Anna: My Line of Duty chief even scares me
ANNA Maxwell Martin admits her “dead nasty” Line Of Duty character even frightens herself – but thinks all the top cop really craves is a cuddle.
The star, 43, stole the show as no-nonsense DCS Patricia Carmichael in Sunday’s BBC police drama, with acid comments to Supt Ted Hastings and her takeover of anti-corruption unit AC-12.
Anna said: “She’s very passive-aggressive. I know people now like Patricia, people in the industry.
“She’s dead nasty but they are the easiest people to play. I was asked to stare a lot and didn’t have any clue what I was doing, so I would think about what I was having for dinner and things like that.
“I love it, absolutely love it. You could just do anything and it would be OK in the realms of Carmichael. She could just walk up to Hastings and pop a finger in his mouth and he didn’t say anything and that would be OK.
“She could slap him, smile and leave. She’s like a top person isn’t she? And that is so frightening.”
Motherland actress Anna added: “I’m not socially confident or anything. When you play those people you have to come into a room and be like the top bitch and it is quite frightening.”
And Anna, who has two children, Maggie, 11, and Nancy, eight, admits she sometimes gives them the “Patricia face” when they are naughty.
In Sunday’s penultimate Line Of Duty episode, Patricia ordered DI Kate Fleming to be arrested, then shut down questions from Ted Hastings as DCI Jo Davidson was interviewed.
But Anna quashed the theory that Patricia is the mysterious “H” after tapping out the letter in Morse with her pen during the long interrogation scene.
She told the Obsessed With Line Of Duty podcast: “I think I was just bored. I’ve got a gob the size of the Humber. There’s no way they’ve told me anything.” Anna said of Patricia: “I like to think she’s misunderstood. She’s a single parent, got quite a few kids at home, an elderly parent she’s caring for and is literally on a liquid diet.
“I think Pat wants a cuddle but there’s no one there to give her one.”
Line Of Duty pulled in 11 million viewers on Sunday, making it the most watched drama since 2008’s The Bodyguard.
A trailer for the series six finale promises “Every investigation has led to this”, giving the impression viewers will finally discover the identity of “H” – and maybe this could be the last ever episode.
● The Line Of Duty series six finale is on BBC One on Sunday at 9pm. Meanwhile, you can hear more from Anna on the Obsessed With Line Of Duty podcast, out now.