Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
People don’t know where they know me from, they just think that they know me
Actress Laura Fraser, 43, tells GEMMA DUNN about her varied career and her role in new TV show Traces, a forensic science crime thriller
THE tiny clues left at a crime scene are at the heart of new drama Traces.
Starring Breaking Bad’s Laura Fraser, Line of Duty’s Martin Compston and Cheat’s Molly Windsor, it is written by Scott & Bailey actor Amelia Bullmore, based on an idea by crime writer Val McDermid.
Martin plays a builder who is under suspicion after a nightclub fire that killed three people. He falls for Emma (Windsor), unaware her boss is Professor Sarah Gordon (Fraser), who is helping the police find the cause of the fire.
Here Laura tells us what’s in store:
How would you summarise Traces?
IT’S a crime thriller set around the world of forensic science in a place called SIFA in Dundee and my character is a professor of forensic chemistry and a fire expert.
Though she doesn’t deal with bodies – she’s not a forensic anthropologist – but with physical remains, like electrics, surfaces, materials, fingerprints, that kind of thing.
What attracted you to the part?
I’VE never played a chemist before. I thought it was really interesting the way you have this detailed, forensic science backdrop to family tragedy and all the ramifications of that – as well as a beautiful love story that Molly [Windsor’s] character has going on.
Do you have a personal interest in the forensic science side?
I AM curious about things and how they work. When I was trying to research, they set me up with a lab in Preston and it was so interesting.
It must be so great to be scientifically, mathematically minded and be able to grasp it, because as much as I wanted to, I didn’t understand a lot. I think you need a couple of degrees!
There’s a lot of crime drama out there – what makes Traces stand out?
THERE are so many good actors, but [with] female-led dramas, I absolutely love watching women and seeing their relationships develop and all the quirks.
That’s what I loved about this one, all the relationships and the different dynamics between all the women at SIFA and then in the [wider] story.
It’s just fascinating to watch other people’s lives.
You worked with an all-female production team too. Is the balance shifting on set?
IT’S quite rare still. I’ve seen more women on set in the last few years; it used to be 95% male when I started 25 years ago and it’s certainly not 50/50 still, but usually 70% male most of the time. I feel like the atmosphere is better for everyone when it’s mixed; I felt like it was alright to make a mistake, and that we were collaborating instead of trying to prove we knew exactly what we were doing at every moment.
It’s good to be allowed to express doubt and be supported in that. I’ve not had that before.
You’ve spent a lot of time working across the pond. How was it to be back filming on UK soil?
I LOVE working in the UK. It’s just more familiar, more relaxed. I think English people do have a problem understanding what I say because I talk really fast sometimes, but not in the same way that Americans would be like, ‘Sorry, what?’ It’s nice being understood, for once!
You live in Glasgow now. Do you miss living in the US?
I DO miss where we lived in upstate New York – it was near Woodstock and it was absolutely gorgeous.
We had herds of deer running through our garden, black bears, wild turkeys. It was crazy.
I loved the people; there were a lot of hippies that moved there in the Sixties we got to know, and occasionally we would go into the city, as Manhattan was a threehour drive from where we lived. But at the same time, the winters were six months long – snow for six months – so it was hard.
Are you still recognised for your time in Breaking Bad?
IT happened a lot for a few years, but then it kind of stopped. But then it resurfaced because I think some people are watching it again because of El Camino. Usually I get recognised for that, or for The Missing.
And then other times people come up and they don’t know what they know me from, they just think they know me!
You’ve had a varied career. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?
WELL, I suppose like anyone, in any workplace, there’s always issues of how to deal with bullying, because there can often be very strong personalities in these high-intensity environments.
You’re spending such long hours together, people are tired and also, as an actor, you’re very vulnerable, because you’re spanning all these different emotions.
I have struggled over the years to deal with people being a bit mean.
But I’ve learnt to appreciate it when I have a good [experience] – for example, Traces was a really good working environment and I really appreciated it and enjoyed it.
■ Traces starts on Alibi on Monday, at 9pm.