LYNDA LA PLANTE
Bestselling author, screenwriter and actress Lynda, 75, created iconic TV shows Prime Suspect and Widows.
She’s recently published Murder
Mile, the fourth thriller in her young Jane Tennison series. She has a 15-year-old son, Lorcan.
Why did you decide to create a series of novels based around a young Jane Tennison?
The idea took root some years ago at a book signing, when a woman asked me where the character made famous by Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect had come from. I’d been so busy focusing on this tough, high-ranking, 40-something police officer that I hadn’t considered how she’d become this unemotional person without children or a partner. It was a eureka moment because, really, that’s the most interesting thing about her.
And where is she in the new novel, Murder Mile?
It’s 1979 and she’s now a detective sergeant. She’s under immense pressure to catch what may be a serial killer after four brutal murders on her patch.
You’ve been working with Oscarwinning director Steve Mcqueen on the big screen version of Widows – your drama about women who carry out the heist planned by their husbands before they died.
Yes, Steve approached me at an event and said, ‘I’ve been obsessed with Widows since I was a kid. I’d love to film it.’ Next thing, the movie got the green light. The film has been beefed up for modern audiences and is quite violent and political. But at its heart are the women themselves – just as they were in the original. It’s fantastic and I’m so proud to have my name associated with it.
You became a mother at the age of 59 when you adopted Lorcan. Does having a 15-year-old son keep you young?
Yes, because you have to stay in touch with their world and the house is constantly filled with young people, which influences your life enormously. After many years of miscarriages and infertility, Lorcan was the gift I never thought I’d have.
You did it alone, too, after your 18-year marriage to Richard La Plante ended. Are you still single now?
Yes. There have been other relationships, but I won’t allow anything to dominate my work or my relationship with Lorcan.
How about the women in your life? Are they important?
Yes, very. Although sadly I lost my very best friend Lynda Bellingham four years ago. We’d known each other since we were struggling young actresses. Right up until she died she had the ability to make me laugh like no one else. I miss her every day.
l Murder Mile (Bonnier Zafre) is out now. Widows is in cinemas from 6 November.