I’VE HAD FANS TRYING TO PUSH MY ‘OFF’ BUTTON

You’ve played synth Mia for three series now. Do fans ever ask you to move like a synth when you’re out and about? I’VE had people ask to record voicemail messages in a synth voice, and I’ve had people come up and try to turn me off, pushing the bit under the chin. That’s quite weird. It is a bit odd. Quite an invasion of personal space! Humans has been a phenomenal success. Why do you think the show has struck such a chord? I THINK there’s something about the fact that it feels very embedded in a real world – so even though it’s science fiction, it feels very plausible, it feels very grounded. Some of the scenes that have the most drama take place in a family kitchen, and I think people watching it can feel “that’s how my family might respond if we had a synth in our home.” It’s relatable. Is it easy to get back into synth mode to play Mia when you return to filming after a break? WE have a synth boot camp that we go back into before each series, and a very good choreographer called Dan O’Neill who whips us back into shape, but it takes longer than you’d think, actually. Is it hard to play a synth? YOU have to express yourself in a different way. I suppose it has made me more resourceful, in a way. I now really know the power that you have in stillness, and in economy as well – how you can convey something in the most efficient way. Is it important that the drama in set essentially in the present? YES, absolutely. It’s not set years in the future, it’s a time that could be now. As well as it being more relatable, it feels like there’s more danger, because it’s not happening somewhere far away, in time or in space. It’s very much that this technology is embedded in your everyday life, it’s already in your home, so if it goes wrong, it’s very much a threat to you and your family. Humans has many strong female characters – did that attract to the project? YEAH, definitely. There’s a backbone of really strong female characters, from the youngest, Sophie, and Mattie and Laura in the family, through the synth Gemma Chan plays ‘synth’ Mia in the hit sci-fi series On the subject of gender, do you think things are finally changing in the performance industry in terms of gender parity? I WOULD say that we’re at the beginning of change. The conversation has definitely started and there’s discussion going on. I don’t think we’re there yet. But I’m excited that it feels like we’re hopefully at the start of a new era. If the technology was available, would you get a synth? NO. (But) I give a different answer every time I’m asked this! I think I’d be too unnerved by a synth in my house.