‘MY FEMALE FRIENDSHIPS ARE A JOYOUS THING’

We speak to actor and novelist Ruth Jones

As an award-winning actor, screenwriter and producer, Ruth Jones had more strings to her bow than most, even before she added author to the list. She had long wanted to write a novel, and two years ago, she published her debut, Never Greener, which became a bestseller. Her second book, Us Three, is out this month. It tells the story of three friends who meet at school and follows them through the ups and downs of their relationships over 40 years.

Ruth first came to public prominence in Kay Mellor’s ITV drama Fat Friends. But it was her role in BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey – which she co-wrote and starred in with James Corden – that really grabbed viewers (the 2019 Christmas special had 18.49m of them!). As bolshy Nessa, she won fans’ hearts and stole every scene she appeared in. Ruth also set up a production company with her husband, David Peet, and together they’ve created numerous hits, including Sky’s Stella (which Ruth also co-wrote and starred in).

Ruth, 53, lives in Cardiff with David. She has three grown-up stepchildren.

I wanted to write a book about female friendship, because it’s a constant that goes right through to the end of our days. Over time, romantic love changes and often becomes something different, but friendship stays pretty much the same. I’m blessed by having very long-term, solid friendships, and they’re such joyous things. I’m still best mates with girls I’ve known since school, and those friends are the same people who came to my 18th birthday party, my wedding and my father’s funeral. Some of us, along with my little sister, go away together every spring – we call ourselves the Merry May Makers!

We all have different personalities, but it just works. You would think I’d be the entertainer of the group, but all of my friends are entertaining. I do tend to be the organiser. They laugh at me because when we go away, I always have a plastic folder with all the information in it. In some ways, I was confident as a teenager – I didn’t mind standing on stage in front of loads of people – but innately, I didn’t believe in myself.

I would always put myself down before anyone else could. I still do that sometimes and I don’t think it’s very healthy, to be honest. I’d wanted to write a novel for a long time, but I never thought I could. My first book, Never Greener, was based on a screenplay I had written back in 2002. The idea was inspired by the social media site Friends Reunited and all these people meeting up with the boyfriends and girlfriends they’d had as teenagers. I sent it to a few production companies but no one took it on, so I forgot about it. Then, about four years ago, I went away to a spa on my own for a bit of a pamper. I took my laptop in case I was feeling creative and I found the script in my old files. I picked it up from where I left off and became addicted to the story. I’d go off for a treatment, but couldn’t wait to get back to my room to carry on writing! Writing a novel is solitary, but I don’t mind that. I got into a routine writing Us Three. Once you get into your stride, you can’t wait to get back to it. It’s such a great place to be in your head. I don’t have any writing rituals, but I did start one tradition after my dad died three years ago. On the first anniversary, I found a pebble on the beach and wrote ‘Daddy’ and the year on it. Last year, I went down to Rest Bay, which is a place that’s very special to me as it’s where my dad used to take us

swimming, and collected another pebble. It’s such a nice way to remember my dad. David and I had always wanted to work

together. We set up Tidy Productions in 2008 and I feel very proud of the work we’ve done. Working on a project with David makes it very special. We never thought the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special would happen. It was a very complicated production to put together and it all had to be done in secret. Filming was the most gorgeous experience; it was so lovely being back with everyone in the cast after a break of several years. David and I joined James Corden and his wife Julia in London to watch it on Christmas night, which was lovely. David and I have our own writing rooms that we work in separately, but then we’ll co-write for a bit. We often lie down on our bed, top and tail, to chat ideas through. There are no rules or regulations, but we try not to talk about work in the evenings. We’re lucky, thankfully, we just get on really well. We try to spend time together that’s nothing to do with work. I remember when we were working on Stella, we had a weekend away in London and we decided to go to the ballet. I’d never been before; it was the most extraordinary experience. I’d love to say there will be another series of Gavin & Stacey, but there really, honestly, is nothing planned at the moment. Never say never, though! When I get my teeth into something, I keep going. I’m very good at getting things finished. Having said that, I don’t have small children to look after,

I don’t go to the gym and I don’t really have any hobbies! There’s a line in Dawn French’s book Me. You. A Diary that I often think about.

When things aren’t going well, she says to ‘move the chair into the sun’. To me, it means that sometimes you need to shift your perspective and look at the good things going on in your life because there are always good things and good people.

Us Three (Transworld) by Ruth Jones is out on 3 September

Filming Gavin & Stacey was a gorgeous experience