Enemy within
Jill Halfpenny is a sinister lodger in a new four-part thriller
The Cuckoo Monday-thursday, 9pm, Channel 5
After buying a beautiful house in the countryside to renovate,
Nick Haynes (Lee Ingleby) and his wife Jessica (Claire Goose) struggle to pay their bills and decide to advertise for a lodger.
Artist Sian Gregson (Jill Halfpenny) seems a perfect match on paper. But as Channel 5’s claustrophobic thriller The Cuckoo reveals, Sian grows worryingly close to the couple’s teenage daughter Alice (Freya Hannan-mills). And when the lodger drives a wedge between Nick and Jessica, they start to wonder if Sian is who she claims to be.
‘Sian is struggling with her version of reality,’ says Halfpenny, 48. ‘It was easy for me to find empathy with her because
I know that people can totally convince themselves of something if they want it to be true.’
Halfpenny drew on true-crime documentaries about fraudsters to help her prepare for the role of Sian.
‘The thing that always strikes me about these stories is the confidence,’ she says. ‘When the victims retell their stories, they always talk about how easy it was to believe these people because they just seemed so assured. That’s what Sian does with this family. She sees they’re in a sticky situation, finds their Achilles heel, and just twists the knife.’
The series was created by writer Barunka O’shaughnessy, who wanted to make a drama with a nod to thrillers like Single White Female – although Halfpenny was initially considered for a different role.
‘They were thinking I would be playing Jessica, the woman on the receiving end,’ she reveals. ‘It was me who said, “Can I play Sian and be the person doing all this stuff? That seems like more fun!”’
The real motivation for Sian’s behaviour becomes clear over the four episodes, and Halfpenny thinks viewers will be intrigued to see if her character ends up pulling off her plan.
‘Whether she manages to succeed or not, that’s the thrill of it,’ she says. ‘You’ll have moments of complete disbelief – people will be shouting at the telly!’