Holby City Jac steps down
As Holby’s Queen of Darwin steps down as leader of her ward, Rosie Marcel ponders her own future on the medical drama….
She’s the Queen of Holby
City, make no mistake – but Jac’s reign on Darwin ward comes to an end this week, when she steps down from her post as clinical lead.
Viewers shouldn’t panic though, as star Rosie Marcel tells us that her alter ego is set to be at the heart of the hospital drama more than ever…
Hi, Rosie! How’s it all going at Holby?
Great, actually! I can’t believe another year has gone by, it just goes so quickly! I’m coming up to my 14th year now, which is just ridiculous.
Does it feel like 14 years?
Some days! [Laughs] I’m sure we all have moments where we think, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I’ve been in a job so long’, while never feeling down enough to leave. I still love it, and we have such a lovely team at the moment with Belinda [Owusu, who plays Nicky], Ramin [Karimloo, aka Kian] and Amy Lennox [Chloe]. I will say it until I’m blue in the face: I have the best team, we get the most fantastic storylines – Darwin wins hands down every time!
Do you rule the roost on the ward like Jac does?
No! When Amanda Mealing [whose character Connie is now in Casualty] was in the show, no one would ever sit in Connie’s office chair. Now, it’s a running joke that all of the cast sit in mine and take pictures of themselves. They think that I’ll get funny about it, but I don’t care at all! After all, it won’t be my chair for much longer, will it? So it doesn’t really matter…
Yes, talk us through Jac’s decision to step down as clinical lead… That’s a big choice she’s made.
It’s been coming a long time for Jac. She was shot, her sister died and she had about nine surgeries last year, nearly died twice and was paralysed for a bit, and also I think she hasn’t spent a lot of time with her daughter and she hasn’t done a lot of surgery. So, I think she decides to step down to focus on herself and her family and get herself back on track. From what I understand, it’s not going to be a short-lived thing.
You were adamant that Jac and Fletch wouldn’t work as a couple. Is that still the case?
Yes – it’s just not on the cards for Jac. She’d only have hurt him and then everybody would be upset that she hurt him. Only one person was able to take all her stuff on the chin, and that was Joseph [Byrne, played by Luke Roberts].
And he’s coming back!
He is! I’ve finally twisted Luke’s arm after all this time! I’ve been saying to him, “When are you coming back?” and he said, “I’ll come back when you leave!” So to convince him to come before that is absolutely brilliant. When the bosses told me, I nearly wet my pants! I think it will be the episode of the year.
“I will say it until I’m blue in the face – I have the best team, and we get the most fantastic storylines…”
How will Jac feel seeing him back with Faye [Morton, aka Patsy Kensit]? Well, Joseph is the love of Jac’s life.
They didn’t leave each other on bad terms, and I think Jac has held on to that love and has always compared everything to it, so seeing him will be one of the most difficult things she’s ever had to do. Faye is the same old bitter husband-killing character, which I love! One of my main gripes when she and Jac were in the cast together was that Faye killed two of her husbands. Everybody seems to forget that!
Are you pleased that Paul Bradley, aka Elliot Hope, is returning, too?
It’s lovely to have Paul back. It’s part of a much larger storyline which I can’t really talk about yet – but I have a very intense plot coming up that’s personal to me and for my character. If you thought last year was bad for Jac, just wait! Surely it can’t be worse than what she went through with John Gaskell? Yeah, that was exhausting! As an actor I think people forget the energy you expend being emotional. Your job doesn’t stop when you get home and it can be hard to leave a character at work when you learn lines in the evening. It was a very tough year for me, but then I got these new storylines and I thought, ‘Why the hell was I complaining last year when I’m now getting to do this’?
With Jac stepping down, do you think about your own future?
Holby
I love it here so much, but I also know that when the right storyline comes along to finish Jac, I’ll take it. Everything comes to an end at some point.
Are people really surprised when they meet you because you’re nowhere near as scary as Jac?
Yeah, people sometimes get a little confused between me and the character. It can be difficult when they say, “Ooh, you’re a right old bitch on the telly!” and I do get knocked by bad comments. But I also know that Jac does so much good for people because of who she is. After everything she has gone through, she still comes out fighting and she’s very similar to me in that sense. She’s had a hard life and come out the other side, and I really relate to that. I want people to find inspiration from her, be proud of her – and be more like her in the sense that they can push for anything they want. But at some point, I’ll have to walk away – and it’s a sad thought. Jac has been my friend for 14 years, and I don’t ever want to see her go!
Outside the show, you have your lovely family and beautiful dogs. Do you feel as if you’ve struck a nice balance between work and home?
Not at the moment, as we haven’t got a kitchen! We’re having an extension done, so there’s me, my husband, our four-year-old and four dogs all living in a tiny living room with a microwave! We’re the kind of people who do everything at once and go, “Oh, my
God, we’re juggling too many balls,” but I’m happy. I love my family, I love my dogs and I’m always grateful. Although, I’ll sell one of the dogs if you want one!
Don’t tempt us! You got a new dog recently, didn’t you?
Yes, a re-homer, Arthur, from Romania. He’s annoying the hell out of everyone at the moment as he’s still a puppy. With all four of them it’s pure hell, and the house stinks!