5 MINUTES WITH...
Brilliant actress Nicola Walker, 49, back at her powerdressing best as one third of the Defoe sisters in series two of hit drama The Split…
You look like you all get on behind the scenes…
We really do – though funnily enough, the joyous scenes are really quite tricky to film. You go a bit nuts, because it takes more energy to manufacture joy. Scenes when we’re all crying are much easier. And Hannah’s swimming again? It’s unfair having to film those scenes. You’ve got no make-up on and you get to an age where you really don’t want to be seen in a swimming costume, but that’s how she is conducting her affair. She thinks she’s being the most discreet she can be – I don’t think she used the gym membership until now.
Why do you think series one was such a hit?
It’s written so well – you see the confusion and the inability to cope day to day, and I think people relate to that. On the surface, everything looks so controlled and wonderfully groomed, yet underneath, Hannah is a pulsating mess.
We see the family looking through old photos…
Most of them actually came from me. Around 1991, I became obsessed with taking loads of photos. I’ve got one of Stephen [Mangan, who plays Hannah’s husband] playing guitar and a group of us are sat around him. He looks like a cult leader. I don’t mean that – he looks beautiful, but I spared him that one.
What surprised you when you first read the script?
That Hannah’s affair was so fullblown! I wasn’t expecting things to go wrong so soon or for it to be so bold from the beginning. She’s in a mess.
By Caroline Blight