“At 56, I finally had my gap year!”
Filming new ITV drama TheSingaporeGrip had its challenges for Jane Horrocks – but it did afford her a rather wonderful adventure along the way…
Being asked to jet off to Malaysia for seven weeks to star in a big new costume drama sounds like a dream opportunity for any actor.
But for Jane Horrocks, the decision to play the role of Sylvia Blackett in The SingaporeGrip was a tricky one, as she faced the prospect of leaving her family behind for almost two months.
“Some of the other cast were out there for four and a half months – but even so it was a long time,” reflects Jane, who has two children, Dylan and Mollie (both in their twenties) with her playwright husband Nick Vivian. “We were in Kuala Lumpur for the majority of the shoot and I didn’t warm to it as a city, so I felt quite lonely at times.
“I think when you’re younger those kinds of jobs are much more exciting, when there are no pulls from home.”
Even so, Jane – who is best known for playing supermarket manager Julie Cook in Sky1 sitcom Trollied and dim personal assistant Bubble in Absolutely Fabulous – said that being a part of the series was too tempting to turn down. It was a well-written, big-budget project and she had a feeling it would be a hit.
Based on the classic novel by Booker Prize-winning author J G Farrell, the new six-parter follows a British family living in 1940s
Singapore at the time of the Japanese invasion. David Morrissey (star of The Missing and Britannia) takes the role of ruthless rubber merchant Walter Blackett, who is head of British Singapore’s oldest and most powerful firm alongside his business partner Mr Webb (played by Charles Dance).
With Webb’s health failing, Walter needs to ensure the future of their firm and decides Webb’s son Matthew (Olivier Award-winning actor Luke Treadaway) is the perfect match for his spoiled daughter Joan (Georgia Blizzard).
Jane plays Blackett family matriarch Sylvia, who is just as ambitious for her daughter as her husband is.
“She’s similar to Mrs Bennet in Prideand
“WewenttoBorneoand hadthemostbrillianttime”
Prejudice,” explains Jane. “She is very old-fashioned and ideally would like her daughter to marry into money. The couple also have a son, Monty, and Sylvia allows him to get away with much more than she allows her daughter to – even though he’s a reprobate!”
Jane formed a friendship with Luke Newberry, who plays Monty, and in a break from filming they escaped for a little adventure together. The pair travelled around southeast Asia for a few weeks, and for Jane it was the fulfilment of a long-held ambition.
“I finally got to do my gap year at 56!” she laughs. “We went to Vietnam, Cambodia and Borneo, and had the most brilliant time.
“My kids never went on gap years but lots of their friends did, so it was lovely to be able to go and see some of the places they had talked about.”
Jane’s next project is, thankfully, a little closer to home. She’s due to start filming a new Sky comedy this autumn called Bloods, in which she plays a paramedic, though she admits “it’s definitely not Casualty or HolbyCity… I don’t think there are many really serious paramedic duties that these characters do!”
This is a return to what Jane does best, having won the public’s hearts over the years with her iconic laugh-out-loud characters. As well as AbFab and Trollied, she starred alongside Rob Brydon in the 2018 comedy film SwimmingWithMen. This year the Lancashire-born actress also guest starred in Anna Paquin’s dark comedy Flack. And even though she’s proved that she’s not a one-trick pony – who could forget her BAFTA-winning role in the 1998 musical film Little Voice? – Jane says she was thrilled to be asked to play a character in TheSingaporeGrip who was completely different.
“I’ve never played a colonial woman before, and I’m not an obvious choice to play one either. So it was nice to be asked,” she smiles, adding, “I’m looking forward to seeing it now. It’s a beautiful and sumptuous drama and I hope it’ll be a classic piece of television.”