You Ask Nic Jackman (Holby’s Cam)
Holby’s Cameron Dunn ...faces your questions!
Junior doctor Cameron is fighting to prove himself on the ward – but is star Nic up to the even trickier challenge of answering readers’ probing questions?
“Cameron’s mum Bernie Wolf’s body was never found. Do you think she really is dead?”
Well, Cameron has certainly been clinging on to the idea that she is ‘missing in action’, rather than dead, and his instinct has been to go into denial. Apart from that, I can’t really say much more! We’ll have to wait and see if Cameron gets confirmation further down the line…
“What does Jemma Redgrave [Bernie], make of the twist?”
I haven’t spoken to Jemma about it actually, but here is a nice fact that I found out recently: Jemma dropped Holby’s lovely producer, Simon Harper, a text back in the day saying, ‘Please make Nic a regular character on the show’, and when Simon had the opportunity, he did! I only came in as a guest originally, so I’m hugely grateful to her.
“How did you and Belinda Owusu [aka Nicky] react when you found out your characters would wind up in bed together?”
It had been whispered to me by a producer – so we knew it was coming before we got the scripts, and we found it hilarious, actually! We had to film a bit of a kiss prior to that scene when Cameron was really drunk, and again we found that really funny, because we’re such good mates. It’s quite tragic and sad for the characters, though, as a lot of people have said that they can see a chemistry between Nicky and Cameron. So it’s a shame that when something did happen between them, it was completely the wrong timing.
“If you were a patient at Holby City Hospital, which character would you most want to have as your doctor?”
That’s a really good question! I’ll go right to the top and say Henrik Hanssen – I think you’d be in safe hands. And also Guy Henry, who plays him, is hilarious. He is so funny and so unlike his character!
“Since joining Holby City, has anyone ever mistaken you for being a real doctor?”
I’d be concerned if I was – and fortunately, I can’t say that I have!
“How did you react to Cam bedding Nicky?”
If there was ever an emergency I’d be flapping about and wouldn’t be able to help. As research for Holby, I went to watch real heart surgery, and was totally in awe of all the doctors. They are the true heroes. I don’t know if
I’d cope with the pressure!
“Has anything ever gone wrong on set while you’ve been filming the surgery scenes?”
The other week, Cameron was performing surgery on a bowel, and I got covered in fake poo! It wasn’t meant to happen – the prosthetics team was setting up the shot and syringing the fake poo into the bowel, and it squirted up all over my scrubs. It smelled like coffee!
“Have you had any weird fan experiences if you’ve been spotted in public?”
I’m most recognised when I’m in the supermarket, as I guess that’s where people have the most time to work out where they know me from while I’m looking at baked beans! It’s funny when people enjoy the character so much that, if they are really excited about meeting you, they’ll cry. Whereas I’m thinking, ‘Please don’t cry’!
It’s usually the younger fans – though maybe it’s because I’m disappointing to meet!
“Who would be your dream famous face to come in and play a Holby guest patient?”
I think she may have done it before, but for me it would have to be Olivia Colman. If she could come in as her character from
Fleabag and be treated by Jac Naylor, that would be brilliant!
“In the show, your character lives with Nicky and Chloe – so how do you think the three of you would get along if you lived together in real life?”
My mum has four – Liquorish, Bramble, Maddox and Lucy! We went to look at some alpacas, as my mum had always liked them. We went to a farm and found out that they were selling some of them off – and before I knew it, she’d bought four! Luckily, she has a big paddock to keep them, but we knew nothing about alpaca care at the time. I really enjoy carpentry, so I built a big hut for them. Liquorish is my favourite, because he’s really naughty! I think we could be housemates – Belinda amd Amy [Lennox, aka Chloe] are such a laugh to work with, and they’re great people. Now that we’re on different wards – they are on Darwin and I’m on AAU – we never see each other, so when we have those f lat scenes it’s like hanging out again. We hang out together outside of work anyway, so I think that flat dynamic would work!
“If you could do any other job, what would you choose, and why?”
A helicopter pilot, maybe! I’ve never actually been in a helicopter so this might be a disastrous choice. I know people who have had flying lessons, but I’m probably not clever enough for it!
“Who’s your dream famous face to be a patient?”
“Judging from your Instagram, do you have alpacas for pets?” …asks reader Meredith Brigstocke from Milton Keynes