Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
DON’T MISS THIS!
The star of the gritty detective drama reveals five secrets from the set
ANNA FRIEL MARCELLA Tuesday, 9pm, ITV
1 My character Marcella Backland is a detective who’s gone undercover in Northern Ireland to expose the Maguire crime family. Their enormous home was on this gorgeous estate in the Ulster countryside – an extraordinarily peaceful contrast to the violent Maguires. A llama was born in one of the paddocks there and everyone was keen to see it flourish, which, happily, it did!
2 I spent so long in Northern Ireland that I enrolled my 15-year-old daughter, Gracie, into a school there. I have strong links with the country – my dad was raised in County Donegal and I have 82 first and second cousins on his side of the family. People we encountered were incredibly kind. I’d come home and find bunches of flowers on the doorstep and little notes from people saying, ‘If there’s anything you need, just ask.’ 3 Marcella has some full-on scenes of passion – one or two with an element of violence. Fortunately Aaron Mccusker, who plays Finn Maguire, was really caring, respectful and supportive and made what could have been tricky much easier to do.
4 While filming it was cold, the rain was frequent and one day I posted a video on social media of hailstones pelting on the roof of my trailer. Maintaining continuity while shooting through three different seasons was tough.
5 Marcella cut her face badly at the end of the last series so I had to get my prosthetic scar reapplied daily. Also, as episodes were shot out of sequence, we had to cope with Marcella with her blonde disguise and her normal brunette – sometimes on the same day of filming!