Catherine was so dignified... I’m nothing like I was in Poldark
KERRI McLEAN TELLS MARION McMULLEN WHY SHE IS PUTTING ON HER DIRECTOR’S HAT FOR LOCKDOWN TOWN
Did you find many people recognised you after you played real-life historical figure Catherine Despard in the BBC hit Poldark?
(LAUGHS) That was a great role to play, but absolutely no-one recognises me from the show. It’s such a high-profile drama that I sort of geared myself up for how to handle it, but nothing.
I’ve done other TV and you get on the Tube the next day and people say ‘Oh, I saw you on that show’ and people recognised me after I appeared on BBC Breakfast and Jeremy Vine talking about Poldark, but no-one has ever recognised me as Catherine Despard.
(Laughs) I think it’s because I’m nothing like her. She was so dignified with a poise about her and I talk a lot. My hair is also wild and long with a mind of its own and in Poldark it was all tucked away tight. Even the way I hold myself is nothing like her.
You’re directing the UK’s first socially distanced immersive live music event Lockdown Town. What has that involved?
IT’S been strange doing it all on Zoom with everyone in different locations. It’s been a new way of working. I’ve never directed a live performance show before where I’ve not seen anyone in person yet.
We are making sure all the Covid restrictions are in place and that artists and audiences are safe and that people have a fantastic time.
It’s a huge space at London Bridge – 30,000 square feet maze of tunnels – and we have 300 artists coming through. I went to see the venue in
July and I drove into London on a Monday morning and there was no traffic or anybody about. It was so bizarre.
What can audiences expect?
IT’S a trip through time to musical eras. It starts in 2020 with a young immigrant woman arriving in America and then takes you to jazz, swing, blues, ragtime, rock and roll, and folk from New Orleans to Harlem with themed food and drink.
Four months ago I just wouldn’t have imagined you would be able to pull something like this off. We were in lockdown and no-one was working or knew what the future was going to be.
I feel this is a great opportunity. We are blessed with this enormous space and it is an amazing opportunity, not only to provide work for a large number of artists, but to help the industry get back on its feet again and be an inspiration for other arts companies across the country.
It’s been a tough time, but there are still ways of making things happen in a safe way.
I hear you turned a puppy room into a home studio during lockdown?
EVERYTHING stopped overnight with lockdown. The phone stopped ringing and all my contracts got cancelled and that was terrifying.
I had a few audio things at home, but nothing much, and I thought ‘OK, if this is going to last a long time, I’ve got to earn some money’.
I’m a mum with a four-year-old son and I had to look at what I could do to work more from home. I don’t have a large place and the puppy, Soodi, was in the space under the stairs.
(Laughs) Soodi had to move out and I ordered stuff online, turned it into a studio and moved in. Soodi now sits on a little step at the end of the stairs.
I think he’s forgiven me.
How did the year begin for you?
I WAS in Barcelona recording little film vignettes with Formula One’s Mercedes AMG Petronas team. It’s something I’ve been doing for the last four years and they are broadcast all over the world.
I work with all the team and met Lewis Hamilton in Banbury. He is lovely to work with, a real gent, and astonishingly beautiful on camera. He is not ageing. He looks amazing.
I went to Barcelona twice and was at the test meeting to record with all the team.
You write, direct, act, have run theatre companies and worked as a DJ so what’s next on the cards?
(CHUCKLES) I’m a total creative. My brain is always trying to think of something to do and make and I think that’s how I ended up in the arts.
I’m lucky I work in so many different areas. It’s suddenly got a lot busier after a long time of nothing. I’m recording a new radio drama for BBC Radio 4 and I’m filming a new BBC drama that I’m not allowed to say anything about because I’ll get into trouble, but it’s by a great writer with the midas touch.
It’s been hard every on everyone, but I feel there is light at the end of the tunnel.
One Night Record’s immersive live event Lockdown Town opens at London Bridge on October 2. Go to onenight_records. com for details