HEAT MEETS… CHARLOTTE RITCHIE & MAE MARTIN

Mae, as well as co-writing the show, you star in it. How did you find acting?

It was OK, although it was very scary being in the edit and watching myself act. I was surprised to see how I walk, talk, and generally behave. There’s a scene where I’m in a dress, and I hadn’t worn a dress since I was about 15, so I found that particularly weird.

You have great on-screen chemistry together – did you have to work at that?

Charlotte: You can’t fake chemistry. I think it helps that we’ve known each other for a long time, and I do feel really comfortable with Mae. We had a rehearsal process, too, which helped give it a relaxed feel. Mae: The rehearsal time helped us get comfortable. The series rests on that relationship feeling real and natural.

Is it tougher to do intimate scenes if you’re friends?

Charlotte: Maybe. I do remember being nervous about it when we did the pilot, but less so when it came to the series. Mae: I think having some glasses of red wine helped. My ears still went very red when we were filming those scenes.

Tell us what it was like working with Lisa Kudrow?

Mae: Well, at first, I couldn’t believe she liked the script and wanted to do it. Then she had to come to Blackpool with us for a cold day of filming, and she’s used to having lavish food on set, while we just had biscuits. Turns out she loved the biscuits.

What kind?

Mae: Plain digestives. Charlotte: Careful, she’ll get sent thousands of them. Mae: I think she already does. But it was amazing to have her. I grew up loving Friends, which was like the Star Wars of comedy – a huge part of the cultural landscape – and then I loved The Comeback, which she starred in, as well. I was telling her to do a new Romy And Michele’s High School Reunion movie, too…

The show depicts fluid sexuality in an interesting way – was that something you wanted to explore?

Mae: Oh, yeah, I wanted to depict what happens when you look a certain way, too, and people make assumptions. Charlotte: It was so interesting to think about George’s relationships and attitude to love. She’s still hung up on what having a same-sex relationship means to the outside world. Mae: I think George would be someone who’s turned on by some women, but wouldn’t necessarily define herself as gay. Some people have referred to this as a lesbian love story, but I wouldn’t because they’re both bisexual – they are attracted to individuals of both genders. I mean, everyone I know has sex dreams about random people!