My role as Britain’s most hated woman
Actress on becoming Maxine Carr... & then finding herself again
THE actress playing Maxine Carr in a drama about the Soham murders says Beyonce’s music helped her shrug off the criminal’s persona after tough days of filming.
Newcomer Jemma Carlton plays Carr in Channel 5’s Maxine, opposite Scott Reid as killer Ian Huntley.
She said “When we finished filming, I was so tired from carrying the weight of Maxine as a character. When me and Scott are in these characters, it’s a really difficult and dark thing.
“So by the end of the day, when we were out of them, we would always listen to some music. I have a playlist when I am in role and one when I am out.
“It helps with the ‘de-robing’ of her. I am such a big Beyonce fan. It is such a different mood and it helps massively.”
Jemma said Channel 5 reassured her the sensitive subject would be handled with care before she accepted the part.
She added of big-name actors playing serial killers Dennis Nilsen and Myra Hindley: “I’ve been drawn to performances like David Tennant in Des and Maxine Peake [in See No Evil].
“I felt Maxine was a mountain to climb as a part but wanted to see how I can push myself in a complex real-life role.”
The three-part miniseries – Channel 5’s first true crime drama – examines the investigation into Carr and school caretaker Huntley, who was later jailed for the 2002 murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10. It explores their relationship from Maxine’s perspective, looking at why she gave her fiance a false alibi.
Her lies led to her becoming the most hated woman in Britain.
She served just under two years in jail and now lives under a new identity. Huntley is still in prison.
Jemma said: “I watched every documentary about Maxine that I could get my hands on and read as much as I could.
“Understanding how she spoke, how her friends and mother were to her, all of that information helped form my take on how she would react in certain moments.” Of becoming Carr, she said: “Physically, it starts with the hair and makeup and then we go to the voice and movement.
“I’m from the West Midlands, Maxine is from the East Midlands, so getting those details right was so important.
“She moves very differently to me, so getting into the right posture of being more delicate in the way I held myself was key.
“I also had my hair dyed and wore coloured contact lenses.”
Line of Duty actor Scott says C5 has been careful not to cause upset.
He said: “It’s respectful to the victims’ memories and to their families and does not dramatise the murders themselves, but instead the key events around them.” ■ Maxine airs Monday-Wednesday next week, 9pm, Channel 5.
I am such a big Beyonce fan. It is such a different mood JEMMA CARLTON ON STEPPING OUT OF ROLE