Ever wondered what star of Motherland, Line of Duty, Ludwig and now Apple TV drama Star City Anna Maxwell Martin might stick on the TV when she’s got a rare quiet moment between projects?
We sat down with the actor to delve into her top 10 of all time – ranging from comfort movies to bonkbusters.
1. Silent Witness
Anna Maxwell Martin says: This kept me sustained during the travel on Star City, I’d watch it on the plane. I have watched every single episode. David Caves [who plays Jack Hodgson] recently sent me a video, I was beside myself. I absolutely love it. I love a procedural, forensic drama, and Silent Witness ticks all the boxes – I never miss it. If I went on Mastermind, it would be my chosen subject.
2. A Room with a View (1985)
Anna Maxwell Martin says: This is my real comfort film – I absolutely love it. I’ve indoctrinated my children into it as well. I’ve probably watched it 40 times.
3. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Anna Maxwell Martin says: He’s very of-the-moment, but I’ve loved Paul Thomas Anderson and his work since his early days. Punch-Drunk Love is a brilliant film and it’s got one of my favourite actors in it, who I’d love to work with: Adam Sandler. I also have a crush on him. I love a silly comedy so I like Just Go With It, with Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman. You can tell I like an easy watch, can’t you?
4. La Strada (1954)
Anna Maxwell Martin says: This was a family film for us. It’s an absolutely amazing and heart-breaking film, and it’s one of my favourites. The kids weirdly watched it when they were little, and there’s this character played by Anthony Quinn called Zampanò and they sort of got it into their head that he was their dad. I don’t know, the children have got some issues going on.
5. Rivals
Anna Maxwell Martin says: I just watched the trailer for the second season, and even the trailer is one of the best things I’ve ever watched. Rivals is so good – it’s a 12/10. The writing, the conception, the direction, and every single actor in it is just brilliant.
6. Colin from Accounts
I loved the first season of this – also a 12/10 for me. So funny, so sweet – I felt like I was watching something really different. I love the character of Lee, rustling around in his camera bag.
7. Jack Irish
Anna Maxwell Martin says: As you can tell, I love a lot of stuff that comes out of Australia. It’s their sensibility. They mix genre really well there, like they do in the States. We’re a bit more hemmed in here; it’s got to be gritty or it’s got to be comedy and you can’t mix the two, which is a bit frustrating. This show is with gorgeous Guy Pearce [whom I worked with on A Spy Among Friends] – it is absolutely brilliant. I smashed all three seasons.
8. Dempsey & Makepeace
Anna Maxwell Martin says: This was my favourite when I was little, and it was the first time I was allowed to stay up late. I wanted to be Makepeace more than anything else, and I still want her hair, and I still want to look like her. In fact, Lyudmilla [Martin’s character in Star City] is based on her because in the first episode of Dempsey and Makepeace, she walks in and she is stunning. She’s got that little bob going on, and she goes to work in a police station in high-waisted trousers, a little white shirt, a black bow tie – and a gun holster. She’s iconic to me. I think I’ve based Lyudmilla on her, but maybe only the gun holster element.
9. The Office (US)
Anna Maxwell Martin says: I love Steve Carell. There are so many American comedians I’d love to work with and he is one of them. I also love the outtakes of this show so much. It’s hilarious, and it’s a decompress. The best outtake is where he [Michael, Carell’s character] says about the noise Stanley makes when he gets up from the chair and he says he clearly has diabetes. I love how they’re losing it all the time.
On Motherland we giggled a lot. We giggled at Paul [Ready, who plays Kevin] all the time – he is so, so funny. Diane [Morgan, who plays Liz] and I would laugh for 12 hours at Paul. I love watching them all lose it at Steve Carell, and the improvisation. I weirdly prefer doing improvised comedy to improvised drama. It’s so frightening, but once you start doing it you just love it, and I love watching them improvise on those outtakes. It’s just so clever.
For me, it’s the highest form of being excellent in our industry, that stuff. You can rub Vicks in your eye and cry at something, but if you can improvise being that funny in the moment – that stuff is apex predator vibe.
10. Nativity! (2009)
Anna Maxwell Martin says: This is in my top five films, along with Ted. I have never become bored of Nativity! – it’s a perfect film. It always makes me cry or laugh; it is so funny and so moving. We save it for Christmas Eve night.
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