Interview: Kieron Moore on ‘Code of Silence’
When Kieron Moore was cast as Liam Barlow in Code of Silence, his first leading role in a project ever, it marked the beginning of what’s sure to be a remarkable career. The ITV drama, which features a groundbreaking performance by Rose Ayling-Ellis as Alison Woods, a deaf worker from the police canteen who is called in as an emergency lip reader for an investigation, takes audiences on a tense and emotional journey through the hidden world of gangland and police corruption. But it’s Moore’s portrayal of Liam, a complex, morally ambiguous character, that adds a compelling counterpoint to Alison’s story and grounds the show in emotional grey zones.
“Firstly, it’s such a privilege to be seen in that light,” Moore reflects on stepping into one of the project’s lead roles. “I don’t want to take anything away from Rose, she really spearheads the ship, and she was so great in that position. But I do feel like Liam is such a pivotal character to the story. I just feel very lucky.”
It’s an opportunity that Moore clearly doesn’t take for granted. “There’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into getting the opportunities,” he says. “It feels like such a responsibility to stick the landing.” And throughout the course of the series’ 6 episodes, Moore proves he’s more than up for the challenge, delivering a nuanced, deeply layered portrayal of a complex character who finds himself caught in between two very different worlds. “But really, it’s just an honor,” he says of the opportunity to portray Liam. “And hopefully people can see, especially the people making the projects, that I have the capacity and the capability [in leading a project], and I’m comfortable in that role.”
In any other actor’s hands, Liam could have very easily been a one-dimensional, one-note character whose only purpose is to act as a foil to Alison. But Moore plays him with such restraint, such startling emotional precision, that he becomes something else entirely; a man you can’t quite pin down, whose silence feels deliberate, and whose contradictions feel earned. Moore says he worked closely with the show’s writer Catherine Moulton to develop the character beyond what was explicitly on the page. “When I got the role and I spoke to Kat, who is our writer and she’s incredible, we just kind of had the same ideas about Liam from the jump,” he explains. “The scripts weren’t finished, but I just thought there was so much room to be more than what meets the eye. I love a contradiction.”
It helped that the character was adapted to reflect Moore’s own background. “When they decided to make him from Manchester and give him this whole other outside life, I felt like, right, okay, there’s definitely something I can steal from Kieron while still making it different,” he says. “There was just this innate understanding of him. Like a lot of us, when you grow up in certain areas, you’re one foot out of the wrong decision. Your skill sets can be swayed to do things that aren’t really aligning with who you are as a person. And that was just so fascinating to me.”
When we (and Alison) are first introduced to Liam during a shady meeting that takes place at a park bench, it would be easy to write him off as the show’s big bad; another cold, calculating foot soldier doing someone else’s dirty work. But there’s something in the way Moore plays him; quiet, watchful, not quite giving in to menace, that makes you lean in. Instead of fearing him, you’re curious. You want to know who he is and what got him here. It’s a sentiment Moore says he shared while he was reading the scripts: “Is he a bad guy or is he a good guy trying to be bad? Or is he a bad guy trying to be good? That just really fascinated me.”
The more Moore sat with Liam’s backstory, the more complexity he uncovered. “You come to learn that Liam grew up in foster homes, and I think that’s such a huge part of people’s lives,” he explains. “You either become super, super close with everyone around you, or you can be quite the opposite. You can seclude yourself.” That isolation, he says, made Liam’s connection to computers (Liam is a coder who uses his skills to infiltrate the gang the police are investigating) feel symbolic. “Computers have a code,” he remarks. “People are complex, but he can hack the computers. He can find a way in, he can understand them. He can control them. I think people scare him. That was just something really interesting to toy with.”
Still, there’s a gentleness beneath Liam’s mistrust. He’s sharp, defensive, and slow to trust. But he’s also emotionally intelligent, self-aware, and far more vulnerable than he lets on. “He’s emotionally intelligent,” says Moore of his character. “He’s aware of his trust issues. It’s not like he’s just completely toxic. He’s not blind to what he does. I think he’s got a heart of gold—but he’s just willing to tinker on the dangerous, if necessary.” Moore leans into that complexity, especially when it comes to the character’s relationship with Alison. “She becomes like a conscience for him,” he says of their dynamic. “He’s doing this terrible thing or this scary thing, or is he?”
The dynamic between Alison and Liam is one of the show’s most compelling threads. What starts as a transactional relationship quickly becomes something murkier and more emotionally loaded. There’s no big moment where the walls come down, no obvious turning point. Instead, Moore and Ayling-Ellis let the connection build in silences, glances, and near-misses. You’re never quite sure what they are to each other, and that’s exactly what makes it so interesting to watch.
Working with Ayling-Ellis to develop that relationship was a gift, says Moore. “Rose is the most fascinating human being I’ve ever met.” he gushes. “I’ve gained such a friend as opposed to just a colleague. We didn’t have a chemistry read, which is really interesting. I just got the job off a tape, which has never happened before. But we were intrigued by each other, we were curious, and we just both wanted it to be the best that it could be.”
Despite the intensity of the role, Moore says filming Code of Silence was one of the most rewarding experiences of his life. “I’ve said this a few times and I genuinely mean it: I loved filming Code of Silence, and I’m so honoured to have played Liam,” he says. “Every job I’ve done so far, I believe I’ve grown as an actor, but I’ve grown more as a person from this one, tenfold. And it’s just something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.”
That is due, in part, to the show’s subject matter. Centering a police procedural series on a deaf character, who is also played by a deaf actress, feels groundbreaking in a genre that rarely makes space for stories like Alison’s. For Moore, the experience of working so closely with Ayling-Ellis wasn’t just creatively rewarding, it was personal. He’s spoken openly about how much he learned about the deaf community while making the show, lessons in communication, empathy, and awareness that he says he’ll carry with him for the rest of his life.
“A big part of the show is how we communicate,” he explains. “If I was speaking to Rose, I’d have to be a little bit more mindful. As overwhelming as that can seem, it’s also so simple. That’s the biggest takeaway for me. To connect with people in their differences really isn’t that hard if you just ask them what they need.”
As for what comes next, Moore is taking things as they come. He’s written his first feature film, which he plans to make with Code of Silence director Diarmuid Goggins, and has a motion capture project in the works. He can also next be seen in Netflix series Boots alongside Miles Heizer, Vera Farmiga and his Vampire Academy co-star Max Parker. “I started that in 2023 and the strikes ended up halting it,” he says. “Netflix thankfully stuck by it. I think there’s a special show there. I love that character. I really love that character. So I’m really excited for people to see that, and I’m just so grateful that Netflix have stuck by it.”
He’s also set to make his feature film debut opposite Reed Birney in Blue Film from director Elliot Tuttle. The film, which centers on a fetish camboy who agrees to spend the night with an anonymous client, only to discover a disturbing tie to his past, is set for a festival run later this year. “Elliot is a very, very good director,” he says. “I am really excited to see what he does. He’s dangerous but I think the world needs a bit more dangerous storytelling. We throw the word dangerous around quite a lot, and it’s like, ‘Is it truly [dangerous]? Does it truly challenge us? Blue Film was the first script I ever got that scared me. It’s a very, very provocative story, and I think that’s sign of a good film.”
As for what he looks for in a role or project, Moore says he’s still figuring that out. “I just want to keep going, really,” he muses. “I wish I could sit here and say I know what characters I want to play, but I guess I’ve not seen them yet. I think the next goal, obviously, is just to get on some more radars, casting brackets, you know? I think we’re on our way. I’m really just trying to get better every single day. The lessons don’t stop. I’m just really going with the flow, you know? The belief hasn’t wavered. It feels like the dominoes will start to fall, as they may, so I’m just cracking on.”
And yes, he’d return as Liam in a potential second series of the show. But only if it feels right. “I would love to come back and play Liam again,” he says. “But I would only want to come back if it did justice. Not just to Liam, but to the story. Because I personally think there is so much room for Alison’s character. There’s so many avenues they could take her down, and I’d want to see them. But I guess the answer is yes. I’d like to see what his story looks like.”
CODE OF SILENCE is now airing on ITV.