Joel Fry-days
Leighton, Trollied (Series 1-3)
Oh my god! Leighton, sunshine, light of my life! At three seasons (with a total of 35 episodes,) this is Joel Fry's longest-running project, and it's still not enough--I want more. Absolutely one of my favorite performances from him!
Trollied is a workplace sitcom set in a small branch of a national supermarket chain called Valco. While it starts a little slow, I enjoyed watching the show's first three seasons and getting to know its cast of quirky characters. Genre fans might recognize Mark Addy (Robert Baratheon from Game of Thrones) and Nick Blood (Hunter from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as the guys behind the butcher counter. Be warned--some of the humor relies on lazy bigoted jokes in a very early-2010s way. It's not a big feature on the show, but casual sexism, racism, homophobia/transphobia, and ableism all occasionally rear their heads in ways that are played for laughs.
But okay, let's talk about Leighton! While a lot of the Valco employees are pretty checked out and look for ways to make their days more interesting, Leighton is clearly locked in on this job. He has a superhuman work ethic and vows to give anywhere between 1000 and 6000% at all times. There’s more than one occasion where he's elated about something happening in the store that he's literally dreamt about (wondrous dreams like the introduction of a new product range or getting to help the manager with some admit work.) Leighton very badly wants to do everything well, gets stressed when he’s not sure what to do, and genuinely cares about what happens in Valco.
A lot of Joel Fry's characters read as autistic to me, along with some who have other forms of neurodivergence, either canonically or just in my interpretation. I haven't really talked about that on Joel Fry-days, because I want to keep my headcanons separate from my reviews for the most part, though I've definitely referenced traits/qualities that "ping" for me with some of his characters (since those traits are part of why I love them!) That said, Leighton is very plainly autistic. It's that early-2010s thing where they're careful never to name it as such, but it's obvious that's what they're intending. This is such a beautiful, hilarious, endearing portrayal of an autistic character, and I honestly get a little emotional just thinking about him.
Leighton is a diligent, conscientious stocker who gets physical satisfaction from the sight of a perfectly-stocked shelf. He can find anything in the store in 45 seconds and sometimes quizzes himself on product prices. He memorizes rules but flounders when he runs into a situation that the rules don't account for. He's easy for his coworkers to prank because he's overly trusting. He takes things literally and often misses sarcasm. He's eager to connect with others and usually doesn't realize when someone thinks he's weird or annoying. He's an enthusiastic, fiercely loyal, dedicated employee who will do anything that’s asked of him, and when he’s given assignments that are within his wheelhouse, he’ll do them better than anyone else in the entire store. But when he's placed outside his more familiar roles, he either needs a lot of support or struggles to succeed at all.
I'm actually a little floored by how well-characterized Leighton is. As I said, Trollied isn't a super progressive show, and on the whole, they're not sensitive enough to handle this character so well. I have to believe a lot of this comes down to Joel Fry's wonderfully honest performance. He plays Leighton with such specificity, vibrance, and internal consistency. There are moments when you can practically feel the writing trying to pull him into a shallower place for a cheaper laugh--maybe to infantilize Leighton or reduce him to "the dummy"--but Joel always displays a really clear understanding of who this character is. Every second he’s on screen just feels so intensely, superbly Leighton.
As usual, Joel Fry's nonverbal acting adds a lot to his performance, and not just his physical comedy (although that's substantial. Perfectly-executed pratfall? Fumbling a big stack of shopping baskets? Yes, please!) He does an excellent job balancing Leighton's eager earnestness with his anxious uncertainty, and his state of mind is always apparent at a glance. When he's wearing a face-splitting grin and talking too loudly vs. when he's softly stammering and his eye contact is all over the place. Nervous stims (picking his nails, tugging on his uniform) vs. happy stims (fists shaking, jumping and down, covering his face as he laughs/squeals.) Joyful imaginative curiosity vs. confusion that's physically distressing to him.
This is such a nuanced performance that did not have to go so hard in a good-but-not-amazing workplace sitcom. Fantastically funny, sweetly lovable, and at times genuinely affecting. On my exploration of Joel Fry's filmography, I've discovered plenty of great acting from him so far and some terrific characters, but I am so, so glad that Leighton exists and I found this role!
