‘My son has taught me how to shoot hoops’
Unforgotten star Nicola Walker reveals the surprising new skill that’s guaranteed to boost her mood Thinking back on the past year, the word ‘happiness’ seems very weird to use.
Times have been challenging for us all, but one unexpected plus point for me has been spending a lot more time with my husband, Barney, who is also an actor, and our teenage son, Harry. We’ve gone on walks, we’ve eaten together and we’ve watched a scary amount of telly. Recently, we binge-watched an American series Harry recommended called Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, which I thought I’d hate but got very into. We’ve also watched all of the Marvel films together, including Iron Man about three times, because Harry loves it!
It might surprise you to know that I’ve got very into basketball.
In our back garden, we have a hoop my dad gave Harry about four birthdays ago and, during the first lockdown, he started using it more than ever, deciding that he wanted to try to enhance my skills, too. I’ll be honest, to begin with, I was appalling. But I’ve been working on it and I’m actually quite proud to say that I now have a tiny bit of flair in that department! Harry will ask me if I want to ‘shoot some hoops’ with him and I can send the ball through my legs and catch it around the back. It’s great fun and has given me a lot of satisfaction trying to learn a new skill.
Technology has brought me more happiness than I ever thought it would.
Generally, I’m pretty inept when it comes to tech – my mother-in-law is definitely better at Zoom calls than I am! But the pandemic has forced us all to embrace it and it’s brought me unexpected joy when it comes to staying in touch with people I love. I’m not much of a quizzer, but I did do one big Zoom call involving lots of wine – I probably won’t do that again! No matter how amusing you think it is at the time, Zoom, wine and work are definitely a bad combination.
Filming the fourth series of Unforgotten pre-lockdown was a fantastic experience.
It’s strange, given the dark subject matter, but it’s the happiest team of people. A lot of the crew have been with us since the first series, so we know each other really well now and any day I work with Sanjeev Bhaskar is a happy day – he’s brilliant and so funny. We take the filming very seriously and during the breaks, we have so many great chats. We’re firm friends and our families have become close.
In my job, nothing is predictable. However, that doesn’t stop me trying to plan ahead and I worry a lot about work not coming up. This time has taught me that when things are unclear, all we can do is live for today because that is all we can control. There is a great deal of comfort to be found in sitting where you are and enjoying the moment.
Unforgotten is currently airing on ITV
Technology has brought me more happiness than I thought it would