Lindsey loving ’Ender an era
KILLER INSTINCT
TELLY’S hottest new series The Level boasts a cast list including Philip Glenister, Amanda Burton, Noel Clarke, Rob James-Collier and Lindsey Coulson.
The Brighton-based drama follows detective Nancy, played by Karla Crome, who has a double life. She works as a cop but is secretly linked to a drug trafficker. The show starts next week. LINDSEY Coulson has admitted she has no regrets over quitting EastEnders after landing a plum role on The Level.
The actress stopped playing Carol Jackson on the BBC soap last October after a five-year stint in Albert Square.
Fans will now see her as tough-talking police officer Michelle Newman. She said: “After having worked constantly for six years, what’s been lovely is just stepping back. And the older I’m getting the nicer it is.
“I’m not as desperate to do loads of stuff. I’ve been very lucky and I feel like I will be again. But there’s so many of us in this profession. “I don’t have that anxiety about roles. At the moment I’m in a really nice place and that feels good.
“Jumping off a long-running show like EastEnders you go ‘Can I do this or this? And then you say ‘Yes, I can’.”
Lindsey won rave reviews for her breast cancer storyline on EastEnders but says it’s good to have new material. She revealed: “Newman doesn’t do emotion, which is good for me. One of the things I didn’t want to do for a while is all that emotion because I’ve done years of that.” ROB James-Collier says it is a “miracle” he did not crash during filming because of his “terrible” driving.
The actor, known to millions as Downton Abbey’s scheming Thomas Barrow, plays detective Kevin O’Dowd on The Level.
He said: “I’m a terrible driver – I shouldn’t be let loose on the road.
“I learned too late and I’m not good at judging distances. It’s a miracle I never had a crash.
“I stalled the car a couple of times and I reversed out of a scene when I should have been going forward. It’s quite hard. You have to deliver your lines and make sure they sound natural while at the same time driving, with this camera sticking out the side of your car.” ROB James Collier has revealed he narrowly avoided being killed while filming a death-defying car chase for the series.
The actor is known to millions for playing scheming Thomas Barrow on Downton Abbey and playing cop Kevin O’Dowd on The Level was his first role since the period drama finished last year.
He said: “I’m a terrible driver. I shouldn’t be let loose on the road. I learned too late and I’m not good at judging distances. It’s a miracle I never had a crash.
“I stalled the car a couple of times and I reversed out of a scene when I should have been going forward. It’s quite hard. You have to deliver your lines and make sure they sound natural while at the same time driving, with this camera sticking out the side of your car.” PRODUCERS kept the plot of The Level so secret, even the cast weren’t told how the six-part series ended.
But Karla Crome, who plays lead character Nancy, still worked out the murderer’s identity.
She said: “The director Andy Goddard didn’t want any of the cast to know who the killer was.
“So I didn’t know until halfway through filming. I didn’t want to know, but I guessed right.” The actress, pictured with Phil Glenister, above, added: “I suppose I was good at solving this one as I was so closely involved.
“I was interviewing people after the cameras stopped rolling to try to work it out.”