This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.
What’s the view from your sofa?
My telly, which is in the corner of the room. I have a very old sofa that I’ve reupholstered twice really badly. Usually my dog Leo shunts me off the sofa, so I often have to sit on the floor. We also have a battered chaise longue that he sits on to look out of the window at people passing by.
Who controls the remote?
The three kids have moved out now so it’s just me and my husband [film director David L Williams]. I’d say it’s fairly democratic, but we can never find what we want to watch.
What have you enjoyed recently?
We really liked The Celebrity Traitors. We watch football, David Attenborough, First Dates. I like documentaries. We watch basically anything to relax and turn our brains off.
So not serial killer thrillers like your new series, The Dark?
I have an overactive imagination and I’m scared of things like this, so I try to avoid it. I watched one horror-type film, Rosemary’s Baby, and that gave me nightmares for weeks. This series is frightening.
Add Radio Times as a Preferred Source on Google
Keep up to date on what’s worth watching with your favourite entertainment news from Radio Times – see more of our exclusive news and interviews featured prominently in Top Stories when using Google.
You play a grieving mum who is caught up in a murder case…
Yes, it’s a real challenge to go in at that unrelenting level of grief and maintain it. Even though you’re acting, it has an effect on the body and it’s hard to sustain through a long day’s shoot. It’s exhausting. And as a mum, I just don’t allow myself to add my own children into it. Once it’s finished, I’m extremely good at switching off.
You also got to use a rifle. How was that?
I’ve used a gun once before in a different show, but that was a handgun. They’re very careful now after what happened in America [the Rust fatal film set tragedy]. You have an armourer who shows you how there’s nothing in the gun. You can’t even have the noises now. I was aware that it wasn’t at all dangerous, but it’s still quite something to point it at somebody. It was an antique, so it was enormously heavy.
On the lighter side, one of your most famous roles was Rachel in Cold Feet. What was it like to be part of that show?
It was a huge part of my life and I was really proud to be part of it. Being in Manchester, the whole production team became friends. When my character died, the public reaction was insane. You don’t have the same level of interest in a single programme any more, so it was one of the last national drama moments. But there was a fame aspect that I didn’t enjoy, plus everything around Friends, it was quite a lot to cope with.
Is it true that seeing the Friends cast being hounded put you off fame?
That level of fame comes at a cost. Some people are really good at dealing with it and others aren’t. It doesn’t just affect you, it affects your family and friendships. It didn’t sit easily with me. But looking back, that part of my life is just incredible to me and sort of bizarre.
When I went for the part of Emily, I hadn’t watched Friends so I didn’t know the enormity of it, which is good because I would have been absolutely petrified. I had never done anything on a live stage before, so the fact that I turned up on this Hollywood lot, and they were filming it in front of a live audience till 2am, feeding people pizzas, it was an amazing experience.
The cast were so brilliant, they knew their characters so well. If something wasn’t working, the writers would rewrite it there and then until it got a big laugh.
The latest issue of Radio Times is out on Tuesday – subscribe here.
The Dark airs at 9pm on Sunday 12 July on ITV1 and ITVX.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
