Life would be better if I could sit in a cinema and not hear any chewing
The Nevers is a Victorian-set fantasy drama about ordinary people, mainly women, who are ‘touched’ and develop superpowers. How do your characters fit into that?
LD: I play Amalia True, who is a woman of great mysteries. She’s very matter-of-fact and a rebel – but not a rebel for the sake of it – and she has been landed with the role of being the leader of a group called The Touched. She has to keep them safe and figure out why they’ve gained these powers.
Ann, you play Penance Adair, a genius inventor, and it seems you are very much Q to Laura’s Bond…
AS: It’s terrible but I’ve never seen a James Bond film, but I like the sound of the name so I’m going to say yes. Penance has a real passion for inventing – she’d be inventing with tin cans if she didn’t have a workshop. It’s always great to be of use, of course, especially when Laura was over there doing flips off the balcony and beating the crap out of all the bad guys while I say ‘look behind you’ from the doorway and then that’s me done for the day and I can go have a snack in the trailer.
There are cool inventions. Did you have a favourite?
AS: I love the parasols [electric point-tipped umbrellas] because they are a perfect blend of Penance and Amalia. Whereas Amalia uses them like a knuckleduster, Penance prefers a zap of electricity – slightly inconvenient to the baddie but I have not killed you so, morally, it’s fine. A weapon of mass inconvenience, rather than of destruction, is always a good one to have at hand.
Amalia is very much the arse-kicker of the duo. Did you do your own stunts?
LD: That’s all me! I love it. Our stunt coordinator let me do everything apart from two huge drops because of insurance purposes, and despite all my pleading.
AS: I’m kind of annoyed because they tried then to put me up for a little stunt where I have to fall over and I’m like, ‘I cannot do this, I’ve hurt my knee.’ I can’t believe when I see Laura do all of her stuff. It just stresses me out.
Amalia can see into the future and Penance can ‘see’ electrical patterns. What power would you like?
AS: Have you seen Avatar: The Last Airbender? I would love to be Katara [the chief healer] and be able to use healing powers and stuff like that.
LD: Mine would be being able to mute people who are making really annoying noises around me too loudly. People who are eating too loudly is definitely one. My life could be made immeasurably better if I could sit in a cinema and not hear somebody chewing.
The show has a strong message about the outsider and how we treat those who are different. Still a powerful message, right?
LD: Yes, hugely. If watching this allows somebody to appreciate their own privileges and understand what it is to not have it so easy in the world, then that’s fantastic. A good story brings to the fore our collective humanity and increases our empathy – and there is never enough of that in the world.
The Nevers starts on Sky Atlantic on Monday