RETURN OF GOOD GIRLS
show would recommend robbing a grocery store and becoming a criminal to get out of their situation. But there is a whimsical side of all that which makes you go, ‘What if you could do those things?’” he added: “The fun of Good Girls is that you get to watch these women live out this fantasy in a way that you feel like you are with them.
“What it does show is that when you have a big or bold decision to make, you need good people around you. Good Girls is really about that and encouraging that in other people’s lives.”
She’s glad to have moved on from the days when all the focus was on her curves but Christina remains proud that her eight years as a Mad Woman still mean so much to so many. She said: “Joan still has an amazing following and I love how women feel empowered by her.
“Women still come up to me all the time to say thank you for my portrayal of her and how she made them feel positive about themselves. I couldn’t be more proud to have played her and I love that people are still watching and discovering the show.
“I’m endlessly proud and will always be.”
The success of Mad Men, which also made stars of Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and January Jones, has opened plenty of doors for Christina.
She is the sometimes morally ambiguous oil company PR Elizabeth Bradshaw in Sky Atlantic’s Tin Star. And this month she voices creepy doll Gabby Gabby in Toy Story 4.
In the film, the gang go on a road trip where Woody (Tom Hanks) finds long-lost friend Bo Beep (Annie Potts). hristina grinned: “She was so much fun. When I went in, they showed Gabby Gabby to me and they showed me her henchmen, the ventriloquist dolls.
“I said, ‘You guys don’t understand, I have ventriloquist dolls at home. This is like you did research on me.’
“I have a baby doll voice so to use that and to make it creepy was fun. To be a part of the Toy Story legacy is super-exciting.”
The second series of Good Girls began streaming internationally last Friday. It sees Christina’s character Beth continuing to turn the tables on her cheating husband.
Having left him bloodied and pleading for his life at the end of last season, Beth wreaks revenge in a more steamy than deadly way with crime boss Rio, played by Manny Montana.
A third series has already been announced for 2020.
It marks a move from being a supporting actress in a successful TV show to being the lead.
Christina said: “It’s great, although I’m a lot more tired. It’s a lot of long days on set for all of us.”
Mad Men, as the title suggests, was a bloke-driven show, while Good Girls is very much female-led.
Christina isn’t sure the two should be compared.
She added: “First of all, the material is entirely different.
“Mad Men was testosterone-driven but a lot of people called it Mad Women for a time, too, because there were some pretty powerful female characters. But the tone on the set of Good Girls is so different. We laugh all the time because we have so much fun. Everyone is super-professional but in between scenes, there is lots of giggling and laughing.”
After the MeToo and Time’s Up movements in Hollywood, Christina has seen opportunities opening up for women.
She said: “I have noticed a difference. I think people are trying.
“For instance, there are positions on the crew where they normally would have only looked at a man for that role. Now it’s more of, ‘We really want to put a woman in this position’.
“There are some strong choices being made to make things more equal. I think it’s happening slowly but I’ve noticed it far, far more this year.” Good Girls is on Netflix now. Toy Story 4 is in cinemas on June 21.
CHRISTINA