Amanda Redman
Actress Amanda Redman, star of ITV’s The Good Karma Hospital, tells Yours how filming in Sri Lanka sometimes had a sting in its tail…
Amanda Redman is the first to admit that the island of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean where The Good Karma Hospital is filmed, is absolutely gorgeous.
“It’s magical – I can’t think of any other word to describe it. Absolutely stunning.”
But with this lush, tropical beauty, comes a downside. Mosquitos. “This year they were everywhere,” she says. “And they were a real bugbear! They seem to like me which is a pain. It got to the point where you couldn’t sit outside. You’d put lots of insecticide on and have to keep applying it – through the night, too. The mosquito problem was much worse this time around than when we filmed here for the first series.”
The scratch factor apart, there was another, rather more serious reason why Amanda and the rest of the
GKH cast and crew tried their hardest to avoid being bitten. “There was an outbreak of Denge Fever in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka,” she goes on. “It’s a disease that’s carried by a certain species of mosquito and it can be very serious, requiring hospitalisation. The mosquitos that carry the disease have distinctive black and white stripes on their bodies so every time any of us killed one, we’d inspect it to see if it had the markings.”
Was Amanda worried about contracting the disease?
“Yes,” she replies. “We all were – especially after a couple of the crew contracted Denge Fever and had to go to hospital. Apart from anything else, production would have ground to a halt. I got bitten but fortunately I didn’t contract the disease.” Snakes are also part and parcel of filming in tropical climes.
“I was shocked on the first series to see a 5ft snake go past when I was sitting on the front steps of the set,” she laughs. “I’d never seen one in the wild before. But this year, I was used to it. In fact, there was a snake in my garden.”
While filming the second series, Amanda stayed in a villa for the entire shoot, rather than a hotel. “Hotels are lovely but I did find it lonely at times,” she admits. “You’re away for a long time, it’s a long way from home and the wifi connection goes down at various times so you can’t always Facetime or Skype when you want to talk to loved ones.
This time around, I shared a villa with the new costume designer who is also a very good friend I’ve known for a long time. It was perfect. My husband Damian, grown-up daughter Emily and her boyfriend came out to stay. Some friends, too. We were working very hard, though. We’d start at 4am every morning to get the light and work through till late afternoon; not easy in the heat and humidity. I’m not complaining, though. I had to pinch myself at times because Sri Lanka is so beautiful and the people are so lovely.” So, Amanda wouldn’t exactly be averse to making a third series of GKH? “Absolutely not,” she replies. “Fingers crossed but we’ll have to wait and see if we get a third.”
Now 60, Amanda looks more fantastic as the years go by. “You’re very kind,” she smiles. “It’s hard work, though. For me it’s not just about looking good, it’s about staying fit and healthy. I exercise – a lot – even though I don’t like it much. I do at least five hours a week but it takes up a lot of time and it’s not always easy to shoe-horn it in. In Sri Lanka, I had a cross trainer in the villa and I’d do half-an-hour in the morning, half-an-hour in the evening. That was a hard slog when I was tired after a day’s filming”
Does all this exercise mean she can eat what she likes?
“I wish!” she replies. “At the weekend, I have what I like but during the week I try to be strict with myself, although I don’t always succeed because I’m a bit of a pig! The aim is that I eat low calorie food for three days, and then on the other two,
I’ll only have 500 calories each day. It’s a version of the 5:2 diet. It’s very regimented, not easy at all and every Monday morning I’m like, ‘Oh no – here we go again!’.”
From now until the summer, Amanda will be busy directing the end-of-year show at her drama school in West London. “It’s something I do every year,” she says. “I get a real kick out of it. Seeing our young actors learning and growing and ‘getting it’ is so rewarding. They are there because they want to learn their craft, not because they want to be famous. It’s hard work for them and for me but we all love it. Afterwards, hopefully, I’ll be going to Sri Lanka again – but with fewer mosquitos, please!’
‘I had to pinch myself at times because Sri Lanka is so beautiful and the people are so lovely’ Amanda shares a secret Loyalty is the quality she values most in her friends “Trust and loyalty are so important. You want to know that your friends have got your back no matter what, that they won’t judge you and they’ll keep your confidences. Humour is important, too. And generosity of spirit. All my friends have that so I’m very lucky.”
■ The Good Karma Hospital starts Sunday March 18, ITV