Glasgow Times

Martini shaken but not stirred

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FOLLOWING in Dame Helen Mirren’s footsteps was never going to be an easy feat, but rising star Stefanie Martini is determined to make her own tracks in ITV’s hottest new prequel, Prime Suspect 1973.

The British actress is set to play Mirren’s famous character, WPC Jane Tennison, in the new six-part crime drama. But in a twist to the original adaptation this series will rewind to the Seventies to chart the police officer at the beginning of her career, revealing how she became such a complex and formidable character in the Metropolit­an Police. With much anticipati­on for its revival, Martini confesses to feeling the pressure once she sat down to watch the original hit.

“Only then, it slowly dawned on me what a big deal it was,” confides the 26-year-old, who joins forces with the likes of Sam Reid (The Riot Club) and Blake Harrison (The Inbetweene­rs).

“But I also think it’s very different,” she adds. “I have to see it as a separate thing. I have to appreciate it and take what I can from [Mirren’s] performanc­e and the research I did, but then I also have to let that go and treat it as my own interpreta­tion. Playing the young recruit at a time when woman police constables were slowly being integrated into the force, Martini admits to, at first, being shocked at the blatant sexism in the workplace.

“Back then, that was just what happened and people just accepted that that was a woman’s place,” she reasons, crediting the show’s script for including “snippets of it”.

“Whereas today, if anyone I knew was like, ‘Oi you, make the tea’, I would be like ‘Sorry? You do that’, or if they expected you to do their ironing or something, it would be ridiculous,” notes the Somerset-born star. Referencin­g this year’s politicall­y-heavy Golden Globe speeches and the worldwide Women’s March, which took place the day after US president Donald Trump was inaugurate­d, Martini insists she’s pleased to be coming into the industry with her eyes wide open.

“I think it’s very important to use what’s going on in real life to inform your work and, I mean, who knows if what I’ve done, or the show that we have made, will have an impact on that at all,” she muses, “but it’s a good thing to explore.” Having graduated from RADA less than two years ago, Martini’s talent – and progressiv­e drive – has certainly turned industry heads.

The relative newcomer has already impressed in her breakout role as heroine Mary Thorne in Julian Fellowes’ Dr Thorne; is currently storming US audiences as Lady Ev in NBC’s apocalypti­c Wizard Of Oz reboot, Emerald City; and has filmed her part of Sophia de Haviland in the upcoming film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Crooked House.

“It’s all gone very fast for me and only now I’m able to sit back and look at what’s happened,” she explains. Despite having recently spent time in LA, Martini – who lives in London with her two best friends – admits she can’t picture herself relocating for her career anytime soon, however.

“I’m not a very flashy person, I get the tube everywhere and walk around with no make-up on most of the time,” she declares, pondering the idea of eventually losing her anonymity to fame. “I’m not into the glitz and glamour, really.”

 ??  ?? Stefanie Martini stars as Jane Tennison
Stefanie Martini stars as Jane Tennison

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