Frankie Drake Mysteries is its own woman
Comparisons to Murdoch Mysteries greatly exaggerated, says Lauren Lee Smith
Make no mistake: CBC’s new heroine Frankie Drake isn’t just William Murdoch with a wig and lipstick. Sure, both characters are Toronto-based detectives. Both are situated in the early 20th century. And both have mysterious show titles—it’ s Frankie Drake Mysteries and Murdoch Mysteries, respectively, and both hail from the same production company, Shaft es bury.
But, says Frankie’s portrayer Lauren Lee Smith, Ms. Drake is her own person, thank you very much.
“Maybe very early on that was something that was kicking around, but every time that gets mentioned, the creators Michelle Ric ci and Carol Hay( who are both writers on Murdoch Mysteries), say it’s not really,” she explains.
“I guess we’re similar in the sense that we have stand-alone episodes and we’re private detectives, so there’s the element of some crime that is being solved. But other than that, it’ s going to be pretty much its own show.” Debuting Monday on CBC,
Frankie Drake Mysteries weaves its stories around Drake Private Detectives, the city’ s only detective agency run by — gasp! — women. Frankie and her partner Trudy Clarke (Chantel Riley), do their sleuthing-est best in the age of fly boys, gangsters, rum-runners and speakeasies.
In the first episode, Frankie becomes a suspect in a jewelry heist and teams up with an unlikely ally played by Saving Hope’s Wendy Crewson. Other guest stars this season include Lucas Bryant
( Haven), Steven Lund( Bitten), and Derek McGrath ( Little Mosque on the Prairie).
“We sort of dive right into a case and into Frankie and Trudy’s friendship. We’re not going to get a whole lot of backstory into how they became partners and how their friendship evolved — I think that’s going to slowly trickle in as the season progresses. But you will get a sense of their sister hood,” says Smith.
“In the first four episodes, we’re going to see a lot of action, adventure, a lot of incredible guest stars coming on. There are amazing costumes, amazing sets and maybe some relationship stuff.” Before landing the lead role on
Frankie Drake, the Vancouverborn actress star red on CB C’ s This
Life as Maggie Lawson, the sister of a woman diagnosed with cancer and a relentless questioner of norms. The drama was cancelled in January after two seasons; Smith received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for her role. Before that, she starred as police sergeant Michelle McCluskey in CTV’s fantasy drama The Listener.
“I really, obviously, enjoy playing very strong female characters. And I thought that Frankie Drake was a big departure from the last show I had done,” Smith says, adding that she also admires many of the reallife women in her orbit.
“Right now my inspiration comes from other mothers. I’m a mother to a one-year-old, and when I look around at the sleep-deprived moms at the park, there’s always a nod of acknowledgment of, ‘OK. We made it through nap time. We’re here.’
“I also look at my own mother, who did the majority of raising three children on her own, and I think that takes superhuman strength that I can’ t fathom. I don’ t know how she did it. ”