eyes at your choices. I can get that chip out of my brain and just focus on being an actor. "I only have complete trust in you."

Meanwhile, being an independent boss is another skill. This requires patience as options are selected, writers are attached, and offers are made to buyers.

"I have this background of being a theater actor, really, which is woven into all this TV and movies," McKidd says. “Then I plugged into the Hollywood system because I came from a very independent background. "I have one foot in both camps and that can benefit my acting but also the company."

Invoking Conviction, McKidd signs off, “I always try to be a moving target. This is what I want for the company. "I want to keep people guessing."

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